Political Gumbo: Somebody Has to Take a Stand Against the Northern California Cabal

Monday’s meeting went relatively smooth. I did expect more pushback on the SB9 emergency ordinance.

It would not have made a difference, the City Council was going to do the right thing and pass it. That much was obvious.

Senate Bill 9 allows homeowners to split lots in half and build on both parcels. Housing advocates somehow think this is part of the answer to the affordable housing crisis.

Preservationists say the bill could destroy single family housing across the state.

Pick a side.

The City Council opted to soften the language in the ordinance, some of which took the bill to task.

While it doesn’t make a difference, I didn’t agree with softening the language in the ordinance.

The City Council’s point is that there are other things in the works including the reclamation of the 710 stub that could be placed in jeopardy by harsh language in the ordinance.

Obviously, the city and the council have dealt with the state on these issues more than I have.

Actually, I never have, so I defer to their judgment and it’s probably the right call.

But at some point somebody is going to have to tell it like it is before a judge if cities are going to maintain control.

Cities should be able to control their own destiny on housing if they are taking the steps to address the housing crisis.

Yep, cities are going to have to draw a line in the sand against the Northern California cabal that is attempting to do an end around and implement one-size-fits-all housing bills across the state.

Housing is a multilayered problem and duplexes going for two grand a month are not going to solve the affordable housing problem.

Housing is just too expensive.

In the end, if you can’t afford to live in Pasadena today, you probably still won’t be able to afford it when SB 9 or SB 10 kicks in.

Rents are too high and nobody is going to lower them just because more units are built.

That’s just reality.

The minimum wage is $15 an hour, but California households need an hourly wage of $36.03 dollars to afford the rent on a two-bedroom apartment, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

That’s more than twice the minimum wage.

And let’s face it, we’re not going to build enough very low income units, nobody is.

I’d bet a lot of the ADUs that get built go to family members. If I built one, that’s what it would be for.

As a matter of fact, 84% of homeowners in one report say they would build an ADU for a family member.

Yes we need affordable housing, but at some point we have to admit we’re probably not going to build our way out of the dollars and cents part of this problem.

That’s the part of the problem the braintrust in Sacramento doesn’t talk about.

If memory serves, when my parents purchased their house in Altadena way back in 1969, the two-story Spanish house cost $39,000. My father’s annual salary was more than that, so no problem.

Today, the house would easily sell for more than $1 million, but the job my dad had does not pay more than $1 million.

Like I said, we have a dollars and cents problem.

It’s time for the politicians in Sacramento and the housing advocates who don’t have to worry about the rent or the mortgage to look at this from another point of view.

On another note, I was hoping the body worn camera item would be back on the agenda this week.

In case you missed it, the council tabled it last week to get more answers on the technology.

The new cameras come on when officers draw their weapons.

But wait there’s more: Axon also offers a feature that would allow officers to keep their cameras on at all times capturing low res images without audio. The cameras could then be activated to full capacity during critical events.

Local activists spoke out against it two weeks ago, without reading the report.

Never a good idea.