HOUSING CRISIS
support grew from 61 percent to 66 percent, he says. “Support in every region of the state, every demographic, including older white people, including homeowners — everyone.”
Portantino says it was a “jolt” to cities that have failed to act. “I do think now everybody’s going to come to the table, and I’m getting optimistic about finding the sweet spot,” he says. But it will take a herculean effort, and perhaps more involvement from Gov. Newsom. Despite his promise to build 3.5 million new houses, approvals for construction are down 12 percent in 2019, and Newsom was largely absent from the debate over SB50. (“The governor continues to believe California can and must do more to address the housing shortage and the high cost of housing and rent, and he will continue working with the Legislature to do just that,” Newsom’s press secretary said in a statement, adding that Newsom approved a budget with $1.75 billion to jump-start construction and allocated “more state money than ever” to fight homelessness.) “He said all the right things, gave all the indications that this was his top priority, and then he just disappeared,” Shaw says of the governor. “He’s invisible.”
SB50 was not the only legislation that disappointed advocates this year, only the most high-profile. In May, almost all the major housing bills proposed (there were more than 200 total) went up in flames. Two renter-protection bills were killed, and a third, to shield against egregious rent increases, passed only after it was effectively gutted. A
tax credit benefiting the owners of historic or architecturally significant homes, “such as the craftsman, the California ranch, the mission revival & art deco building,” sailed through the chamber, however.
The best that Democrats are able to offer the homeless is the creation of more safe parking lots. AB891, one of a number of parking-lot bills still alive in the Legislature, would require every California city with a population greater than 330,000 to establish a parking program like the one in San Jose.
“It’s not a solution,” says Jen Loving, an advocate for the homeless who works with the city of San Jose. “Anything that is not solving homelessness — providing an affordable place for someone to live — is an interim measure. . . . Shelters, safe parking, temporary stuff is providing more safety for people than they might have out on the streets on their own, but we’re not ending homelessness that way — ending homelessness in the state of California requires political courage at the state and local levels.”
Until the state’s politicians find the courage to act, families like Adelle Amador’s will be stuck living in their cars. “It’s a test for us,” Amador says. “We’re going to make it through or we’re not. I think we’re going to. . . . I got a lot of faith.”
For as little as it offers, she still sees the parking lot as progress. “Believe me, five years ago they weren’t offering all this stuff,” she says. “There was none of this help. At times, me and my husband felt like we were the only ones out here with our kids. My kids been out here for so long. All they ever want is just a home. That’s all I ever hear is them going, ‘I just want a home.’ “I’m like, ‘I know, guys. I know it’s going to happen.’ Believe me, I got a lot of faith in my heart, and I know it’s going to happen for us.”