Dear Friends --

The firestorm that has devastated communities in Southern California has exacerbated the urgent need for more homes. Will you ask Governor Newsom to act to speed up the construction of multi-family homes in areas with less fire risk?

The Palisades and Eaton fires have burned down thousands of homes, upending the lives of countless Californians, and leaving families in desperate need of housing. But our state's housing shortage means these fire-displaced residents cannot find housing.

Due to decades of anti-housing policies across Los Angeles (and California), these fire victims are now faced with the sticker shock of LA's housing shortage. Rents are rising rapidly in a market that was already extremely expensive — and in some cases, in contravention of existing laws against price-gouging during a state of emergency.

When it comes to housing, Angelenos were already playing a cruel game of musical chairs. Now, they’re playing that game with thousands more participants — but fewer homes.

Governor Newsom has issued an executive order to ban price gouging for rental housing. But that is hard to enforce, and it doesn’t solve the problem in the first place: the long-run shortage of housing. Even if it succeeds, we will need to re-build – and for many families, it's not clear when (or if) that will be possible.

The governor also issued an emergency exemption from CEQA for people rebuilding their homes destroyed by the fires. The governor can do even more to accelerate home building by applying this same standard to infill housing in areas of our state that are at far less risk of fire – namely, dense, walkable neighborhoods in our cities.

Will you send a message to Governor Newsom and urge him to issue an exemption from CEQA for infill housing in low-risk areas to quickly build housing for Californians who need homes?

We know from past experience that major fires worsen the state’s existing housing shortage. Fires in the late 2010s in Santa Rosa, Paradise, and Shasta County destroyed thousands of homes and left many families unable to find a place to live in their community. Many had to move to another city or even another state. Others who managed to stay had to pay much higher prices in order to be near their families, jobs, and schools.

California's housing crisis is decades in the making. With downzoning and apartment bans still in place across the state, many residents had to move into communities that were more vulnerable to wildfire in order to afford to rent or own a home. Now these same residents have to move again, with greater demand for fewer homes.

Governor Newsom told Meet The Press on Sunday that he wants a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild "LA 2.0" after the fires and ahead of major events such as the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. We believe that should begin with emergency action to address the urgent housing crisis made worse by this month's fires. Will you help encourage him to act?

Send a message to Governor Newsom: Tell him Californians want him to issue an emergency order exempting infill housing in low-risk areas from CEQA!

Thank you so much for stepping up in this urgent moment.

-Brian

Brian Hanlon
Co-Founder and CEO
California YIMBY