Housing Policy Lobby Day

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Legislators, like local elected officials and community leaders, want housing that is affordable. Yet the very foundations of the American Dream— safety and owning a home—are being undermined by legislation that favors developer/investors. Confidence is dwindling. Working together, we can do better.

30,000 foot level: Evidence of flawed analysis of housing needs–

• State audit report on RHNA (3/17/22): The Dept. of HCD must improve its processes to ensure that communities can adequately plan for housing
• Who’s Counting? How McKinsey Hyped CA’s Housing Crisis, Zelda Bronstein
• RHNA and ABAG demographic projections are way too high, Gaetan Lion

10,000 foot level: Policies of streamlining, ministerial approval, and elimination of public participation benefit developer/investors, but harm neighborhoods, the environment, and don’t meet goals for affordable housing —

• SB423 (Wiener) would extend SB35 (2017) to the detriment of cities.
• Builders remedy is a heyday for building market rate housing; no guardrails for communities

1,000 foot level: Cities and constituents suffer–

• Developer/investors are enabled to build housing on sites prone to fire, flooding, and toxins
• Cities incur increased costs for unfunded mandates and the infrastructure to support greater density (e.g., sewers, water, schools, power, safety, etc.) without state support

√  Take 3 Actions– Implement policy solutions that serve communities & constituents!

• FIX the flawed RHNA methodology that exploded housing quotas between the 5th & 6th Housing Element cycles by triple and up to six times previous mandates. State audit report on RHNA (3/17/22)
• OPPOSE SB423 (Wiener). It extends failed housing policy without meeting the need for housing that is affordable. Oppose AB1485 (Haney) that exposes your constituents to increased threats from Attorney General Bonta’s Strike Force.
• OPPOSE bills that favor hedge funds and speculators to acquire land, profit, and housing cash flow while reducing safety, local control, and opportunties for home ownership.

• 30,000 foot level: Bills use inflated and unreliable data to justify RHNA mandates.
  Double Counting in the Latest Housing Needs Assessment, Gab Layton, Embarcadero Institute
  Huntington Beach v. Newsom, RHNA, HCD, and state housing law, Bob Silvestri, The Marin Post
• 10,000 foot level: Housing legislation benefits developer/investors, undermines the American dream of home ownership, drags the county down to a disenfranchised renter nation status, and relies on threats and litigation.
  How CA’s 6th cycle RHNA was rigged, Michael Barnes, Powerpoint re: SB35, SB828
  Modern Day Robber Baron: The Sins of Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Patrick Range McDonald, Housing Is a Human Right
  JPMorgan is about to spend $1 billion on hundreds of rental homes across the US on the way to becoming a megalandlord, Robert Davis, Insider
• 1,000 foot level: Communities and constituents are put in danger.
  YIMBY, White Privilege, and the Soul of our Cities—Shelterforce
  Plan Bay Area 2050 is a recipe for displacement of vulnerable communities-–48 Hills
  Proposed multibillion-dollar regional bond signals shift in how Bay Area affordable housing is funded — Mercury News

Constituents are educating themselves with a goal for state and local officials to work together collaboratively for sound housing policy that serves the common good.

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