Calif. Attorney General Rob Bonta to Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, Elk Grove – ‘We are continuing to be aggressive’

During his Wednesday, February 7 news conference on tenants’ rights, Attorney General Rob Bonta highlighted lawsuits against California municipalities, including Elk Grove.

While the San Francisco news conference was to remind tenants of their rights and landlord responsibilities, in broader terms, Mr. Bonta was addressing California’s housing and homelessness crisis. Bonta has formed his self-titled Housing Justice Team, which has filed lawsuits against several California municipalities for discriminatory housing and land planning practices.

Among the cities under Bonta’s Housing Justice Team’s scrutiny is Elk Grove for ignoring affordable housing approval processes as allowed by Senate Bill 35 (see video below). The city is fighting a lawsuit against the state for its July 222 denial of the Oak Rose affordable supportive housing project in Elk Grove’s Old Town special planning area.

Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh Allen declared that on February 28, the city would finalize and provide details of the previously announced “settlement in principle” with Excelerate Housing. In a lawsuit separate from the state’s action, the city was sued by Long Beach, Calif.-based Excelerate Housing for the city council’s Oak Rose project denial.

Mayor Singh-Allen nor any of her city councilmen or city officials have disclosed what implication their February 28 settlement announcement will have on the state’s lawsuit. Bonta’s entire presentation can be viewed here.