Press Democrat affordable housing investigation wins James Madison Award

Press Democrat reporters Andrew Graham and Ethan Varian have been honored with a James Madison Award by the Northern California Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists for their 2021 investigation exposing Sonoma County’s weak oversight of affordable housing agreements.

The awards are meant to champion freedom of information and are given annually by the San Francisco-based chapter in a number of categories to journalists, public officials and private citizens who have fought for public access to government meetings and records and promoted the public's right to know.

Graham and Varian won the top honor in the field of print and digital journalism (large division).

In six stories published last year between August and December, Graham and Varian showed the county has relied almost entirely on developers self-reporting their compliance with deals meant to ensure more than 3,000 rent-restricted units go to tenants in need.

County inspectors visited just one-fifth of the 150 sites over more than two decades, and only in a handful of cases did they independently verify tenant incomes and rents for the full roster, public documents revealed and interviews confirmed.

The central focus of the investigation was the 232-unit Vineyard Creek Apartments north of Santa Rosa. Owned by local developer Bill Gallaher and opened in 2006, the apartment complex was the subject of a 2019 lawsuit filed by a former employee, who claimed Gallaher leased apartments reserved for low-income tenants to friends, family and business associates.

Gallaher’s companies received zoning and permitting concessions from the county in exchange for designating 47 units at the complex for low-income tenants. From the state, Gallaher’s companies were awarded $35 million in tax-exempt bonds, which largely financed construction, local and state records showed.

For the investigation, Graham and Varian filed nearly a dozen requests for public records and reviewed planning and zoning documents, affordable housing agreements, court filings, bond applications, and compliance reports filed by developers.

They found few instances in which county officials sought documentation proving tenant incomes or rental amounts. The reporting also identified a loophole that allows certain properties to face little if any state oversight.

As The Press Democrat’s investigation unfolded, Gallaher’s companies paid $550,000 to the former employee who filed the lawsuit in a settlement that likely would have remained hidden from the public were it not for the newspaper’s reporting.

County officials said The Press Democrat’s reporting revealed troubling holes in affordable housing oversight.

After the investigation, the Board of Supervisors directed the county’s Community Development Commission to bolster oversight, including requiring more on-site visits and documentation from developers to show they are meeting the terms of affordable housing agreements.

“Andrew and Ethan worked tirelessly to tell this important story that protects the interests of Sonoma County taxpayers and ensures more in-depth and timely oversight of affordable housing projects,” said Richard A. Green, The Press Democrat’s executive editor. “I’m tremendously proud of them and their commitment to fair, fearless and unbiased investigative journalism.”

However, awards and external recognition do not define The Press Democrat’s commitment to serving Sonoma County readers and subscribers, Green said.

“That’s not why we’re in this business,” he said. “Our job is to ensure government does its job and serves all constituents; to safeguard the public’s hard-earned tax dollar; and to defend and give voice to our most vulnerable citizens. Yes, it’s rewarding when our peers recognize our efforts. It serves as inspiration for us to work even harder and more diligently for our readers and to never rest on our laurels.”