Should California Dictate Local Zoning?

Join our monthly lunch with guest speaker Anita Enander, President of Our Neighborhood Voices (ONV), a statewide effort to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot that will return land-use and zoning authority to local government.

Reserve a spot at https://cocotax.org/event-6122483 (cost is $25 for members / $30 for non-members, but that includes lunch and a soft drink).

Anita also serves on the board of SHIFT-Bay Area where she concentrates on the housing portfolio. She previously served as Mayor, Council Member, and Planning Commissioner for the city of Los Altos. Prior to “retiring” to this public service, she was a serial entrepreneur. Anita was founder and principal of a management consulting firm for 25 years, then owned and served as CEO of an international corporation devoted to the Arabian horse, with clients in 32 countries. She is a published author of books and articles as an expert on the history and current population structure of the world-wide breed. Anita is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, receiving her undergraduate education at Santa Clara University and graduate degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Our Neighborhood Voices was formed in 2021 under the leadership of Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand. He recognized that the state legislature had embarked on a strategy to usurp local democracy by silencing local voices and limiting the ability of city and county elected officials to decide what gets built and where in their communities. Anita was honored to join the founding board of directors and work with Mayor Brand prior to his passing. More than 250 bills have now been signed into law that have radically remade land-use and zoning in California – and more are on the current legislative calendar in Sacramento. Further, these laws have placed profound financial burdens on cities by imposing unfunded mandates and by restricting the ability of cities to recoup direct infrastructure costs compelled by new development. Anita will bring us up to date on the impacts of this legislation and what we can do, both in this legislative session and to get ONV on the ballot, to reclaim local authority and stop unfunded mandates and adverse financial impacts.