San José Mayor Matt Mahan speaks during a California governor candidate forum at Skirball Cultural Center.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Mahan says the high cost of housing is pushing Californians out of the state and is the main driver of homelessness.
To address these issues, Mahan wants to lower development fees for infill housing and stop cities from passing “exorbitant sales or transfer taxes on new infill housing” like Los Angeles’ Measure ULA, which a UCLA-Rand Corp. study found reduced apartment construction in the city.
Mahan wants to mandate that cities process permits in less than 30 days and if they fail, allow developers to use “properly qualified and licensed third-party planners and building inspectors to review permits instead.”
Another proposal is to make “building California homes in California factories a centerpiece of the state’s industrial strategy.” Building this way can be cheaper than building on site, and Mahan would support the creation of modular housing factories by providing incentives for their construction.
Mahan also wants to reform a law, Senate Bill 800, which he says makes it too risky for developers to build condominiums that serve as entry into home ownership, and provide more down payment assistance.
When it comes to homelessness, Mahan wants to get people inside quickly by providing more interim beds that can be built cheaper and quicker than constructing permanent housing, and proposes to make tweaks to state housing law to push cities to build such interim shelters.
He also says fines or jail time for sleeping on the streets is cruel if there’s no offer of shelter, but supports such penalties for people who repeatably decline available housing.
Mahan also wants to make the state’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention grant permanent and fund it at $1 billion a year.
