Developer Gifts (SB 9 & 10) Purport to Solve Affordable Housing

Just recently, the Auditor of the State of California released a scathing report regarding the push for additional housing. (

https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/factsheets/2021-125.pdf )

Seems the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) goals are based on inaccurate data. There is just no way to whitewash the report, bottom line the findings note that the date has not been verified, does not adequately support a healthy housing vacancy rate, and does not provide sufficient support for its future households projections and therefore HCD should institute better data processes, perform formal analysis and document a comprehensive review of its assumptions.

When decision making is based on inaccurate data and legislators giveaways to the false promises of developers the result is often at odds with the needs. Case in point SB 9 and 10, which are Senate bills that purport to solve housing problems but actually create more. Developers have spent millions in campaign contributions claim that their projects should not be encumbered with the municipal (lets call them societal) costs that their push for more buildings will create in terms of infrastructure like water and sewers not to mention supporting systems like public transportation and schools. It is time to fight back and stop these developer giveaways!

Supply side economics that assumes that increased supply is always good and always reduces prices fails to consider that there are alternative economic theories that more accurately represent what is going on today in California. Induced demand theory explains how when you build, build, and build more market and luxury housing what you get is more market and luxury buyers who then displace residents and lead to neighborhood gentrification.

As an example, Redwood City had affordable floating home marinas that it effectively closed down inviting developers to build market and luxury housing on the adjacent land. These high-end units ended up displacing residents of the low-income units and bringing in additional high end workers. In community after community, we see working neighborhoods and communities destroyed and displaced some of the residents even ending up homeless. Then the developers call for more development to solve the problem they created in the first place. More development to fund city coffers is approved or not, more are displaced and the cycle repeats viciously until someone calls it out. A minority of cities fight back and developers don’t get what they want. So, what did developers do? Developers went to Sacramento to force local communities to allow them to build, build, build, when that is part of the problem and worse yet based on HCA numbers that were based on false data!

And I haven’t even mentioned the ecological damage this inflicts on low density environments or the fact that California is in the midst of a multi-year drought!

If your legislators can't do the job they were elected to do, maybe we need a new way forward.

I am running for CA State Assembly D21. I work in developing wave powered desalinated water. Sustainability is critical to California's ability to prosper.

I am also an advocate for truly affordable housing for all and not developer giveaways that claim to do that while in fact just increasing gentrification and displacement. Much of our population is priced out of housing, can't get private financing, and can't afford the expensive housing developers like to build so maybe what we need is completely different thinking which includes stopping displacement and gentrification.

I welcome your support. Please visit my campaign website at vwww.taniasole.com or email me at tania@taniasole.com

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