LAS VEGAS — Like many, Mario Wolthers was lured to Las Vegas a decade ago from California by cheaper housing costs. But when his apartment managers tried to raise his rent last spring, he moved in with a roommate. "I'm a responsible taxpaying citizen," said Wolthers, a 38-year-old elementary school...
Newsom Wanted to Go Bold on Housing. Have He and Lawmakers Delivered so Far?
On the campaign trail and after taking office, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised bold action to confront the issue he called California’s greatest challenge: making housing affordable again. Or at least returning us to a world where this house doesn’t sell for $900 grand. The rhetoric was lofty: A “Marshall Plan” for...
California Lawmakers Eye Bills on Vaccines, Guns, Housing
SACRAMENTO — California state lawmakers have just two weeks remaining in their session to sort through hundreds of bills, some addressing volatile topics such as vaccinating children and shootings by police. The session that began in January will end Sept. 13 after lawmakers pile bills on the desk of freshman...
California Should Make Clear There Is a Right to Housing, Not Simply Shelter
There are two ways to tackle California’s greatest public safety, public health and humanitarian crisis: homelessness. One way is to marshal resources, build programs, replicate successes, and say, with some justification, that we have helped a lot of people, even if the overall situation isn’t much better. The other way...
NW Fresno Neighbors Object to Upscale Apartment Project
Dirk Poeschel might as well have been on a suicide mission. The planning consultant had the unenviable task of trying to convince hundreds from a northwest Fresno neighborhood that a new apartment complex in their residential area was a good idea. The crowd wasn't buying it, and the end result...
NW Fresno Neighbors Object to Upscale Apartment Project
Dirk Poeschel might as well have been on a suicide mission. The planning consultant had the unenviable task of trying to convince hundreds from a northwest Fresno neighborhood that a new apartment complex in their residential area was a good idea. The crowd wasn't buying it, and the end result...
NW Fresno Neighbors Object to Upscale Apartment Project
Dirk Poeschel might as well have been on a suicide mission. The planning consultant had the unenviable task of trying to convince hundreds from a northwest Fresno neighborhood that a new apartment complex in their residential area was a good idea. The crowd wasn't buying it, and the end result...
LA Audit: Homeless Agency Fails to Hit Housing Goals
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has failed to meet goals for placing people into permanent housing and for referring them to substance abuse and mental health treatment, according to a city audit released Wednesday. Despite having more than doubled its number of outreach workers over the...
Walters: Is a Recession on Our Horizon?
We live in volatile economic times, with global markets reacting moment by moment to the latest bits of data and the utterances of central bankers and politicians — even the tweets from the White House. California’s economy is much too big — the fifth largest in the world, we are...
Under Newsom, California Housing Crisis Gets Worse, Not Better
Gov. Gavin Newsom's grand plan of building 3.5 million housing units by 2025 is off to a terrible start. In the first six months of 2019, builders gained approval for 51,178 new homes in California, nearly 20% fewer than the same period a year earlier. That puts the state on track...