Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County,California,United States. The city was incorporated on August 3,1905,and has a city council. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay region,Richmond borders San Pablo,Albany,El Cerrito and Pinole in addition to the unincorporated communities of North Richmond,Hasford Heights,Kensington,El Sobrante,Bayview-Montalvin Manor,Tara Hills,and East Richmond Heights,and for a short distance San Francisco on Red Rock Island in the San Francisco Bay.
The Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) is a progressive political group in Richmond and western Contra Costa County,California,United States. RPA formed in 2003 by local progressives.
Ashby station is an underground Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Berkeley,California. The station is located beneath Adeline Street to the south of its intersection with Ashby Avenue. The station includes park-and-ride facilities with 715 automobile parking spaces in two separate parking lots. It is served by the Orange and Red lines.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides HIV/AIDS prevention,treatment,and advocacy services. As of 2024,AHF operates about 400 clinics,69 outpatient healthcare centers,62 pharmacies,and 22 Out of the Closet thrift stores across 15 U.S. states,Washington,D.C.,Puerto Rico,and 46 countries,with over 5,000 employees,and provides care to more than two million patients. The organization's aim is to end the AIDS epidemic by ensuring access to quality healthcare,including HIV and STD testing,prescription of medications like Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP),and referrals to specialty pharmacies. AHF is the largest provider of PrEP in the United States,though its founder Michael Weinstein has received criticism for his past opposition to the drug.
Scott Wiener is an American politician who has served in the California State Senate since 2016. A Democrat,he represents the 11th district,encompassing San Francisco and parts of San Mateo County.
Samuel Theodore Liccardo is an American politician from California who served as the 65th mayor of San Jose from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,Liccardo was elected mayor in November 2014. He was reelected in 2018 with 75.8% of the vote. As the leader of the California Big City Mayors Coalition,Liccardo advocated on statewide issues including homelessness and COVID-19 response.
Buffy Jo Christina Wicks is an American politician who serves in the California State Assembly. A Democrat,she represents the 14th Assembly District,which includes the cities of Berkeley,Piedmont,Richmond,San Pablo,and El Cerrito in the East Bay.
Dan Kalb is an American politician. He represents District 1 on the Oakland City Council,a position he has held since January 2013.
Levar Marcus Stoney is an American politician who has served as the 80th mayor of Richmond,Virginia,since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 through 2016,being the youngest member of Governor Terry McAuliffe's administration.
The Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act ("Costa–Hawkins") is a California state law enacted in 1995,placing limits on municipal rent control ordinances. Costa–Hawkins preempts the field in two major ways. First,it prohibits cities from establishing rent control over certain kinds of residential units,such as single-family dwellings,condominiums,and newly constructed apartment units. Second,it prohibits "vacancy control",also called "strict" rent control. The legislation was sponsored by Democratic Senator Jim Costa and Republican assembly member Phil Hawkins.
Steven Mitchell Glazer is an American politician and former political advisor serving as a member of the California State Senate from the 7th Senate District,which includes most of Contra Costa County and eastern portions of Alameda County in the East Bay.
Starting in the 1990s,the city of San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area have faced a serious housing shortage. The Bay Area's housing shortage is part of the broader California housing shortage.
Jesse Arreguín is an American politician serving as mayor of Berkeley,California. He served on the Berkeley Housing Commission and Rent Stabilization Board from 2004 to 2009 and represented District 4 on the Berkeley City Council from 2009 to 2016. He is the first Latino elected Berkeley's mayor and one of the youngest mayors in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mayor Arreguín is the president of the Association of Bay Area Governments,the Bay Area's regional planning agency.
Hillary Ronen is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from District 9,which includes the neighborhoods of Mission District,Bernal Heights,and Portola.
Since about 1970,California has been experiencing an extended and increasing housing shortage,such that by 2018,California ranked 49th among the states of the U.S. in terms of housing units per resident. This shortage has been estimated to be 3-4 million housing units as of 2017. As of 2018,experts said that California needs to double its current rate of housing production to keep up with expected population growth and prevent prices from further increasing,and needs to quadruple the current rate of housing production over the next seven years in order for prices and rents to decline.
Zohran Kwame Mamdani is a Ugandan-born American politician. He is the assembly representative for the 36th district of the New York State Assembly,in Queens. Mamdani was elected after defeating incumbent Democrat Aravella Simotas in the 2020 primary. Mamdani is a declared candidate for the November 2025 election to become Mayor of New York City.
The 2024 California State Senate election took place on Tuesday,November 5,2024,with the primary election being held on March 5,2024. Voters in the 20 odd-numbered districts of the California State Senate will elect their representatives. The elections will coincide with the elections for other offices,including the state Assembly.
Sheng Thao is an American politician who is the 51st and current mayor of Oakland,California. She is the first Hmong American mayor of a major city in the United States. She was elected as mayor of Oakland in November 2022 and started her term in January 2023. On November 5,2024,Thao was recalled. She is the first mayor in Oakland’s history to be recalled.
Proposition 33,titled Expands Local Governments’Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property,and also marketed as the "Justice for Renters Act",was a California ballot proposition and initiative statute in the 2024 general election that would have repealed the Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act and allowed localities to enact rent control on single-family homes,apartments built after 1995,and to control rent increases between tenancies,all currently banned by Costa-Hawkins. It would also have prohibited the state from limiting local rent control.
The Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022 is a California statute which allows for a CEQA-exempt,ministerial,by-right approval for affordable housing on commercially zoned lands,and also allows such approvals for mixed-income housing along commercial corridors,provided that such housing projects satisfy specific criteria of affordability,labor,and environment and pay prevailing wage. The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks,was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 28,2022,and came into force on July 1,2023.
