A far-reaching and bold regional housing initiative designed to combat the Bay Area’s housing crisis took a step forward under an initial favorable vote from its parent agency.
The Metropolitan Transportation Agency Board of Directors voted 14-3 to sign the CASA Compact, a proposal from its disciple organization to streamline residential development, establish renter protections, facilitate affordable housing construction and more.
The vision of the proposal, which will head to the Association of Bay Area Governments then to the state Legislature, is to simultaneously battle the affordability crisis while relieving prevailing traffic congestion.
Under the decision, MTC will push forward a proposal to establish just-cause eviction protections, rent caps and other forms of rental assistance for those threatened by displacement. It also seeks to streamline taller and denser residential developments proposed adjacent to transit stops, while incentivizing affordable housing projects.
The lengthy meeting, which took Wednesday, Dec. 19, in San Francisco, featured a handful of Peninsula elected officials and residents who largely advocated in favor of the proposed plan.
San Mateo County Supervisor Warren Slocum, who is on the MTC Board of Directors, flatly stated his support in advance of voting in favor for the proposal, citing the affordability struggles in Redwood City which have driven away many residents.
“I have confidence it is going to work out,” he said, according to video of the meeting.
Redwood City Councilwoman Alicia Aguirre, also a member of the Board of Directors, cast her vote in favor as well.
“At the end of the day, this is a great program. We are in a crisis. And those who say we are not — we are in a crisis,” said Aguirre. She countered her support though by suggesting more outreach from MTC to local cities and agencies to discuss the initiative is in order.
Such a perspective was shared widely, especially by critics who felt the plan was too bold and formulated without enough input from cities or local officials.
For his part, MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger conceded insufficient public outreach was conducted in advance of the compact’s vote. But he acknowledged much more public deliberation will occur when ABAG takes action on the matter next month, and as it continues onto Sacramento in a future legislative session.
“I think we have got to solve this problem if we are going to reach our goals of Plan Bay Area here in our region,” said Heminger, referencing MTC’s regional strategy for enhancing environmental sustainability by improving transportation.
Fears over loss of local control are central to the opposition’s case against the proposal, claiming a regional agency should not maintain authority over cities and counties on issues as pivotal as residential development, housing rights and traffic congestion.
In recognition of those concerns, Los Altos Councilwoman Jeannie Bruins, Marin County Supervisor Damon Connolly and Union City Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci voted against the proposal.
Advocates for the compact meanwhile claim stripping the authority from local officials is a necessary function of the proposal, suggesting the housing crisis was borne from an unwillingness by city and county officials to approve development.
“What we have lacked is the political will — especially at the local government level, especially in exclusionary communities across the Bay Area — to do anything meaningful,” said San Mateo resident Jordan Grimes in his support for the compact.
Local housing advocate Milo Trauss also expressed his support for the measure.
“It’s time to depart from what we’ve been doing and hopefully we’ll have a better future soon,” he said.
Not all locals supported the measure though, as some real estate representatives took issue with the proposal to strengthen tenant protections and limit the authority of landlords.
“To force rent control and restrictions on property rights on Pacificans is outright wrong,” said Realtor Frank Vella, who cited the failure of a rent control ballot initiative in a recent election as proof that local authority should be respected.
Officials suggested the discussion over specific terms of the compact, as well as ways to finance the initiative which is expected to cost about $1.5 billion annually, will play out over time.
For his part though, Heminger suggested the central thrust of the compact is needed to improve the quality of life for many across the Bay Area.
“When you confront a crisis as we do, I think major changes are called for — tinkering, not incrementalism. And I think that is the challenge the CASA process took up and which produced the compact,” he said.
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(9) comments
For those who watched:
#1 - I am an elder millennial, late 30's. It real.
#2 - What the mayor of Cupertino said was shameful.
The rent control and just cause eviction provisions will not create more housing but instead will create below market rents for a certain segment of our population. According to a report published several years ago by State Legislative Analyst's Office those benefiting from rent control are less inclined to move closer to their jobs. This results in more traffic and longer commutes. It is very disappointing that these elected officials were able to grasp this concept.
What happens when small government choose local old-school outdated character over fixing the issue? Answer: Regulation. This would not be needed if the people who are sheltered in place did their part and encouraged development to not need regulation. No one wants to stay in a rent controlled appartment if a better option exists closer to work. However, people choose selfish narrow viewpoints of their communities and THEY create this problem.
Answer- it is up to the voters of a municipality to decide, not some regional government bureaucrat or new arrival who doesn’t find it to his/her liking. It’s called democracy and the ability to vote, might want to read up on that while you’re at it.
Who gave MTC the mandate and the right to create legislation. We did not have the opportunity to have representation when these unelected bureaucrats discuss taxation. I hope every city in the state of California sues the pants off of ABAG, MTC and this new CASA regional monster. You all have appointed each other to this commission go discuss policy that affects tax paying citizens, who asked you to stick your noses where they don't belong? Serious question, who elected these people?
Christopher, try watching the event rather than reading talking points. The people voting range from local elected officials, mayors, county supervisors, city supervisors. This is how basic government works. How does the FDA or FCC regulate? Same deal. We have regulating bodies to regulate the things that are too complex an issue to deal with on a bill by bill basis. In this case it is a REGIONAL issue and we have no REGIONAL government beyond weak counties. So the different elected people go to REGIONAL groups like this to address REGIONAL issues. Go take pol sci 1 at any UC & you can learn how government works in the USA.
Where did they get the mandate to do this? Who elected the commission to make these conclusions and create a new regional bureaucracy with the ability to tax. The voter-No, the taxpayer- No. No taxation without representation. You might want to read a little about the revolutionary war and why we fought it.
The obvious question is -why is the MTC only focusing on the supply of housing and not addressing the demands for housing? The large tech firms apparently can continue to build and add as many employees as they desire but the rest of us get hit with more congested communities and rent control. A healthier and more balanced approach would be to limit new office development. Guess this form of thinking has gone by the wayside.
Thanks for covering such an important topic, SMDJ!
As I said at the meeting, we've known about the existence of and remedies to our housing crisis for decades. I'm very thankful our region at large is *finally* stepping up and taking the reins to implement policies that will actually make a difference in the lives of so many.
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