By Kieran J. Purcell, Esq.

Each year, California Community Association (CAI) members visit Sacramento to educate legislators on current issues affecting California’s 55,000 Community Associations. With COVID-19 and in person events still a concern at that time, your CAI-California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) conducted a four (4) day virtual CAI-CLAC Legislative “Week” at the Capitol, held April 12, 2021 – April 15, 2021.

The event was open to all that had an interest in advocating on behalf of California communities and included forty-eight Homeowners, Board Members, Community Managers, and Business Partners from the San Diego Chapter.

All attendees had the opportunity to attend informative briefing sessions with CAI-CLACs Legislative Advocate Louie Brown, and learn what new changes are on the horizon.  During the week the eight chapters each had two or three virtual advocacy sessions with legislators and staffers from their respective districts.  The sessions focused on Bills that were identified as being important by the CLAC Delegate body.  These included SB 9 (lot splitting), SB 391 (emergency virtual meetings), AB 1101 (financial protections), and AB 1410 (limits on authority).

The San Diego Chapter attendees virtually met with representatives of Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Assembly Member Chris Ward and representatives of Senator Patricia Bates. The Legislators and their staffs all noted and remarked how impressive it was to have forty-eight San Diego Chapter members participating in these virtual meetings.

These Legislative meetings served multiple purposes including, educating legislators, seeking support for specific bills, and showing appreciation for past support. Without the expense of travel for the event this year, CAI-CLAC was happy to have over 250 attendees and experience a significant growth in attendance from past in person events. In their post event survey responses, all responders stated their appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the legislative process and advocate on behalf of California community associations.

For more information on the bills that CAI-CLAC is currently working on for California homeowners and their associations, please visit current campaigns at our website at www.caiclac.com/current-campaigns.

Thank you to everyone from the San Diego Chapter who attended Virtual Leg Week!  One of the strengths of CAI as a whole and the San Diego Chapter specifically, is our knowledgeable and diverse membership. It was a great experience to be able to showcase the San Diego Chapter to area Legislators and our CAI-CLAC colleagues throughout California. The San Diego Chapter was quite impressive when it came together and united for a common goal.

 

Kieran Purcell is a shareholder with Epsten, APC. He currently serves as a Legislative Co-Chair of CAI-CLAC, is a CLAC Delegate for the San Diego Chapter and a past President of the San Diego Chapter. You can reach Kieran at [email protected] or 858.527.0111.

This article was originally published in the Summer 2021 Issue of San Diego Community Insider by the San Diego Community Association Institute (www.cai-sd.org).