Attorney General Bonta Secures Decision Requiring Huntington Beach to Face Quick Accountability for its Unlawful Housing Plan

If you love centralized government, like they have in totalitarian nations, you will love Attorney General Bonta.  Why elect a city council, if someone in Sacramento is in charge of your local zoning and permitting?  Accountability?  What is accountable when someone who has never been in your city and lives 400 miles away, decides what can be built and where in your town?

“Attorney General Rob Bonta today secured an appellate court order in the state’s favor compelling a prompt resolution of the enforcement case against Huntington Beach for its failure to adopt a housing plan compliant with state law. On March 8, 2023, Attorney General Bonta, Governor Newsom and The California Department of Housing and Community Development sued the City of Huntington Beach for violating state housing law by failing to adopt a housing element — a decision that jeopardizes critical affordable housing opportunities for Huntington Beach” residents. 

The people of Huntington Beach like having their city council makes these decisions.  They like going to City Hall, not Sacramento, to support or oppose a project.  Dictators take all the power of the people.  No wonder Bonta is a progressive Democrat.

Attorney General Bonta Secures Decision Requiring Huntington Beach to Face Quick Accountability for its Unlawful Housing Plan

Attorney General Rob Bonta,  1/20/24  https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-secures-decision-requiring-huntington-beach-face-quick

SACRAMENTO– Attorney General Rob Bonta today secured an appellate court order in the state’s favor compelling a prompt resolution of the enforcement case against Huntington Beach for its failure to adopt a housing plan compliant with state law. On March 8, 2023, Attorney General Bonta, Governor Newsom and The California Department of Housing and Community Development sued the City of Huntington Beach for violating state housing law by failing to adopt a housing element — a decision that jeopardizes critical affordable housing opportunities for Huntington Beach residents. According to state law, cases to enforce Housing Element Law are entitled to quick review by the courts. However, Huntington Beach asserted that charter cities, such as Huntington Beach, are exempt from this requirement. Today’s decision by the appellate court affirms that charter cities are not exempt from speedy review of challenges to non-compliant housing elements. The court ordered the trial court to vacate its previous stay of the case and to set a hearing for trial date and temporary relief by January 31, 2024. 

“Today the Court of Appeal affirmed that every city will be held to the same standard,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The court’s decision demonstrates that our housing crisis is an urgent emergency and that actions to ensure cities provide their fair share of housing are entitled to priority review by the courts. We are pleased that Huntington Beach will now face quick accountability by the court to help ensure its residents have the housing they need. No one, including Huntington Beach, is exempt from following the law. We’ll continue to use every legal tool available to hold those who break state housing laws accountable.”

A copy of the order can be found here