Thread by @_fruchtose

Hello California. I'm watching Livable California hold a meeting to discuss policy—not politics, Jill Stewart stresses—with Senator Anthony Portantino.

Jill: He has a "powerful position" on the Appropriations Committee.

Off to a great start

Portantino: One of my pet peeves is the anger, rhetoric, and personality. We need to focus on what unites us. We can't leg negatives break us apart. There are 40 state senators. We may disagree on policy, but we're congenial and working in the interest of CA.

Portantino: I saw the email that went out 40 minutes about this meeting. It was too negative. We need to focus on the affordable housing crisis, the jobs crisis, the pandemic, and keep our heads up high. We have to challenge ourselves to be better.

Portantino: We have significant structural issues in CA which the pandemic will exacerbate. Governor had ambitious plans earlier this year on housing. Jim Beall has been trying to bring back a stable funding source for affordable housing. Him and I are still struggling.

Portantino: Senator Atkins' housing production bill has a lot to be excited about on all sides of the conversation. "Respect for floor area, respect for labor, respect for setbacks." It respects local governments but also recognizes the state needs for housing.

Sen P: When I was thrust into the housing conversation 3 yeas ago, I went to League of Cities LA division and told them to come up with answers, not just say no. "Sen Wiener has pushed the envelope significantly to where we can have these conversations."

Sen P: I'm an Italian from New Jersey. I would have arguments w/ my sister and kiss her at Christmas. As long as arguments yield a positive outcome it's okay.

Sen P: Due to COVID-19 we had to decrease our bill load. Education bills have suffered some. If we don't educate this generation, think of the ripple effect 20 years from now.

Sen P: Sen Atkins appointed two committees of senators. One for COVID-19, one for ec development headed by Sen Hertzberg and Bradford. Renters need stability but we can't destabilize landlords and lead to a greater crisis.

Sen P: They have a bill where tenant and landlord would agree to let state involved to accept tax credits in lieu of mortgage payments. We're trying to get those turned into cash and landlord would have a revenue stream. There would be protections for tenants who cannot pay.

Sen P: CA has to have a balanced budget, no deficit spending. Hertzberg has been leader on accelerating tax payments to create a $25B fund to stabilize local govts.

Sen P: Much more sensitive budget than the Governor's proposal. I'm working on an education bill and SB1299 to help with housing, and then a bill to respond to recent synagogue shooting.

Sen P: This is affecting my daughter. She's supposed to go to college soon but we're not certain what's going to happen. And 100,000 people have died in the pandemic. Sending prayers and well-wishes to them.

Now Q&A. Jill: I want to ask about SB 1299. It's a great bill. It gives cities a way to get money back if they "wipe out a retail store" to turn it into housing. How are you going to get that out of the budget?

Sen P: Not from General Fund. It's a great concept, no opposition "from a conceptual perspective."

[Oh, I'm sure there will be concrete opposition.]

Sen P: We will need picture of actual costs. Money wouldn't come from this fiscal year. Doesn't kick in until certificate of occupancy for constructed housing. It's like in Hollywood, movie doesn't get tax credit until after it's made.

Sen P: We're looking at the timing to fit it into the long-term budget architecture and the funding. "My goal is to have it funded."

Jill: Keith Gurnee from SLO has a question.

Keith: You're going to be taking up a lot of housing bills in Appr. Are you going to look at hidden costs associated of all these housing bills on HCD? I see HCD evolving into the enforcer of housing regulation throughout the state of CA. Bureaucracy could be expensive.

Sen P: Every cost will be articulated. Staff will do a thorough job. There will be no hiding the impact. Question is sensitivity of those dollars—different conversation. Final analysis will be driven by need than sensitivity.

Sen P: At the end of the day, we want to pass something which leads to increased housing production. Costs will be factored into overall analysis but we're focusing on need.

Keith: when are the hearings coming up?

Sen P: All the housing bills are up on the 8th for their first hearing.

Jill: We're worried about SB 1120 which will end single-family housing in CA.

Sen P: It does push the envelope, but it respects local building codes more than past efforts. And ADU bill allows more density than SB 1120. You can't do both within the same contiguous properties.

Sen P: You'll see it in a much more positive light if you dig into it. SB 1120 is definitely going to pass. I would encourage everyone to work productively on it.

Sen P: "Eleven-twenty is going to get on the governor's desk.

Sen P confirming that if you build a duplex with SB 1120, you can't build an ADU. And you have to respect floor area [ratio] and setback rules.

Sen P: Do I like every piece of it? No. There's no such thing as perfect out there. I will express my feelings professionally and honestly. But I respect what went into developing it.

And now, this.

Jill asking about effects of COVID-19 on life.

Sen P: "Nobody knows" what the effects will be. Parents are asking, should our children be forced to be on camera? Do you have to give a book report on camera? We're all learning how we'll deal with tomorrow.

Jill reading a text from a former elected official in SF(!): SB 1085 minimum unit count for state density bonus might take away the protections of SB 1120.

Sen P: That's not the intention. But it's a good question. But the intent is not to supercede.

Jill responding to chat concerns about planning: "People are starting to really be angry about RHNA."

Sen P: Well, we have to be honest. There are a lot of cities not meeting their responsibility. I've heard from many local govt officials who say, just tell us what to do and hold us accountable. But some people don't mean it. We have to understand, we need accountability.

Jill: We'll send you a "fascinating" study from Embarcadero Institute in Palo Alto showing you why none of these cities can build the housing themselves. That's the problem.

Sen P: Right.

[I don't think he's interested.]

Sen P: Housing has to be funded. For instance, without tax offset in SB 1299, it's not going to happen.

Sen P fielding a question from someone in Sherman Oaks 😬—confirming that if you do a lot split under the housing package, you can't build an ADU.

Keith Gurnee: It doesn't look like the state REQUIRES an ADU to be built on lots split through SB 1120, but local govt could still allow it.

Sen P: That's a nod to local control.

Another question from Sherman Oaks: Are ADU not counted toward RHNA numbers?

Sen P: I don't know. I'll look at that. I have a staff member listening in and taking notes.

Jill: That's really cool, we appreciate that. Where should we send our list of bill questions?

Sen P asking if anyone here is a Mike McGuire constituent, because he's the point person on the package: I would funnel all of the comments and Qs into one doc and send it to McGquire as quickly as possible.

Rick Hall (board): No questions. For housing issues in the future, can we look at impact of teleworking? Projections for teleworking are going off the chart. Can we include incentives for it? E.g. allowing for any company to allow % of workforce, amount of days for teleworking?

Rick Hall: We're forcing density into some cities and starving others. Anything that helps teleworking so they can live where they want to live and not concentrate in dense urban centers, because that will never be affordable.

Sen P: Every problem has a solution. It's a function of time, resources, and resolve. We have to have all three.

Sen P: We haver to tamp it down. Everybody does. Thank you for letting me on the call. Please get back to me with follow-ups and we'll continue the conversation.

He's hopping off the call now.

Jill: We're gonna do some the politicking Portantino didn't want to be a part of. Going to a PowerPoint. It's called the 3.5 million lie.

Jill: One of our main sources for why these bills make the crisis work is Michael Storper. Upzoning is too radical causes speculation. He's one of the experts we rely on for how we feel about these laws. & Embarcadero Institute shows that few cities will ever hit low-income goals

Jill: bills we're most worried about

Jill: Land use attorney Robert Silverstein will be on a special call next week to talk about this legislation. We're scared because these bills are coming fast.

Next is AB 725, the "Written by YIMBY" Bill. It passed the Assembly with virtually no discussion. But we figured out what it does thanks to Maria in Sherman Oaks. Her husband is a land use attorney.

Jill: AB 725 shifts housing into "very nice, thriving areas."

Jill explaining RHNA: It's being used to punish cities. It's highly politicized. It's being weaponized every years now." People need to ask, "Is it cool to weaponize this tool?"

Now SB 902: It lets cities override votes to allow ten-unit luxury apartments. It's going to affect any area considered transit-rich, jobs-rich, or urban infill. Cities protected spaces could be overridden. 10-unit luxury apartments were the core of SB 50. "He won't let it go."

Now onto SB 1085 (Skinner). Last year she brought us a terrible bill which passed, SB 330, which let luxury apartments be approved faster with no low-income units. It's basically a "going huge gone density bonus."

Jill: It's like the density bonus. But density bonus backfires because the apartments never have enough affordable units in them and the city gets blamed. The bonus is "failing."

Now AB 1279 by Bloom, who's "the Scott Wiener of southern California." All of these working class communities who have never heard of RHNA will be punished. [That's uh, kind of paternalistic.]

SB 995 is now up. It tears up CEQA. We found in LA this is a meaningless phrase. They're going to put twin luxury apartment buildings on top of a fault.

Jill: "We think [Caballero] is a bit off on this bill." It allows mostly luxury projects to come into retail spaces. It gives developers a lot of control. "We don't think she's part of the Wiener problem" so we'll reach out to her. [WTF?]

Jill: SB 1299 allows cities to VOLUNTARILY REZONE. Cities will give up some power in taking the money. We think it's really good and we appreciate that Senator Portantino sat down and thought about not attacking the cities and using RHNA as a weapon.

Jill: SB 50 is back. The Bay Area writes the bills and the Southern California representatives ask questions about the bills. We could be wrong. We thought that Atkins will pressure the Appropriations Committee, but Portantino today said he didn't feel pressure.

Jill: These are the people who can stop bad bills. And the state will be radically altered by some of these bills.

Jill: We don't have the same problems as the Bay Area. The Bay Area is trying to fix a completely different trouble. We have different problems. And we're jam packed with Assembly members.

Jill is responding to questions from that chat. E.g. have any assumptions changed? Airbnb is collapsing. They controlled 90,000 apartments, which were stolen for the hotel industry. I don't think anyone in the legislature has thought about that.

Jill: LA is not growing. SF is not growing. You'd never hear that from people creating these new laws.

Maria from Sherman Oaks is back: we're following SB 899, another Wiener bill. Allows churches to build housing on their properties. They may have parking lots they could build on. But they could build "as high as three stories" [gasp] on it.

Jill: who's the author on it?

Maria: Wiener.

Jill: Bummer. Look, a lot of these bills are written by private industries and given to Wiener. I'd ask if Wiener's staff knows "there's a big hole in that bill."

@anniefryman I hope you know who's writing Scott Wiener's bills.

Rick is now letting Tony Wilkinson from Panorama City Neighborhood Council speak.

Tony: we're running out of time with these bills. It's time to think about political retribution—putting vote totals out there and give activists tools to put pressure on local representatives.

Next speaker: Some developers are putting a lot of homes on a quarter acre. Is there a minimum lot size for some of these bills?

Jill: I think the big bill, SB 1120, has a minimum lot size, yes. [1200 sqft IIRC.] Robert Silverstein will read this bill and tell us what it means.

Jill: This is a hurried session. Usually there's a 1,000 laws—they don't look at some of them. Thankfully there are fewer bills this year.

Interesting observation from the chat.

Big news, if true, about Jackie Fielder.

David from Silver Like area in LA: many neighbors are shocked to hear what the zoning is in their neighborhood is. People need to be emailed blitzes like "know your zone and how it could change." People's birthdays don't change—this could have 5,500-year ramifications.

David: In one instance, govt gave 11 feet to a developer for more affordable. Great for affordability, but "not worth it for what we lost."

I guess Livable CA doesn't think affordable housing is worthwhile?

He repeated it in the chat:

Jill: SB 1120 will result in massive changes but there's no media coverage. We don't know how to pierce that.

Caller asking about a recent CA Senate hearing: There were people from Habitat for Humanity calling in to the Senate Housing Committee. Every bill which was not a good bill was being approved.

Jill explaining how bills have to go through multiple committees.

Jill: Last year, Sen Portantino was one of the people who helped slow down SB 50 by holding it. This year, the Senate is gonna quickly approve these bills. It's been chaotic, a disaster since these bills have been released.

Someone from the Bay Are calling in: I was stunned that Sen Portantino said 1120 would pass. So many things are getting done without anybody knowing. The punishment of RHNA has got to be objected to by the people of this state. Things are coming too fast.

Contd: There's no transparency. You have no time to mount a defense. And this is a state with many diff population areas. So many of these solutions are statewide but the places with the problems are high-population areas. That's very insensitive of leadership.

Jill reading a comment from the mayor of Redondo Beach, Bill Brand: At 11,000 residents per square mile in Redondo Beach, we are built out.

Gab Layton from Embarcadero Institute is here: we're doing some initial analysis on the senators/assemblymembers most concerned about housing like Wiener, Wicks and money come to them from real estate & construction.

Jill: Wow, that sounds like a real Christmas present from Gab Layton. I'd like to start analyzing Southern CA legislators. That's an incredible offer on your part. You are awesome.

An attorney (not land use) from SF: These elected officials are out of touch. There should be political pressure to reach out and try to call them.

Jill: We're asking people to pick up the phone and ask for a Zoom meeting with staff.

Wow, an excellent point from the chat.

Another caller is complaining about the volume of bills.

Jill agrees: We have trouble keeping track of more than four bills. We've sent out press releases with the wrong number of bills because of this.

Another caller from SF: I think we should propose a referendum which says that everyone is entitled to sunshine and fresh air, which would block upzoning. We should also recall senators willing to destroy single-family neighborhoods.

Jill: That would require a vast amount of money.

Jill now talking about bill which said 2/3 of tech workers would leave the Bay Area if they could work remote. Last call we had an expert say that they did a survey which said only 10% of workers want to go back to the office when COVID-19 is over. Legislators have no idea.

Paul Foreman is here from Alameda. He's written op-eds for the East Bay Times: Politicians are taking advantage of a crisis. In Alameda, people are objecting to this on both sides of the issue.

Ken Rackow and Erica Zwieg are both in the chat. They're some of the organizers of D4ward in the Sunset.

Someone asking if people living in David Chiu's and Scott Wiener's bills can meet with them.

Jill: You can try. They think they're gods. David Chiu was very rude to us in a recent hearing.

Alix is here from Venice Neighborhood Council. Asking for help with a motion to pass in the neighborhood council system.

Jill: Last year Paul Koretz took the lead in fighting SB 50 in LA. Now, cities are overwhelmed with COVID. "Wiener is using his brilliant little mind to squeeze things now."

Rick Hall: I'm pessimistic that the whole Atkins package is greased. Not one of them is going to be stopped in the Senate. Maybe in the Assembly since it's not their package, but maybe it's greased there, too.

Jill: They've met quietly for four months to come up with the package. 't think they're all on board. Two of the people on the task force did not praise the package. They only said things like, it's nice to work with these people.

Rick Hall: May 29 was the last day for Senate bills originating there to be referred to the Appropriations Comitteee. Applies to the Assembly, too. June 5 is last day for policy committees to pass non-fiscal bills passed in their house.

Rick: June 19 is last day for bills introduced in their house to go to the floor. That's the last day things can come out of appropriations.

Caller from LA: I've got something about SB 1120. I read a white paper pertaining to LA. Eviction pressure will come in two waves after COVID-19 to affect 120,000 households. People will be put on the street.

Caller contd: With SB 1120, when you evict people living in single-family homes and create a townhouse for $1.6M, that's not affordable housing. A possible amendment would be no investors/LLCs would be able to do this. Huge number of hedge fund owned houses.

Caller contd: We've been calling for density bonus to be amended for a long time. It does not work. You do not need to add incentives. You need to add low-income units.

Caller contd: SB 1120 has potential huge problems—no funding for police, fire, sewers. 4 units with 2 bathrooms each will cause huge problems. And they'll rip down all the trees. There won't be trees on any of these lots. And development will hit wires and start fires.

Jill reading a Q, will these bills affect Central Valley?

Jill: They're statewide laws, so yes. You'll see triplexes and fourplexes on single-family lots. It depends on what speculators want to buy. "They're going to repress home ownership in California."

Jill: The state legislature could be putting a noose around the neck of the state budget right now by repressing home ownership. I'm just looking forward to a couple years from now.

[What... the fuck]

Caller: it's going to expensive for cities to provide new sewer and power connections. How SB 1120 is an economic recovery bill escapes me. The requirement to provide trash pickup—and whether these lots have legal frontage?

Caller contd: They're saying that these bills follow city's design and setback rules. They said that about the ADU bills. Then they came back and wiped out those rules. I don't trust them anymore.

Oh wow, that comment was made by Emily Gabel-Luddy, former Mayor of Burbank.

Jill: Next weel, Robert Silverstein is going to be on the call to analyze state bills.

Jill: Nothing is assured. SB 50 was a slam dunk at the start of January. Even greased bills get killed in Sacramento. That's all I'm gonna say.

Stephen Nestel: Every underlying assumption is out the window now. All the bills in Sacramento are about old information.

Jill: I think everyone is in agreement on that.

Jill: AB 3040 targets for development homes which are 15 years or old. That targets the Gen X crowd. They all bought their homes around that time.

Jill: Chiu went off on LC for saying that AB 3040 would cause black and brown neighborhoods to be bought out, saying that we were using them as a "cloak" and that zoning was originally related to racism. So we're thinking about retaliating at some point.

I think LC is just using the meeting now to kvetch to each other. I'm gonna tap out. Thanks for reading.