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Uploaded: Wednesday, February 13, 2013, 7:59 AM
Updated: Thursday, February 14, 2013, 7:03 AM
Brown calls for re-examination of state laws, regulations that may be hampering housing market
'some reform is definitely in order' for CEQA rules, governor says
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 | Gov. Jerry Brown said at a housing summit in Oakland Tuesday that California has a "very vibrant" housing market but it needs to re-examine some laws and regulations that may be hampering the market.
Speaking at a forum on the future of housing in the state that was presented by the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business, Brown said one thing that needs to be modified is the California Environmental Quality Act, which requires state and local agencies to identify and mitigate the environmental impacts of housing projects and other developments.
The governor said the courts have expanded the act's requirements since it was approved in 1969 but he believes "some reform is definitely in
order" now.
Brown said, "It's something I'll be working on this year. I'll try to come up with some reasonable changes."
Brown said he empathizes with audience members who asked him if the state can help create more affordable housing for what they said is a
shrinking middle class that has difficulty finding good housing at a reasonable price but he said the state's role in the housing market is limited.
He said affordable housing is "a piece of the larger problem of the increased stratification of society" but he believes the state's role is to help provide good schools and safe communities instead of directly helping the housing market.
Brown said housing is influenced more by the private market than by the state.
He said, "The state is not in charge. We'll do what we can."
Brown then joked that the high cost of housing in San Francisco prompted him to move to Oakland in the 1990s, after which he twice was elected mayor of Oakland.
Referring to Oakland, Brown said, "The weather is better and the housing is cheaper."
Joining Brown and other speakers at the forum, Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan said lenders such as his bank tightened their
mortgage qualification measures after the collapse of the housing market several years ago but admitted, "We got it too tight and we'll now loosen" standards somewhat.
In response to a question from an audience member who suggested Bank of America didn't do enough to work with homeowners who wound up with problem loans during the mortgage crisis, Moynihan said the bank modified more than 1 million mortgages for homeowners nationwide who owed more money on their mortgages than their homes were worth.
Referring to the Bank of America's 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial, which financed many problem loans, Moynihan said, "We inherited a
difficult situation and we're fixing things and getting them right."— Bay City News Service Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by William Tell, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Feb 13, 2013 at 8:57 am (Post deemed inappropriate by Pleasanton Weekly Online staff)
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Posted by William's Family, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Feb 13, 2013 at 9:02 am We're not responsible. Please, we've tried everything. He embarrasses us all.
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Posted by Ptown native, a resident of the Stoneridge neighborhood, on Feb 13, 2013 at 9:28 am If the State has no power over "affordable housing"
Why did "the State" sue Ptown to "provide"
low income-high density housing for outsiders? (Comment deemed inappropriate by Pleasanton Weekly Online staff)
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Posted by AnnaS, a member of the Foothill High School community, on Feb 13, 2013 at 9:49 am The president of America's and the governor of California's speeches are both getting more and more similar to the leader of the Soviet Union's speeches before Perestroika. Sometimes I wonder whether the speeches were newly written or just were translated from Russian.
The question is whether America is moving to the direction of the USSR of late 1980es or of 1930es.
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Posted by Hussein and Rod'em, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Feb 13, 2013 at 3:48 pm Anna,
In response to your question as to whether America is moving in the direction of the old USSR. The answer is a resounding YES. Unfortuantely, we are going to find out just how much so in Obama's second term, as he no longer is running for office again. You can expect his communist mentality to hit us on many fronts. Also, the left-wing loons are already prepping another communist to run in 2016, Her Lowness, Miz Hillary Rod'em Clinton; and the media is already cranking up their love campaign for Miz Rod'em. (If you don't think she is a communist, look back at her history, including when she worked for a law firm that was adamently communist. Her own father considered her a communist and disowned her.)
We are in deep, deep, doodoo unless the people of this country wake up, and wake up soon. I always wonder how a despot like Hitler could have got elected. Now we have seen a repeat in our own country.
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Posted by Dan, a resident of the Bridle Creek neighborhood, on Feb 14, 2013 at 11:26 am "...that California has a "very vibrant" housing market but it needs to re-examine some laws and regulations that may be hampering the market."
I guess it never dawned on JB that with 9.8% unemployment (not including those out of the system) the problem >just might< be people not having job prospects?
I guess blaming laws and regulations will suffice when you have no plan. The new "normal".
Silly.
Dan
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