One Bay Area City's Answer to Homeless RV Residents Shows Promise for State

Here are the morning’s top stories for Wednesday, June 25, 2025:

• Cities throughout California have taken different approaches on how to deal with homeless residents. That also includes those dwelling in RVs. While many plans have been slow on yielding results, Berkeley’s approach may be the solution that city leaders have been looking for.
• California legislators have reached a tentative agreement on the state’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, but its fate hinges on whether Governor Newsom will approve a housing reform plan that lawmakers must submit by Monday.
• A bill making its way through Sacramento would raise the fee car buyers in California would pay for processing paperwork, by nearly 500 percent.

Berkeley’s Approach to Secure Housing for RV Dwellers May Be a Model for the State

As cities work to clean up homeless encampments under increasing pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom and housed residents, RV communities present a distinct — and notoriously difficult — challenge, especially with more and more Californians taking up residence in them.

Over half of Alameda County’s unsheltered homeless population now lives in some kind of car or RV, but strategies for managing and resolving this unique form of homelessness are lagging.

UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative Director, Margot Kushel, found in her research that people living in RVs are reluctant to give them up for anything short of permanent housing — a dilemma when there’s little to offer.

Berkeley officials designed their strategy with that in mind.

To get the program to work, city staff and nonprofit outreach workers spent roughly three months coaxing residents, explaining their offer, listening to concerns and making accommodations to the shelter policies where possible. A one-dog-per-person rule stretched to allow four dogs in one room; friends were allowed to bunk together.

State Senate Passes Bill That Could Further Increase the Cost of a New Car in California

The California Senate overwhelmingly – and with bipartisan support – approved legislation that would allow car dealers to charge buyers up to $500 extra on each vehicle purchase, a blatant departure from promises both parties made this year to lower costs for Californians.

The bill’s opponents said they were shocked senators would disregard their pledge by adding more “junk fees.”

“This is the opposite of saving money for people,” said Rosemary Shahan of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. “There’s no two ways about it. It’s just benefiting car dealers at the expense of car buyers. That’s it.”

Yet on Tuesday, just one senator voted against Senate Bill 791 that would raise the fees car dealers can charge to process documents by $415 from their current cap of up to $85 for a new or used vehicle. California car dealers say they need to be able to raise fees to cover the rising costs that come with processing the paperwork required to buy a vehicle.