Why California Is Suing Its Own Cities

Not many governors decide to sue a city in their state within a few weeks of taking office. Gavin Newsom, the new Democratic governor of California, however, did just that, signaling his seriousness about addressing the state’s chronic but worsening housing shortage.

Under a 2017 state law, California cities and counties are required to include, as part of their long-term plans, a “housing element for the preservation, improvement and development of housing.” About 10 percent of the cities in the state have failed to do so. With his lawsuit, Newsom went after the biggest of these, Huntington Beach in Orange County, south of Los Angeles.

Housing activists are delighted. California has passed any number of robust housing laws over the years, but very little has been done in terms of enforcement. In addition to the lawsuit, Newsom has threatened to withhold transportation dollars from cities that fail to play by the required development rules. “If there’s no sticks, then these laws don’t mean anything, which has been the tradition around these state laws,” says Laura Clark, who directs YIMBY Action, a San Francisco group that pushes for more housing construction. “The local jurisdictions just ignore them and there’s no consequences.”

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