October 12, 2016   TRANSPORTATION / INFRASTRUCTURE The facts about transportation funding and why we need more revenue (Fox & Hounds) Efforts at converting California vehicles to sustainable fuel sources are successful in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing fuel efficiency. However, one consequence of reduced fuel consumption and an increase in the number of electric vehicles is lower long-term fuel excise tax revenues. A large portion of transportation funding in California is collected at the pump and it is the state’s primary source of funding for the maintenance and repair of transportation infrastructure. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the federal gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1993. HOUSING Affordable housing advocates: Build the right way, say no to NIMBY (Orange County Register) Opening the floodgates on unfettered construction would lower the cost of housing, an affordable housing advocate told a regional housing conference Tuesday. But that trickle-down approach will take a long time – 50 years, one study shows – before a new home built today becomes affordable. And by then, it will be old. Greenlee’s call for increased affordable housing was one of dozens of proposals at the California Housing Summit, a gathering in Los Angeles of about 400 government, business and community leaders seeking solutions to Southern California’s housing affordability crisis.   Los Angeles ‘summit’ focuses on California’s acute housing crisis (Sacramento Bee) Finally, some folks are having an existential crisis about a housing shortage that could send the state into a socioeconomic death spiral. The Southern California Association of Governments, a planning agency for six counties that contain nearly half of the state’s population, staged a California Housing Summit on Tuesday in Los Angeles to call attention to the shortage and explore ways it could be addressed. A lengthy report presented to the session laid out arithmetic of the crisis – a shortage of at least 600,000 units in SCAG counties (more than a million statewide) that grows as construction lags behind very modest population growth, and soaring costs that far outstrip stagnant incomes of middle-class and poor families.   HOMELESSNESS / POVERTY One of the biggest cities in the US wants to put homeless people in tiny houses (Business Insider) More than 4,000 people are homeless in San Jose, California. The 10th largest city in the US has long run out of beds to keep them sheltered. A new law will make the city, located an hour's drive south of San Francisco, the first in the state to legally permit construction of tiny homes for the homeless, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Starting in January, the city will temporarily make an exception to state building, safety, and health codes and build houses so small, they wouldn't ordinarily be approved for construction. The new residences will measure 70 square feet for individuals and 120 square feet for couples. It's still unknown how many people the program will accommodate.   Ballot measure could upset L.A.'s plan for housing the homeless (Los Angeles Times) A ballot measure billed as a way of cracking down on out-of-scale luxury developments could also derail the city of Los Angeles’ budding plan to help house the homeless, critics said Monday. L.A. voters will be asked in March to approve the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, a measure that would temporarily block real estate projects that require changes in key city development rules. Supporters say such restrictions would halt the approval of “mega-developments” that don’t fit their surroundings, forcing city leaders to adhere to existing regulations limiting a building’s height, density and overall size. But foes say the measure would limit a much wider array of construction projects – exacerbating an already profound homelessness crisis. PROPOSITIONS Proposition 54 would bring new transparency rules to the legislature (KQED) Proposition 54 is being touted by supporters as a way to bring more transparency to the state Legislature. It would generally require a bill to be in print for 72 hours before it can be passed. Critics say the waiting period would be exploited by lobbyists and special interest groups to kill bills they don’t like. But the ballot initiative contains another element that opponents say could lead to more campaign attack ads. The proposition would allow the public to record and share legislative proceedings, something not currently allowed. Democratic consultant Steven Maviglio is representing the No on 54 campaigns. He says it’s inevitable those recordings will be used for political purposes.   MARIJUANA Napa parents, teachers lectured about the negative effects of marijuana use in adolescents (Napa Valley Register) The talk – called “Weeding out the Facts” – was led by John Redman, the executive director for California for a Drug Free Youth. Redman, who has discussed drug policy issues around the world, focused his talk on how drug policy and the proposed California Proposition 64 affect children and teenagers. Although he said that components of the marijuana plant can be used for medicinal purposes, Redman said that it isn’t just your sick grandparents lighting up for pain management. The legalization of medical marijuana in California has caused perception of the drug to change, he said, meaning that more people, including adolescents, don’t associate it with risks.   Gavin Newsom, Prop 64 proponent, makes his case for legalizing pot (The Press Democrat) California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom might seem an unlikely choice to be campaigning for marijuana legalization, given that he doesn’t like pot and says he’s never tried it. Newsom, a prime proponent for Proposition 64, the November state ballot initiative that would legalize adult recreational uses of marijuana, said it’s fundamentally about social justice. He cited statistics showing more than 8,800 arrests for non-violent marijuana felonies last year in California.  Newsom’s comments came during a meeting with the Press Democrat editorial board in which he spent more than hour discussing cannabis legalization. Polls show the measure has a strong likelihood of approval next month.   Regulating pot in California: Voters to decide on more than 50 local initiatives in November (Sacramento Bee) Now voters in the Mother Lode county of 44,000 residents will decide whether they want to monetize the county’s passage of tolerant rules permitting cultivation of medical marijuana for commercial sale. Calaveras’ Measure C could bring millions of dollars into county coffers from a $2-per-square-foot tax on outdoor or greenhouse cultivation. That tax would be replaced by a $45-per-ounce local levy on marijuana buds once a state monitoring program takes effect under medical marijuana regulations signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year.   PUBLIC SAFETY San Bernardino moves forward with ceasefire violence reduction plan (The Sun) The city is moving forward with a program credited with dramatically reducing violence in other cities. City officials have studied versions of the program, known as Ceasefire, for more than a year — since before the spike in shootings in 2016, which has already seen 52 people killed. Meanwhile, community advocates organized by Inland Congregations United for Change have pushed the city to move forward with the plan repeatedly marching through crime hot spots and delivering 2,300 signatures in support as of Monday.

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