November 2024 Voter Guide

Buffy Wicks showed Californians what true grit looks like when she took personal risk during shelter-in-place to show up on the Assembly floor with her newborn and speak up for SB 1120. From her first year in the Assembly, Assemblymember Wicks has led on housing issues, with keen insight on policy details that have an outsized impact on housing. Combined with the courage to move forward on important bills even when they face resistance, Buffy Wicks has become a crucial housing champion in Sacramento. She has authored and co-authored powerful bills on a broad range of housing issues, including a state-wide rental registry, housing element strengthening and important permit streamlining legislation, and dozens more. We need more legislators like Assemblymember Wicks, who see the human cost of our housing crisis, give it the attention it deserves, and fight to build the homes we need at a scale that counts.

Mia Bonta is a consistent vote for housing, focused on the deep need for subsidized affordable housing and strong tenants protections. In her questionnaire, Mia told us:

We support Prop 5 because we support more funding for affordable housing. Prop 5 would make it easier for local governments to raise money for affordable housing by allowing bonds to pass with 55% of the vote. This will make it easier for the state legislature to pass bills that fund housing and critical public infrastructure. We wholeheartedly support this effort.

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We oppose Prop 33 because it would allow NIMBY cities to completely block new housing, driving up the cost of housing for everyone over the long term.

Prop 33 would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a 1995 state law that generally prevents local governments from limiting what landlords can charge new tenants when they first move in. It also prevents cities from limiting rent increases that existing tenants can be charged in housing built on or after Feb. 1, 1995.

YIMBY Action has supported measures that would curb dramatic year-over-year increases in rent, such as the 2019 anti-rent gouging measure in the CA Legislature (AB 1482). But Prop 33 is poorly written and will allow wealthy cities to block new affordable homes from being built.

Prop 33 blocks the state from putting any reasonable checks on local rent control policies, allowing local governments to “maintain, enact or expand residential rent control.” This is a recipe for systemic denial of new housing because wealthy cities constantly look for ways to avoid building more homes. We can already see what anti-housing jurisdictions are planning, for example Former Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland has already openly stated that he’s excited for this measure because it will allow them to block new homes.

We oppose Prop 33 because it is poorly written and will give wealthy communities a powerful tool to block housing all income levels.

"Andrew said he thinks affordable housing measures that exclude funds from private and for-profit developers miss out on one of the most efficient ways to develop new affordable housing."

Rebecca Saltzman has been a champion for transit oriented development as a member of BART Board of Directors. Her work in bicycle advocacy with Bike East Bay also makes her a well rounded candidate for El Cerrito City Council.

In her own words "Barnali is excited to shepherd housing and mixed development projects on BART properties, maximizing housing affordability, creating jobs, and enhancing the vibrancy and cultural legacy of the neighborhoods in which they inhabit. These are critical projects for BART and the broader community."

As BART continues to recover from the pandemic, we look to the BART board for vision on transit AND support of more housing at BART stations throughout East Bay. While organizing with Latine Young Dems and CA Young Dems, Victor Flores has fought for the state housing laws that are turning the tide on our housing crisis, including SB 9, SB 423, and AB 2011.
In his words: "Building more houses and equitable urban planning isn't just good housing policy, it's great transit and environmental policy!"