The Sunnyvale Sun

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City rankles at the 'F' grade ABAG, board give housing

Ranking agency admits system for keeping track may see change

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

After receiving an "F" grade for failing to meet its housing requirements, the city of Sunnyvale decided to protest, and is now thinking a change in the grading process would help more accurately portray the amount of housing that is being provided by Bay Area cities.

It turns out the city and the rating group--the Construction Industry Research Board--look at different factors when judging how much housing has been produced. Sunnyvale communications officer John Pilger said the city judges its progress on how many projects are approved by planning and how many projects are completed and occupied.

The "F" grade the city received from the Bay Area Council--a 60-year-old business advocacy group--is based on data collected by the Southern California-based CIRB each month and standards set by the Association of Bay Area Governments. The board's research director, Ben Bartolotto, said each month he receives a report on how many permits were issued by the city, and that information was compiled and provided to the Bay Area Council for its Bay Area Housing Profile 2006.

Pilger said he was at a loss to explain the discrepancy between the numbers the research board received. He said the city looks at the 2,873 approved housing units and 2,460 completed units when judging its housing output, and he said the council should have looked at those figures when grading. In addition, because only units with permits can be built, the two numbers should have been much closer.

"The permits issued are not the important thing," Pilger said. "What's important is how many units are actually occupied."

Pilger said the city's own check of its issued permits counts at least 1,942. He did not know the source of the difference in the two numbers, but said it may have to do with how some properties--including commercial properties--are counted.

Pilger said the city doesn't look at permits issued because, at that stage, it is still up to the developer to produce the housing.

The discrepancy comes in two groups studying similar--but separate--figures.

"It's not apples and oranges, it's oranges and tangerines," Pilger said.

"We don't feel it is appropriate, when you give a grade to a city, that you never talk to that city, instead relying on a third party," Pilger said.

Bartolotto said his group looks only at issued permits because it is a "real, recorded number."

"People can look at other statistics, but we chose to look at permits," Bartolotto said.

Bay Area Council vice president of communications John Grubb said the council uses the research board's data because collecting its own data on the 101 Bay Area cities and nine counties did not work in the past.

"We tried to do it that way, but the data was never congruent," Grubb said. "One person in the city would say one thing, one person would say another and some cities just wouldn't give us information."

But in light of Sunnyvale's protest--and concerns from other cities--Grubb said there could be room to improve the process. With Sunnyvale's numbers, Grubb said that would equate to a "B" or "B-" grade.

"We're always looking for ways the grading system can be revised and we've be happy to talk to Sunnyvale," he said. "We're pleased that Sunnyvale produced more housing than was reported to the Construction Industry Research Board, and we hope that they continue to look for other ways that they can get an 'A.'"

For more on the Bay Area Council and its rankings, visit www.bayareacouncil.org.