You work full-time and can't afford a one-bedroom.
It's not your fault. The system is rigged to keep buildings empty.
The housing crisis in numbers
Rent increase since 2019
Your paycheck didn't.
Working Californians
spend more than half their income on rent.
Students lost housing
when Berkeley blocked a dorm project.
Average 1BR in LA
That's $30,000 a year. After taxes.

Ray Yan
UC Irvine. Graduate Student. Renter.
- 4 years of experience working for the DoD as a Software Engineer
- Master's in Embedded Cyber Physical Systems at UCI, Bachelor's in Computer Engineering from Purdue University
- Published housing policy research on Substack
- Second-generation American
Many students have difficulty finding affordable housing. Amid a decades-long decline in affordability, local politicians have only recently offered changes to accompany hollow talking points. My plan implements accountable and fiscally responsible policies. With your signature, we can Make California Affordable Again, for everyone.
Three policies. Real change.
Other candidates talk about pushing Washington. I'll use the powers the governor actually has.


The Problem
Empty Buildings.Full of Excuses.
When a building has tenants paying $2,000/month, the bank says it's worth X. If the landlord lowers rent to $1,500, the bank says it's worth less. The landlord's loan goes underwater. They lose the building.
So landlords keep rents high and units empty. They'd rather have 10 empty units at $3,000 than 10 full units at $2,000. The math protects them, not you.
This isn't one bad landlord. It's how the whole system works. San Francisco's biggest landlord rather than lower rents.
The Answer
Tax empty buildings.
If you keep a building vacant for more than 6 months, you pay 1% of its value per year. Vancouver did this. It works.
24,000
units
back on market
$820M
revenue
for housing programs
15%
reduction
in affected areas
Read the full analysis
I wrote it down. Let's bring it up.



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Deadline: February 4, 2026
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