Six 30-minute interviews about housing

Episode #5: Featuring Lydia Kou, Palo Alto City Council, and Peggy Huang, Mayor of Yorba Linda.

Elected officials Lydia Kou and Peggy Huang talk about the impact of misguided state legislation on cities.  Whether in northern California or southern California, the overreach of regional and state laws is taking its toll on cities’ capacity to serve the constituents who elected them.

Peggy and Lydia discuss what their cities have in common and their uniqueness, and they dive into legislative issues like density, affordability, and environmental concerns.

Catalysts in California Times gives a microphone to elected officials and community leaders who are spearheading change to protect communities.   Many are fed up with Sacramento legislators who blame cities for lack of housing that is affordable and then use that false premise as reason to take away local control, says Susan Kirsch, founder of Catalysts.

Kirsch and Guy Meyer, 5-year host of Marin Cable-TV’s California Times, have teamed up to produce a six-part series of 30-minute interviews focusing on housing.  In the first interview, Kirsch talks about the threat of corporations buying up housing stock and turning us into a renter nation.

The second interview features Mike Griffiths, founder of California Cities for Local Control.

In the third episode, Hydee Feldstein Soto, candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney 2022, and John Heath, president of the United Homeowners’ Association based in Los Angeles, describe their efforts to get solutions-based housing policy from Sacramento legislators.

The fourth episode features water expert Rick Johnson asking the question, “Where’s the water going to come from?”

The sixth and final episode will be a compilation of quotes from all the guests.

We hope you will enjoy the series.