23 Mayors across California announce their opposition to Proposition 33

Democratic and Republican mayors from San Diego to San Jose warn Proposition 33 will make it harder to create more affordable housing – increasing homelessness and making our housing crisis worse

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2024
Contact: Nathan Click
nathan@click-comms.com

SACRAMENTO –  23 Mayors across California announced their opposition and are speaking out against Proposition 33, the anti-housing initiative that will undermine state housing laws while making it harder for California to build the affordable housing we need to address the state’s housing crisis. . 

“In San Diego, our housing policies are beginning to yield results, increasing housing supply and we’re starting to see nominal decreases in rents. This measure would undermine our efforts, stall home building, and reverse the progress we’ve worked so hard to achieve,” said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. “We must continue to prioritize effective solutions to build more housing, not hinder them.”

“Building more housing is not just about addressing the state’s affordability crisis; it is also crucial for revitalizing downtown areas like Santa Ana,” said Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua. “This harmful initiative would hinder local communities from constructing much-needed housing, impeding our efforts to make our cities more vibrant and livable.”

“Too many families are struggling because of the high cost of housing,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. “As mayor, I am focused on ensuring San Jose builds new housing downtown and near fast and reliable public transit. Prop 33 would make it harder for San Jose, and the state of California, to meet our affordable housing goals and help families wrestling with skyrocketing housing costs.”

“As Mayor of Irvine, I’ve worked hard to bring about balanced housing policy that ensures we meet our future goals while providing stability to our current residents,” said Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan. “Prop 33 will do nothing to make housing in Irvine or our state more affordable, in fact, it will do the opposite.  Local governments will not be required to build more affordable housing. Prop 33 will only make our housing crisis worse.”

Not only would Proposition 33 weaken California’s existing protections for tenants and homeowners, it would undermine California’s dozens of other state housing measures, which would make it harder to build in California.  While masquerading as a rent control measure, Proposition 33 would actually create new loopholes for local governments, allowing them to ignore these laws and block housing California desperately needs.

Just today, Vox wrote how rental restrictions like Prop 33 “have long been controversial among economists, most of whom argue that the policy hurts housing markets and ultimately limits supply, thus driving costs up further. A review of more than 200 empirical rent control studies released in March found a ‘wide range of adverse effects’ for communities with rent caps, and that landlords were more likely to allow rent-capped units to fall into disrepair.”

State Democratic leaders, Senate President Pro Tem Emeritus Toni Atkins and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, have warned that Proposition 33 would allow wealthy cities to ignore state housing laws and block housing California desperately needs. It would allow wealthy coastal communities to avoid building their fair share of housing and stop affordable housing in its tracks.

“This initiative is one giant loophole that lets some select local governments off the hook for affordable housing and opens the door to erase every inch of progress we’ve made on housing over the last 20 years. All I can say is don’t be fooled,” said Atkins.

This measure will hurt the very people it claims to protect.

Aliso Viejo Mayor Mike Munzing

Apple Valley Mayor Scott Nassif

Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh

Canyon Lake Mayor Dale Welty

Carlsbad Mayor Keith Blackburn

Chula Vista Mayor John McCann

Costa Mesa Mayor John Stephens

Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer

Fullerton Mayor Nick Dunlap

Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan

Murrieta Mayor Lori Stone

Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill

Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson

Roseville Mayor Bruce Houdesheldt

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan

San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones

Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua

Temecula Mayor James “Stew” Stewart

Tustin Mayor Austin Lumbard

Vista Mayor John Franklin

Yorba Linda Mayor Tara Campbell