CALIFORNIA UPDATE: California Residents Extorted by Union Thuggery
The California Assembly has passed Senate Bill 79, which permits up to nine-story buildings adjacent to certain transit stops, seven stories for buildings within a quarter-mile, and six stories for buildings within a half-mile, overriding local zoning laws in single-family neighborhoods. The legislation would drastically alter existing single-family communities and force residents into competition with developers incentivized to purchase properties near transit corridors.
This is extortion by the all powerful State Building and Construction Trades Council, who agreed to reverse their opposition in exchange for amendments that demand union hiring to certain projects. Union interference often results in featherbedding, no-show jobs, delays and over-budget projects.
If the California Senate concurs, the legislation will be placed on Governor Newsom’s desk for signature.
Progressive communist democrat politicians — the same ones who never met a tax they didn’t like — are now setting their sights on suburbia.
That’s right: the quiet neighborhoods, good schools, and tree-lined streets that middle-class families worked hard to build and preserve are now enemy territory in their ideological war. Under the banner of “affordable housing,” they’re pushing massive, multi-story, high-density housing projects into residential suburbs — and they expect you to applaud while they do it.
But let’s be clear: this has nothing to do with helping the poor or solving housing inequality. That’s just the pitch. The real story is about developer land deals, sweetheart construction contracts, preferential loans, and glowing headlines for politicians trying to cement their “legacy.”
This is not compassion. It’s corruption.
The Blueprint for Suburbia’s Hostile Takeover
Here’s how the scam works:
- State-level “rezoning mandates” that override local control.
- Bureaucratic pressure to “densify” single-family neighborhoods.
- Financial incentives for municipalities to approve blocky, concrete monstrosities with zero character and even less parking — because heaven forbid we let people own cars anymore.
And who profits? Not the supposed “working families” they trot out for press conferences. No, the big winners are real estate developers with the right connections. Construction firms that donate to the right campaigns are more likely to succeed. Politicians who can pose with hard hats and shovels for their next campaign mailer. And let’s not forget the media class who cheer from their gentrified lofts in the city, far from the neighborhoods they’re helping destroy.
They call it “progress.” What it really is… is a hostile takeover.
Case in Point: Bethel, Connecticut
If you think this is some abstract policy fight, look at what’s happening right now in Bethel, Connecticut.
Vessel Technologies, a Manhattan-based developer, swooped in and signed a deal to bulldoze two single-family homes so they can replace them with a five-story steel-and-glass tower containing 75 apartments — only 20 percent of which qualify as “affordable.” The rest? Market-rate rentals that pad the developer’s pockets.
The town of just 11,600 people is outraged. Residents have packed zoning hearings to warn about traffic nightmares, the destruction of trees, the loss of small-town character, and the reality that this isn’t about “neighbors in need” — it’s about an absentee landlord forcing density into a community that doesn’t want it.
One resident, Penny Kessler, cut through the spin: “Please don’t let them insult us with suggestions that Vessel will be a [good] neighbor. Vessel will be an absentee landlord.”
Another, Deborah Light, warned that the project’s construction will kill trees and permanently scar the land. Others rightly pointed out that developers are using Connecticut’s state housing laws as a weapon — threatening expensive litigation if towns refuse to bow down.
Even Bethel’s zoning commissioners are openly admitting they feel “forced” into approving something their community doesn’t want. One commissioner said bluntly: “You talk about openness, honesty and transparency… but you’re throwing this down our throats.” <Source>
This is how the game is played: use state laws and activist judges to override local voices, then strong-arm small towns into accepting massive projects they never asked for. The developers get rich. The politicians get their “progress” talking points. The residents are left with traffic, concrete, and regret.
Suburbia Was Never the Problem
Suburbia was never the problem. It was the solution — a place where people could own a home, raise a family, and live with some breathing room. But to these ideologues, anything that isn’t a stacked-and-packed box with shared walls and transit dependency is a moral failing.
They say we’re “exclusionary” for wanting to keep our neighborhoods livable. Well, here’s the truth: It’s not about exclusion. It’s about preservation — of community, of safety, of sanity. It’s about stopping backroom deals disguised as social justice.
Bethel, Connecticut, is just one town fighting back. Tomorrow, it could be yours.
Bottom Line
If you want to protect your neighborhood, you can’t afford to sit this one out. Show up at zoning board meetings. Sign petitions. Demand transparency from your town officials. Call your state representatives and remind them they answer to you, not the developers and lobbyists.
Most importantly, build coalitions with your neighbors. Speak with one voice. These projects depend on silence and compliance. Break that silence. Refuse that compliance.
They can keep their fake virtue. We’ll keep our homes.
We are so screwed.
— Steve
