November 15, 2016   PROPOSITIONS Marijuana legalization measure drew strongest support from young voters, Clinton backers, poll finds (Los Angeles Times) The initiative that legalized recreational use of marijuana in California found its strongest support among those who voted for Hillary Clinton for president, African Americans and voters ages 18 to 29, according to a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times post-election poll. Proposition 64 passed with 56% of the overall vote, but was supported by 68% of Clinton supporters and Democratic voters while it was opposed by 59% of those who voted for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to the poll conducted by SurveyMonkey. A breakdown of the vote by race found the ballot measure drew support from 64% of African American voters, 58% of whites and 56% of Latino voters. Statewide TRANSPORTATION / INFRASTRUCTURE How Trump's election might impact LA County transit projects (Southern California Public Radio) Los Angeles County voters decisively passed Measure M, the half-cent sales tax increase to fund billions of dollars in transportation projects over four decades. Now that the country has elected Donald Trump as its president, and a Republican-dominated Congress, how might this impact the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's push to build out the county transit system? First, think of the county transit agency’s budget as a pie. Local sales taxes like Measure M, which is the fourth such tax increase since 1980, make up almost a two-thirds slice of Metro's budget. Cities in the Los Angeles County Division   SHORT TERM RENTALS Airbnb, under the gun, is ready to cooperate with SF (San Francisco Chronicle) In a dramatic about-face, Airbnb says it is ready to police its San Francisco hosts, taking actions it has long resisted as invasive, unrealistic or unwieldy. The vacation-rental giant told The Chronicle it is willing to provide all local hosts’ names, addresses and guest stays as part of a mandatory registration system it would craft with the city. Once such a system exists, Airbnb could cut off listings when they hit the city’s annual cap on number of nights rented and ensure that apartments where tenants were evicted under the Ellis Act are not rented to travelers, the company said. The move comes as Airbnb faces two major threats to its business in its hometown. San Francisco   Airbnb agrees to help San Francisco monitor short-term rentals (Mercury News) In a surprising reversal expected to be felt nationwide, Airbnb has extended an olive branch to San Francisco lawmakers and agreed to help the city enforce its home-sharing rules, including limiting the days an Airbnb landlord can rent out a home. The move signals a significant shift in a battle between a company that has upended rental markets and San Francisco, one of the nation’s most expensive cities. Airbnb says its short-term rentals help property owners make ends meet, but lawmakers worry that without regulations the practice may drive up the cost of housing. Airbnb on Sunday said it’s willing to cooperate with city officials to make sure landlords listing their homes with the service register with the city and comply with its 90-day short-term rental cap. It’s a major policy shift for the $30 billion company, which has spent months locked in contentious battles with San Francisco and other cities over their short-term rental laws — even taking them to court. San Francisco HOUSING Californians fleeing state's high cost of housing (Orange County Register) Data analysis firm CoreLogic says that for every two homebuyers who moved to California from 2000 through 2015, five others sold their homes, packed up and moved out. Arizona and Texas were the top destinations for people moving out of California, CoreLogic reported. Only New Jersey had a higher ratio of fleeing homeowners during that period. The trend of out-migration was also noted in a separate trio of reports released earlier this year by Beacon Economics. Beacon noted that 625,000 more U.S. residents left California between 2007 and 2014 than moved into the state. The vast majority ended up in Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Washington. Statewide   HOMELESSNESS / POVERTY How Riverside County reached 'functional zero' veteran homelessness (Southern California Public Radio) Homelessness continues to be a huge problem in Southern California, but Riverside County says that they've managed to reach "functional zero" veteran homelessness. As the 10th most populous county in the country, it's the largest county to hit this benchmark, Lynne Brockmeier with the Riverside University Health System's Behavioral Health Housing Crisis Response Team told KPCC. Cities in the Riverside County Division   HUD, VA announce program to house homeless vets in Southern California (Daily Bulletin) The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday announced $18.5 million to 39 local public housing agencies across the country to provide a permanent home to an estimated 2,100 homeless veterans, the agencies said in a joint statement. Pomona, Cities in the Los Angeles County Division, Orange County Division, Riverside County Division, Cities in San Bernardino County MARIJUANA Oakland council calls for changes in pot permit equity program (SF Gate) Cannabis experts and their allies packed Oakland City Hall for a raucous public hearing Monday night, at which the City Council voted to re-craft a set of controversial pot laws it passed in May. After a four-hour debate, the council voted 4-3 to direct the city administrator to write new laws and significantly revise an equity permit program that sets aside half of Oakland’s pot permits for ex-convicts and a small number of East Oakland residents. Its members also scrapped plans to force cannabis businesses to hand over 25 percent of their profits to the city, and to require pot retailers to pay back taxes and hefty $10,000-a-day fines. Oakland   Marijuana business owner seeks frozen assets back (San Diego Union-Tribune) The owner of a marijuana refining business went to court Monday in an effort to regain money seized from his family’s accounts after a January raid of his company — the kind of showdown that could become more common now that state law allows recreational pot while federal law prohibits it. James Slatic of Med-West Distribution said a host of city officials toured his Kearny Mesa facility when it opened, to make sure he was in full compliance with state and municipal law. The Med-West owner said he was particularly careful to meet every requirement because of this region’s history of prosecuting medical-marijuana patients and dispensaries. San Diego   Oakland city leaders discuss regulating recreational pot (NBC Bay Area) The city of Oakland has been a pioneer in the medical cannabis industry, and now city leaders have some decisions to make regarding the legalization of recreational marijuana in California. The City Council convened a special meeting Monday night to discuss some contentious proposals to regulate the drug for recreational use. Some are saying the city now runs the risk of becoming too regulated for recreational pot. Oakland   CITY PLANNING/DEVELOPMENT Balboa Park project approved for 2019 completion (San Diego Union-Tribune) The City Council voted renewed support Monday to removing cars and parking out of the center of Balboa Park and set in motion a $79 million plan first championed by Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs six years ago. Originally priced at $45 million, the so-called Plaza de Panama plan is now expected to open by the end of 2019. It will include a 797-space paid-parking garage south of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, a 405-foot “Centennial Bridge” bypass off the Cabrillo Bridge at the park’s west entrance and redesigned plazas and roadways where cars currently travel. San Diego   ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY California expected to top quarter-million EVs this month (Silicon Beat) California expects to top a total of a 250,000 plug-in electric vehicles sold this month. Since plug-in vehicles came to the broad market in 2011, sales have climbed through a mix of incentives, rebates and growing consumer choices. It’s not just the high-profile, $100,000 Teslas hitting the Golden State roads and highways. The market has grown to more than two dozen different models. Statewide   New all-electric trolleys rolling through downtown Walnut Creek (East Bay Times) Walnut Creek councilman Bob Simmons, along with dignitaries and members of the public, get ready to ride the first of four all-electric zero-emission transit vehicles in downtown Walnut Creek. The new vehicles, which can be charged wirelessly at the Walnut Creek BART station, were funded by a $4.2 million Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant that was awarded to County Connection. They will be replacing the diesel trolleys that have been in service since 2002. Manufactured locally, they are among the first generation of all-electric transit vehicles in the Bay Area. Walnut Creek   PUBLIC SAFETY San Diego still struggling with police vacancies (San Diego Union-Tribune) San Diego continues to struggle with a shortage of police officers despite recent compensation increases and new recruiting strategies. Nearly 180 of the Police Department’s more than 2,000 budgeted sworn officer positions were vacant as of late October, frustrating city leaders who have been expecting the numbers to drop. The problem would have gotten significantly worse without a package of large compensation increases given to police last year, Chief Shelley Zimmerman told a City Council committee last month. San Diego

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