Policy and a Pint: Affordable Housing on the Voting Ballot

California Groundbreakers

It's obvious that "affordable" and "housing" rarely go together in California. We're known for having some of the highest rental and housing prices in the U.S. But some Californians are taking action by: * fighting for more funding for affordable housing construction * authoring laws that create higher-density housing and forces cities to meet their housing goals * demanding rent control on apartment buildings, and demanding the repeal of a law that forbids it And come November 6, Californians will be voting on some of their actions on the state ballot, and many local ones, too. This "Policy and a Pint" focuses on the latest efforts to create more affordable housing -- by the state legislature, local advocacy groups, and the construction industry -- and what to keep in mind when voting "yay" or "nay" on them on your ballot. PANELISTS * Jovanna Fajardo, Sacramento Director of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, one of the groups in the Sacramento 4 Housing coalition that's trying to get a rent-control measure on the Sacramento ballot this November * Ioannis Kazanis, Communications Director for North State Building Industry Association, top advocate for the homebuilding industry in the Sacramento region * State Senator Scott Wiener (D - San Francisco), who has authored multiple housing bills * Holly Wunder Stiles - director of housing development for Mutual Housing, which builds and manages sustainable housing in Northern California PODCAST TIMEFRAME * 0 to 4:30 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers * 4:30 min - Panelists introduce themselves -- and talk about their most memorable house-hunting experiences in California * 10:20 min - The housing-specific bills Scott Wiener got passed last year, and the ones he wants to get passed this year * 18 min - California homebuilders' POV on how the state legislature is handling this * 25:30 min - How will the federal tax reform bill that just got passed affect the Veterans Housing and Affordable Housing Bond Act that we're voting in 2018? * 27:40 min - The efforts to put rent-control and just-cause measures on the ballot, and getting them applied to more housing statewide * 35:50 min - Specifics about adding anti-demolition language, inclusionary programs and an affordability requirement to SB 827 * 43 min - If we don't control rent control, how can we prevent landlords from drastically increasing rents? * 46:20 min - What's the way to do "the middle housing" in a speedy, viable way? * 49:45 min - How SB 827's streamlined permitting process will surpass CEQA in the development review -- and will that be a good thing? * 51:30 min - Should we call a housing emergency city- or state-wide to create housing and shelter for the homeless? * 58 min - The downsides of SB 827 when it comes to holding cities more accountable to meeting homebuilding levels * 1 hr, 35 sec - The "third rail" of Proposition 13 - will a repeal of it ever show up on the ballot? * 1 hr, 4 min - Can homebuilders and rent-control advocates come to a compromise? * 1 hr, 8:10 min - "I'm going to be retiring, my lease is due, and I'm going to have to get the heck out of California - there's no way I can afford to live here anymore." * 1 hr, 14:15 min - With NIMBYs vs YIMBYs fighting on either side of the housing battle, what should Californians keep in mind, especially come voting time?