Can We Cool It with the Ballot Box Planning Measures Already?
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With defeats of Measures S and LV, voters have rejected the myth that the problems of urban planning can be solved with a simple yes-or-no vote at the ballot box
Recent Streetsblog CALIFORNIA posts about Santa Monica Next
State Legislators Put California’s Housing Crisis in the Crosshairs
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At a press conference in San Francisco Friday, state legislators announced their plans to tackle California’s growing housing crisis. As a lack of new housing construction continues to make California unaffordable for all but the wealthiest households, Assemblymembers Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), and Kevin Mullin […]
Santa Monica Lawmaker Introduces Bill to End Statewide Rent Control Limitations
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Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) introduced a bill that would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, the 1995 state law that weakened the strictest rent control laws in the state. The law required cities to allow property owners to raise rents on units when they were vacated, a practice that had been prohibited by strict rent control laws in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Berkeley, Cotati, and East Palo Alto.
Governor Brown to City Governments: It’s On You to Make California Affordable Again
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Governor Brown's budget proposal explicitly states that money for affordable housing will not come out of the State’s General Fund and no new funding sources will be available without significant reform to local laws that currently stand in the way of housing growth
Lack of Housing Growth Compounding Inequality, Says CA Housing Dept.
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Housing affordability in California is the worst it has been in state history according to a report from the CA Dept. of Housing and Community Development. The affordability crisis is due to a dire housing shortage and an overall failure of CA cities to allow enough new housing growth to absorb growing demand.
Bloom Tapped to Head Budget Subcommittee on Sustainability and Transportation
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For the fourth year in a row, Santa Monica Assembly representative Richard Bloom will chair the State Assembly’s budget subcommittee that oversees spending on pressing environmental issues such as transportation and greenhouse gas reductions.