Bay Area city councilmember resigns, blames high cost of living

( KRON ) — A Bay Area city councilmember who abruptly resigned Wednesday has blamed the region’s high cost of living. Mike Bucci, who has served on the Newark City Council for nearly 10 years, submitted a letter of resignation on Wednesday, to take effect at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Bucci was first elected to city council in 2014, appointed to another four-year term in 2018, and re-elected by voters for a third term in November 2022. During his decade or so of service, Bucci helped create a masterplan for the city’s parks, a new skate park, and Newark’s first dog park.

“A long time Newark resident, Mr. Bucci was a champion of affordable housing and supported many affordable housing projects,” said Newark City Council in a statement.

The city council gave no explanation for the councilmember’s abrupt resignation.

However, in a social post of his own on Thursday, Bucci explained that the decision was based on being priced out of buying a home in the community he served.

“Unfortunately, we’re just the next people in a long line of folks who have been priced out of town,” Bucci said. “We tried to buy a home a number of times over the years but it never happened for us. Now the window has closed and any chance we had to stay in Newark is long past.”

Bucci went on to say he’d worked a union job in the trades for 20 years, but even with that and his city council salary and his wife’s job in the Dublin San Ramon Services District, his family was unable to afford a home.

“The most insane part is that even with 60k down and a 785 credit score we can’t get into the cheapest house in Newark for less than $7,500 a month,” Bucci said. “If I put my entire Millwright and council salary towards it every month, it’s still not enough.”

“The brutal truth,” Bucci went on to say, “is that we would probably have been better off if we moved years ago but I was woefully optimistic our opportunity would come. I mean it had to right? The fact that there is no future for us in the city I love is soul crushing.”

Newark Mayor Mike Hannon said he was shocked about Bucci resigning, but the circumstances highlighted an overall housing crisis.

“You see the high cost of housing, the high interest rates. Mike has tried on a number of occasions to buy a home and has been unsuccessful, so I think he is recognizing a little bit of frustration. You know I do all this community service I do for my community but I can’t live in my community,” he said.

Bucci called the decision “very difficult” but insisted it was the best decision for his family, even though he lamented it.

“I never imagined what a life somewhere else would be like because I never wanted to be anywhere else,” he said. “I’m not going to sugar coat it, being pushed out because of the cost of living is just devastating.”

Bucci gave no indication as to where his family would relocate to in his social post. KRON4.com reached out to Bucci who declined to provide further comment at this time.

According to Indeed , the average salary for a Millwright is around $32.00 an hour.

The city council voted to fill Bucci’s seat as soon as possible. They will start taking applications on Friday.

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