David's Leadership
on Housing
California’s housing crisis is threefold: First and foremost, we must keep people in the housing they have and prevent homelessness and displacement through eviction prevention and tenant protections. Second, we must expand access to affordable housing through expanded rent control and a massive state-level investment in truly affordable housing. Third, we must increase our production of housing at all affordability levels in order to allow people to live near their work, increase density and transit use, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Accomplishments
Stopping homelessness at the source by protecting tenants
- Outlawed evictions, even so called “no-fault” evictions of families and educators, during the school year.
- Passed a law aimed at reducing evictions by raising the amount landlords were required to pay tenants who were evicted to cover relocation and housing costs.
- Made sure preference in affordable housing was given to displaced tenants.
- Fought hard to pass Prop F tenants right to counsel.
Protecting tenants
- Championed CA Proposition 10 (2018) and Proposition 21 (2020) in an effort to expand rent control statewide.
- Passed the law protecting renters living with AIDS from rent increases from the federal government.
- Created regulatory legislation to protect longer-term tenants from being steamrolled into accepting landlord "buyouts."
Investing in truly affordable housing
- Oversaw the implementation of an almost $1 billion housing bond in Santa Clara County which built 5,000 units of permanently supportive housing
- Negotiated $62 million from CPMC to use for affordable housing.
- Worked with Mayor Ed Lee to include an extra $50 million in housing bond money in order to build affordable housing in District 9.
- Fought the gentrification-causing “Monster in the Mission” and paved the way for the 100% affordable “Marvel in the Mission.”
Increasing housing production
- Voted for over 20,000 units of new housing in projects brought before the Board of Supervisors.
- Voted for over 7,500 units of affordable housing while on the Board of Supervisors.
- Ended the affordable housing drought in Mission by working with community to launch nearly 800 new units now built and occupied.
- Supported SB9 and SB10 to increase housing supply.
Plans
Protect tenants, prevent homelessness
- Extend statewide eviction moratorium until the Emergency Rental Assistance relief program is fully implemented.
- Repeal the Ellis Act.
- Create a statewide right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.
- Repeal Costa Hawkins and allow local jurisdictions to expand rent control.
- Expand just cause eviction protections statewide.
Invest in truly affordable housing
- Create a permanent stream of funding at the state level through a statewide housing bond so that we are no longer solely reliant on local jurisdictions which, as we have seen, cannot adequately keep up with our needs.
- Repeal Article 34. We need to get serious about building a massive amount of social housing across California.
- Remodel and improve existing publicly owned housing, to increase safety, energy efficiency, and quality of life for those living there.
- Work to revive and pass state legislation to give tenants and community organizations the first right to purchase rentals where tenants are at risk of displacement.
- Build 100% affordable housing on publicly owned land.
Increase housing production
- Incentivize or require the wealthiest communities, particularly wealthy suburbs outside of major metropolitan areas to create more housing at all levels of affordability, to redress the historic impact of inequitable housing policies.
- Require investment in housing, especially affordable housing, commensurate with job growth regionally.
- Require investment in transit infrastructure along with housing to get people out of their cars and protect the environment – and incentivize construction of housing near truly well-served transit so we create the housing we need without the traffic gridlock that damages our environment.
