No matter how you do the math, the housing equation in Connecticut always comes out uneven: 169 towns and cities plus 187 members of the General Assembly on one side and 89,000 missing and badly needed dwellings on the other.

The equation is lopsided but not incorrect. In an opinion that is widespread among suburban and rural municipalities and their elected officials, 89,000 households lacking suitable homes at affordable rents is not their problem. But in fact it is.

Within days of one another last month, the state’s new legislative working group met for the first time to discuss the shortage of affordable housing, and the Connecticut Tenants Union re-invented itself as a formal organization with officers and a constitution.

The first body may someday soon be approached by lobbyists from the second group as a movement that began just two years ago has made itself official and statewide. From a loosely connected interest group advocating for limits on rent increases in the recent legislative session, the tenants’ movement has gone to potentially partnering with labor unions on the need for good homes for workers.

Tenants Union organizers saw the clout that landlords have had on policy issues and want to match it with the voices of thousands trying to find decent homes. Failure to get comprehensive reform -- after the 2023 session began with housing as a leadership priority -- was bound to convince advocates that they needed a louder roar. The formalization of the union is the result.

In creating its own 24-member working group, the legislature has hardly rescued itself from the embarrassment of inaction, but at least the topic is on the table. The Senate majority leader, Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, went further, calling affordable housing the state’s “biggest issue,” according to The Connecticut Mirror.

One clue as to what must happen for housing reform to succeed lies in a report of the Center for Housing Equity and Opportunity (CHEO), a recently formed agency that found 90 percent of the towns in southeastern Connecticut have vacancies on commissions that make housing decisions, including planning and zoning, affordable housing and city planning. Prudent decision making, including all viewpoints, requires that those seats be occupied.

In the upcoming municipal election process, the political parties need to identify candidates for those vacancies. For towns that appoint rather than elect representatives to some of those positions, the top-of-ticket candidates need to be asked whether they plan to ensure appointments are made.

Citizen representation will improve the outcomes for both tenants and landlords as more people become aware of the needs of both. Instead of pitting tenants and landlords against each other over a too-scarce resource, the obvious answer is to increase supply to match demand.

The legislature has tasked the affordable housing round-table group with reviewing the existing programs and finding ways to stimulate development, such as re-use or conversion of state properties and emptied commercial spaces. Some policies have not worked as intended, including the voucher system. Like recently enacted laws, those help current renters but do little or nothing to create new spaces that will enable more people to rent.

The most important recommendations from the working group will be the ingenious ones that genuinely benefit all parties: would-be renters, landlords, developers and towns. That will take solutions that help to reassure towns rather than risk antagonizing them over their cherished principle of home rule.

Towns for their part must acknowledge that home rule means governing, not inaction. It does not mean leaving seats unfilled, stymieing the ability of boards and commissions to do their jobs.

Solutions will either start with guidance from the General Assembly and the advice of its round-table group, or with grassroots action. The legislature would be wise to send the message to its own members and their constituencies that the affordable housing shortage has become everyone’s and every town’s problem to solve.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.