Prejudice, Discrimination and Daycare

My mother, my sister-in-law (Kristi) and I all cooperate in doing [brand] Montessori child care.  We each run one of the three [brand] locations.  I'll just come right out and say it:  We're expensive...but parents are lining up around the corner trying to get in.  Why?  Because the bar is SO high.  Our graduates go to kindergarten reading at a first grade level having mastered all of the basic kindergarten skills already.  So, essentially they're bored and have to go to private school to be challenged. 

New House

Kristi's landlord is getting a divorce and needs to either move into her house or sell it.  He has been fantastic and very supportive of what she's doing so we really appreciate that he gave her so much heads up.  Moving can be a hassle.  Moving your own personal household AND a fully operational daycare into a new house which requires city zoning permits, fire code inspections, State licensing approval all without causing any lost time for the 19 families that she serves is....much...more...complicated. 

We've done it before.  When my mom moved from her house on [Name] court the kids left on a Friday, we made the final big push over a WEEKEND, and the kids resumed care as if nothing had happened on Monday.  We made it look effortless.  HA!

Kristi leased a six bedroom house on a quiet cul-de-sac with an impressive view.  I am SO excited for her to have more personal space than just her own bedroom.  The whole upstairs has a bedroom twice the size of what she has now.  There is an office for my brother, another upstairs bedroom for Kristi's projects and sewing machine and a balcony library area.  They will even have space for the baby that they are trying to adopt (another rant entirely...but I digress).  The house itself has a LOT of potential and she got it for a deal because it was handed over to them in basically dilapidated condition.

When I say dilapidated, I am being extraordinarily generous.  The landscaping was completely overgrown with a non-functional irrigation system.  The whole house needed to be painted.  Doors, walls, molding.  Fixtures are original from the 1970's when it was built.  There is an internal window that has vapor intrusion and needs to be replaced.  

Kristi has already poured thousands of dollars into this house making it beautiful and well kept.  It is not a blight on the neighborhood anymore, but actually has curb appeal.  The inside is looking amazing.  She has color coordinated the rooms and taken great pains to make all the lines precise and perfect. 

Making the Transition

So here's how this works:  Kristi has to get the lease and THEN she can submit the application for Benicia zoning.  After the zoning is approved the fire marshal comes out to inspect, THEN a state licensing analyst comes out to inspect and either approve or deny her application.  The process takes MONTHS.  For any of you who is a bean counter you're probably going....WAIT!  Doesn't that mean that she has to pay rent on the new place while all of this preparatory stuff is going on?  WAIT!  Isn't she still living and operating her daycare out of another house which she is ALSO paying rent on?  BINGO!  You win a cookie. 

Double rent.

Let me just say that again and let it sink in:  DOUBLE rent.

Rather than paying (and I'll just use generic numbers here) $2500 for one house....she is paying $5000 a month for TWO houses because of all of the regulatory hoops that she is forced to jump through.

Kristi got her lease mid January and immediately submitted the application to get Benicia zoning approval.  When I got zoned for our house in Benicia three years ago, the radius for neighbor notification was only 100 feet.  Since then the city has increased the radius to 500 feet.  Before the notices went out to any of the neighbors, Kristi went around and personally introduced herself to all of the neighbors.  She told them that they would be moving into the neighborhood and that she runs a childcare out of her home.  They were all very welcoming and gracious...to her face.

The zoning administration meeting was held on Tuesday, March 10th at 3pm.  Anyone who wanted to speak was given 5 minutes. 

Fortunately Christine, one of Kristi's clients for the last three years and now her personal friend, stood up and spoke of the extraordinary care that she offers.  Cleanliness, sanitation, extremely high standards, superb education, self-discipline and respect.  She vouched for the families who are enrolled with Kristi.  Not only are they all from Benicia, but represent some of Benicia's most respected and successful families. 

That matter was settled.  There will be no riff-raff.  None of the neighbors questioned the quality program that she runs.  Fantastic!  But the neighbors were undeterred.  There shall be no day care HERE!

There were roughly 20 neighbors present and they might as well have had pitch forks and torches.  They brought with them signed petitions from the neighborhood watch all objecting to her being there.

Traffic & Safety

The neighbors all (SAVE ONE, who actually spoke on her behalf) stood up and passionately testified that UPS and FedEx trucks were going up and down the street ALL DAY LONG.  Every single one complained bitterly about the delivery trucks and the constant traffic on that street. 

Golly gee.   I've been over there a BUNCH over the last two months to help with landscaping and paining and not ONCE have I seen a single delivery truck.  Weird.  The way they were describing it, it's a veritable delivery truck parade all day long and all through the night.

Kristi called both UPS and FedEx the next day to ask about their delivery practices.  Once per day per company at most.  On the rare occasion with UPS if there is a drop off and pick up AND the driver doesn't have room they'll send a pickup truck later.  That would be a grand total of THREE.  1...2...3 under the very worst conditions. 

So, their problem is not necessarily with Kristi herself, no... no... it will be (and I'm getting these numbers from a neighbor who got up and spoke) the 56 to 70 extra car visits that will be generated by having all of these families dropping off and picking up all day long.

Soooo....drop off is usually between 7:30 am and 9:30 am.  Pick up is usually between 4pm to 6pm.   All the parents are working according to their own personal schedule and there are no detentions or referrals given for being "late" when the bell rings.  There is no bell.  There is no traffic other than the one solitary car very calmly pulling into the driveway every 10-15 minutes or so over a two hour period.

The traffic around schools will tie you up for a good 20 minutes.  But that's 300 some-odd parents trying to drop off and pick up at the EXACT SAME TIME.  (Enrollment at Matthew Turner is approximately 500, so let's just assume there are a few sibling sets).

With childcare, parents will overlap maybe with two crossing paths.  For everybody to show up all at once...you'd have to plan that.  On purpose.  Otherwise it's just not going to happen.  Ever.

Andrew, another of Kristi's clients, spoke as an authority on daycare traffic in a court.  You see, he was one of my mother's neighbors when she lived on [Name] Court and started doing childcare.  His son started attending at 3 months old and is now 4 years old.  Andrew assured all the neighbors that large license daycare traffic on a court is hardly noticeable at all.  They scoffed and audibly said that he had no idea what he was talking about.  All righty then.

As for the 56 to 70 extra cars.  I'm not sure what kind of Common Core math he was using but there are only 12 families on any given day.  Some days siblings come together so the number of cars would be even less.

LIAR!!!  YOU SAID SHE SERVED NINETEEN FAMILIES!!!!  SOMEBODY GET A ROPE!!!

Calm down.   Not every child comes every day of the week.  You could serve 5 families and still only have 1 child on site during the week.  That's because each of those families only needs care on one day of the week.  It would be a different child each day.  You still only have one child on any day and still serve 5 families.  See how that works? 

One of the other concerns was that with all the traffic that a child could be run over...because the children would all run unsupervised around the entire neighborhood in only their saggy soiled diapers with dirty faces screaming at a volume that is actually louder than full-grown construction workers using power tools  (not my analogy, just citing a concerned neighbor here).  It would be like Lord of the Flies every day of the week.  And children would be getting run over and killed on a daily basis by the parade of delivery trucks that we mentioned earlier.  Totally valid concern.

Let me address it with this:  Children are not allowed to play in the front yard.  Ever. 

Noise

People have heard older children.  It's because they are bigger and louder.   And on a school campus they congregate in MUCH larger numbers.  Kristi serves children that are mostly 5 and under.  Oh, wait....one six year old in occasional afternoons after kindergarten.  You got me.

When the eight toddlers are out playing the four babies are sleeping and visa-versa.  Eight toddlers or four babies.  Either way I doubt you'd even hear them from the street.  The neighbors on either side might hear some tinkling laughter or light bubbly conversation if they stand at the fence.  But my own estimation of noise is not a hard fact.  I'll take my husband's decibel meter and report back actual numbers.  Is comparing a few small children playing to construction workers using power tools fair?  Maybe.  Only the numbers will tell. 

Home Value

One of the neighbors accused Kristi of trying to take money out of their pockets because housing prices would inevitably drop with her being there. 

When I got zoned for my location the neighbors sent letters in opposition saying that the housing prices would plummet because nobody wants to live next to a daycare that is running 24-hours a day all week long with 14 children and all the excessive traffic that would generate. 

Because I have children of my own I was required to get zoned as a large license day care. I took care of 3 extra babies in addition to my own. 

I was approved in the first hearing despite minor opposition.  My mother has since taken over my location and is now operating with 12 children.  Since we bought three years ago the home values on our street have all gone up over $100K and the neighbors still haven't made a peep about traffic.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

My mother got up near the end and in true Claudia form, flatly pointed out that the state of California has passed legislation prohibiting cities from preventing in-home day care.  The city can place reasonable stipulations regarding parking availability and noise limits, but they cannot deny the use/zoning permit.

Many of the neighbors, who were already showing a great deal of respect and class by heckling any speaker who rose on behalf of Kristi, roared in unison at the very presumptuous notion that they did not actually have the power or authority to ban such unsavory types from their neighborhood.  Ah, for the good ol' days when arbitrary discrimination was the way to keep your area pure. 

One of the neighbors, an elderly African American woman (that part is relevant, stay with me),  stood up and angrily pointing to Kristi growled, "I can't believe the landlord would rent to people like them!"  Wow.  Really?  Do you not see the irony here?

Landlords cannot discriminate.  The city cannot prohibit.  Gerry Raycraft will be on the scene shortly to educate and ensure that California State Codes are followed.    Google him.  I dare you.

The city, for whatever reason, thinks that sending out notifications to all the neighbors is a good idea.  Let's just take a baseball bat to a beehive, shall we?  Giving them a false sense of power over the fate of a young, hardworking housewife doing daycare is too tantalizing to pass up.  Delusions of grandeur regarding parades of traffic, constant deafening noise, children running unsupervised through the streets... no matter how well articulated, will never, in any realm of reality, actually happen. 

After Claudia told the neighbors that the zoning approval was inevitable no matter how long they drug it out, someone indignantly shouted, "Welcome to the neighborhood!"

Yes, welcome to the neighborhood where we will try to destroy your livelihood, cost you thousands of dollars more in ongoing rent for a vacant house that cannot be occupied until certain stipulations are met, and sign petitions with the intent purpose of prohibiting you from living here. 

Which Would You Prefer?

Well, guess what neighbors?  Since you have all been so welcoming and charming in so many fantastical ways....Day care is not the only option on the table.

You see... Kristi has been a foster parent in the past.  She is legally allowed to have 2 foster children in every bedroom.  She has six bedrooms.  You do the math.  Foster children are usually much older...we are talking teenagers now, who cannot be confined to the backyard for quiet play in the sandbox and have afternoon naps.  They would be LIVING on your street 24/7.  There is no zoning requirement to do foster care.  You could squawk and scream all you wanted without a single wisp of recourse.   Because rather than having the sweet babies and toddlers from upstanding Benicia citizens, you would be guaranteed to have just as many teenagers all from troubled backgrounds roaming the neighborhood.  With equally unsavory parents coming to visit them while they work through their personal demons with drugs, alcohol, abuse or whatever the vice may be. 

Kristi and James WILL be living in the neighborhood.  They have signed a lease.  They have been given plenty of notice from their current landlord who has extenuating personal circumstances. 

You don't want daycare in your neighborhood.  Fine.  Well, consider the alternative for a moment and then think really hard what you REALLY want for yourselves.

In Conclusion

Of course, Kristi is far too kind to say any of this.  But I am angry.  Because this whole process is ridiculous, overly burdensome and completely unnecessary given the California codes that states that it cannot be restricted anyway.  Why rile the neighbors up at all?  They probably wouldn't have even noticed that the day care was in operation except seeing the babies going out for their morning walk in the 4 passenger stroller.   

Kristi told me that after the meeting she felt like she was in shock.  She had never felt so much animosity and hatred all directed at her.  She felt sick that her entire life savings would be wiped out in the next few months because neighbors have taken their grievances with another neighbor's home based business out on her. 

How is that fair, exactly?

Anyway this is my blog so I'll rant if I want to.