May Advocacy Update
Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s Fiscal Year 2018 Proposed Budget
Mayor Kevin Falconer recently released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, and staff will present it to the Government Affairs Committee this month. Despite rising pension costs, the proposed budget maintains its focus on neighborhoods, infrastructure, and street repair.
The $3.6 billion budget proposal will fund paving 349 miles of street, maintains operating hours at libraries and recreation centers, and includes key public safety improvements. The Government Affairs Committee is looking forward to learning more about the FY18 highlights including infrastructure investment, new community projects, and what cuts were made to balance the budget. The final budget will be adopted by the City Council in June.
If you would like to join the Government Affairs Committee to learn more about the Mayor’s budget proposal, please contact Julianna Tetlow at jtetlow@calstrat.com.
Big “A” Little “a”: Affordable Housing and housing affordability
At last month’s Government Affairs Committee meeting members of Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s staff presented the Mayor’s Housing Initiative. California, and San Diego, in particular, is facing an unprecedented crisis in housing affordability and affordable housing. According to a report recently released by the San Diego Regional Chamber Foundation in San Diego, 42% of homeowners and 57% of renters spend more than one-third of their income on housing while statewide those numbers stand at 36% and 48% respectively. Additionally, the annual count of San Diego’s homeless population found that there are 5,619 individuals living on the streets. These staggering numbers are due, in part, to decades of underproduction of housing units.
To increase housing production in the City, the Mayor’s office has developed several goals and strategies to improve housing affordability, improve the review process, and facilitate more affordable housing, all while supporting Climate Action Plan goals. Through programs such as density bonuses for workforce housing, expedited processing for affordable and sustainable projects, loosening restrictions on building accessory dwelling units, and streamlined environmental review, the Mayor’s office hopes to stimulate development and begin chipping away at the housing gap.
Assembly Bill Pulled From Committee By Author – Big Thanks to the Commercial Real Estate Industry Coalition
Several weeks ago AB 1059, a bill to ban dual agency in the state of California, was proposed and began its journey through the legislative process. Late last month author Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher made the decision to pull the bill from consideration this year.
This was possible due only to the overwhelming response from the commercial real estate community. Our collation of tenants, large and small, brokers, large firms and small firms, and property owners engaging and explaining why dual agency is beneficial and why banning the practice would harm an entire industry was key. You all deserve hearty congratulations on this success, and for now, we can breathe a sigh of relief.
We appreciate that the author of the bill heard our concerns and chose to pull back to reevaluate, but it is very likely that this measure or an amended version of it will be revisited next year. We can assume the sponsors of this bill will continue to press this issue and we should work to communicate about the benefits of dual agency with policymakers, clients, and the public at large.
Thank you all for your help and support. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Legislative Advocate Craig Benedetto at craigb@calstrat.com if you have any questions or comments.
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