As part of his campaign for governor, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan came to the burn area of Altadena this week pitching a plan for affordable housing he says can speed up a languishing rebuild process.
At the still-barren land of a resident who is struggling to rebuild, the centrist Democrat debuted a 15-point plan to tackle California’s affordability crisis.
“This empty lot behind us should be housing, we should see kids coming home from school, grandmas taking an afternoon walk, families getting ready for their evenings,” Mahan said at the press conference. “Instead, what you see is a bunch of weeds and broken promises.”
“We’re robbing our kids and grandkids, our working neighbors, of the American dream by failing to build the housing we need,” he added.
Fewer than a dozen homes had been rebuilt in Los Angeles County a year after the devastating fires, according to the Associated Press.
Many fire victims have reported delays from insurance payouts, permits and other red tape in their rebuilding efforts.
Some of Mahan’s proposed changes include capping impact fees, simplifying building codes and embracing an assembly line method to construct houses. His proposal highlighted faster and more cost-effective processes, without undermining labor standards.
Mahan has seen success with these changes in San Jose, unlocking more than 2,000 new housing units last year, he said.
Last week, Mahan toured the Palisades burn area alongside developer Rick Caruso and Los Angeles Councilmember Traci Park. He later joined a roundtable hosted by the Palisades Recovery Coalition, with nearly 40 Palisades and Malibu stakeholders discussing recovery and resilience.