Gov. Newsom visits SoCal cities to collaborate on affordable housing

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom is in Southern California trying to address the issue of affordable housing.

In his State of the State address, Newsom called on all cities to share the responsibility of the state's housing crisis. On Tuesday, he heard stories from residents at a new development, Century Villages at Cabrillo in Long Beach.

"We were homeless and we were struggling with so many kids not being able to work as much," one woman said.

The governor said his budget includes $1.7 billion to provide incentives to cities that zone for housing. And there are consequences if they don't - the state is suing Huntington Beach.

"What I'm asking for in a city is not just to build housing, but to begin the process of planning housing and a city like Huntington Beach refusing to even plan the housing - with respect I don't think that's an egregious request," Newsom said.

He also had a closed door meeting with mayors of cities whose housing plans are currently out of compliance with state law. A number of cities did not show up. After it was over, some mayors said they are glad the governor is listening to them.

"Unlike his predecessor he came out today to the cities as opposed to us going to the state to share our concerns and see how we can work together to address this issue," Montebello Mayor Jack Hadjinian said.

"The purpose of today was collaboration. Our purpose of today was to coordinate our efforts to provide technical support and to be there for each other," Newsom said.