Local Government Working Group To Advise MTC, ABAG on Housing Legislation

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) this week approved the appointment of the first slate of local government officials to the newly-formed Housing Legislative Working Group, which will advise both MTC’s Legislation Committee and the Association of Bay Area Governments’ Legislation Committee on housing-related bills pending in the state Legislature. The working group, which will include representatives from two cities in each of the nine Bay Area counties as well as a Supervisor from each county, will meet weekly during the legislative session to receive progress reports on housing-related bills in the state Assembly and state Senate, and to provide feedback on those bills to MTC and ABAG staff.

“Now that the CASA initiative is over, the action on housing policy has shifted to Sacramento, where all local officials need to be engaged in the discussion,” explained Clayton Vice Mayor Julie Pierce, who also serves as Chair of both the Housing Legislative Working Group and the ABAG Legislation Committee. CASA is the nickname of the broad-based Committee to House the Bay Area convened by ABAG and MTC to develop policy recommendations for producing more housing at all income levels in the Bay Area, preserving existing affordable housing, and protecting current residents from displacement in rapidly-changing neighborhoods. The CASA Steering Committee produced the CASA Compact, a document that includes 10 recommendations for policy changes, and completed its work in December 2018.

Rohnert Park City Councilmember Jake Mackenzie, who was named as the new Chair of MTC’s Legislation Committee, will serve as Vice Chair of the Housing Legislative Working Group. Other Working Group appointments approved this week include:

• Anthony Adams, Suisun City Councilmember;
• Judy Arnold, Marin County Board of Supervisors;
• Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, Mayor, City of Alameda;
• Keith Carson, Alameda County Board of Supervisors;
• Anna Chouteau; St. Helena City Councilmember;
• Donna Colson, Mayor, City of Burlingame;
• John Gioia, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors;
• Ryan Gregory, Napa County Board of Supervisors;
• Don Horsley, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors;
• Cliff Lentz, Brisbane City Councilmember;
• Mary Luros, Napa City Councilmember
• Lily Mei, Mayor, City of Fremont;
• David Rabbitt, Sonoma County Supervisor and ABAG Executive Board President;
• John Rahaim; San Francisco Planning Director;
• Ken Rich, Development Director, S.F. Office of Economic and Workforce Development;
• Ron Rowlett, Mayor, City of Vacaville; and
• John Vazquez, Solano County Board of Supervisors;

Local governments are expected to nominate appointees for the eight remaining positions on the 27-member Housing Legislative Working Group in the coming weeks.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. ABAG is the official regional planning agency for the nine counties and 101 cities and towns of the Bay Area.