SACRAMENTO
California policy gives businesses incentive to require ‘vaccine passports’ at events
California is incentivizing businesses to require customers show proof of vaccination, suggesting that the Golden State is moving toward a “vaccine passport” system despite health officials’ comments to the contrary.
The state Department of Public Health last week unveiled little-noticed revisions that allow conferences, live events and performances, stadiums, family entertainment centers and other gatherings to reopen at higher capacity if all guests show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result or of full vaccination. Doing so would permit stadiums in the orange tier, for example, to reopen at 67% instead of 33%, and people in the fully vaccinated sections wouldn’t have to physically distance. The new guidelines also allow fully vaccinated out-of-state visitors to attend events that would otherwise be restricted to Californians.
Yet thorny logistical, ethical and legal questions remain. Citing privacy and civil liberty concerns, Assemblymember Kevin Kiley, a Rocklin Republican, recently introduced a bill that would ban state and local governments, as well as entities that receive state money, from using vaccine passports. Other advocates are concerned such a system could reinforce racial and economic inequities. And the UC and CSU systems appear unlikely to require students get the COVID-19 vaccine — doing so could raise legal issues, as it’s only received emergency use authorization so far.
Experts say the policy around vaccine passports will likely be driven by the market.
- Dr. John Swartzberg, a UC Berkeley infectious-disease expert: “If I knew a store that said people who come in here have to be vaccinated, I would preferentially go to that store.”
The market appears to be heading in that direction. Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest private employer, announced earlier this month that it would require proof of vaccination for the first employees returning to the office. The San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors are also requiring attendees to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result. - State Sen. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat: Banning vaccine passports would mean “what we’re basically telling businesses is, ‘Sorry, we’re denying you a piece of information that could allow you to reopen safely.’ Why would we want to stand in their way?”
—CALMatters
CALIFORNIA
Mandatory water restrictions begin
Today, the first major water agency in the Bay Area is expected to approve mandatory water restrictions — another indication that California is in the midst of a serious dry spell that could lead to the state’s first official drought emergency in years. The Marin Municipal Water District is poised to adopt plans that would require about 200,000 residents to limit outdoor watering to one day a week and ban washing cars, refilling swimming pools and power-washing homes, among other things, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Offenders could face fines of up to $250 starting next month. Golf courses would also have to limit watering, and street cleaning with potable water would be banned.
- Cynthia Koehler, president of the district’s governing board: “Can I say that this is going to make 100% of people happy? No, of course not. … But this is a very savvy community. We’ve been through droughts before, even not that long ago. When we call for conservation, people get it.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has so far resisted calls from some lawmakers and advocates to declare a drought emergency, which would enable him to mandate conservation measures and relax environmental restrictions on some water sources to divert more to farmers.
—CALMatters
LAKE COUNTY
Lake County real estate monthly market update
Looking at the Market for March of 2021 vs. March of 2020 is interesting as last year in March the pandemic was just beginning to affect us.
Some interesting statistics that give us a snapshot of the Lake County real estate market in March 2020 vs. March 2021. The Market continues to be fantastic for sellers, which can be frustrating for buyers. Spring is traditionally the time when more homes come on the market. As we enter spring, we will see if inventory goes up.
Active Listings throughout the county were 128 for March 2021 which is down 52.8% over March 2020.
-Active listings for Lakeport were at 23 for March of 2021, up 27.8% over March 2020. (interesting to note)
-Active Listings for Kelseyville were at 22 for March 2021, down 62.1% from March 2020.
-Active Listings in Hidden Valley Lake were super Low for March 2021 at 9, down 82.7% from March 2020.
-Active Listings in Clearlake were at 25 for March 2021, down 50% from March 2020.
Existing Homes sales throughout the county was 73 homes for March 2021 up 4.3% from March 2020.
-Existing Home sales for Lakeport, March 2021 was 12, up 9.1%. -Existing Home sales for Kelseyville, March 2021 was 16, down 20%.
-Existing Home sales for Hidden Valley Lake, March 2021 was 13, up 30%.
-Existing home sales for Clearlake, March 2021 was 12, which was exactly the same for March 2020.
Existing home median price thorough out Lake County for March 2021 was $333,000, up 20.9% over March 2020.
-Existing home median price in Lakeport for March 2021 was $353,000, down 15.2% from March 2020 (see above where inventory was up for March 2021)
-Existing home median price in Kelseyville for March 2021 was $385,000, up 36.3%.
-Existing home median price in Hidden Valley Lake for March 2021 was $362,000, up 25.9%.
-Existing home median price in Clearlake for March 2021 was $204,000, up 6.3%.
Throughout Lake County for March 2021, median days on market were 19, showing homes are selling quickly throughout the county.
-In Lakeport median days on market was 13, Kelseyville was 8, Hidden Valley Lake 16, and Clearlake was 34.
Throughout Lake County, for March 2021 sales to list price was 98.5%, showing homes are selling very close to list price throughout the county.
-In Lakeport sales to list price was 98.6%, Kelseyville was 98.8%, Hidden Valley Lake was 100% and Clearlake was 99.3%.
Throughout Lake County for March 2021, 27.3% of active listings had price reductions, showing that even with quick sales and homes selling close to asking price, if priced too high, price reductions are needed. .
-In Lakeport for March 2021, 39.1% of active listings had price reductions, Kelseyville 31.8%, Hidden Valley Lake 11.1% and Clearlake 16% of active listings had price reductions.
—Submitted
Homeless spending ratchets up
California’s homeless population appears to be growing even as state and local governments spend exponentially more money trying to address the issue. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced plans Monday to spend nearly $1 billion on homelessness next fiscal year — the largest one-year sum in city history and a nearly sevenfold increase from his budget five years ago, the Los Angeles Times reports. Similar increases are popping up across the state: San Francisco is proposing spending more than $560 million on homelessness next year, up from $242 million six years ago. And Sacramento has spent more than $110 million on homelessness over the past two years, a massive increase from the less than $2 million it spent in 2015.
Yet recently released federal data shows that California’s homeless population shot up nearly 7% from January 2019 to January 2020, the largest uptick in the country. But even as Newsom’s Project Homekey program has opened up thousands of permanent supportive housing units for homeless Californians, the pandemic has also pushed millions of people closer to losing their homes. And public housing authorities, especially in Los Angeles, have left out critical information about pandemic relief and protections in letters sent to tenants — which advocates say could lead to tenants evicting themselves when they don’t have to, CalMatters’ Amy Martyn reports.
—CALMatters
—Compiled by Ariel Carmona Jr.
