Gov. Newsom names Supervisor Perez to homeless advisory group

Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez is one of 13 elected officials and institutional representatives tapped to advise the state on solutions to tackle the state’s homelessness crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced today.

In addition to Perez, the advisory group’s members include San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Fresno City Councilwoman Esmeralda Soria and Arcata City Councilwoman Sofia Pereira.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg will co-chair the group, which will meet multiple times across the state to discuss regional homelessness solutions.

Since taking office in January, Newsom has made a point of using the state budget and partnerships with regional governments to take on the arduous tasks of increasing the state’s housing supply, tempering housing costs and fighting homelessness.

In April, Newsom announced partnerships with the cities of San Diego, Chico, Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento and San Francisco to identify state-owned parcels of land on which to build affordable housing. Newsom also allocated roughly $1.3 billion for housing development in his state budget for fiscal year 2020, which he signed June 27.

“This is a crisis that affects all of California — from rural and urban communities to coastal and inland cities,” Newsom said. “We need to work collectively to source local solutions from mayors, county supervisors and city councils and implement those solutions at scale statewide.”

The group currently has three meetings planned in the Central Valley, Southern California and Northern California in the next three months. According to the governor’s office, official dates, times and locations for the meetings will be announced at a later date.