I am voting yes for the San Juan County Home Fund this year. We need this to provide more affordable housing in San Juan County and keep our islands a family-friendly, diverse place to live.

It has been clear for several years that working families in our county struggle to find affordable housing. Wages in the county are the lowest- or second-lowest in the state, but rent and home prices are among the highest. This means working families are priced out of housing options. Families with jobs are renting rooms in others’ houses, living without proper sanitation, having to move multiple times a year or even leaving the island.

Voting yes for the San Juan County Home Fund means voting yes for housing and voting yes for our heroes: teachers, emergency first responders, health care workers and tradespeople. Some of these people are already commuting from Anacortes by ferry, but this is not practical, sustainable or the solution we want for our island culture. We need our heroes as neighbors, and they need stable affordable housing where they can raise families and make our community the place we want to live.

Join me in voting yes for the San Juan County Home Fund this year.

Joe Gaydos

Eastsound