The mayor of a middle-class Los Angeles County suburb said the city stands by its moratorium on homeless shelters and supportive housing even after facing state sanctions Thursday.
California’s housing department revoked approval of the state-mandated housing plan for Norwalk, a city of just over 100,000 people with a homeless population of at least 200 according to county data. The move — the latest escalation of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pressure campaign on cities to help solve the housing crisis — means Norwalk could lose eligibility for state housing and homelessness grants, and be forced to approve affordable housing projects even if they conflict with city zoning.
The city council passed the temporary but sweeping ban in August, in the process quashing a county effort to resettle dozens of people living in encampments to a local hotel. After the council doubled down on the ban last month, extending it through August 2025, Newsom clapped back.
“It’s beyond cruel that Norwalk would ban the building of shelters while people are living on the city’s streets,” Newsom said in a statement today.
Just so we have this straight, this is the same dickwhistle who signed an executive order to forcibly clear out homeless people and encampments, right?
Sorry everyone gets the pain. You don’t get to just ban the problem.
The move — the latest escalation of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pressure campaign on cities to help solve the housing crisis — means Norwalk could lose eligibility for state housing and homelessness grants, and be forced to approve affordable housing projects even if they conflict with city zoning.
I’m confused, how would they fund the housing projects they may be compelled to approve without the grants, given that some of the contention in all of this is an insufficient provision of resources?
Real estate developers, in cities that are out of compliance, can build large apartment or mixed use buildings and dodge the usual permit rigamarole if they include 10% designated low-income units. Here’s an article, as a start:
https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-builders-remedy/
So that wouldn’t require city funding except to process the individual applications.
Newsom has no credibility with, or loyalty to, anyone, except his donor class and California oligarchs.
Is this local mayor a shitheel? Maybe, probably, who knows.
I just know Gavin Newsom is a grade-A POS, and view any of his moves, especially ones he yells loudly about, with a great skepticism.
You know, in communist countries they have no respect for private property rights.
Oh yes, the renowned Marxist revolutionary… Gavin Newsom.
