Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters By CALmatters | No, we shouldnt build there, Elliott said. Elliott, a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and Columbia University, has been with Newsom for years, working for him when Newsom was mayor of San Francisco and lieutenant governor. With a proposed budget of $4.3 million, the unit would hold cities feet to the fire when they break existing housing law, and help them take advantage of laws already in place that streamline regulations and permits. With this $1.75 billion (the governor proposed spending $1.75 billion on homeless housing, including $750 million to continue Homekey) we want to create this momentum behind Homekey and not have it be a one-time thing. After announcing the broad framework of his CARE Court plan, the real work begins for Gov. This is a very small segment of the population. Elliott said that while the state can build housing for people experiencing homelessness and the very poor, the private sector is essential to easing the housing shortage. So what of the slew of housing bills at the state Capitol? A: I remember it was a Sunday afternoon and I was walking my dog and I got a call from our then chief of staff Ann OLeary and she said I need you at (the Office of Emergency Services) right now. Stay in touch. Elliott: The job of a chief of staff is to implement the vision of the mayor that he or she works for. You cant bid high enough on labor to get the folks you need so its kind of a moot point for the foreseeable future, he said. 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I have sympathy for local leaders in Los Angeles and I have sympathy for the residents of Los Angeles because even sheltering as many people as they did through Project Roomkey, and providing as many new units as they did through Homekey, the order of magnitude of the challenge is so large in LA that it almost feels like you can never make progress. This is not going to end homelessness, Kushel said. So I hopped in my car, drove over to Mather where OES is, and went into a conference room where the governor, Ann and a few others were, and sort of started at that point to realize how fundamentally this was going to change everything. The Bay Area has pulled together in a very interesting way and focused very much on prevention and stability, which is really good. Newsom, wrapping up his week . In high school and for part of college, Elliott dreamed of becoming a journalist. No, we shouldnt build there, Elliott said. Governor Newsom had previously announced Ana J. Matosantos as Cabinet Secretary, Jason Elliott as Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Executive Branch Operations, and Angie Wei as Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Policy Development. Secretly, he still does. Its not really realistic to assume were going to subsidize our way out of this, Elliott said. Elliott said he was watching with glee the Biden administrations $5 billion proposal as part of his infrastructure plan to encourage local governments to end exclusionary zoning and other practices. You can change your choices at any time by clicking on the 'Privacy dashboard' links on our sites and apps. Jason Elliott is a Senior Counselor On Housing at Newsom based in Washington, D.C., District of Columbia. Honestly sometimes when something is working, you dont tinker with it. Title: Senior Counselor to Gov. Q: Has Project Roomkey achieved everything you hoped it would? Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Callahan served as the Chief Executive Officer of the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit. No cost estimate for the plan has been released, but Newsom has pledged to spend up to $14 billion on solutions to Californias homelessness crisis over the next several years. Has it become a model for the rest of the country? But the question is are we doing better than previous models? But nowhere near the levels that I mentioned to you a moment ago we were fearing would come to pass. Pasadena to terminate local COVID-19 orders this month Housing | Jason Elliott, Gov. Those numbers don't yet account for Los Angeles County, said Jason Elliott, Newsom's deputy chief of staff and top advisor on housing and homelessness. the political dynamics and economic and racial inequities that have Can Newsom build on pandemic lessons to end homelessness? 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Governor Newsom had previously announcedAna J.Matosantosas Cabinet Secretary,Jason Elliott as Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Executive Branch Operations, and Angie Wei as Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Policy Development. Jason Elliott Senior Counselor & Director of Intergovernmental Affairs EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Sepi Esfahlani Assistant Director, External Affairs Elmy Bermejo . He served in several previous administrations, including as Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Deputy Legislative Secretary for Governor Gray Davis. Homekey was able to produce 6,000 units in six months, at a third of the cost, in about a fifth of the amount of time it typically takes. In response, Fowler agreed that California, like the rest of the country, faces a severe shortage of labor, union or otherwise. But with so many other cost drivers such as skyrocketing lumber prices wages arent the problem. Housing | So, Im gonna miss the troubleshooting with departments and mayor staff. Opinion: Newsoms budget cuts threaten public health investment A lot of smaller cities are not just making this San Francisco and Oaklands problem. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, Newsoms new push for homeless mental health treatment lacks details. Gavin Newsom Age: 37 Born: New York City, but grew up in Palo Alto Current home: Sacramento Family: Lives with his wife and their 15-month-old. Instead, the governor plans to increase . But the question is are we doing better than previous models? Housing | The mayor of San Francisco cannot possibly be involved in every decision that gets made across our 60 departments, from the airport to the zoo. She previously covered startups and venture capital for the Bay Area News Group and prior to that court cases for The Recorder in San Francisco. Im not going to take anybodys vote for granted, but I think with my caucus, and I think this is a bipartisan issue, everybody agrees that we need more tools in the toolbox in order to reach those who so desperately need our help.. The policy differences? His sister is deputy chief of staff for the mayor of New Orleans and his cousin, who he grew up with, was chief of staff for the mayor of Portland. Healso worked for the California Air Resources Board(CARB)onlegislation relating climate. He also emphasized that just as important as passing new legislation is implementing laws already on the books. 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Californias governor is fast-tracking a plan to compel people into court-ordered treatment, but a lot of details are still in question. Certainly there have been outbreaks on Skid Row, certainly there have been outbreaks in some of the homeless facilities in the Tenderloin in San Francisco. Jason Elliott, 36, of Sacramento, is now serving as senior counselor to the Governor for housing and homelessness in the Office of the Governor, where he has served as chief deputy cabinet secretary. Mayors of some of the states most populous cities have endorsed the plan as a way to alleviate a humanitarian crisis in full display on their streets. Our message to LA and the Bay Area and to everyone is: Project Roomkey is here and funded at least through September of this year, with 100% of the cost borne by the federal government. Mayoral candidate and Councilman Kevin de Len wants the city to withdraw from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. We are adding judges and attorneys into the mix in hopes of better connecting unhoused individuals with housing and medical care, but nothing else really changes, she said. Lawmakers similarly expect answers to these questions before Newsom submits a formal proposal to the Legislature. People have had it. So when you do all that math, youre looking at about 25,000 homeless people losing their lives from coronavirus. Prior to that, she held roles as Appointments Director for the Senate Rules Committee, Deputy Director of the Center for CaliforniaStudies at California State University, Sacramento, Director of the Senate Fellows Program, Chief of Staff to Senator Barry Keene, consultant to Assembly Majority Consultants, legislative aide to U.S. Andrew Imparato, executive director of Disability Rights California, said his group was open to working with the administration and lawmakers on changes. Now, a little over a month into Mayor London Breeds term, Elliott is leaving City Hall to work for Lt. Gov. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters. Which is why we need the private sector to do what it does, which is to build housing.. Elliott sidestepped another question, about whether the administration would seek to extend the statewide eviction moratorium, which is set to end June 30, as the state doubles its rent relief funds with an additional $2.6 billion from the federal government. Want to see more stories like this? Gov. I have sympathy for local leaders in Los Angeles and I have sympathy for the residents of Los Angeles because even sheltering as many people as they did through Project Roomkey, and providing as many new units as they did through Homekey, the order of magnitude of the challenge is so large in LA that it almost feels like you can never make progress. Elliott said that the governor remains committed to the principles of housing first and that CARE Court would be one of many ways a person could access shelter. Elliott is leaving City Hall to work for Newsom's gubernatorial campaign. More than three dozen organizations and individuals, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Disability Rights California and the Western Center on Law and Poverty, signed an April 12 opposition letter raising serious concerns with Assembly Bill 2830, one of two nearly identical measures moving through the Legislature to implement Newsoms Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court. Has it protected 35,000 homeless Californians? Gavin Newsom, Born: New York City, but grew up in Palo Alto, Family: Lives with his wife and their 15-month-old daughter, Prior job: Chief of staff to San Francisco Mayors Ed Lee and London Breed, and policy director for Newsom when he was mayor. Most recently, she served as Director of Scheduling and Advancefor Governor-elect Newsoms Transition and the Newsom for Governor campaign. Housing | Hopefully were starting to see more economic recovery coming out of COVID, although I do think its going to be a very uneven recovery, she said. The governor said that CARE Court would focus on the most vulnerable Californians suffering from severe mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and individuals who have cycled in and out of hospitals and jails. A: I will point you to the governors budget proposal: $1.75 billion. We vehemently oppose the proposal because it has this coercive court process implemented, and no right to housing, Castillo said. To move the needle, Elliott pitched the statewide Housing Accountability Unit, which Newsomproposed in his January budget. Gavin Newsom unveiled a far-reaching effort to push more people into court-ordered treatment for severe mental illness and addiction, homeless advocates are calling it legally misguided and immoral as the proposals first public hearing at the state Capitol has been delayed. A: California struggles and has struggled for decades to provide adequate housing for people experiencing homelessness. We are not batting 1,000. Its a part of the population that has been suffering and languishing for so long, many of whom have been on the streets for literally years and years and some decades and at great peril to themselves, Sherin said. Elliott said that while the state can build housing for people experiencing homelessness and the very poor, the private sector is essential to easing the housing shortage. Homekey was able to produce 6,000 units in six months, at a third of the cost, in about a fifth of the amount of time it typically takes. hb````` Previously, Figueroa was Director of Prevention for The California Endowment, the nations largest state-specific health care foundation. Gavin Newsom. A: Both the Bay Area and Los Angeles have stepped up in incredible ways. Within hours, Lee died -- and Elliot had to step up to help keep the city running. authenticate users, apply security measures, and prevent spam and abuse, and, display personalised ads and content based on interest profiles, measure the effectiveness of personalised ads and content, and, develop and improve our products and services. Elliott has worked in government his whole career, and he met his wife in Gavin Newsoms administration, when Newsom was mayor of San Francisco. And through really deliberative debate and discussion, we started to land on the idea of using hotels. Q: As a result of Homekey, the state has added more than 6,000 new long-term housing units in less than six months. Health | Sabelhaus is a Democrat. And that can mean big vision things, and it also means the day-to-day of running a city. Has it helped us flatten the curve more broadly in California and protect our hospitals from overcrowding? Jason Elliott, Gov. Callahan previously served as Director of External and International Affairs in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2015 to January 2019, where she was Special Advisor to the Executive Secretary from 2013 to 2015. And at that point, we were modeling a 56% attack rate for the virus, meaning that we expected 56% of Californians would get coronavirus at some point during the outbreak. Gavin Newsoms proposal to compel people into court-ordered treatment for mental illness and addiction is a sense of urgency to solve a decades-old crisis festering on Californias streets even if it means building the plane as it flies. Elliott sidestepped another question, about whether the administration would seek to extend the statewide eviction moratorium, which is set to end June 30,as the state doubles its rent relief funds withan additional $2.6 billion from the federal government. Find out more about how we use your personal data in our privacy policy and cookie policy. The answer is yes. Put that in context how big a deal is that in a state that for decades has struggled to build enough housing? Within hours, Lee died -- and Elliot had to step up to help keep the city running. You just let it keep rolling. As health officials scrambled last March with shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of COVID-19, Jason Elliott wastacklinganother seemingly overwhelming problem: How do we keep the more than 100,000 Californians sleeping on our streets from dying of the virus? Manuela is the housing reporter for CalMatters. Project Roomkey has sheltered more than 35,000 homeless Californians in hotels and motels throughout the state, giving people over 65 or with medical conditions a safer place to ride out the pandemic. In LA they proposed more Homekey projects than we were able to fund. That was the challenge we were facing. A governors signature does not build new units, he said. There is a crisis on our streets.. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! And in this case, Homekey works. Some policy bills face a key deadline next week, but Elliott declined to comment on specific bills, including Senate Bill 9, which would allow homeowners to put a duplex on single-family lots or split them. We dont have a concrete number, but you could assume we produce as a state maybe between 2,000 and 5,000 units of permanent housing in any given year. California weighs $360,000 in reparations to eligible Black residents, Majority of Hispanic Americans own a homeas incomes rise, Racial homeownership gap larger now than a decade ago, funded at least through September of this year, California Republicans give a boost to Florida Gov. Timing is also a key decision for Newsom. But the bottom line is that he tackles difficult issues and advises the governor on how to respond, and his portfolio is expanding exponentially. Subscribe to CalMatters free daily newsletter to get news and commentary that holds your elected leaders accountable. Newsom touted the CARE Court framework last month as an innovative strategy to guide an estimated 7,000 to 12,000 people into housing and much-needed treatment. Has the federal government embraced it and now is providing 100% reimbursement on the costs? LA County reports 14 COVID-related deaths, 1,300-plus cases on Friday As a result, the state has announced it will simplify the process toget more money out the door faster. Dr. Jonathan Sherin, Los Angeles Countys director of mental health, estimated that CARE Court would target 10% or less of the total homeless population. Gavin Newsom, Born: New York City, but grew up in Palo Alto, Family: Lives with his wife and their 15-month-old daughter, Prior job: Chief of staff to San Francisco Mayors Ed Lee and London Breed, and policy director for Newsom when he was mayor. Los Angeles, Calmes: Heres what we should do about Marjorie Taylor Greene, David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78, ICE detainees allege retaliation for speaking about medical conditions at Otay Mesa center, Downtown L.A stabbing sends six to hospital; suspect arrested, San Diego Roman Catholic diocese facing yet another lawsuit from its insurance company, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Los Angeles is suddenly awash in waterfalls. A moratorium until the end of time that doesnt provide a sufficient benefit to get people to enroll, Elliott said, trailing off. We worked 25 hours a day to design what eventually become Project Roomkey. 4. And he warned against efforts to rush the bill through the legislative process without proper public input and scrutiny. With a key legislative deadline next week, Newsoms housing adviser speaks about the governors priorities on affordable housing. Despite the urgency, the number of people who would likely benefit from the initiative is limited. contributed to the housing crisis in California and its Those who would qualify are characterized by experts as the hardest to reach and most difficult to treat, largely because they have a variety of complex needs and are often hesitant to trust government intervention. Workforce development for those skilled trades is going to be so essential.. As health officials scrambled last March with shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of COVID-19, Jason Elliott wastacklinganother seemingly overwhelming problem: How do we keep the more than 100,000 Californians sleeping on our streets from dying of the virus? As soon as applicants sign a pledge to submit more ambitious targets and try harder in their plans for the next $1 billion grant the final round of flexible local homelessness funding approved in the 2021 budget the state will start cutting checks for this round, according to Jason Elliott, Newsom's deputy chief of staff. DeBoo joined. Before that, she was a Legislative Assistant at The Crane Group and a Research Assistant for the British ParliamentaryLabourParty. Newsom calls for spending $12 billion more to end homelessness in California. In response, Jason Elliott, Newsom's top advisor on homelessness, said "every effort would be made to get them indoors." . What could reparations mean for Black residents of Alameda County? Newsom Alisa Hartz Brittiany Bearden Deputy Legal Affairs Kelli Evans Secretary Morgan Carvajal Luis Larios Special Assistant to Jay Jefferson Deputy Secretary & Thats goal number one.. View Jason Elliott's profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. I think its going to disproportionately impact low-income communities, Black and brown communities, so making sure people use the benefit I think is key.. Gavin Newsom. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Dr. Margot Kushel, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco and director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, applauded the administration for promising resources, but cautioned against thinking CARE Court would be a blanket solution to the crisis. Some were really good and some were not so good. So what of the slew of housing bills at the state Capitol? Elliott was joined on the virtual panel, moderated by CalMatters, by Jennifer Svec, legislative advocate for the California Association of Realtors; Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat from the East Bay; and Adam Fowler, research director at Beacon Economics, all of whom agreed that a supply shortage was largely responsible for ballooning home prices. 4. Richard was also Legislative Director for Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and served as a Legislative Consultant for the California State Senate Insurance and Budget and Fiscal Review Committees. Elliott said the almost-certain recall facing Newsom later this year isnt affecting his positions on housing, either, pointing to the governors 2020 State of the State speech, where housing and homelessness took center stage. But its a start, and more than California has done in a long time. Jason Elliott with San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Lt. Gov. Newsom also attached accountability measures to the program, including sanctions for local governments that dont comply with program requirements and diverting people into stricter conservatorships or letting their paused criminal cases continue if they fail to meet their CARE plan obligations.