California

California SB 902

July 3, 2020 / California, Housing, Politics

This bill, which passed the state Senate by a 33-3 vote June 22, would allow cities to grant by-right zoning approval for up to ten units in transit- and job-rich areas.

The bill is now headed to the Assembly for review.

In short, SB 902 would permit, but not require, local governments to implement zoning ordinances to permit housing projects of up to 10 units without CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) review, if the housing is located in a transit- or jobs-rich area or in an urban infill site.

San Francisco-based State Senator Scott Wiener says that this bill “provides cities with a powerful new tool to quickly re-zone for increased density.”

The bill was introduced following the Senate defeat of Wiener’s SB 50, a controversial housing production bill that would have preempted local control of zoning.

“If SB 902 becomes law, it would be among the most powerful tools cities have to increase the number of affordable homes in our cities,” read a June 23 statement from advocacy group California YIMBY celebrating the bill’s victory in the Senate.

-- Larchmont Chronicle, July 1, 2020

Sen. Wiener Takes another Shot at Upzoning State's Single-Family Landscape (San Francisco Business Times, June 23, 2020)

YIMBY California's priority policy and legislation for 2020

Bay Area Budgeting 3

June 16, 2020 / California, Community Development Finance, Economics, Nonprofit, Oakland, San Francisco

California Legislature OKs Placeholder Budget as Talks with Newsom Continue (San Francisco Chronicle, June 15, 2020)

Oakland Schools Face $35 Million or More in Budget Cuts (East Bay Times, June 13, 2020)

SF, Other Bay Area Counties Facing Huge Bill from California at Worst Possible Time (San Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 2020)

California Legislature Pressing Forward on Budget Vote without Deal with Newsom (San Francisco Chronicle, June 10, 2020)

California Has One Week to Pass a Budget. Congress Doesn’t Plan to Help in Time — If at All (Sacramento Bee, June 8, 2020)

“Mutually Repugnant:” Gov. Newsom and Lawmakers Pursue Budget Compromise (CalMatters, June 7, 2020)

Editorial: California Lawmakers Need Federal Bailout to Plug Budget Holes (San Francisco Chronicle, June 6, 2020)

Editorial: California Legislature Needs to Get Real on Budget and Stop Counting on Federal Bailout (San Diego Union-Tribune, June 5, 2020)

Bay Area Budgeting 2

June 9, 2020 / California, Community Development Finance, Economics, Nonprofit, Oakland, San Francisco

California Would Delay Deepest Cuts under Legislature’s Alternative to Gavin Newsom’s Budget (Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle, June 4, 2020)

California Democrats Reject Newsom’s Budget Cuts, Make a Deal Counting on Money from Trump (Sacramento Bee, June 3, 2020)

As Cities Make Deep Cuts because of COVID-19, Police Departments Are Keeping Their Funding (Fast Company, June 1, 2020)

Will Effective K-12 Education Survive Gov. Newsom’s May Revise Budget? (Black Voice News, May 29, 2020)

California’s Coronavirus Budget Crisis Leaves Newsom and Lawmakers at Odds (John Myers in the Los Angeles Times, May 28, 2020)

California Assembly Meets as Rare Committee to Talk Budget (Santa Monica Daily Press, May 27, 2020)

Valid Assumptions or "Tacky bluffs" -- the Econ Forecast Shaping Newsom's Budget (ABC10.com, May 20, 2020)

The 2020‑21 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor's May Revision (Legislative Analyst's Office, May 17, 2020)

Safety Net Programs Threatened by California’s Budget Deficit (LA Progressive, undated)

State Budget Information (California State Association of Counties, undated)

Coronavirus Forces Sharp Cuts to Schools, Healthcare in California, Newsom Says (John Myers, Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2020)

Bay Area Budgeting 1

May 14, 2020 / California, Community Development Finance, Economics, Nonprofit, Oakland, San Francisco

News Analysis: California’s $54-Billion Deficit Fueled by Coronavirus Will Test a Decade of Preparations (John Myers, Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2020)

California Cut Schools and Raised Taxes in Its Last Recession. What Will Newsom Do Now? (Sacramento Bee, May 13, 2020)
BART Seeks Further Federal Funding to Address Deficit: "Our Budget Is Deep in the Red" (SFGATE, May 12, 2020)

Bay Area Cities Face Grim Financial Outlook amid Budget Slashing. Here’s What They Are Planning to Cut (San Francisco Chronicle, May 10, 2020)

California Is Reckoning With Its Huge Budget Deficits (Ed Kilgore at New York Magazine, May 7, 2020)

Here’s How a $54 Billion Deficit Will Hurt Californians (Calmatters.org, May 7, 2020)

California Lawmakers Set to Return Monday as Coronavirus Lingers (KTLA.com, May 3, 2020)

CalMatters Commentary: State Budget Will Take a Very Big Hit from Coronavirus (Ventura County Star, May 3, 2020)

We Surveyed the "Rainy day" Funds of 6 States to See How Prepared They Were for a Major Emergency. The Results Paint a Grim Picture for the Country's Economic Recovery (Business Insider, May 2, 2020)

California Governor: Expect Budget Gap in "Tens of Billions" (Bloomberg, May 1, 2020)

Coronavirus: Alameda County Finances to Suffer because of Pandemic (East Bay Times, May 1, 2020)

Opinion: City and State Auditors Warn of Oakland's Financial Peril and Mismanagement (Oakland Post, April 30, 2020)

Tough Times for Oakland as Coronavirus Outbreak Blows Giant Hole in Budget (San Francisco Chronicle, April 26, 2020)

Bay Area Braces for Budget Deficits as Coronavirus Dries Up Local Tax Dollars (KQED.org, April 24, 2020)

Coronavirus Prompts California Cities To Project 2-Year Losses Of $6.7 Billion (CBSN Bay Area, April 24, 2020)

Looming Budget Crisis "Like Nothing Oakland Has Ever Before Experienced" (Berkeleyside, April 21, 2020)

Coronavirus: East Bay Cities Bracing for Financial Hit as They Prepare Budgets (San Jose Mercury News, April 21, 2020)

Coronavirus: Financial Crisis for School Districts in Alameda Co. (Alameda, CA Patch, 4/20/2020)

Breed, Tubbs, Liccardo Supporting Bloomberg

January 25, 2020 / California, Politics

Mayors London Breed of San Francisco, Sam Liccardo of San Jose, and Michael Tubbs of Stockton have all endorsed Michael Bloomberg for President, despite minimal support among their constituents for his candidacy, according to The Guardian:

There’s nothing surprising about a billionaire winning the support of the mayor of San Francisco, a city flush with tech wealth and new money.

But when the billionaire is Mike Bloomberg – and the endorsement is the latest from a string of California mayors he mentored and supported – the vow of support raises some eyebrows.

Bloomberg announced on Thursday that London Breed, San Francisco’s first black female mayor, would serve as his campaign’s chair of African Americans.

“Voters re-elected London Breed by a wide margin because she is taking on the biggest and toughest issues – and she puts progress over politics,” the former New York mayor said in a statement. “I’m honored to have her support and look forward to working with her not only to win this election, but to help make San Francisco and all of California stronger, fairer, and greener – with more affordable housing, more good jobs, and healthcare for all.”

Breed, who previously supported the California Senator Kamala Harris in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination, said on Facebook that she is backing Bloomberg because he “is the only candidate for president with a real plan for African Americans”, touting his Greenwood Initiative to increase black home ownership and the number of black-owned businesses.

All three mayors have attended Bloomberg's Harvard City Leadership Initiative program. Bloomberg was the first choice of only two percent of California Democrats in a December University of Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll. He has spent $24 million on political ads in California (all other candidates have spent $5 million) and is skipping early primary states to focus on California and other Super Tuesday states.

California Senator Kamala Harris

December 3, 2019 / California, Democratic Party, Oakland, Politics

Senator Kamala Harris of California dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday after months of low poll numbers and a series of missteps that crippled her campaign, a deflating comedown for a barrier-breaking candidate who was seeking to become the first black woman to win a major party’s presidential nomination.

The decision came after weeks of upheaval among Ms. Harris’s staff, including layoffs in New Hampshire and at her headquarters in Baltimore, and disarray among her allies. She told supporters in an email on Tuesday that she lacked the money needed to fully finance a competitive campaign.

“My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue,” Ms. Harris wrote. “But I want to be clear with you: I am still very much in this fight.”

The announcement is perhaps the most surprising development to date in a fluid Democratic presidential campaign where Ms. Harris began in the top tier. Her departure removes a prominent woman of color from a field that started as the most racially diverse ever in a Democratic primary, and raises the prospect that this month’s debate in Los Angeles will feature no candidates who aren’t white.
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Ms. Harris opened her campaign on Martin Luther King’s Birthday with a rousing speech in her hometown, Oakland, Calif., before an audience of 20,000 people, drawing comparisons to history-making black politicians like Barack Obama and Shirley Chisholm.