City Council split on decision to lease house to New Hope Village

BARSTOW — Heated debate surrounded the City Council’s discussion about leasing two houses to a transitional housing organization for one dollar.

With a 3-2 vote — council members Joe Gomez and Steve Curran voted against it — the City Council directed the city to draw up a 50-year lease agreement to give New Hope Village the city owned property for $1. Angela Pasco, the executive director of New Hope Village, said the homes located at 1000 Nancy Street and 200 Avenue D would be used to help transition families who had completed the New Hope Village program into society.

Mayor Lawrence Dale and council members Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre and Tim Silva voted for the measure, which will come back to the Council at a later date for final approval. Silva said that the city would get more value from the homes if they were used to help Barstow’s homeless than if they were sold. Dale argued the homes’ service to the community would be invaluable.

“How do you put a price on the success of a family that is transitioned from a way of life that was unsuccessful to the mainstream,” Dale said. “The city would be well served to make a long-term lease.”

The city had the property appraised in 2006 at $160,000. Ron Rector, the city’s economic development director, said the city put the house on the market then, but it did not sell. Now, the city estimates the house is worth $110,000 but doubts it could get $80,000 for it.

Gomez and Curran questioned whether the city was getting its best value from the property by leasing it for 50 years. Gomez said that if the city could sell the house, then it could use the money, rather than have the house tied up for 50 years. He said he was skeptical of the worth of a long-term lease.

“It seems like we’d serve more families if we were to use that money for other programs,” Gomez said. “It seems like it would benefit the community more.”

The 1000 Nancy home is approximately 980 square feet. The 200 Avenue D home is only 350 square feet. Both sit on one piece of property although they have different addresses.

Curran questioned whether the city should give up a valuable asset to help the homeless in Barstow. He said that within five years, the house could be worth $160,000 again, and if he owned the house, he would not give it to New Hope Village. He suggested selling the house as well and putting that money back into the fixing the city.

“Why me, as a city official, would give you an asset worth $160,000 — is it really bettering the tax payers of Barstow? I don’t know that,” Curran said to New Hope representatives at the meeting. “I feel that I’m better if I repave First Street. I feel I’m better if I do Barstow Road, if I fix the lights. I don’t feel it’s the taxpayers of Barstow’s obligation to help people to get back on their feet.”

Following the meeting, New Hope Village President Sandy Baca said she was frustrated with Curran and Gomez’s objections to leasing the property to help the homeless.

“To me, it’s just humane to help people,” she said. “And isn’t that part of what the city should be?”

She doubted that the property would fetch even $60,000 on the market and said the city would see a greater value by helping more citizens lead productive lives. Despite the debate on Monday, Baca said she was happy to get three votes, which would be enough to pass the lease when it goes before the Council again at a later meeting.

Background on the homes:

The city bought the homes on 1000 Nancy and 200 Avenue D in 2000 for $1 under the Housing and Urban Development Dollar Homes program in 2000. The intent was to refurbish the homes and then sell them to low or moderate income families, said Jeanette Hayhurst, a former housing program coordinator with the city. A few years later, the city allowed the Barstow Unified School District to use the properties as training sites for the high school’s Regional Occupational Program, giving students a chance to learn construction trades. The district discontinued the program after two years, and the homes have been untouched since.

New Hope Village began in 1998 and provides transitional assistance to Barstow’s homeless. The program gives people on the street a place to live under the strict guidance of Angela Pasco, who was once homeless in Barstow herself. Residents may stay in the program for two years and must go to college and get a job. Pasco said the program has a high success rate of moving people off the street and into society

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