Issue Position: Taking the Housing Crisis Head On

Issue Position

Our East Bay community faces a severe shortage of homes that are affordable to low- and middle-income young people, families, and seniors. Too many members of our diverse community--from artists and teachers to service workers and seniors who've contributed to our community--are being displaced, and we need to provide as much protection as possible to those facing wrongful evictions and skyrocketing rents. As your Assemblymember, I would champion three key approaches to address our community's shortage of homes: one, build more affordable homes for low-income people more quickly two, protect existing tenants from displacement, especially seniors and people with disabilities and three, grow in a smart way by building more homes in walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods, so we can share our community while protecting our East Bay way of life.

We must also recognize that the shortage of homes in our community cuts across other issues: exacerbating homelessness, contributing to more greenhouse gas emissions from workers forced into long car commutes, and denying low-income families and hardworking young people equal access to the world-class educational and professional opportunities of the Bay Area. I believe in--and am committed to fighting for--an East Bay that is sustainable and accessible to all.

The Bay Area's housing crisis saps our incomes, shuts out members of our community, and reduces diversity. Here are some ideas for how to address it.

The greatest threat to our prosperity, diversity and equity in the Bay Area is the skyrocketing cost of housing. Neighborhoods with access to good schools and public transportation are now out of reach even for middle-income families. Our housing crisis is part and parcel of our broader struggle with growing wealth inequality California has the highest concentration of billionaires and millionaires, while at the same time 40% of population is living at or near the poverty line. Housing is a fundamental human need and our current status quo is simply not meeting that need.

Forcing people from all walks of life to move further and further away from their jobs and spend hours on the road commuting is not a Bay Area or progressive value. Our severe housing shortage is pushing away the very people that give our communities their strength, vitality, and character. Teachers, first responders, restaurant workers, seniors, artists, and activists find themselves increasingly excluded from the Bay Area's thriving urban centers, disproportionately impacting communities of color.

Bay Area cities that refuse to build enough housing for the people who work there do real harm to individual and public health, to our environment, and most of all, to the people who are left homeless by the housing shortage. As I work to address California's housing crisis, I will never forget there are people for whom our decisions can mean the difference between being housed and being on street.

As the next Assemblymember for District 15, I would fight for progressive and practical solutions that focus on creating homes for everyone who wants to be a part of our community. I firmly believe that we can achieve sensible policies that create housing, strengthen our neighborhoods, and help the Bay Area live up to its values of welcoming newcomers and sharing prosperity.

The California legislature with leadership by the Bay Area's very own Senators Skinner and Weiner, and Assembly Members Thurmond, Bonta, and Chiu took a significant step in the right direction last fall by passing a set of bills called the "Housing Package." The Housing Package provides funding to house the homeless, helps communities better plan for new residents, and speeds up homebuilding in places that aren't building their fair share of homes. But we have to do more.

Here's what I will fight for as your next Assemblymember:
Build more homes for folks at all income levels and build them quickly.

We need more housing across the board. We need affordable housing for families and folks threatened by homelessness. Our homelessness crisis is squarely a result of our housing shortage. To fix this, we need to expand upon the affordable housing funding measures passed in the legislature last year to increase the production of subsidized housing for low income people. This means we need to pass the $4 billion dollar statewide housing bond. In addition, we should consider creating the California Public Infrastructure Bank, devoted to financing more affordable housing. We also need more homes for our teachers, nurses, non-profit workers and other middle-income folks. To this end, we should create workforce housing and reclaim public lands like parking lots for housing. We should also support alternative ways to promote more housing like incentivizing limited equity housing cooperatives and accessory dwelling units. Building more homes at all income levels low income and market rate will ease the pressure cooker nature of our market and get Bay Area people into the homes they need.

Protect existing tenants from displacement, especially seniors and people with disabilities.

We have to guard aggressively against displacement and create a safety net for low income families, who are our most vulnerable residents on the brink of instability. Two out of five Californians live in or around the poverty line. Three out of four Californians can't weather an emergency expense of $700 or more. Nearly half of renters spend 35% of of their income on rent. We can create policy and provide relief in a few potential ways.

One, we should fix Costa-Hawkins, the state law which outlaws rent stabilization for any unit built after 1995. One potential fix could include a rolling date for buildings to come under local rent stabilization laws, as opposed to the 1995 fixed date. This would ensure new housing can be financed and built to support community needs while still empowering local municipalities to implement appropriate rent stabilization measures.
Secondly, we should significantly increase and expand the Renters Tax Credit (RTC) and set rates based on metro area. The RTC is currently only $60 per person or $120 for a family. Homeowners get the financial benefit of deducting their mortgage interest. Renters need relief too. Putting real money into the pockets of our renters can go along way to helping those out who are $700 away from falling over a precipice and spiraling into poverty.
Lastly, to prevent unscrupulous landlords from wrongly kicking tenants out of their homes, I would also push for legal services for folks facing unfair eviction. We know this works. We've seen success in the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act pilot program designed to help low-income Californians facing high-stakes civil cases. The results were a drastic increase in the likelihood of settlement, the majority of which reduced back-owed rent or helped protect tenants' credit by keeping eviction notices off the public record. Among Shriver program clients, 67% of cases settled, as compared to 34% of people who represented themselves. While all Shriver clients received eviction notices, only 6% were ultimately evicted from their homes. Let's bring this to scale and really help those that need it.
Grow in a sustainable way by building more homes in walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods.
As progressives, we know that welcoming new people to our country and our communities does not mean sacrificing our quality of life. Our cities are far too dependent on cars, roadways, and interstates. As we build new housing, we need to do so in forward thinking ways that makes walking possible and incentivizes use of public transportation and bike commuting. Consequently, we should be linking our housing goals with transportation funding so we can create incentives for cities to build. Creating walkable neighborhoods along transit corridors is critical to meet our climate action goals and support safe and healthy communities.
Tackle Our Homelessness Crisis Head On
We can't talk about housing without addressing our growing homelessness crisis. We see it everyday and it's time to act. We need to do three things: one, we should provide a safety net to prevent homelessness before it starts. Those most vulnerable are folks who are exiting from criminal justice, health care, child welfare system and military institutions. They should be discharged into stable housing, rather than onto the street. We should provide mental health services, substance abuse counseling, education and employment assistance. Secondly, we need to prevent chronic homelessness by responding quickly to those newly on the streets. Folks need access to shelters with low barriers of entry and rapid rehousing with short term rental assistance. Lastly, we need to invest significant resources for the chronically homeless and those with severe disabilities. This means permanent supportive housing without any preconditions, which is a necessary foundation to begin treating health issues. This should be housing with no time limit and wraparound supportive services that promote residents' recovery and maximize their independence.
I believe in and am committed to fighting for an East Bay that is sustainable and accessible to all. This is why Assemblymember David Chiu, chair of the Housing Committee, and State Senator Scott Wiener, a member of the Housing and Transportation Committee, have endorsed my candidacy. We need practical, pragmatic policies to get us there. I know from talking to you and your family, friends, and neighbors that you expect a representative who not only cares about your issues, but who is dedicated to achieving workable solutions that can win statewide support. I believe that I am the candidate who can meet those expectations, and I hope you'll join with me as I work to bring California home.

My Plan to Solve our Homeless Crisis
We are in the middle of an unconscionable homeless crisis -- over 130,000 Californians currently are living in shelters or on the streets. We see its symptoms everywhere in the East Bay; it's hard to walk down the street without seeing someone who is living and sleeping where no person should have to live and sleep: on the sidewalk, in a tent under the freeway, in a car or a falling-down building with no heat. We all see the stress, stigma, and pain that comes with being unhoused, and we all feel helpless at times about what we can do.
This crisis affects us all: when people must live in these places not meant for human habitation, they are robbed of their dignity, health, and access to basic human rights. And the mental and physical health and safety problems that often arise when people are forced to live on the street can create serious public health and safety risks for both the homeless and surrounding community members. People of color are disproportionately represented in our homeless population, making this not only a housing issue, but a racial justice crisis -- in Alameda County alone, nearly 50% of homeless individuals identify as black. We also have more unaccompanied children, veterans, and people with disabilities who are experiencing long-term homelessness than any other U.S. state.
This is a problem for all of us, and we must all be part of the solution. Despite how hopeless the magnitude of this crisis can make us feel, I refuse to normalize this unjust reality. We can and must do a better job at helping all our community members find and sustain permanent housing.
Our homelessness crisis is a direct symptom of our housing shortages, inadequate social safety net, mass incarceration policies, holes in our health care and education systems, and structural racism. To truly eliminate homelessness in California, we must take an approach that is creative, compassionate, and just. We must create more affordable homes, and we must expand our wraparound services that help people get back on their feet and stay there. We must uphold the dignity and rights of our unhoused friends and neighbors and use a multi-pronged and collaborative action plan to help all our community members find a place to call home.
Here's how I would tackle our homelessness crisis:
Increase our permanent housing options:
It's no surprise that the lack of housing in our district and state is the strongest predictor of our growing homeless rates. Today, two out of five Californians live in or around the poverty line, and nearly half of all Californian families cannot afford the cost of their local housing. This makes a huge percentage of us one car breakdown or medical crisis away from homelessness. And our shameful history of redlining and racism means that communities of color are most impacted by this threat.
Getting more low- and middle-income people into affordable homes is my top priority. We need to make it easier for cities to build new units at all income levels, and we need to make sure that all new building projects include significant percentages of units that are truly affordable for low- and middle-income people. To accomplish this, we must reform our land use policies, make it easier to build accessory-dwelling units, encourage landlords to rent to formerly homeless folks, and incentivize new transit-based housing development along our BART corridors (see my housing plan for more on this.) We must also make sure that all our homelessness policies truly start with "Housing First": we've got to dedicate many more units to public housing for people experiencing homelessness, fund more supportive housing sites, and provide flexible dollars for subsidies that allow these people to keep their housing once they find it.
Better collaboration and funding allocation statewide:
Funding for addressing homelessness comes from all levels of government, and most is currently funneled into 46 separate "Continuums of Care" (CoCs) throughout California, which trickles down to cities and community-based organizations to use for their programs and shelters. And even at the state level, our homeless service system is fragmented -- --at least 18 different agencies currently fund and implement homeless assistance or prevention programs. All of these different players and pieces means that it's hard to ensure that dollars move smoothly and quickly through our system and that all players can collaborate with each other to get homeless people the supports they need.
If we're truly going to solve this crisis, we must do a better job of tackling it together. I support Gavin Newsom's plan to create a homelessness czar that would help us better collaborate on regional and state-level programs and streamline our funding to make every dollar count the most.
Prevent Homelessness Before It Starts: A Robust Social Safety Net:
The best and most just solution to our homeless crisis is to prevent people from becoming unhoused in the first place. To do this, we must invest further in our social safety net, and put better mechanisms in place in our schools, hospitals, jails, and community hubs to identify and reach out to those at risk of losing their homes. The resources we spend here on our students, friends, and neighbors will help keep our community members housed, and will save us money in the long-run.
This means we need to bolster our public programs that give low-income people access to fresh food, rent assistance, quality health care, higher education, and job training. We should make these services more accessible especially for people who are formerly incarcerated, disabled, veterans, or foster youth, as these groups experience the highest rates of homelessness.
We also need more nurses and counselors in schools who can identify students with physical or mental stress or illness around their family's housing situations, and connect them with these public supports. Without these resources, our students too often slip through the cracks -- more than 200,000 of California's students reported being homeless at some point in the 2016--2017 school year. Our schools are community hubs that can lead the way in preventing homelessness -- but we must provide them with the funding and staffing they need to do so.
Finally, we need to significantly expand tenant protections so that people are not unjustly or unexpectedly displaced from their homes by profit-driven landlords. In the East Bay where more and more of our community members live in constant fear of eviction, I support bolstering our just cause eviction laws, reforming Costa-Hawkins, increasing and expanding the Renters Tax Credit (RTC), and guaranteeing legal services for anyone facing unfair eviction.
A Public Health Approach: Strong Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment Services
Homelessness often involves a serious mental illness or substance abuse cycle: those who lack mental health care services or substance abuse treatment services are more likely to become homeless, and homelessness often causes serious mental illness. Because of this cycle, about 1 in 5 homeless individuals report a mental health illness and/or a substance abuse disorder.
Yet too often, we simply lock these people up instead of addressing the root problem. A person dealing with severe mental illness in California is four times more likely to be in prison than in a state mental healthcare facility. Not only does this approach to homelessness and mental health lack compassion and equity considerations, but it results in too much spending on our jails that we desperately need for our schools, transportation, and public housing. The National Institute of Health found that about 15% of incarcerated people had dealt with an episode of homeless in the year prior to their incarceration. We need to do away with local policies that criminalize homelessness, and we need to expand the use of behavioral health and substance abuse treatment alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders that are struggling with these issues.
Our community clinics and nonprofit service organizations are fundamental supports for this work, and we must expand their capacity to provide effective outreach for and serve our homeless population (see my health care plan for more on this.)
So how do we fund this work? The Mental Health Services Act provides us with a stable funding source for services to our homeless community members with mental health needs. But more than a decade after it was passed, state officials are missing the data to understand if and how that money is being used and whether it is truly helping this population. And a huge portion of that money is currently being held up in administrative court proceedings. I support Proposition 2, which would help immediately free up the 2 billion dollars allocated by the 2016 No Place Like Home program to provide supportive housing services to homeless people with mental illnesses.
Improve our Whole-Care System to Increase Exits to Housing
We have a complex web of programs and services throughout California that offer shelters and programs to help care for and rehouse homeless people. But connecting to these services is too often confusing, laborious, and frustrating. We need to further streamline people's access to the specific housing and whole-care services that will best serve their unique needs. And we need to take steps to improve and expand the parts of our homeless support system that are most compassionate and effective in getting people back into homes, and change or replace those which aren't.
This starts with improving our outreach services. We need more trained staff who can connect with people experiencing homelessness- especially those who are not currently accessing public services- and understand their unique situation and needs. We should not be using outreach to force people off the street, but rather as a way to build relationships and trust with our homeless neighbors and match them with supportive services. Outreach teams can also do important work to communicate with the general public and change negative stigmas around homelessness.
We must also make sure that our emergency shelters, which are critical resources to immediately support our unhoused neighbors, are structured and run in a way that is compassionate and culturally competent. A significant percentage of California's unsheltered homeless population currently choose not to access public shelters because of cleanliness or privacy issues. All our shelters and navigation centers should be low-barrier -- that means clean, welcoming of partners and pets, and equipped with on-site access to social services that homeless people rely on.
We must also face the reality that while emergency and temporary shelters are critical resources to help people get off the streets in the short-term, they are a band-aid to our homelessness problem, not a permanent solution. In the long-term, we need to increase our use of flexible fund programs like rapid-rehousing and interim housing models that enable local governments and community-based organizations to provide client-specific support. These supports include housing search assistance, time-limited housing subsidies, and wraparound services ranging from transportation and child care to mental health services and addiction treatment. Research shows that these programs can be cheaper and significantly more effective than traditional shelters in helping people end homelessness -- especially for women and children.
For the chronically homeless in our communities -- who have experienced homelessness for at least a year and who have a disability -- we need to continue to provide permanent supportive housing, with ongoing subsidies and wraparound services, long after they have found housing.
Implementing all these programs well means that we need to allocate far more funding to solving homelessness, and be smart about how we use each dollar. We have strong federal funding sources through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Medical Mental Health Funding, as well as Prop 63 money statewide. But our skyrocketing rates of homelessness means we need increased funding, plain and simple. And to make each dollar count the most, we have to better streamline services so that each support provider, whether it's an agency or community-based organization, has access to the subsidies and flexible funds they need to make sure every person experiencing homelessness in California finds their way back to a permanent home.

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