The state of California — with an annual budget north of $280 billion — is relying on YIMBY, or “yes in my backyard” activists, to find out about law-breaking cities
Susan Candell, a city councilmember from Lafayette and member of California Alliance of Local Electeds, a new group established last year to oppose “one-size-fits-all” housing solutions from the state, said cities were coming up with these hit-and-miss ordinances because the duplex law provides too much flexibility and not enough guidance. The housing department, coincidentally, has received a complaint about Lafayette’s restrictive ordinance, to which she responded: “We’ll take every advice.
In a two-page letter response, Mayor Victor M. Gordo told Pasadena residents the state had got it all wrong, and the city was indeed in compliance. In his sign-off, Gordo “respectfully encouraged” the attorney general to get to know his city before tarnishing its good name on social media.The letter points to a wider shift in enforcement of housing law. Esoteric city council and planning commission meetings are now broadcast online by a growing number of YIMBY activists.
He attributes the visible, if haphazard, enforcement to mounting pressure on the state from pro-housing activists.Chris Elmendorf, a UC Davis Law professor focused on state housing law, said the mayor’s statement belies itself.