After over a decade of false starts, the Oakland A’s have selected a spot near Laney College as their preferred location for a 35,000-seat, privately financed ballpark to replace the Coliseum. The team is hoping to play their first game at the $500 million stadium in 2023. First, the team must negotiate and buy or lease the land from the Peralta Community College District, which owns the land. The site is off the 880 freeway, nine-minute walk from a BART station, and is on the edge of downtown Oakland. To appease the Peralta districts’ Board of Trustees the A’s are proposing housing and commercial space on an 8-acre Laney parking lot as well as a garage to boost the college’s parking capacity. How Central Valley Cities Can Prepare for High-Speed Rail Nonprofit land-use think tank SPUR released a report “ Harnessing High-Speed Rail ” about the need for Central Valley cities to capitalize on the great infrastructure investment of the state. Instead of becoming cheap housing for the wealth populated coastal neighbors, these cities must reverse years of high unemployment and disinvestment and become incubators for new companies looking for cheaper rents. Bakersfield has plans on how to reorient development if the HSR Authority chooses the city’s preferred alignment. Fresno has secured $70 million in state funds to encourage denser development downtown that includes more walking, biking, and public transportation. California’s Poverty Rate Tied to Housing Costs The U.S. Census Bureau released poverty rates and California has the nation’s number 1 spot, with 20.4 percent of residents facing economic hardship when living costs such as housing, taxes, and medical costs are included. The California Budget and Policy Center blames high rents for keeping such a large percent of the population in poverty. For instance a minimum wage worker would only be able to budget $546 a month for housing, but CBPC found that nearly two-thirds of Californians pay more than $1,500 for a two-bedroom. The U.S. Census Bureau Official Poverty Rate, excludes cost-of-living, puts California in 16th place with 14.5 percent of the population living in poverty. Bay Area Resiliency Contest Picks Ten Finalists Ten teams of multi-disciplinary experts have been selected for the Bay Area Resilient by Design project, a contest funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, which sponsors the 100 Resilient Cities program (see prior CP&DR coverage). The selected teams have a year to come up with solutions against the rising seas and other potentially catastrophic risks associated with the changing climate. The remaining teams were selected from 51 that applied to be part of the program. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and others, teams will spend the next few weeks touring several flooding hotspots throughout the bay. Each team will receive up to $250,000 to come up with a local adaption strategy for a designated area in the bay. Lawsuit Holds Up Spending of Transportation Funds in Santa Clara Co. A Saratoga resident's recent lawsuit is holding up money from a half-cent sales tax 72 percent of voters approved for transportation projects. The lawsuit claims Measure B’s language was unclear and misleading and that the BART extension will require a majority of the funding, an estimated $6 billion over 30 years. The original lawsuit was dismissed by a judge earlier this year but she appealed and now the money is held in escrow until the issue is resolved. Officials are worried some projects may be delayed 12 to 18 months. The woman suing the project worked as a planner for the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County for 20 years before teaching environmental planning at San Jose State. The VTA says the revenue from the tax would benefit nine areas, and although the BART extension will receive the biggest chunk, $1.5 billion, it is only a quarter of the estimated earnings. Anaheim Declares Emergency over Homelessness The Anaheim City Council voted unanimously to declare a public health and safety emergency because of the nearly 400 hundred of homeless people living along the Santa Ana River. The declaration of emergency would increase enforcement of laws and health and safety codes and create greater effort to get homeless people into shelters and eventually permanent housing. One such plan is the expansion of a county shelter and supporting county efforts in opening a second emergency shelter. However, some worry the proposal focuses too heavily on law enforcement and would disregard homeless people’s civil rights. Quick Hits & Updates The California Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal regarding Malibu’s appeal to restate a voter initiative governing chain stores in the coastal city. In November 2014, 60 percent of Malibu residents voted in favor of Measure R that would lead to a more aggressive response from city officials against the proliferation of chain stores. In 2015 Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled the measure unconstitutional. The city will now look at more comprehensive planning including creating a formula retail ordinance and Civic Center design standards. The historic Angels Flight funicular in downtown Los Angeles has resumed operation for the first time since 2013. The twin cars, Olivet and Sinai, glide up and down Bunker Hill adjacent to the 153-step stairway. The San Leandro City Council unanimously approved an agreement to settle a 2015 lawsuit filed by the Coalition for the San Leandro Shoreline against the city with Cal-Coast Development named as a benefiting entity in the lawsuit. The settlement requires the city to extend its lease agreement with the Marina Inn for another five years and the hotel must comply with the city’s living wage ordinance within the next 18 months. The living wage is $14.30 an hour with health benefits or $15.80 if no benefits are provided by the employer. In the lawsuit from 2015, the coalition alleged the city wrongly certified an EIR on Cal-Coast Development’s plans at the marina. After an eight-month trial, a jury acquitted two San Bernardino County officials and a Rancho Cucamonga developer in which prosecutors accused them of scheming to secure a $102-million payout from a land dispute in 2011. The three were charged with bribery and conflict of interest, when in 2006 county supervisors voted 3-2 to settle with Colonies over the objection of county legal staff. Gov. Brown announced three new appointments. Lisa Bates was appointed deputy director of the Division of Financial Assistance at the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Ryan Seeley has been appointed general counsel at the CA HCD where he has been assistant chief counsel since 2016 and served as attorney prior to that position. Zachary Olmsted was appointed deputy director of housing policy development at HCD replacing Bates. September 15 was the deadline for San Francisco property owners to bring their apartment buildings up to current seismic safety standards. City officials estimate roughly one-third of “tier three” buildings-that is wood-frame structures between five and 15 units- have not submitted permit applications. The City has approximately 3,849 buildings in this category and 1,160 owners have not filed for permits and will be served a poster-sized “Earthquake Warning” placard. One contractor says he has four crews doing soft-story retrofits around the city and can barely keep up with demand. NASA announced plans to build up to 1,930 rental housing units on the 45-acre Moffett Field with 10 percent set aside as affordable. NASA will begin looking for a private development partner and that individuals working or going to school on Ames-owned property would get priority on the new units. Sacramento Area Council of Governments will hire a public relations firm to begin a “Transportation Ballot Initiative Stakeholder Listening Tour” less than a year after Sacramento County voter narrowly rejected a transportation tax. The transit funds from a tax would likely be used to expand bus service and replace outdate rail cars. SACOG and SacRT might team up together for a joint ballot measure instead of competing with one another. However, if either group (or both) tries for the 2018 ballot they would be competing with the City of Sacramento which will likely ask voters to extend Measure U sales tax for basic city services, including police. The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) are teaming up with APA California on a daylong workshop designed to provide guidance and promote best practices and lessons learned from state and local implementation. The session will be held during the APA conference on Monday, Sept. 25 from 9:45am to 4:45pm and will be free, however registration is required Los Angeles Metro has released a draft EIR for the proposed East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor- along with four other projects funded by Measure M. The 9.2 mile high-capacity route will connect the Metro Orange Line in Van Nuys to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station. The project is expected to begin construction in 2021 and open between 2027-2029.  Valley Transportation Authority announced that the Milpitas and Berryessa BART stations will open June 2018. Earlier this year, officials said they were ahead of schedule and planning to open before the start of the new year. Test trains will begin running in the fall. Milpitas station is expected to have 20,000 new passengers and Berryessa 25,000 by 2030.   Los Angeles City Council approved , 5-0, a new linkage fee on construction of single-family homes, offices, apartments and other development with funds going to the construction of affordable housing. The fee ranges from $1 to $15 a square foot depending on the type of project and location. James Tong, an East Bay developer, was arraigned in federal court after being accuses of engaging in fraud to make illegal campaign contributions to Rep. Eric Swalwell. Tong used other people to make campaign contributions in his behalf with his money, allowing him to exceed campaign contribution limits.  The Department of Justice does not suspect Swalwell of wrongdoing or his campaign. Last year, Tong was convicted of violating the Endangered Species Act after he and his development company, Wildlife management, admitted to polluting a pond that had the threatened California tiger salamander and forging documents to hide their actions. The nonprofit Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza raised $160,000 to hold a design competition to makeover San Francisco’s Harvey Milk Plaza. The group has selected three teams from 33 submissions. The plaza is estimated to cost $10 million, which would need to be raised privately.

CP&DR’s August 30, 2017 issue reported on the California Supreme Court decision two days earlier that seemed to upend a major provision of Proposition 13 and its companion laws. Exuberant as it is, that analysis is misguided.

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments launched Civic Lab, an initiative that takes local teams through workshops with local and national transportation and technology experts to spark innovative solutions to regional and local transportation challenges, as well as pilot testing technology-based solutions. At the program’s launch, 130 city and county elected officials and staff, nonprofits, startup innovators, and service providers came together to learn about disruptions in transportation and smart mobility through technology. Civic Lab is accepting applications until Sept. 15 and teams must be led by a public agency. “Civic Lab gives us the opportunity to solve transportation issues through testing and piloting projects in rural, suburban, and urban communities. With innovative thinking and pilot testing, there might come some failure, but with failure, we grow and learn. Civic Lab is the place for local governments to explore the possibilities of smart mobility and new technologies,” said aid Brian Veerkamp, El Dorado County Supervisor and SACOG Board Chair, in a statement. San Jose Considers Aftermath of Coyote Creek Flood The City of San Jose and emergency management consultant Witt O’Brien’s released a report on why the city failed to notify 14,000 residents about the flood threat in February of this year. The report gives the city an “A” for response but “F” for foresight. After Coyote Creek flooded in 1997 the city was advised to install a universal alter system to notify residents, but that never happened. The warnings that did go out were on social media sites, but low-income neighborhood of Rock Springs whose residents speak primarily Spanish and Vietnamese did not see these messages. One reason for the lack of response was the emergency management director position was vacant and had been for months. However since March the city has hired Ray Riordan as the emergency management director, implemented a three-tired warning system, and deployed an L-RAD (long-range acoustic device) that can notify people farther away. Los Angeles Releases Fair Housing Plan The City of Los Angeles released an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) Draft Plan that identifies issues, develops strategies to reduce existing barriers, and outlines recommendations to promote fair housing choice and foster inclusive communities throughout the city. The draft AFH includes HUD and local data and input from hundreds of people. The city is looking for public review until Sept. 29 and a public hearing will be held Sept. 14. The public hearing will also be available on webcast but registration is required prior to the event. A final AFH Plan will be developed based on input gathered from the public comment period and the final document will be presented to City Council and the HACLA Board of Commissioners in early October. Brown Releases Cap-And-Trade Spending Plan Gov. Jerry Brown released a $1.5 billion expenditure plan to allocate the 40 percent of cap-and-trade auction monies that are discretionary. Like in previous expenditure plans, 60 percent of the revenue from auction sales go to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and the remaining 40 percent are appropriated by the legislature on an annual basis. Cities and other local governments can apply for GGRF-funded programs. Gov. Brown has proposed $350 million for CARB and other local air districts implementing the new air monitoring and quality program established by AB617; roughly $550 million will go to low-carbon transportation.  Quick Hits & Updates The City of Long Beach Planning Commission asked staff to conduct additional outreach on the new Long Beach 2040 General Plan Land Use and Urban Design Elements. The policy document plans to create places residents, businesses, and visitors have been looking for in the city: 21st century approach to achieving big city opportunities without losing benefits of compact neighborhoods. Some of the goals of the document are to reduce the number of residents (76 percent) who currently commute out of Long Beach for work and to encourage larger open spaces. BART's Livermore Extension Project has released its Draft EIR. Public review period has been extended to Oct. 16 and included two public hearings in late August. BART is preparing the CEQA documents and BART Board of Directors will consider the Final EIR and the alternatives evaluated. Developer Urban Commons has released the latest renderings of the 65-acre Queen Mary Island entertainment complex with stores, restaurants, sports venues, and entertainment facilities. The $250 million project is expected to drive nightlife in that part of Long Beach and fund repairs for the 81-year old cruise liner. The ship needs around $289 million in repairs over the next several years. A new study from Apartment List, a rental site, shows that 77 percent of Los Angeles renters plan on relocating to a different city. The researchers found many young people move to Los Angeles with plans to stay for a short period after college or graduate school, with plans to move when ready to settle down. In LA, 49 percent of renters listed affordability as their main reason for moving with 20 percent saying better job opportunities and one percent weather. A surprising finding of the study is that renters are no longer interested in moving to San Francisco because of the high cost of living. Los Angeles City Council’s Arts, Entertainment, Parks and River Committee is considering an agreement between the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would allow for preliminary studies and pre-construction work on the 11-mile LA River. Under the agreement, the city’s engineering department could begin designing a 500-foot terrace along the western bank of the river from North Main Street to East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in downtown LA. The Army Corps is asking for the design agreements to be signed by Oct. 1, and then engineering and design work would begin immediately but take about 4.5 years depending on funding. California’s cap-and-trade program results are the “strongest result we’ve seen” according to Chris Busch of Energy Innovation research firm. Busch attributes the strong sales to lawmakers extending the program, but also says the state has more credits available than companies need and that companies will quickly buy allowances because they are expecting much higher prices in the future. This could create less incentive for businesses to cut GHG emissions in the future. The state will receive about $640 million from August’s auction for clean energy programs and the high-speed rail project. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors released their $22 billion, 20-year capital plan. The plan includes a $2.5 billion underground light-rail tunnel, $90 million for streetcar expansion, and solar panels on bus yards. Other highlights include decreasing investment in the taxi industry from $90 million in 2015 to $60 million, upgrading 23 red light cameras and adding 10 more, new light-rail cars, enhancing disability access to trains, and 3D scans of maintenance facilities and trackways. The plan is not a budget, but instead a wish list as a first step in laying out the agency’s needs. JMM Research conducted a statewide survey  (pdf) of likely voters on behalf of the Advocates for Affordable Housing to gauge voter support for an affordable housing bond that could be placed on the November 2018 ballot by initiative. This memo outlines some key findings from the research. Voters strongly support the concept of a statewide affordable housing bond in an amount between $6 billion and $9 billion. Approval levels are at or near the 60 percent threshold, with less than 35 percent opposed. The City of Hermosa Beach City Council unanimously approved PLAN Hermosa, a General Plan update and Local Coastal Plan. PLAN Hermosa began in July 2013 and involved more than 30 City Council and commission meetings, workshops, walking tours, and other community engagements. Uber announced plans to sell the former Sears building in downtown Oakland it bought two years ago for $123.5 million. The company originally planned to place up to 3,000 employees in the building but earlier this year said it would only move a few hundred employees. Uber plans to consolidate most of its local employees in the new headquarters building in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood. The ride-hailing company stressed its commitment to Oakland and has donated $70,000 to help ensure every graduate of Oakland Unified School District can attend college and has given nearly $30,000 in free rides to a variety of Oakland organizations through its Community Credits Program. (See prior CP&DR coverage of downtown Oakland.) The City of Fresno City Council approved , 7-0, a 115-acre development project in low-income southwest Fresno. The plans include 55 acres of residential development, 22 acres major retail and commercial development, 9.6-acre park, 2.4 acres for community-oriented retail and offices, and 27 acres reserved for a future satellite campus for the State Center Community College District. Southwest Fresno has between 40 and 60 percent of residents living in poverty. The developer, Sylvesta Hall, grew up in Southwest Fresno. Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a settlement with Kern County over its practice of dumping treated human waste on Kern County farmland. The legal battle has spanned more than a decade and the settlement will be to “avoid further litigation or controversy”. Kern County will continue to study the impact the dumping has on air, water and soil. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The Hawthorne City Council voted , 4-1, to allow Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to construct its first test tunnel for electric vehicles. The tunnel will be dug beyond the SpaceX property line extending beneath city streets. The company is monitoring the impact of tunneling and will stop work if the surface ground begins to subside. The tunnel will be 44 feet underground and the work will be done with a tunnel-boring machine. Hyperloop One is in final testing phases of the first fully-built commercial Hyperloop system. The City of San Clemente sued to overturn the 2016 settlement agreement between the city and the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) over its Foothill-South and Tesoro Extension projects that include toll roads. This lawsuit means TCA has to go back to the drawing board for its toll road extension. The proposed road has roused controversy over the years for its possible impacts on San Onofre State Beach. Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a measure that would provide tax breaks to property owners who make their land available for farming and gardening. The ordinance is a framework for the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone program approved by the state legislation in 2014. According to Councilmember Curren Price, the measure will put LA’s many vacant lots to better use and provide residents with healthy food options. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Related Companies has filed for building permits for Bunker Hill’s Grand Avenue Project in downtown LA. First proposed in the mid-2000s, the project is designed by Frank Gehry and has two towers. There is a 2018 groundbreaking date but the project was originally expected to begin construction in 2007 and therefore many are skeptical. Construction is expected to be completed by 2022. San Diego city officials are creating instruction manuals with sample floor plans and other details to help accelerate the construction of granny flats. The manuals are based off similar efforts in Seattle and San Francisco to help homeowners decide whether to build a granny flat in their yard or above their garage, provide cost estimates, and suggest how to find tenants. San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously approved a 28-acre mixed-use development project at Pier 70 east of Dogpatch. The project includes 2,150 new homes and millions of square feet of commercial space, but there are still two visions of the plan. The Maximum Residential Scenario has 2,150 residential units while the Maximum Commercial Scenario only has 1,100 units. If given final approval the project would take 11 years to complete, but the first phase would include 900 new homes. The Board of Supervisors will consider the proposal next. The San Jose City Council approved , 9-2, a pilot program to build up to three tiny home villages for the homeless. Locations are still up to discussion. At the council meeting residents complained that putting the villages next to them would increase crime and reduce property values. As one resident says, “this experiment doesn't belong in anyone’s backyard until the city has run a pilot to ensure this is a manageable, economic and effective solution that is positive and safe.” The council eliminated limitations on keeping the tiny homes away from houses, schools, and parks for now. The homes must be near transit and utilities and at least 0.50 acres or inside a 10,000 square-foot building. Each village will house up to 25 people, but with an estimated 4,000 homeless residents the city needs to find an innovative solution. SPUR released a report “Room for More” about Silicon Valley’s housing challenges. As rents and home prices increase, the region’s economic growth, diversity and climate are threatened. SPUR recommends San Jose use planning and zoning tools to build 120,000 new units over the next 30 years and find new resources to support affordable housing development. The report has 20 steps that the biggest city in the Bay Area can take to address the housing shortage.

An audit by the San Francisco Controller’s Office reveals that the San Francisco Housing Authority has serious problems managing its funds. Based on nearly two years’ worth of financial documents, the audit found that the authority has frequently failed to reconcile its funds on a monthly basis and has kept records with numerous inaccuracies. It also found that the authority failed to properly keep track of funds from different sources, and it found frequent absenteeism among staff. The audit makes numerous recommendations, including higher salaries for key positions and the adoption of some electronic accounting systems. Any recommendations must be implemented by the authority itself.  Commuter Rail Line Opens in Marin, Sonoma After nearly a decade of planning, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) trains began rail service between Sonoma County and San Rafael Aug. 25. The current service begins at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa and ends in downtown San Rafael with eight stops in-between. Eventually the line will be extended to reach Cloverdale and Larkspur. One-way fares range from $3.50 to $11.50 with 34 trains running each weekday and 10 on weekends. Nine years ago, voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax to build SMART. The $500 million line is intended to provide an alternative to traffic-clogged Route 101. There has not been commuter rail service in the North Bay for nearly 60 years. Coalition of Environmental Groups, Governments Sue over Delta Tunnels Several dozen environmental groups, local governments, and others are suing the state over the proposed Delta water tunnels project. The legal deadline for lawsuits was in mid-August. One of the groups argues that the $17 billion tunnels project would take valuable Delta land out of production and create other problems for the county. All of the lawsuits say the tunnels represent a violation of the state’s strict environmental law. Experts on CEQA say the lawsuits won’t force Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration to get rid of the project, instead the courts will require developers to redo some of their EIRs which will delay but not outright cancel the project. Even with the CEQA lawsuits, the project is still facing a vote by south-of-Delta water agencies that will have to pay for the project. Westlands Water District, which serves farmers in Fresno and Kings counties, has already indicated the project might be too expensive. Report Calls for Regional Housing Strategy in Bay Area The Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California released a report  (pdf) “On Track Together: Housing And Transportation”. NPH conducted indicating that voters believe affordable housing should be a top priority for local, state, and regional policymakers. Their report highlights opportunities and the urgency for building a regional strategy for housing and transportation solutions in the Bay Area. In the Bay Area their have been trends favoring office and commercial development over homes, inadequate densities and zoning, out-of-control “local control” and aggressive use of CEQA to block projects, and a general significant decline in affordable housing investment from state and federal sources. The solutions will include "three P’s” of housing production, preservation, and (tenant) protections. Los Angeles Completes Massive School Construction Program The $160- million Maywood Center for Enriched Studies in the LA Unified School District opened in southeast LA County was the final construction project in the modernization of 131 LAUSD campuses. The country’s largest new school construction project cost $10 billion and took 20 years. In 2000, 77,000 students attended classes on calendars staggered throughout the year and 12,000 were involuntary bused from their local schools. Every student is now able to attend a neighborhood school, and the schools are no longer overcrowded with enrollment shrinking. There is still $5 billion left over in construction funding, which is not enough to renovate older campuses or maintain the new schools. However, school opening were seen as a major achievement by district officials throughout the school district. Analysis Shows Only 14 of 58 California Counties Are Affordable Mapping company Esri released a set of affordable-housing maps showing all but 14 of the state’s 58 counties have been hit by the housing crisis. The maps highlight housing affordability nationally, as well as California’s high home prices and comparatively low household incomes. In Alameda County, data shows some zip codes command 51.8 percent of the region’s average income for monthly mortgage payments. Marin County reaches 75 percent and Los Angeles County sometimes more than 100 percent of a resident’s monthly income. Since the 2008 recession, income levels have not kept pace with the recovery of the housing market. In California, this has led governments to intervene with emergency rent control policies and housing legislation. Quick Hits & Updates  A group of Playa del Rey and Manhattan Beach residents sued the City of Los Angeles saying the transportation officials broke state law by removing traffic lanes without conducting an environmental review. The lawsuit seeks to restore all travel lanes that were removed over the summer and require a thorough environmental review. These backlashes over “road diets” are common, and will continue as L.A. has bold plans to eliminate traffic fatalities and shift people away from cars to other modes of transportation. A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled , 3-0, that billionaire Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, must unlock the gate to Martins Beach Road while the legal fight continues. While the ruling does not settle the litigation over public entry to the beach, it does require the landowner to stop blocking the only road to the beach. A new report by Redfin analyzed 75 housing markets across the U.S. and found that the San Francisco Bay Area (including San Jose and Oakland) tops the list for having the most online searchers considering moving away from the metro area where they live. New York is second on the list, followed by Los Angeles and Washington D.C. This report adds to the growing evidence indicating that many Bay Area residents have had enough. The Bay Area Council released a poll earlier this year showing 40 percent of the region’s residents said they want to move away in the next few years. Redfin reports that San Francisco house hunters mostly look to Sacramento and Seattle. The League to Save Lake Tahoe introduced bicycle-sharing system LimeBike to South Lake Tahoe this summer. According to the group, ridership at Tahoe is similar to programs in much larger cities like Seattle. While there are some locals that use the bikes to commute to and from work as their primary source of transportation, there is heavy use in visitor areas. The bikes are embedded with GPS tracking and therefore don’t have to be returned to a docking station like most bike-share programs. An app on a smartphone can help locate users on the nearest free bicycle. The pilot program will run through October. Los Angeles Metro has released a new EIR for the overhaul of downtown’s Union Station, which will add a pedestrian-friendly forecourt and esplanade along Alameda Street, to better integrate the station with the surrounding community. The space for the new plaza will come from removing 60 short-term parking spaces. Construction is expected to take seven months and begin in 2020. Other plans for the historic station include run-through tracks, gastropub, and potentially an above-ground concourse.  According to a new study led by University of New Hampshire statistician Chris Glynn and Zillow, San Diego County may have 50 percent more homeless people than previously thought. The group factored the relationship of housing costs to homelessness. The usual point-in-time count includes a head count of homeless people in shelters one January night and counting outside shortly before dawn. The biggest difference, according to Zillow, is the difference between those living unsheltered. This means the funding received from the federal government for housing programs is much lower than needed. To start the academic year, the University of Southern California opened  its $700 million USC Village, a 2,700-bed mixed-use residential and retail complex just north of its main campus in South Los Angeles. This test of public-private partnership is an attempt to remake a historically underserved neighborhood. The 15-acre addition is part of the university’s effort to increase student housing and the amount of academic space. The project also includes 15 restaurants, a pharmacy, Trader Joe’s grocery store, and a Target. USC also committed to build a $16 million fire station on university land, pledged $20 million to Los Angeles’ Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and promised 30 percent of workers employed would be from the local area. San Gabriel City Council adopted a historic preservation ordinance, updating the original 1965 ordinance. One of the most significant updates is the creation of Historic Preservation Commission comprised of experts in the field. The ordinance also creates a historic context statement and citywide surveys of historical resources. San Gabriel currently has a “B” grade on the Preservation Report Card created by the LA Conservancy. The Santa Barbara City Council approved , 5-2, an ordinance to cap the number of Average Unit-Size Density units at 125 per year, require units with three or more bedrooms to provide two parking spaces, ban AUD units from being converted to vacation rentals, and exclude mobile-home parks from the program’s zoning map. Critics of the program say it is not providing the affordable workforce housing it was meant to.

CP&DR Vol. 32 No. 8 August 2017

Four years ago, the California Supreme Court poked a big hole in the California Environmental Quality Act when it held that local elected officials could approve a project without any CEQA analysis if an initiative to approve the project had qualified for the ballot. The so-called “Tuolomne Tactic” was a big-blow to old-fashioned populist NIMBYism in California, using a supposedly populist tool. That's how both Inglewood and Carson  got their NFL stadiums approved so fast . More recently, developers have tried the tactic to approve  a logistics center in Moreno Valley  and  a shopping center in Carlsbad  (though that approval was overturned by a referendum). Now the Court has used the same populist tool to poke a hole in old-fashion populist tax activism, saying that the initiative process isn’t subject to Proposition 26, the 1996 ballot measure that sought to restrain tax increases by subjecting them to a vote. And, ironically, the Supreme Court’s ruling used Proposition 26’s own language to create a possible loophole that would permit taxes to be raised in a locality without a vote – if the tax increase is brought forth via initiative. It’s a blow to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association – and maybe the organization’s fault as well. It’s the same interplay with the Elections Code that we saw in the Tuolomne case. Because Elections Code 9212 permits local elected officials to simply enact an initiative rather than put in on the ballot, taxes could be raised without any vote at all under certain circumstances since Proposition 13 doesn’t apply. The ruling also holds out the possibility that a special tax increase brought forth by initiative could pass with a simple majority vote rather than the two-thirds vote called for under Proposition 13. Indeed, this is almost certainly the reason that the Chargers football team joined the case on an amicus basis. Before they left San Diego for Los Angeles, the Chargers were looking at all options for financing a new football stadium and were struggling to make a deal with the city. The majority ruling of the Supreme Court – written by Justice Tino Cuellar, a recent Brown appointee – rests on what seems, at least to me, to be a weird interpretation of California’s constitutional provisions on initiative and referendum: The idea the voters and the local government are two different things. The argument appears to be that when the voters step into the shoes of the elected officials, they are some how not acting as the local government. The whole point of the initiative process is to allow voters to step into the shoes of elected officials (the state legislature, county boards of supervisors, and city councils) and enact legislation that has exactly the same legally binding power. If voters in San Diego approve an increase in the hotel tax to pay for the new Chargers stadium, isn't that exactly the same thing as if the San Diego City Council or San Diego County Board of Supervisors approving such a tax? Well, no, according to the California Supreme Court. An initiative isn’t an action undertaken by the local government, which is not the “municipal corporation and body politic” (as dissenter Justice Leondra Kruger argued) but an array of elected officials and bureaucrats occupying City Hall. “A contrary conclusion,” wrote Cuellar for the majority, “would require an unreasonably broad construction of the term ‘local government’ at the expense of the people’s constitutional right to direct democracy, undermining our longstanding and consistent view that courts should protect and liberally construe it.” And here is where the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association – which unsuccessfully sought to defend Upland in the case – got hoisted on its own petard, as it were. Exhibit A in Cuellar’s argument is the plain language of Proposition 218 itself – language which seems to suggest that citizens, especially taxpayers, are separate from the government. Proposition 218 itself says: “This measure protects taxpayers by limiting the methods by which local governments exact revenue from taxpayers.” For decades, the Howard Jarvis group and other taxpayer organizations have argued that the government has gotten out of control – that it is a kind of “deep state” that must be reigned in by voters, because government has gone off on its own as a separate, largely unaccountable entity. Now, at last, the Supreme Court – in an opinion written by a Latino appointee of Jerry Brown – has agreed. Even though the initiative process is set up so voters step into the shoes of elected officials to enact legislation, somehow or other those voters are a different entity than the elected officials. And the loser is the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Because the end result of all this litigation is that you can use the initiative process to pass a tax without a vote or with a simple majority vote instead of the two-thirds supermajority the Jarvis people love. You can see advocates for transportation, open space, and affordable housing jumping on this one all over the state. Transportation agencies, for example, have struggled for decades with passing or renewing their half-cent sales taxes because they need a two-thirds vote. A simple majority would be so much easier. But it also takes the bat out of the hands of elected officials acting in their official capacity - and probably creates a legal mess as to how involved those elected officials can get in drafting the initiative. Could a county transportation commission, for example, draft a wish list of transportation projects to be funded by a tax - and then let a group of prominent citizens place it on the ballot via initiative? Yikes. A typical California problem. Meanwhile, if what you want to do is raise taxes and then build something with the money, life keeps getting easier. If you go the initiative route, you can raise taxes without the two-thirds vote that those pesky right-wingers like – even without a vote at all -- and then build the project without a CEQA analysis that those pesky left-wingers like. Whether anybody thinks all this is worth doing for anything other than a football stadium remains to be seen.

In a case with potentially broad ramifications, the California Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that Proposition 218 doesn’t apply to initiatives – meaning, in theory, that a tax proposed by the initiative process will could be approved by a local elected body as an alternative to placing the initiative on the ballot.

The San Francisco Bay Area’s less racially diverse cities are not being allocated their fair share of moderate- and lower-income housing, according to new research findings from the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley. According to the report, Unfair Shares , researchers determined that after controlling for population size, Bay Area housing allocations for moderate- and low-income residents are correlated with the sizes of the cities' white populations. As a whole, the region only permitted 28 percent, 26 percent, and 29 percent of needed moderate-income, low-income and very low-income housing units respectively between 2007 and 2014.Additionally, the researchers found that more than half the local governments in the region permitted less than 25 percent of the total housing units needed for moderate-, low-, and very low-income households between 2007 and 2014. Only 5 percent of local governments permitted between 75 and 100 percent of the moderate-, low-, and very-low income housing needed, and only 8 percent permitted more than 100 percent of what was needed. While San Leandro, Oakley and Richmond permitted more than 100 percent of very low- and low-income housing, cities like Martinez, Fairfield and parts of Napa and Solano counties permitted less than 10 percent of their allocations of very low- and low-income housing. These findings raise legal questions about a potentially disparate racial impact in the region’s housing needs allocation methodology, while elevating concerns about housing equity in other parts of California as well. The report makes two key recommendations: 1) Modify the Bay Area’s regional housing needs allocation methodology to incorporate fair housing objectives; 2) Specify additional requirements within state laws to promote racial equity within the housing allocation process that all regional councils of governments must observe.  Redondo Beach Adopts Moratorium on Mixed-Use Developments The City of Redondo Beach enacted a 45-day moratorium on the approvals of new mixed-use developments, with a possible two-year extension on the way. The moratorium was adopted unanimously by the city council amid public outcry that such developments were undermining the character of the coastal city in southern Los Angeles County. Mixed-use developments have cropped up along Pacific Coast Highway, one of the city’s major arteries. At its Sept. 19 meeting, the city council will consider the two-year extension; it will have to demonstrate that mixed-use developments pose a threat to public health, safety, and welfare. “Redondo does not have a housing shortage and the crisis we do have really is a traffic crisis and an on-again, off-again water crisis,” Mayor Bill Brand told the Daily Breeze. “And if we continue with a lot of this residential, soon we’ll have school overcrowding.” The city is currently updating its general plan, which is expected to include guidelines on mixed-use development.  Newhall Ranch Hit with Lawsuit Two environmental groups, Friends of the Santa Clara River and the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment, have filed a CEQA lawsuit to block the approvals of the first phase of Newhall Ranch. The 5,500-unit phase of the controversial mega-development northwest of Los Angeles was approved last month by Los Angeles County Supervisors. The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that developer FivePoint Holdings did not fully take into account effects on plants and wildlife, Native American sites, and the watershed of the Santa Clara River. It also alleges that the environmental impact report did not account for droughts, impact on the area’s water table, or for the expansion of a nearby landfill “The Board’s finding that the project will not adversely affect health, peace, comfort or welfare of persons residing or working in the surrounding area ... or otherwise constitute a menace to the public health, safety, or general welfare, is not supported by substantial evidence in the record,” according to the complaint, as quoted in the Daily News. Los Angeles Measure JJJ May Be Depressing Housing Construction According to a study released by the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIA) developers submitted only 5,117 applications for new housing construction permits in Los Angeles from March to June. The same period last year saw 9,226 permits. CEO of the BIA’s Los Angeles branch, Tim Piasky, blames expensive requirements for affordable housing mandated by Prop. JJJ, a citywide ballot measure that passed in November. When Los Angeles voters were considering the proposition, critics from Habitat for Humanity to the Los Angeles Times warned that the measure could lead to less housing constructions because of the mandate. Under the new proposition, the City Planning Department published guidelines on the percentage of affordable housing units required for new development projects. The proposition also added new labor regulations that required developers to pay a prevailing wage and require that 30 percent of construction workers on a project are LA residents and 10 percent of those “transitional workers”. As Piasky says, “not only are they not producing affordable units they aren’t producing any housing units.” Stanford Study Backs Use of Carbon Offsets through Forest Conservation Researchers at Stanford University have found that offsetting carbon credits through forests has environmental benefits beyond offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. In California, the program allows forest owners around the U.S. to sell carbon credits to companies required by the state to reduce emissions through its cap-and-trade market. For each additional ton of carbon dioxide the trees store, forest owners can earn about $10 in credits to sell to companies. The program has earned forest owners about $250 million and offset 25 million tons of carbon. The researchers show the program is effective because the forest owners switched from timber companies to participate in the program, and there are sustainable forest management and conservation co-benefits.  S.F. Supervisor Seeks Help for Perilous Series of Off-Ramps San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen is pushing for the “Hairball,” a tangle of freeway, ramps, and three streets in the Mission and Dogpatch, neighborhoods to be made safer and more attractive. Ronen’s first choice is to put a chunk of the freeway underground. Some members of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition have posted videos of themselves weaving around homeless camps that have spilled into bike lanes. Ronen says the freeway encampment is a natural result of poor urban design and that a Navigation Center should be opened in the area as a temporary solution. In July, Ronen persuaded her supervisor colleagues to set aside $220,000 to start a 25-year freeway redesign process that would include a blueprint and hiring a consultant to come up with alternatives for the Hairball and the Alemany Maze. Quick Hits & Updates The SANDAG Executive Committee approved the waiver of the 120-day notice provision in Gary Gallegos’s contract and accepted his resignation effective today. In addition, they placed the Chief Deputy Executive Director in charge of the agency.“Gary Gallegos’ departure from SANDAG is a big loss for our region, but his decision to step down will allow the Board to move forward with enhancing our regional mobility future,” said SANDAG Chair and County Supervisor Ron Roberts.The SANDAG Board will soon consider the next steps for the recruitment of the new Executive Director. The City of Oakland is re-launchnig efforts to update its downtown plan. After an initial framework was announced in 2015, efforts stalled as stakeholders insisted hat the plan do more to take into account equity and social justice, including racial disparities, gentrification, and displacement. The city has hired consultants from the Institute for Sustainable Economic, Education and Environmental Design to develop a social and racial framework to apply to the plan.  A study out of UC Riverside confirms that the shrinkage of the Salton Sea has increased the concentration of dust and other particulates in the region surrounding the lake. The study found that ten percent of the airborne pollution in the area could be traced directly to the lake. The findings are concerning as they come in advance of a significant reduction in inflows of water to the lake, with the lake expected to shrink significantly and expose lake-bottom which will, in turn, contribute to air pollution.  On Aug. 8 the San Jose City Council approved the Stevens Creek Blvd., Winchester Blvd., and Santana Row/Valley Fair  Urban Village Plans . The plans provide a policy framework to guide new job and housing growth within the Urban Village boundaries, as well as provide a framework for the characteristics of future development. Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released detailed data on where the homeless sleep in LA County. In 2016, data showed many slept on the streets but now the trend has shifted to RVs, vans, and cars. Skid Row has 4,485 homeless people or 1,000 more than in 2016, half of these people stay in shelters. More upscale neighborhoods such as Bel-Air, Beverly Hills and Malibu saw increases in homelessness but primarily those that sleep in vehicles.

The recently released U.S. Cities Sustainable Development Global Index ( pdf ) aims to help urban leaders address the many sustainable development challenges affecting their cities. California cites dominated the top of the list. The San Jose-Santa Clara-Sunnyvale region came in No. 1, the San Francisco-Oaland-Hawyard region came in No. 4, San Diego-Carlsbad took No. 5, and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks took No. 8 nationally. The Index covers the 100 most populous cities (measured as Metropolitan Statistical Areas). It synthesizes data available today across 49 indicators spanning 16 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were agreed upon by all countries in September 2015. The data provides a more holistic and comprehensive assessment of sustainable development challenges faced by U.S. cities than available through other metrics. Results show that all U.S. cities, even those at the top of the index, have far to go to achieve the SDGs. Provo-Orem, Utah, and Seattle-Tacoma Washington round out the top five.  Los Angeles Launches Database of City Properties The City of Los Angeles launched a new online portal that designed to help the city maximize the value of its property, and more efficiently provide options for affordable housing, homeless service facilities, and other priorities. The comprehensive, searchable property database will enable staff to manage city property more effectively, and allow the public to track the development of community assets like police and fire stations, libraries and public parks. The portal is available at lacity.org/property.  The portal will be used to maximize the value of underutilized or vacant properties. With departments such as the Department of Transportation, the Economic and Workforce Development Department, and Los Angeles Public Library now utilizing the system, the unused spaces could potentially turn into a vast array of public amenities. “City-owned property is one of our most valuable assets, and we must maximize its value to advance critical priorities like building affordable housing and expanding homeless services,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti in a statement. “This innovative new portal will streamline our property management, and help us put more of our land to work serving our communities’ needs.” AHSC Technical Assistance Available  The Strategic Growth Council has released a survey for localities and organizations interested in receiving technical assistance under the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program. The goal of AHSC TA Program is to ensure disadvantaged and low-income communities have access to the resources and tools to successfully compete in the AHSC program. Organizations interested in receiving technical assistance for a potential AHSC application, must complete the informational form by Friday August 25th. The information collected will help determine overall TA need. SGC Staff will assess the collected information and allocate TA resources according to the following criteria: Project Viability & AHSC Threshold Criteria; TA Needs; Geographic Diversity; Value Add; Disadvantaged, Low-Income, and/or Tribal Community; Capacity Needs. Based on the above criteria, the SGC will determine if the potential AHSC applicant will receive services in preparation for the upcoming funding round (October 2017) or, as resources allow, longer-term capacity-building services to prepare for a future AHSC funding round. Superior Court to Rule on S.F. Height Limit Measure A dispute over San Francisco ballot measure limiting the height of buildings along the city’s waterfront is going to trial. Measure B, passed in 2014 with 59 percent of the vote, limits the height of new waterfront buildings to whatever the existing limits are unless voters approve an exception. The state Lands Commission sued to overturn the measure on the grounds that only the state can set regulations for waterfront development. But this month a San Francisco Superior Court judge has ruled preliminarily that the city may claim precedence in certain instances and is allowing the case to go to trial. The ruling is concerned a victory for supporters of the measure. Trial is set for Sept. 11.  U.S. Rep. Cook Requests Shrinking of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument As the Trump administration considers shrinking or eliminating protected federal lands, Rep. Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) has  requested that the administration consider eliminating territory from the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Cook wants to eliminate 4,873 acres, out of a total of 346,000, adjacent to the Inland Empire Communities of Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, and San Antonio Heights. Cook contends that the monument is opposed by local residents and infringes on local economic activity, such as the possible expansion of Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts. Many local officials, including the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, support the monument as-is. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors opposed expansion of the monument in 2014.  Agricultural Groups Sue over Amphibian Habitat Designation Three agricultural organizations are challenging the designation of 1.8 million acres of critical habitat for two yellow-legged frog species and the Yosemite toad. the California Cattlemen’s Association, California Farm Bureau, and California Wool Grower’s Association have filed suit in federal court against the state Fish and Wildlife Service on the grounds that the agency failed to analyze the impacts of the habitat designation on small businesses. The suit claims that the agency improperly failed to prepare a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. More than half of the 1.8 million acres is used, to some extent, as grazing land; ranchers contend that the designation improperly infringes on their ability to graze. The forest service contends that it did take ranching into account and that the designation does not unduly impact ranching.  Inglewood Shrinks Potential Area for Clippers Arena Stakeholders in Inglewood are raising concerns over the possibility that the city could authorize the use of eminent domain to develop a proposed arena complex for the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team. A four-block area of the city has been designated “potential participating parcels,” including two heavily residential blocks that are home to over 2,000 residents. Those residents, as well as some businesses, have not agree to the Clippers’ plan. The city recently shrank the potential development area to exclude a church and some single-family homes. Parcels currently occupied by a variety of businesses remain available for purchase or eviction via eminent domain to accommodate the arena.  Hotel Fined for Improperly Meddling in Santa Monica Land Use  The California Fair Practices Commission has fined Santa Monica’s Huntley Hotel $310,000 for improperly canceling donations to city council candidates and funding opposition to the redevelopment of a nearby rival hotel in downtown Santa Monica. The commission found 62 counts of improper behavior on the part of the hotel over a total of $97,000 in campaign contributions. The fine is significant because the Huntley not only opposed the redevelopment of neighboring Miramar Hotel but also gave support to the city’s slow-growh movement though its cover organization, Santa Monicans for Responsible Growth. Activism associated with the group has reportedly led to the down-zoning of Santa Monica’s Land Use and Circulation Element. (See prior CP&DR coverage .)

The newest among the many notable assets of the City of Burbank is what is billed as the “World’s Largest Ikea". The mega-store recently opened in February, replacing a normal-sized Ikea about a mile away. For all its Scandinavian appeal, the new Ikea surely does nothing to mute Burbank’s image as an unremarkable quasi-suburb that tries, and often fails, to distinguish itself from Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, which abuts it to the west and north.

Among the cities of Silicon Valley, large buildable lots are nearly as rare as unemployed programmers. Amid the regional housing crisis and strong slow-growth sentiment, battles over their fate have been fierce – few more so than in Los Gatos. The Los Gatos Town Council approved plans to develop its last large undeveloped piece of land, 44 acres at the junction of Highway 85 and Highway 17, Aug. 1. Though public opinion on the fate of the parcel is far from settled, the decision was essentially forced after a judge ruled against the city earlier in the summer in a long-running legal battle concerning roughly half of the parcel. By some measure, it’s a win for state housing laws that are often seen as powerless to compel cities to actually realize their housing allocations. Currently the incongruous site of a walnut orchard, among single-family homes and strip commercial, the North 40 development is to include 320 residences and 68,000 square feet of retail on a 22-acre plot near the city’s border with San Jose. The project includes about 50 low-income and moderate-income apartments.

San Diego Association of Governments Executive Director Gary Gallegos, who has led the agency since 2001, announced that he will retire by the end of the calendar year. Gallegos, 57, has overseen the agency for 16 years. In 2004, Gallegos led the effort to extend TransNet, a regional half-cent sales tax for transportation; 67 percent of county voters approved the extension. That measure has been mired in controversy of late as reports surfaced that agency staff, including, presumably, Gallegos, was aware that the agency’s official estimates overstated the amount of revenue that the tax would generate. Gallegos said that he achieved many of his personal and institutional goals in the course of his tenure -- including the construction of the Mid-Coast Trolley extension and South Bay Rapid, along with planning for the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry — and noted that "The independent examination found that SANDAG did not intentionally mislead the public or the Board regarding its forecast.” “Gary Gallegos will leave us as a giant in regional planning and transportation,” said SANDAG Chair and County Supervisor Ron Roberts in a statement. “His drive and effectiveness as a transportation leader are nationally renowned, particularly when it comes to bringing investment into our community and getting creative projects started and completed.” Report Suggests Cozy Relationship between Chiang, Affordable Housing Developers A report by the Sacramento Bee suggests that State Treasurer and gubernatorial hopeful John Chiang gave political favors to affordable housing developers who donated to his campaign. The Bee found that developers, who collectively gave around $100,000 to Chiang’s campaign, have received millions in tax credits and bond funds over the years. In some cases, monies were dedicated to the developers within weeks after they made donations. The Bee singles out Pacific West Communities and Domus Development, the latter of which which reportedly gave $40,000 to Chiang’s campaign committees while receiving 9 percent tax breaks on three projects in the Sacramento region through the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. In response to the allegations, a Chiang spokesperson told the Bee, "The evaluation and scoring are done by professional staff who have nothing to do with or any knowledge as to who supports my campaigns.” Ballot Measure Could Extend Reach of Prop. 13 A proposed statewide ballot measure would adjust Proposition 13 with the intent of helping young homeowners purchase homes. The measure, sponsored by the California Association of Realtors, would allowing them to carry a portion of their existing property tax rate across county lines when they purchase a new house. According to Alex Creel, lobbyist for the Realtors, many people feel locked into their properties because of Prop. 13. Currently, homeowners over 55 in certain counties can already transfer existing property tax rates to a new home of equal or less value, but Creel’s initiative would expand the program. Caltrans Seeks Input on SB 1 Planning Guides for $45 Million in Planning Grants Caltrans is preparing to launch new grant funding from Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, and released for public review and comment the final drafts of the SB 1 Sustainable Communities and Adaptation Planning Grant guides. SB 1 will provide more than $270 million in planning grants for local communities over the next decade. Caltrans will provide $25 million in annual grants for local and regional planning to support the goals and best practices cited by the California Transportation Commission in its regional transportation plan guidelines. Caltrans will provide $20 million over three years to local and regional agencies to support resilient transportation infrastructure planning for areas that are potentially vulnerable to climate change. This funding will help these agencies conduct adaptation planning in a way to ensure transportation assets are resilient in the face of climate change. The formal 30-day comment period for the final draft guides will be open through Aug. 31. The draft guidelines and comment forms can be found at  http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tpp/grants.html . Two workshops will be held, in Sacramento (Sept. 1) and Los Angeles (Sept. 6).  Meetings to Discuss Cap-and-Trade Funding Guidelines The Air Resources Board invites stakeholders to participate in a series of community meetings and a statewide webcast later this month to provide input on the draft updates to the CARB Funding Guidelines for Agencies that Administer California Climate Investments. California Climate Investments is a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities. The meetings will be held in Fresno (Aug. 22), Los Angeles (Aug. 23), Oakland (Aug. 28), and Sacramento (Aug. 31).