Category: California

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Building Public Awareness

ONV Volunteers at the League of California Cities Conference Anaheim, September 23, 2026

In 2024, Our Neighborhood Voices, a 501(c)(4) campaign committee, welcomed the formation of a 501(c)(3) sister organization, Our Neighborhood Voices Education.  The sister organization was created to illuminate the issues and empower the public and city governments regarding their rights and possible solutions regarding local control.  It has built a statewide following and a network of local activist groups. Together, these groups increased public and local-government awareness of the issues and possible solutions, culminating in Friday’s vote of 253 California cities.

 

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What bills did Gavin Newsom sign into law — or veto — in his final year leading California?

By CalMatters Staff : Calmatters – excerpt

IN SUMMARY:  California lawmakers sent Gavin Newsom hundreds of bills in his final months as governor. Here’s how he handled proposals to counter the Trump administration, lower the cost of living, crack down on data centers and boost retirement plans for public employees.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is signing and vetoeing his last bills as California governor.

Wednesday is the final day for Newsom to weigh in on 1,160 bills that were sent to him by state legislators.

The governor, widely understood to be gearing up for a run for president, wanted the spotlight on some bills more than others. Special attention was paid to placing guardrails on artificial intelligence and standing up to President Donald Trump…(more)

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NEW CALIFORNIA LAW LIMITS PROSECUTORS’ POWER TO REINSTATE DISMISSED CHARGES

By Nicholas Petty From davisvanguard.org – excerpt

September 26, 2026 SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation changing how prosecutors can reinstate charges dismissed by a judge at a preliminary hearing, requiring prosecutors to present evidence and obtain judicial approval before those charges can be restored. The bill signed by Newsom, AB 1917, or the Respect Judicial Decisions Act, would require district attorneys to file a motion to add charges dropped by a judge during a preliminary hearing…  (more)

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Xavier Becerra gets to play it safe in the race for governor, and he isn’t making promises

Xavier Becerra says California needs to build more housing by reducing permitting times and making affordable housing funding easier to access, but he doesn’t want to say how many new homes he would deliver as governor. To address inequality, he’s considering whether the public should own shares of artificial intelligence companies, but he won’t commit to pursuing that policy.

If the Democratic candidate’s promises remain vague to Californians who, polls show, widely favor him for governor this November, he has an explanation — in the form of a regret dating back to 1993.

After campaigning against the North American Free Trade Agreement, the first-term Los Angeles-area congressmember was persuaded to vote for it, believing that adding some labor protections and a domestic lending program would shield American workers and small businesses from foreign competition. It only took a few years, Becerra recalled in an interview with CalMatters, to see American jobs displaced anyway.

For the young politician, it was a “pivotal lesson” with an enduring takeaway: Don’t back anything until you’re sure.

“No one gets my vote unless I know what I’m voting for completely,” he said… (more) 

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How cities are going to lose all control over housing development, soon

The Wiener Way Is getting a lot of pushback as people realize their rents are not going down as he promised they would. Question for our readers: Will the voters get the message that his way has not worked the way he claimed it would and quit supporting him?

Scott is pushing the towering plans for Marina Safeway.

Wiener’s housing laws are set up for cities and counties to fail, allowing developers to do almost anything they want, for many years to come Wiener’s housing laws are set up for cities and counties to fail, allowing developers to do almost anything they want, for many years to come
August 26, 2026  By MICHAEL BARNES…(more)

The bizarre incompetence of Wiener’s SB 79
Do that math: This will never work. And it undermines all the twisted efforts cities are making to comply with RHNA
September 22, 2025 By MICHAEL BARNES…(more)

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Sprint to the finish at the Capitol

By Lynn La via email from calmatters – see email for action items

With days to go until the end of the legislative session, lots of things are brewing at the state Capitol:
  • California Forever setback: Solano County supervisors voted against proposed legislation that would have allowed the billionaire-backed California Forever to speed up the creation of a new shipbuilding facility by exempting parts of it from environmental review. The vote threw a wrench in California Forever’s wider efforts to develop a new city and manufacturing hub in the county. Read more from Kate Wolffe and Yue Stella Yu.
  • Coastal carveouts: Newsom is pushing a plan that would give an environmental carveout to an oceanfront project belonging to Jeff Worthe, a Santa Monica developer who is also a donor to the governor. Environmental advocates are slamming the last-minute proposal and oppose any backdoor deals that sidestep a state law limiting development along the coast. Read more from Stella.
  • Cheaper GLP-1 drugs?: A bill that aims to lower the price of anti-obesity medications, or GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, is one step closer to reaching the governor’s desk after clearing the Assembly earlier this week. If passed, the state would partner with a drug maker to produce cheaper GLP-1 drugs and distribute it through the state’s CalRx program. But it’s unclear how long this could take: California’s $55 insulin took three years to bring into market under CalRx. Read more from Ana B. Ibarra.

Meta to pay $17B — and limit ‘likes’ for teens — in social media settlement with states // CalMatters (free)

Taxing the rich cracks open the Democratic coalition // Politico (free)

Trump can’t cut off funding to communities whose policies he opposes, court rules // The Mercury News (gift link)

Nearly 300,000 K-12 students are homeless in CA, UCLA report says // EdSource(free)

Years late, billions over budget: CA’s high-speed rail hasn’t laid a track // The Wall Street Journal (gift link)

CA gas prices ‘shaping up to be the highest on record.’ What you’ll pay // The Sacramento Bee (paywall)

CA lawmakers sound alarm about urgent need for $2B for Olympics transportation // LAist (free)

SpaceX windfall presents dilemma for CA pension fund // Bloomberg (gift link)

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Daly City rebels against Olympic Club’s Westlake Park proposal

By Angela Swartz, Freelance Writer : sfgate – excerpt

Beware Gifts that come with Conditions

The ‘whole idea of privatizing a public park is really nonsensical,’ protester says

Children blow bubbles and climb monkey bars on a typical foggy Thursday evening at Daly City’s Westlake Park. Just 100 feet away, in front of a pale yellow post-World War II building with a green awning, about 50 people clutch bright signs reading “No plastic park” and “Westlake Park is not for sale or lease.” Organizers, who are part of a group called Save Westlake Park, pass out neon-colored posters describing a “land grab” and flyers linking to a website with more information on their cause.
 
The Aug. 13 gathering at the park at 145 Lake Merced Blvd. brought together a new coalition of residents of the working-class suburb just south of San Francisco. They have banded together in hopes of halting a $10 million proposal to revamp Westlake Park. The Olympic Club, one of the oldest private athletic clubs in the world, has offered to make the changes — in exchange for some exclusive use of the field and facilities. … (more)

What is it about AstroTurf that YIMNYs like? This is becoming a national front to green grass trees. Who is behind this? We know who is paying for it, but why? And what role does Rec and Park pay in. this?

They cut down a tree, pour concrete or Astroturf and call it a park?

And then want the public to volunteer to maintain it?

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Grassroots Efforts Are Thwarting the Billionaire Agenda

By Ian Firstenberg : phoenixproject – excerpt

If you are not at the table you are not in game.

Despite their attempts to remain in the shadows, the state’s roughly 200 billionaires have outed themselves. Greater visibility has meant their narrow — and self-interested — agenda has come increasingly under fire.

San Francisco billionaires like Michael Mortiz and Chris Larsen have a storied history of opposing increased taxes on corporations and the wealthy, using their fortunes to elect allies who will protect them from any incursion into their wealth.

Recently a labor-backed measure, the Billionaire Tax Act earned a place on November’s statewide ballot. The modest, one-time tax that, if passed, will fund essential services like public hospitals, has mobilized California’s elite who tried — and failed — to keep it off the ballot. Despite successes in smaller statewide races, and a few wins in recent San Francisco elections, the very fact that the Billionaire Tax earned a place on the ballot may be a sign that their winning streak is coming to an end.

The measure is popular. It should also be kept in mind that the tax on billionaires will not meaningfully affect their lives or reduce the obscene generational wealth. Nonetheless, billionaires are willing to spend millions to defeat it. This won’t endear them to the state’s voters. A coalition led by Google cofounder Sergey Brin has reserved $87 million of ad space for spots to combat the measure. That number will likely increase as the election approaches… (more)

When billionaires have such an appetite for spending ungodly amounts of money to buy elections one must consider why? The end goal cannot be more money since paying the taxes might be less painful than fighting them. What is worth more than the money? Buying a seat at the table where power lies.

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Albertsons is infuriating Bay Area shoppers over vacant grocery stores

By Susan Guerrero : sfgate – excerpt

Town Hall July 23, 2026 on the Towering plans at the Marina Safeway

In the heart of downtown Larkspur, a tiny shopping center has become the grave site of a former Lucky Supermarket. The building, with its barren storefront and sealed doors, has haunted the neighborhood since 2023, yet there are currently no plans to open another grocery store in its place.

Tina McArthur, a Larkspur resident and board president of the historic Lark Theater, blames the building’s owner: Albertsons Companies.

“I think it’s terrible that they just left their building like that,” McArthur said. “The lights are still on. … I really don’t think they care one bit.”

The Lucky store is not an outlier. Albertsons — the parent company of Safeway, Vons and other major supermarkets — owns dozens of vacant surplus properties across the U.S., including at least seven vacant California stores listed for sale. An SFGATE investigation found that Albertsons appears to have a history of using its vast real estate portfolio to block the opening of competing grocers through restrictive land covenants or by keeping its properties vacant. In some cases, Albertsons has introduced controversial development plans on its properties that could raze existing supermarkets like Trader Joe’s in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood and Safeway in San Rafael without replacing those markets.

Albertsons could leave even more vacant properties on the market as the grocery company plans to shutter an unknown number of underperforming stores in California, and beyond, after its failed merger with the Kroger Company…

Grocery companies that keep properties vacant or add covenants to prevent future stores contribute to limited food access in communities, according to Christopher Leslie, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine…

The race for housing  Albertsons’ impacts on grocery availability in the Bay Area are likely to only increase as the grocery conglomerate flexes its muscle into property development. Align Real Estate and Albertsons are developing housing projects at Safeway locations throughout the Bay Area, including plans to build almost 3,500 units of housing across San Francisco’s Marina, Bernal Heights, Outer Richmond and Fillmore districts. The proposed residential housing project that could demolish the Safeway in San Rafael is not part of the Align Real Estate portfolio and is instead managed by Mill Creek Residential…(more)

Lots to take in here. I can remember hearing about food deserts from Malia Cohen years ago. Now we all are being faced with them.

What do we belive and what can be done to break those covenants? The food deserts are yet another reason to blame Wiener density bills for the loss of grocery stores as grocery chains are playing into his “HOUSING ONLY” zoning directives, except when he needs an exception and then he creates one..

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Newsom Proved Them Wrong

By SHIFT-BAY AREA: substack – excerpt

When Bay Area transit leaders are backed into a corner, they rely on a familiar, patronizing refrain: “The public just doesn’t understand how transit funding works.”…

The False Claim: The transit establishment’s response was swift, arrogant, and entirely dismissive. In KQED’s recent reporting on the Connect Bay Area Act, campaign spokesman Jeff Cretan dismissed proposals to redirect money from major capital projects toward transit service…

They Already Did It: Earlier this year, Newsom negotiated a financing package allowing Bay Area transit agencies to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars from state funds that had already been allocated for transit capital projects.

The largest share of those capital dollars had originally been reserved for construction of the San Jose BART extension. Instead, they became the source of loans designed to keep existing transit systems operating.

As columnist Daniel Borenstein observed, the package did not require new state money. It relied on capital funds that had already been committed to construction projects, temporarily converting those resources into operating support through a loan structure.

The accounting mechanism may have been creative.

But the result was unmistakable.

Capital resources were used to sustain operations.

Exactly the scenario transit advocates now insist cannot happen… (more)