What’s Mr. Newsom up to?
GAI Director of Research Seamus Bruner said he was “outraged” after viewing a recent clip of California Governor Gavin Newsom discussing property deals in Los Angeles in the wake of the deadly fires.
“We’re dealing with a myriad of issues. I was talking to Josh Green, the Governor of Hawaii, who had some ideas about some land use concerns he has around speculators coming in, buying up properties, and the like,” Newsom said during a recent interview. “So we’re already working with our legal teams to move those things forward. And we’ll be presenting those in a matter of days, not just weeks.”
Frontline host Carl Higbie suggested Newsom may be talking about building a “smart city” from the ashes of the Los Angeles fires. Bruner said it’s tough to know exactly what Newsom is suggesting.
“I was outraged when I saw this,” Bruner said. “It’s hard to tell. Is he talking about moving forward with faster land grabs? And that’s the thing. Whether it’s misspeaking or if he actually means it, you can’t tell with
these people. Gavin Newsom is the type of person who never lets a crisis go to waste. This could be a huge opportunity to bring in more money. And this is what he’s done time and again — serve the interests of his donors, not of his constituents.”
Watch the clip above.
