If Californian cities truly consider homeless citizens honored “guests,” wouldn’t they work to rehabilitate them instead of pushing short-term, accountability-free housing? The answer, says California Globe’s Katy Grimes, lies in pure politics: Costly development projects benefit legislators and their allies, while addiction and mental health treatment is challenging (and not as flashy) to implement.
By Christopher LeGras
August 7, 2024
Some of the most powerful figures and institutions in big finance, big business, big tech, and big philanthropy, who collectively refer to themselves as “YIMBYs,” for “yes in my back yard,” are on a mission to radically transform the United States. The YIMBYs central world view is that this country is a paragon of wickedness, if not evil, and it’s high time we took our collective medicine.
By Amy Kalish
August 1, 2024
Our state Legislature’s quest to remove any inhibitors to housing, no matter how impactful, has taken a new and dangerous form.
With Senate Bill 610, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) shows he is not content to merely wrest zoning control from cities. He is now targeting fire hazard severity zone maps as “impediments” to housing.
BY BEN CHRISTOPHER
JULY 25, 2024
City officials in Eureka thought the plan to turn public parking lots into affordable housing would be easy. Now they’re facing a ballot measure campaign funded by one of the city’s richest men.
BY BEN CHRISTOPHER
JULY 25, 2024
What happens when voters take to the ballot to thumb their nose at state housing law? Courts haven’t offered a clear answer.
In November, voters in Eureka will decide whether to scrap a housing development plan that was approved by California housing regulators in 2020 — and, in the process, risk thumbing their noses at Sacramento.
By KRISSY WAITE
July 24, 2024
Sausalito is toying with the idea of becoming a charter city.
The city is currently a general law city, which requires it to follow the governance rules set by California Constitution and the California Legislature. Charter cities give greater local control and flexibility to cities, and potentially open up revenue sources.
The City Council discussed the possibility and created a subcommittee for the topic at its July 16 meeting.