Guest commentary - SMDP (Page 5)

Once homeless, California makes it needlessly difficult for people to regain housing

For all the billions that California has invested to solve the homeless crisis, we have yet to commit to the most critical changes. I know because I’ve lived it.

By Guest Author

/ 13 Nov 2023

Once homeless, California makes it needlessly difficult for people to regain housing

Protecting Californians’ Social Care Access

California has a healthcare and social services crisis on its hands. This state’s people live in a time of great generational vulnerability. Homelessness, food insecurity, and mental health diagnoses

By Guest Author

/ 13 Nov 2023

Protecting Californians’ Social Care Access

Housing alone won’t solve homelessness, California must expand its mental health system

I have learned a lot about how easy it is for someone to fall through the cracks, especially when it comes to the mental health system where all those cracks

By Guest Author

/ 10 Nov 2023

Housing alone won’t solve homelessness, California must expand its mental health system

How Houston curbed homelessness

When I joined the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County almost 10 years ago as an eager 28-year-old, I had no idea what I was signing myself up

By Guest Author

/ 10 Nov 2023

Shifting how California funds its mental health system is critical to getting more people off the streets

What if we could reach each person suffering from mental illness or addiction on California’s streets and assertively surround them with the resources they need to get well and

By Guest Author

/ 8 Nov 2023

Shifting how California funds its mental health system is critical to getting more people off the streets

California needs to change its homeless policies, not spend more money

California’s homeless crisis has plagued the state for years, and despite throwing a staggering amount of money trying to solve it, the problem is only getting worse. In 2018,

By Guest Author

/ 7 Nov 2023

Homeless tents at an encampment near the PATH apartment complex in Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2021.

California’s organic waste law isn’t perfect, but pressing pause is the wrong move

Progress has never been achieved by pressing pause. In June, the Little Hoover Commission suggested that California’s short-lived pollutant reduction law, Senate Bill 1383, a first-of-its-kind legislation aimed at

By Guest Author

/ 3 Nov 2023

City councils across Los Angeles and California face more racist anger

A meeting of the Los Angeles City Council is at least two discordant experiences at once: It’s an ennobling exercise in participatory democracy, as 15 elected officials attempt to

By Cal Matters

/ 3 Nov 2023

California needs to get serious about water management as another wet winter looms

October 1 is the beginning of what hydrologists call the "water year." Historically, California’s reservoirs are near their lowest levels by this point after months of being

By Guest Author

/ 31 Oct 2023

California needs to get serious about water management as another wet winter looms

California’s widening housing gap defies state efforts to jump-start construction

Every recent legislative session has produced at least one effort to ameliorate California’s chronic shortage of housing – and sometimes several. They generally make it easier for developers to navigate

By Cal Matters

/ 20 Oct 2023

As Los Angeles tries new gun laws, the Supreme Court stands ready to undo them

There is a dance taking place between the U.S. Supreme Court and state and local governments, with Los Angeles at the forefront. Cities, notably L.A., are looking for

By Guest Author

/ 6 Oct 2023

As Los Angeles tries new gun laws, the Supreme Court stands ready to undo them

Purely Virtual Meetings Can Legally Begin Soon for an HOA

In 2024, Civil Code 4926 will permit 100% virtual meetings along with the current in-person and hybrid meeting formats. Readers have submitted numerous questions since the pandemic (and explosion of

By Guest Author

/ 6 Oct 2023

Purely Virtual Meetings Can Legally Begin Soon for an HOA