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Dr. Micah Weinberg

Dr. Weinberg is a recognized national expert on policies that contribute to thriving communities from democratic systems to economic development to climate-friendly infrastructure to healthcare.

He is currently a Nonresident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace writing on California politics and policy and working with this state to develop a novel tool for deliberative democratic engagement. He is also a Senior Strategic Advisor to the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley assisting the leadership there in developing their Democracy Policy Initiative.

Most recently he was CEO of California Forward quintupling its staff and revenue while having a tremendous impact on public policy in this state. This includes central roles in the creation of the $600 million California Jobs First program, a new international model for equitable economic development, the $500 million California Dream for All program, focusing on expanding homeownership, as well as multi-billion-dollar investments in broadband access and wildfire mitigation. Employing and supporting former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the behest of the Newsom Administration, he was also instrumental in the passage of generationally significant reforms to speed the construction of green infrastructure. Previously, he was the President of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the leading think tank focused on the San Francisco/Silicon Valley Bay Area and a Senior Fellow in the Health Policy Program at New America.

He has been published in outlets that range from the New York Times and Policy Studies Journal and has appeared on Fox News and NPR. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with honors from Princeton with a degree in Politics. He lives in Oakland, California.

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Change Is Possible

The New California Coalition is the non-partisan political home and voice for over 6.5 million “Common Sense” voters across California

We want results, and we are mobilizing to achieve them. The New California Coalition is organizing everyday voters, business leaders, and community organizations from across the state into a movement to demand change and action.

We want a massive amount of housing built to make homes accessible to buyers, renters, and the unhoused alike, not more excuses, red tape, and NIMBYism.

We want safe streets and communities instead of finger pointing, victim blaming, or hiding inaction behind empty and dangerous slogans.

We want clean and healthy public spaces that we can pass down to the next generation rather than complaining about or denying the damage being done. We want to build financial security through good paying jobs rather than blocking the industries that can transform our society and balloon the middle class.

We can have all of this and more if we organize for it now.

We are Californians from all different backgrounds – from business to workers, from disenchanted political organizers to unaffiliated and disaffected voters. We are ready to solve the most pressing challenges facing our state, but our first step is to create a political voice for this army of Common Sense Californians.

Common-sense

California's biggest challenges

Housing

Since 1980, housing construction has stalled in California but our population has exploded. Home buying is out of reach and rents are going up every year. We must ramp up home building to meet the needs of residents and bring down the cost of living.

200,000 built
2.5 million homes

Homelessness

California accounts for 28% of the country’s entire homeless population and more than 50% of the unsheltered homeless individuals. The homeless population in the Bay Area has grown four times faster than the overall regional population since 2010.

200,000 built
2.5 million homes

Crime

The homicide rate rate for some of California’s largest cities – Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and San Francisco – increased by about 17% in 2021; and none of these even approach the overall per capita crime rates of places like Stockton, San Bernardino, Compton, and Richmond. Californians across the state report feeling unsafe as one of their biggest concerns and reasons why the Golden State is becoming increasingly unlivable.

Drought

Every year we see fires spread larger and watering restrictions become more severe, but the response to address climate change and resource consumption remains single minded and half hearted: consume less gas and use less water. California cannot survive without better water management and climate mitigation. From desalination to clean energy sources like solar, wind, green hydrogen, biomass, or geothermal – there are common sense solutions that already exist if our leaders invested in building rather than political jockeying and finger pointing.

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News

Bear Essentials October 4th: This week on the news
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Bear Essentials September 27th: What a week
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Bear Essentials September 20th: Do you think the state is headed in the right direction?
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From the valleys to the coasts, we're all trying to do our best and build stable lives for our families. What issues do you think must be fixed in your communities? Share your story.

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