Ezra Klein

Why is it the state's prerogative to tell them what to do?

Mayor Mahan, building on that, we do see repeatedly this dynamic where big housing bills pass in Sacramento, then cities and counties find ways to delay or evade them.

You're a mayor right now, also running for governor.

How would you handle this tension between local control and state goals differently than Governor Newsom has?

Let me ask you about the other side of this question, which is persuasion and the relationship between the state and the cities.

Obviously, it is better if there is alignment rather than you have to go to builder's remedies or litigation.

So do you think there are ways to bring cities along?

I mean, do you think there are, you're obviously a very pro-housing mayor, but you presumably know other mayors and you have seen these fights up close.

Are there things the governor could do or things you would do as governor that you think could lead to more cohesion between the state goals and the city's preferences?

Mr. Becerra, you were mentioned there over the question of whether or not the litigation is effective.

You have one minute to expand on that.

Mr. Viragosa, you were mayor of Los Angeles, a city very close to my heart as a UCLA graduate.

And I grew up an hour south.

Me too.

There you go.

L.A.

has not exactly been a model of pro-housing policy of late.

Mayor Karen Bass signed ED1, which expedited affordable housing, then started rolling it back because of local opposition when it seemed to work almost too well.

LA passed Measure ULA, a transfer tax on the sale of properties over $5 million, which seems to have cut the development of multifamily properties.

SB 79, which increases housing density around transit, passed in Sacramento, and LA City Council passed a rezoning to slow it down.