With the appointment of former Assemblymember Rob Bonta to California Attorney General, there will be a special election to fill the seat for Assembly for California Assembly District 18 (AD-18). Governor Gavin Newsom declared the primary for this special election will be held on June 29, with the general election to follow on August 31.
With that, the Housing Action Coalition asked the six declared candidates to clarify their positions on housing with a HAC Housing Production Pledge.
This pledge asked, should they be elected to represent California’s 18th Assembly District, would they pledge to vote for legislation that:
- Mandates multi-family housing near public transit and high-opportunity job centers consistent with the language in SB-50?
- Mandates denser housing in traditionally exclusionary areas by setting the minimum residential zoning for four units per parcel consistent with the language in SB-50?
- Mandates a streamlined approval process where the project is zoning-compliant, and utilizes exemptions and concessions consistent with the state density bonus?
- Mandates that exactions are set at a rate that ensures the economic feasibility of multi-family housing projects?
- Sets additional and consistent funding measures for subsidized affordable housing?
To date, four candidates have signed the Housing Production Pledge outright and one has qualified their pledge. You can see each candidate’s signed pledge here:
- Trustee James Aguilar
- Board President Mia Bonta
- Mr. Eugene Canson
- Commissioner Janani Ramachandran
- Vice Mayor Malia Vella
To learn more about these candidates, visit their campaign websites:
- Trustee James Aguilar
- Board President Mia Bonta
- Mr. Eugene Canson
- Commissioner Janani Ramachandran
- Vice Mayor Malia Vella
There is another candidate in the race who has not yet responded to our pledge inquiry. We will update this post if/when we receive their pledge.
If you have any questions about HAC’s Housing Production Pledge or the special election, please contact Nico Nagle (nico@sfhac.org).
