By Adam Brinklow : thefrisc – excerpt
Susan Candell has tried twice to derail the density movement with a California constitutional amendment, and she’ll try again in 2026.
For decades, local control ruled in California. Cities decided where to build housing – or not, in many cases, which has left the state in a housing shortage and affordability crisis.
But a new wave of state officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco’s Scott Wiener, and Berkeley’s Buffy Wicks, have realigned housing politics. Regulators in Sacramento, not city officials, now set goals and may override local laws they deem hostile to new housing. Those yearning for a return of local control have been all but shut out in the capital, as the new legislative session shows.
An attempt to bring the issue directly to voters via ballot measure has failed twice, but its backers are giving it another go. Helmed by a couple East Bay officials, the initiative Our Neighborhood Voices would amend California’s constitution to enshrine local control…
The Frisc reached out to ONV architect Susan Candell, also mayor of the East Bay town of Lafayette, to discuss the group’s aspirations, California housing wars, the upcoming election, and more. … (more)
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