POMPEO in the Bay — NEWSOM’s HOMELESSNESS panel recs — PRESIDENTIAL polling — 2020 bill deaths

Presented by Kaiser Permanente

THE BUZZ: Homelessness is ubiquitous in California. It could be on the 2020 ballot, too.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s homelessness task force released its recommendations yesterday. Here’s the breakdown from POLITICO’s Victoria Colliver of how the governor’s appointees want to tackle the crisis that threatens to consume Newsom’s governorship.

The paramount takeaway: Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Los Angeles Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas want a legally mandated right to housing, binding local governments and enforced by a new prosecutor — and they want a constitutional amendment to do it.

Convincing two thirds of legislators to place that on the ballot won’t be easy, particularly if Newsom doesn’t expend political capital to secure those votes. The governor made clear during a budget hearing last week that he’s floating above the ballot fray for now, despite exhortations from various interest groups to take stances; yesterday he was noncommittal about his role. Keep in mind there’s a less-expansiveright to housing bill already before legislators.

But the possibility of a homelessness ballot initiative is the latest sign that 2020, already shaping up to be an epic year for direct democracy, could involve some contentious housing and homelessness fights. Former Assemblyman Mike Gatto is working to qualify an initiative that would compel authorities to crack down on low-level street crimes and then funnel some people into mandatory treatment. A repeat rent control fight seems likely. Advocates of the “split roll” Proposition 13 reform will tell you it’s a critical incentive for cities to build housing rather than retail.

Don’t bet your bank account on 54 Assembly members and 27 senators voting to advance a mandate on local governments during an election year. But at a time when housing and homelessness have risen to the top of Californians’ lists of concerns, the burgeoning ballot blitz is a sign of how inescapable the issue has become.

BUENOS DIAS, good Tuesday morning. It’s Democratic debate night — and with Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep Eric Swalwell and author Marianne Williamson all registering as ghosts of candidates past, Tom Steyer stands as the sole remaining California contender. He made this stage thanks to a late South Carolina and Nevada polling surge, which Steyer attributed to his message rather than his money.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Being governor the second time was more satisfactory in itself. Being governor the first time, well, within 14 months I was looking to Washington ... I don’t know why the hell I was running for president after 14 months.” Gov. Jerry Brown on an ambitious first tenure versus a more “interesting” second go-around, during a KQED appearance.

TWEET OF THE DAY: NYTimes reporter Astead Herndon @AsteadWesley on Cory Booker’s departure meaning no black presidential candidate Democrats: “Biden campaign started this race thinking they would have to contend with whoever emerged from Harris/Booker duel in Iowa for black votes in South Carolina and turns out they have to deal with neither”

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.


TOP TALKERS

— “Ex-Sheriff Lee Baca likely headed to prison after Supreme Court declines to review case,” by the LA Times’ Alex Wigglesworth: Baca “was sentenced in 2017 to three years behind bars after a jury found he oversaw a plan to interfere with a federal probe into abuses in Los Angeles County jails and later lied to prosecutors about his role in the scheme.”

BRAWL BILL — “Slugfest at a California conference has inspired a politician to propose a new law,” by the LA Times’ Ruben Vives: “In May, two councilmen got into an argument at a conference in Indian Wells that turned into a brawl. The slugfest ended up involving four of the politicians from the City of Commerce and left one councilman, Leonard Mendoza, lying on the ground unconscious, his arms and legs splayed out for everyone to see on social media.”


THE TRUMP ERA

THE PROTESTS THAT WEREN’T — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hit the liberal bastion of the Bay Area for two public speaking engagements in the week following the Iran crisis Monday. And big surprise: at Stanford University and at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, a city that loves demonstrations, he got a warm reception. No hecklers, no arrests and none of the expected big protests in Nancy Pelosi’s House district There were a handful of protesters in San Francisco, but none at Stanford — and no arrests.

AND HE DIDN’T BREAK MUCH NEW GROUND ... sitting down with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at Stanford — where he talked about Iran — and with Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino in SF, where he mostly addressed trade and tech issues.

QUOTES to remember: On relations with North Korea: “I’ve now spent more time with Chairman Kim than anybody except Dennis Rodman.” On Iran, he gave this tongue in cheek assessment: “We just want Iran to behave like a normal nation. Just be like Norway.”

Following the SF event, Pompeo was scheduled to dine with a more than a dozen Silicon Valley tech luminaries, including Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Nextdoor Inc CEO Sarah Friar, prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and Gregory Becker, the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, Bloomberg reported.

HOMELESSNESS DANCE: “If L.A. wants the Trump administration’s money for homelessness, strings will be attached,” by the LATimes’ Dakota Smith, Benjamin Oreskes and Noah Bierman: “Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson told Mayor Eric Garcetti in a letter last Thursday that Trump officials are prepared to offer Los Angeles an array of resources, including emergency healthcare services and federal land ... However, Carson also suggested in his letter that the government expects changes from L.A. in how it manages homelessness.”

PRESIDENTIAL PURSUIT

POLL POSITION — The Public Policy Institute of California’s latest presidential gauge tracks with other polls: Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Veep Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are clustered together at the top with about a quarter of the vote each, separated by a four-point buffer that’s well within the margin of error — though Sanders has surged in recent months and Biden remains the overwhelming choice for most likely to beat Trump.

It’s the latest evidence that whichever Democrat “wins” California is likely to end up with a narrow plurality of delegates given the state’s proportional allocation system. But it’s notable that this PPIC poll did not include the wildcard of former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who’s been saturating the airwaves and peeling off some endorsements here.

SPEAKING OF BLOOMBERG — “Bloomberg’s campaign snowballs to 1,000 staffers and counting,” by POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg and Christopher Cadelago: “Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign has brought on more than 700 staffers spread out across 33 states, with a growing number of organizers joining his ranks in states that vote on Super Tuesday ... The unprecedented scale and scope of the campaign — he has also spent over $200 million on TV ads — gives Bloomberg a massive footprint in states that hold their primaries on March 3 or later.”

— “San Jose mayor kicks off Mike Bloomberg campaign in Bay Area,” by the San Jose Spotlight’s Nadia Lopez: “Addressing an intimate gathering of affluent Bay Area voters, [Sam] Liccardo expressed his support of the former New York City mayor for his leadership as a business executive and his hard stance on policies rooted in climate change, gun control and public health.”

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Former Vice President Joe Biden has picked up the endorsement of three California unions — the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 13 (Longshore), Local 63 (Marine Clerks) and Local 94 (Foremen), who represent 10,000 longshore workers in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Union president Ray Familathe says his membership — which keeps millions of containers flowing through two of the country’s busiest ports — hopes Biden can help with “ongoing challenges with the threats of automation and port tariffs.”

WE MATTER — “Could Democrats’ path to White House run through Inland Empire?” by the Press-Enterprise’s Jeff Horseman: “It’s in a deep-blue state with a million more people than Iowa and eight more delegates than New Hampshire.”

— “Barbara Lee: All-white Democratic presidential debate a sign of systemic bias,” by the SF Chronicle’s Joe Garofoli: “Lee says the Democratic National Committee’s rules for determining who can participate in its presidential debates is ‘systematically discriminatory’ against people of color.”


GAVINLAND

SKELTON SPEAKETH — “Newsom has had lots of luck as governor. He’ll need it for his long list of priorities,” by the LA Times’ George Skelton: “Jerry Brown was a narrowly focused political pragmatist after evolving from an ambitious young rebel rock star. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a restless entertainer. Gray Davis was risk-averse. Pete Wilson was a scrapper. George Deukmejian was a rock that could move. Ronald Reagan: a true believer. Pat Brown: builder.

Newsom? He’s the lucky one. That’s his most significant trait so far.”


CAMPAIGN MODE

MOD MONEY — “Nora Campos gets $350K in oil support for state Senate run,” by POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White: “It marks the latest cash infusion from business groups seeking to promote their preferred candidates in solidly Democratic districts as the March 3 primary approaches.”

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

— “California bill protecting intersex infants dies in committee,” by the Bay Area Reporter’s Matthew S. Bajko: “The legislation, authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), has faced fierce opposition from medical lobbying groups since being introduced last year. They have criticized the bill as being too broad and taking away control from both parents and physicians.”

— “Bill to weaponize clean car rebates stalls in California’s pollution battle against Trump,” by CalMatters’ Rachel Becker.

FIELD TRIP — Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis is joining a trade delegation to India starting today. She’ll be joined by representatives of PwC, Facebook, Infosys, Gilead Sciences, the California Hotel and Lodging Association and McKinsey & Co.

— “Plans to move California’s homeless population into centralized facilities gain steam,” by Curbed’s Alissa Walker: Housing advocates fear that these moves (to identify public land) mean a major federal crackdown is looming—one that, due to the delayed implementation of other solutions, will be not just welcomed but abetted by state and local officials.”

— “The Never-ending battle over Martins Beach explained,” via KQED.

FIRE FIGHTS — “FEMA says it may bill fire victims if it can’t get $4 billion from PG&E,” by the SF Chronicle’s J.D. Morris: “The Federal Emergency Management Agency wants reimbursement from PG&E to cover costs from the government’s response to fires in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Under PG&E’s current plan to resolve its bankruptcy, any payment to FEMA would have to come from the $13.5 billion the company intends to reserve primarily to settle claims from fire victims.”

DARK FUTURE — “California’s wildfire risk keeps getting worse. Now a decade of blackouts lie ahead,” by The Guardian’s Susie Cagle: “While ‘de-energization’ for fire safety has been state policy for more than a decade, it had never before been used on such a mass scale.”

TOUGHEST CASES — “‘They’ve been getting sicker': Inside SF’s effort to help the toughest homeless cases,” by the SF Chronicle’s Dominic Fracassa and Trisha Thadani: “The shared priority project is part of a broader effort to revamp the city’s system of care as a shortage of mental health workers, drug treatment beds and stable housing hobbles its ability to help the most vulnerable.”

— “Why one county is exploring giving $1,000 monthly to every youth aging out of foster care,” by Erica Hellerstein for CalMatters: “If approved, the program would join experiments in the Bay Area and other communities that are testing whether providing low-income residents with a baseline wage with few strings attached can improve their lives. “


SILICON VALLEYLAND

— “Barr ramps up pressure on Apple to unlock Pensacola shooter’s iPhones,” by POLITICO’s Eric Geller: “The FBI asked Apple for help after its agents were unable to access the shooter’s two iPhones. Apple told POLITICO last week that it provided as much help as it could, but Barr said Monday that the company ‘has not given us any substantive assistance.’”

UNBRACE YOURSELVES — “Tech IPOs didn’t destroy Bay Area housing after all,” by Curbed SF’s Adam Brinklow: “The Bay Area braced itself in 2019 for a tsunami of tech cash that seemed poised to sweep away the region as we know it, but now it seems that this most recent year in housing was mostly a wash.”

— “How AB5 affects gig rivals: One gets more business, one exits California,” by the SF Chronicle’s Carolyn Said.

— “Facebook won’t change web tracking in response to California privacy law,” by WSJ’s Patience Haggin: “Facebook ... has told advertisers that its trackers’ data collection doesn’t constitute ‘selling’ data under the California law and that it therefore doesn’t believe it is required to make changes.”

HOLLYWOODLAND

— “Latinos are sorely underrepresented in Hollywood. L.A. Mayor Garcetti has a jobs plan to help,” by the LATimes’ Anousha Sakoui.

— “Here are 20 headlines comparing Meghan Markle to Kate Middleton that might show why she and Prince Harry are cutting off royal reporters,” by BuzzFeed’s Ellie Hall.

MIXTAPE

— “Activist accused of splashing blood on California lawmakers ordered to stay away from them,” by the Sac Bee’s Darrell Smith.

— “New DA Boudin hires public defenders amid staffing shake-up,” by the SF Examiner’s Michael Barba.

— “Deadly boat fire: Four families of victims file suit against Conception owners,” by the LA Times’ Richard Winton and Mark Puente.

— “CHP: Death of man found hanging from tree in Northern California ‘suspicious,’” via The AP.

— “Police union hired ‘Shadow Mayor’ Steve Kawa to be its SF government point man — but also signed onto Tucker Carlson’s filth porn effort to ridicule SF government,” by Mission Local’s Joe Eskenazi.

— “How much PG&E customers will pay to shut down California’s last nuclear power plant,” by Dale Kasler and Kaytlyn Leslie in the Sac Bee.

— “The most despair-inducing Bay Area dishes of 2019,” by the SF Chronicle’s Soleil Ho.


TRANSITIONS


— Victoria Chow is now a consumer communications manager at Reddit. She previously was communications director for The California Sunday Magazine and Pop-Up Magazine.

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