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July 2019
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Andrew Thomas
Westwood Village Improvement Association

President-Elect
Steve Snider
Downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt-Uptown District Associations
 
Vice President
Liz Studebaker
City of San Diego
 
Treasurer
Austin Metoyer
Downtown Long Beach Alliance
 
At-Large Directors
Emilie Cameron 
Downtown Sacramento Partnership

John Caner
Downtown Berkeley

Karin Flood
Union Square Business Improvement District

Kathy Hemmenway
Walnut Creek Downtown

Suzanne Holley
Downtown Center Business Improvement District (LA)

Rena Leddy
LA Fashion District
 
Steve Mulheim
Old Pasadena Management District

Chloe Verrey
San Jose Downtown Association
 
Immediate Past President
Steven Welliver
Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.
CDA MEMBERS
Arlington Business Partnership
Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association
BLVD Association
Carmichael Improvement District, Inc.
City of Beverly Hills
City of Monterey Park
City of Ontario
City of San Diego - Economic Development Dept.
City of San Jose - Office of Econ Dev
Civitas
County of Santa Cruz - Office of Economic Development
Downtown Association of Santa Cruz
Downtown Berkeley Association
Downtown Business Association-Bakersfield
Downtown Center BID
Downtown Long Beach Alliance
Downtown Modesto Partnership
Downtown Oakland Association/ Lake Merritt Uptown District Association
Downtown Pomona Owners Association
Downtown Roseville Partnership
Downtown Sacramento Partnership
Downtown Santa Barbara, Inc.
Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.
Downtown SLO
Downtown Vacaville BID
Downtown Ventura Partners
Downtown Visalians, Inc.
East Hollywood BID
Figueroa Corridor Partnership
Gateway to LA Airport Business District
Genetec
Gilroy Economic Development
Greater Broadway District
Hollywood Property Owners Alliance
Kono CBD
LA Downtown Industrial District BID
LA Fashion District BID
La Jolla Village Merchants Association
LeerCorp
North Tahoe Business Association
Old Monterey Business Association
Old Pasadena Management District 
ParkSmart, Inc.
Paso Robles Main Street Association
Playhouse District Association
Progressive Urban Management Associates, Inc.
R Street Sacramento Partnership
Riverside Downtown Partnership
San Jose Downtown Association
South Park BID
Sunnyvale Downtown
Telegraph BID
Temescal Telegraph BID
The River District
Times Square Alliance
Tracy City Center Association
Tulare Downtown Association
Union Square BID
Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association
Westwood Village Improvement Association 


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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Andrew Thomas VP
As California grapples with how to resolve its homeless crisis, important questions are being raised regarding our state and local government’s ability to manage the public’s space. A question I believe touches the heart of this issue is whether public space can, or should, be compromised.

AB 516 is a bill which would seriously limit the ability of local agencies and law enforcement to enforce vehicle parking violations in the public right-of-way. Specifically, if AB 516 passes, any vehicle could be parked illegally for five business days before a city could remove that vehicle. Worse still, the city would have to place a notice on a vehicle for the five-day clock to begin. Imagine a car loaded with parking tickets, parked in your district, impacting a business or blocking an area where a community event is taking place and you are helpless to remove it.

Discussions regarding a compromise to AB 516 are ongoing, but should the public’s space be compromised? In the case of AB 516, vehicles parked illegally take up valuable customer parking spaces in our commercial districts. They block special events programmed on our streets. Finally, some of these vehicles present urban blight and contribute to making a community less safe. Surrendering these parking spaces would be disastrous.

Our state’s growing equity gap has consequences that are playing out in our public spaces, and our homeless crisis is forcing more people out of housing to instead live in their vehicles. In some cases, these homeless vehicle-owners are unable to pay their citations, and this only worsens their circumstances. This is an unquestioned tragedy, but we must resolve to find solutions beyond just allowing people to park without penalty or to live in illegally parked cars.

I am not sure there is a responsibility or obligation more profound to us downtown practitioners than our ability to manage the public’s space in the best interest of our entire communities so everyone has access to our downtowns. This is why CDA is opposed to AB 516 and is challenging this bill. We cannot give our public space away to illegally parked vehicles.



Andrew Thomas, CDA President
Executive Director
Westwood Village Improvement Association
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CDA POLICY CORNER
CDA Priority Legislation to See Major Action as Legislature Returns from Summer Recess 

With the Legislature adjourned for the annual summer recess, CDA’s government affairs program is pushing ahead on the organization’s major legislative priorities for 2019. Each year, California’s Legislative Session takes a 4 week hiatus giving legislators, legislative staff, policy committees a break before the final month of session begins on August 12th.  

That final month of session takes on a sprint-to-the-finish-line feel as bill author’s, staff and advocacy organizations like CDA make a final push to advance – or defeat – major legislative priorities. Meanwhile, during this summer recess, the CDA policy team remains very active on our legislative strategy – working within our advocacy coalitions, meeting with staff and committee consultants to ensure we achieve our goals.

During the final month of session there is one major legislative deadline that will have a greater impact on the outcome of nearly every major piece of legislation over any other. That deadline is the final fiscal committee deadline referred to as the “Appropriations Suspense File” hearing. Faced with the reality that the state’s general fund cannot support every bill that is advancing through the legislative process, the Assembly & Senate Appropriations Committees are charged with prioritizing all of the remaining “fiscal” bills. It’s during this final “Suspense File” hearing in late-August where the fate of most bills, including many of CDA’s priorities listed below, will be determined.  


Priority Legislation for CDA:

SB 34 (Wiener, D-San Francisco) SUPPORT 
In an effort to reduce burglary rates, this bill clarifies that the unlawful entry of a vehicle with the intent to commit theft establishes the crime of auto burglary. Under current law, to secure a conviction when an auto burglar is arrested, one of the elements prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that the vehicle was locked. Unfortunately, the fact that a victim’s window was broken does not, by itself, establish that the vehicle was locked. This evidence is especially challenging to obtain, particularly in cases where the victim is unavailable or unknown which is prevalent amongst victims who are tourists since they are unable to return to the jurisdiction where the crime was committed to verify the crime occurred. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and will be heard in August.  

AB 1184 (Gloria, D-San Diego) OPPOSED 
The legislation would place a new mandate on all public agencies, including BIDs, to require storage of every transmitted email for at least 2 years. As written, the bill creates no new disclosures or exemptions of any records, but still requires all emails to be saved, regardless if the email is a public record or not. CDA believes there is no value to saving inconsequential emails – particularly if they are not required to be released. CDA is helping to lead a coalition of public agencies including the California Special Districts Association and the League of California Cities who oppose the bill. As was expected, the bill was approved by the Assembly and is now in the Senate and will be heard in the Appropriations Committee on August 12th.   

SB 518 (Wieckowski, D-Fremont) OPPOSED 
Working with a broad coalition including the California Special Districts Association, the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties, and the Rural County Representatives of California, CDA is opposed to the bill because it removes an important tool that reduces excessive litigation, court costs and attorney’s fees in disputes involving the CPRA. Specifically, the bill eliminate the utility of the “Section 998 settlement” offer in lawsuits between parties where a public agency is involved. A “Section 998 settlement” allows a plaintiff or defense to make an offer to settle a dispute before proceeding to trial. If an offer is presented but not accepted, the litigating party is not entitled to post-offer costs and attorney’s fees should a litigant fail to receive a better result than the offer made. The “Section 998 settlement” encourages settlements of disputes and avoids unnecessary attorney’s fees and court costs. The bill was approved by the Senate and is now in the Assembly and has been placed on the Assembly Appropriations “Suspense File” where it will be heard in late-August.  

AB 516 (Chiu, D-San Francisco) OPPOSE 
While we appreciate the policy objective of reducing impacts to vehicle ownership for lower-income Californians, this bill would have negative impacts California’s downtowns and business districts. The bill would allow vehicles to be parked in excess of 72 hours on public streets without the ability for law enforcement to remove the vehicle. Vehicles could be stored in business districts for 5 business days, taking parking spaces away from residents, customers and those conducting commerce in our downtowns.  CDA’s members throughout the state manage and promote special events in our downtowns – from cultural events, art exhibits, entertainment and other community enhancing attractions. Often these events require areas to be pedestrian only for a period of time to ensure the safety of the participants and attendees. Vehicles that are parked for a significant period of time without the ability to remove a vehicle poses safety and security risks for those who are managing the events and the residents and visitors who participate. AB 516 has been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee and will be heard on August 12.  

SB 50 (Wiener, D-San Francisco) SUPPORT 
The bill would have allowed denser housing around public transit and job centers by prohibiting a local jurisdiction from restricting zoning to only single-family homes. SB 50 cleared a key policy committee after the author and the Chair of the Committee reached agreement to amend the bill to exempt cities of less than 600,000 residents as well providing protections for communities near the state’s coastline. It was assumed the amendments made to SB 50 will broaden the bill’s support in the Legislature, however, in a surprise move, the Senate Appropriations Committee “held” the bill in Committee and is considered a 2-year bill. Although SB 50 may be dead for the year, increasing supply of affordable housing is a hallmark issue for Governor Newsom and many policymakers and we could see additional movement on this issue later this year through the legislative process.   


Jason Bryant 
Bryant Government Affairs
July 2019 Legislative Update 
IN THE NEWS
"Yes, in My Backyard!": Inside Hollywood’s New Embrace of Homeless Neighbors
The Hollywood Reporter
Call them YIMBYs, the progressive industry insiders who are welcoming "unhoused" men and women of Los Angeles...

Without Parking, People Who Live in Vehicles Have Nowhere to Go
CityLab
Thousands of Americans live in vehicles because they have nowhere else to go. Without places to park legally, they...

Desperate to Ease Homelessness, California Officials Look to New York ‘Right to Shelter’ Policy
Los Angeles Times
Much about California’s homelessness crisis has confounded state and local officials. But what to do about the tens of ...

This Abandoned Historic Building in Downtown Fresno Soon Will Be Home for 79 Families
The Fresno Bee 
Construction to renovate and restore Hotel Fresno will begin later this month to transform the historic, dilapidated building ...

Making it Easier to Get to Transit via Walking, Bicycling
StreetsBlogCAL
Encouraging people to opt for a "first-mile/last-mile" connection via active, zero emission modes requires integration of...

Paradise, California and the Impossible Choice Between Climate Fight and Flight
MIT Technology Review 
The town’s residents are rebuilding in the wake of the Camp Fire. But should they?

At Home at BART
San Francisco Chronicle 
It’s called ‘transit-oriented development’ — building dense housing near and around public transportation.

Housing in Brief: California Rent-Control Bill Advances
Next City 
An “anti-rent-gouging bill” cleared a state Senate committee Tuesday, bringing the state of California closer to universal...

State Bill Taking Aim at City Bikeshare, Scooter Regulations Stalls in Senate
San Francisco Examiner 
A proposed state law aimed at dismantling local e-scooter and e-bike regulations just got a flat tire.

Offering More Than a Roof, These Housing Authorities Help Residents Become Financially Self Reliant
Next City 
When Ayesha Wilson was an eighth grader living in a public housing development in Cambridge, Massachusetts...

There Is Too Much Parking In LA. There Is Too Little Parking In LA. Discuss.
LAist
Parking in Los Angeles has been called the "lowest circle of hell," a "blood sport" and a few other choice combinations...

State Bill Barring Airbnb Rental of Second Homes in San Diego County’s Coastal Communities Has Been Shelved
The San Diego Union-Tribune 
In a stunning move Wednesday, a state bill that would have sharply curtailed the short-term rental of homes in San Diego...
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