The Mercury News: Bay Area gets more housing funds, local mayors warn it’s not enough

Affordable Housing Finance: TNDC’s Falk to Step Down

April 13, 2021

The Policy Pipeline: April 30, 2021

April 30, 2021

DB site in the background with a tree in the foreground

After excluding the Bay Area’s largest cities from a key pot of affordable housing funding — prompting a major backlash from local officials — the state is changing its rules.

The mayors of Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco had sounded the alarm after no projects in their cities received funding from a little-known committee that plays a key role in housing finance in California. On Wednesday, the committee agreed to change how it allocates future financing. But local experts worry it’s not enough, particularly as all three cities struggle with drastic affordable housing shortages.

“We’re hopeful with these changes that we’ll at least be able to get some projects built,” said Pedro Galvao, policy director for the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California. “But we still have farther to go.”