CEQA vs. the YIMBYs

From: POLITICO California Playbook - Thursday Mar 10,2022 02:19 pm

Mar 10, 2022

By Alexander Nieves, Jeremy B. White, Chris Ramirez and Juhi Doshi

THE BUZZ — CEQA’s STAYING POWER, via Alexander Nieves: A University of California, Berkeley enrollment debacle has California’s political machine poised to take a piece out of a powerful environmental protection law.

Recent warnings from the state’s flagship public university that it could be forced to turn away thousands of students have sparked nationwide headlines and public anger over the California Environmental Quality Act, the ever-contested law that a judge used to cap the school’s student body. The ruling — that Cal should have studied the environmental impact of increasing its student population before admitting more of them — shocked parents already worried about their children getting into a selective school. Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers across the political spectrum were quick to condemn the decision and argue that universities need a clear path to grow.

Housing advocates see a parallel between the Berkeley fight and a larger struggle to build in a state with skyrocketing rents. Critics of CEQA have long blamed it for delaying and killing projects by allowing neighborhood groups and unions to file expensive lawsuits, often for reasons that have nothing to do with environmental protection. They hope the furor over the Berkeley case will energize the public enough to force a larger overhaul of CEQA — but after years of failed reform efforts, it’s not something they’re willing to bet on.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, who authored a bill to exempt most student and faculty housing from environmental review, compared the fight over CEQA to the federal gun control debate, which he said picks up steam in the wake of a mass shooting only to peter out with little policy movement to show. Wiener argued that a range of groups have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo around CEQA, creating complicated politics for lawmakers who count these groups among their supporters.

“You have outrageous situations that show a significant public policy failure, and you have broad public support for change, but the politics still drag down reform efforts,” he said in an interview with POLITICO. (Read the full Wiener Q&A here.)

But the Berkeley case has seemingly garnered outrage from a wider cross section of the public than previous CEQA controversies, UC Davis School of Law professor Chris Elmendorf argued, especially among upper-middle class parents who, he said, have been the “stalwart defenders of suburban neighborhoods.” He said that despite this phenomenon, he hasn’t gotten the sense yet that these Californians are willing to make the jump from supporting enrollment growth and construction of student housing to backing upzoning in their own neighborhoods.

That said, there are already signs that the UC Berkeley case could be simmering down. University officials unveiled a plan last week that will cut just 400 seats for the upcoming school year, far short of the more than 3,000 students they initially said would be denied admissions. That’s great news for high school students and transfers hoping to call Berkeley home — but housing advocates trying to capture CEQA reform momentum will still have an uphill fight.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Thursday morning. Sen. Alex Padilla is meeting with SCOTUS nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson today in Padilla’s capacity as a member of the Judiciary Committee. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is in Warsaw, talking with European allies about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit jwhite@politico.com or follow me on Twitter @jeremybwhite.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The folks in Congress love their what I would call Manichaean indulgences. Luxuriating in the denunciation of evil, while implying their own inherent goodness, even though they're in a questionable undertaking: hustling money and images, wherever they can, in a sometimes unseemly manner, which should call for humility, and not this kind of exuberance of, ‘We're good and they're bad.’” Former Gov. Jerry Brown in conversation with POLITICO’s Debra Kahn.

BONUS QOTD: “I do not think anything savvy or genius about Putin. I think Putin is evil. I think he's a dictator. I think he's murdering people right now.” Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy does not mince words on Russia.

TWEET OF THE DAY: California Air Resources Board chief Liane Randolph @mslianeran on U.S. EPA restoring California’s authority to regulate vehicle emissions: “We can now set our sights even higher & accelerate the critical transformation needed to put millions of #zeroemission vehicles on CA roads & provide #cleanair for our most impacted communities. #environmentaljustice”

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today.

Top Talkers

RUNNING IN CIRCLES — “Mentally ill people in S.F. are cycling in and out of emergency rooms. One doctor shares stories about our broken system,” by the SF Chronicle’s Heather Knight: “San Francisco General Hospital is now the only hospital in the city with a dedicated psychiatric emergency room, but there are far more people needing its services than there are beds.”

GASSED UP — “The truth about L.A.’s most notoriously expensive gas stations,” by the LA Times’ Sam Dean: “When reached at his office, the owner and operator of [a] gas station, Charles Khalil, said that there’s no economic mystery behind his prices: People shopping around the Beverly Center are just willing to pay.”

— “Bay Area firm says worker and her children identified as family killed in Ukraine, ” by the SFGATE’s Joshua Bote.

GONE PHISHING — “Fresno lost $400,000 to a phishing scam out of Africa in 2020 and never told the public,” by the Fresno Bee’s Brianna Calix: “The electronic fraud was disguised as an invoice from a subcontractor working on the construction of the new southeast Fresno police station, Councilmember Miguel Arias told The Bee.”

CAMPAIGN MODE

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — GOP GOVERNOR CHALLENGER: Navy veteran and Republican Shawn Collins is jumping into the governor’s race, joining state Sen. Brian Dahle in challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom. Collins was formerly running for an Orange County House seat. He said in a statement that “government has done enough to kill the California dream,” vowing to “make California the best place to start a small business, give parents a real voice in their children’s educations, and bring compassion and law and order together to end the human tragedies on our streets.”

TREASURE IT: Republican Orange County supervisor Andrew Do has launched a challenge to incumbent Democratic Treasurer Fiona Ma, saying he was focused on “reforming our state’s investment and financing structures and managing our assets with an eye to protecting working families and those most in need.”

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

THE COMEBACK — “‘San Francisco is coming back’: Mayor Breed touts progress in annual address, vows to tackle housing, public safety,” by the SF Chronicle’s Mallory Moench: “Over the last two years, she went from being praised nationally for her handling of the pandemic to being questioned by some over her response to the city’s struggling Tenderloin neighborhood, where she has declared a state of emergency in an effort to reduce drug overdose deaths.”

FOOD FIGHTS — “California food assistance program hits a ‘crisis point’ in keeping up with demand, ” by the LA Times’ Mackenzie Mays: “Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to increase the CalFresh budget. But the plan was delayed last year, and again in the governor’s budget plan released in January.”

FIRESIDE CHATS — “ ‘A crucial year for PG&E.’ California tightens grip on utility but wildfire risk persists,” by the Sac Bee’s Dale Kasler: “Public ownership wouldn’t have necessarily fixed everything. Among other things, a government-run utility would have put itself on the hook for billions of dollars in liabilities.”

UP IN THE AIR — “ How Air Pollution Across America Reflects Racist Policy From the 1930s,” by NYT’s Raymond Zhong and Nadja Popovich: “California’s East Bay is a clear example. The neighborhoods within Berkeley and Oakland that were redlined sit on lower-lying land, closer to industry and bisected by major highways.”

THE GRASS IS GREENER … “ California is living in a domestic violence ‘nightmare.’ Seattle could hold the solution,” by the Sac Bee’s Ariane Lange: “Most states — including California — have little to no proactive enforcement of restraining orders when it comes to removing firearms from abusers.”

CASH FOR COPS — “ The hidden billion-dollar cost of repeated police misconduct,” by the WaPo’s Keith L. Alexander, Steven Rich and Hannah Thacker: “New York, Chicago and Los Angeles alone accounted for the bulk of the overall payments documented by The Post — more than $2.5 billion.”

MO MONEY, MO PROBLEMS — “ Hundreds of SF teachers unpaid, underpaid in payroll glitch,” by Mission Local’s Joe Eskanazi: “While more eyes are on the problems now, the teachers’ union has accused the district of rolling out a buggy program with insufficient support.”

THE CASE FOR REPARATIONS — “ They say California stole their ancestors’ land. But do they qualify for reparations?” by the LA Times’ Erika D. Smith: “Then there will be the Black immigrants and the biracial Californians whose ancestors were slaves, but who have always identified as white. I’m really not looking forward to ‘Black enough’ litmus tests.”

— “After viral conspiracies, California sheriff announces ‘whistleblower’ died by suicide,” by the Sac Bee’s Jason Pohl: “While [Philip] Haney’s death was long suspected to have been a suicide, Tuesday’s update closed a multi-year investigation that unwittingly brought the rural county, population 40,000, into viral claims that the man’s death was part of a deep-state plot to silence a whistleblower.”

— “UC Berkeley to relocate homeless community at People’s Park to make way for student housing, ” by the SF Chronicle’s J.K. Dineen.

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— MAGA-world fails to flock to Truth Social, by POLITICO’s Meridith McGraw and Rebecca Kern: Former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group, has said that after months of delays, Truth Social is expected to be “fully operational” in the coming weeks and expects to attract users who have been booted or turned off by more mainstream platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

HOLLYWOODLAND

MOVIE MAGIC: The Motion Picture Association is celebrating its 100th birthday today with video tributes to Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Judy Chu and an array of non-Californian federal officeholders.

CANNABIS COUNTRY

NOT QUITE YET … Democratic-led Congress keeps ban on D.C. weed, by POLITICO’s Natalie Fertig: “D.C.’s City Council wants to regulate and tax the industry, and business owners want more security that their businesses are not going to be shut down.”

WEED ON WHEELS — “Curbside pickup for marijuana? California agency is poised to allow it indefinitely,” by the Sac Bee’s Andrew Sheeler: “Other proposed regulatory changes include increasing the value, and thus the amount, of cannabis product that retail delivery drivers can carry in their vehicles before returning to their premises.”

MIXTAPE

— “P-22 in Silver Lake? Mountain Lion Sighting Surprises the Neighborhood,” by NBC’s Jonathan Lloyd.

— “Are electric vehicles cheaper than gas-powered cars? California could help you buy one,” by the Sac Bee’s Brianna Taylor.

— “ An 11-year-old Ukrainian tennis player fled war for the Bay Area. These tennis stars have rallied to help her keep training,” by the SF Chronicle’s Michael Cabanatuan.

— “ As diners returned to Berkeley icon Chez Panisse, so did protesters fighting next-door César's closure,” by the SF Chronicle’s Elena Kadvany.

— “California pipeline at issue after ExxonMobil’s plan fails ,” by the AP’s Michael R. Blood.

ICYMI — “What Happens When an Élite Public School Becomes Open to All?” by the New Yorker’s Nathan Heller.

— “‘They need to pay up’: Emails in college admissions trial show USC’s interest in wealthy applicants,” by the LA Times’ Gregory Yee and Matthew Ormseth.

— “ As Stanford mourns Katie Meyer, university promises to act on string of student deaths,” by the SF Chronicle’s Danielle Echeverria.

Transitions

Brandon Shaw has been hired as a VP for Hulu’s publicity team, where he will manage Hulu originals PR. He currently is a VP for corporate communications at WME.

DON’T MISS POLITICO’S INAUGURAL HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON 3/31: Join POLITICO for a discussion with health care providers, policymakers, federal regulators, patient representatives, and industry leaders to better understand the latest policy and industry solutions in place as we enter year three of the pandemic. Panelists will discuss the latest proposals to overcome long-standing health care challenges in the U.S., such as expanding access to care, affordability, and prescription drug prices. REGISTER HERE.

CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this -only service offers, click here.

Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.

Follow us on Twitter