California Alliance of Local Electeds
A Statewide Association of City and County Officials and Local Experts
WHAT WE DO
We collaborate and advise each other on issues within our jurisdictions.
We network with new candidates for local office based on our election experience
We network on regular Zoom calls and email groups
We collectively support advocacy solutions to issues we rank as important to local jurisdictions
We draft proactive legislation that would help resolve local issues
WHO WE ARE
CALE is an alliance of local city and county officials
We include like-minded current and former local elected officials, candidates for local office, current and former appointed officials and individuals that bring us expertise.
HOW WE WORK
We have weekly zoom meetings and via email using general and special email lists
We form teams to address bigger issues, e.g. our New Legislation Team
We regularly host meetings with state legislators
LOCAL AND STATE FOCUS
We have regular group Zoom meetings with individual legislators to discuss our concerns and learn from them
WE BELIEVE IN
Livability of our Cities
Serving our Residents
Protecting Local Choice
Cooperation Among Cities
Influencing Sacramento
Local Democracy
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Our New Legislation Team is currently drafting legislation on RHNA and will turn to teleworking legislation in the near future
PROACTIVE SOLUTIONS
We see expanded teleworking & broadband connectivity as solutions to many many issues faced by cities across the state. We have a team actively addressing how to advocate for this and create legislation to support it.
CALE’s Ranking of Housing Issues for Cities include:
RHNA is unrealistically high
Over-concentration of jobs and housing in limited urban areas
Too much market rate construction and too little affordable
Jobs / housing imbalance is a problem within cities and regionally
Cities do not have the funds to accommodate high rates of growth
Homelessness is problematic
Systematic undermining of CEQA harms our jurisdictions
State Housing Legislation Issues
State housing legislation is creating issues for cities
Bills blame cities for not creating housing without recognizing that developers, not cities build housing
Bills assume increasing density creates affordability – the opposite is true
Bills do not provide state funds to help cities pay for the impacts of increasing density
Bills are applied one-size fits all across the state’s many different cities and towns.
Bills take local authority over land use away from our local electeds and hand it over to developers and unelected bureaucrats.
We seek to educate legislators on how they are making our jobs exceedingly difficult
RHNA
RHNA allocations are unrealistically high and unattainable goals
State legislation is weaponizing RHNA against cites
RHNA must be returned to a cooperative planning process
RHNA should not be a “tool” used in legislation against the interest of cities.
We seek to simplify and improve RHNA
Teleworking Solutions
CALE sees teleworking and broadban connectivity as having major advantages across the state:
Saves worker’s and companies money
Reduces the need for costly office and parking expansion projects
Reduces traffic congestion
Reduces city office zone congestion
Relieves over-burdened transit systems, many of which are at maximum capacity and can’t afford expansion
Reduces commute times, providing people more time and an improved quality of life and family time.
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
Reduces housing demand in dense urban areas, possibly mitigating rent increases. While a benefit to all, this would allow service workers to move closer to their jobs,
Constitutional Initiative
Two of our mayors have written constitutional initiatives. One that we favor requires land use subsidiarity. It could be submitted for the 2022 ballot.
The hurdle is money. Mounting statewide initiatives cost $10’s of millions.
CALE will closely monitor progress toward an initiative.