M. Nolan Gray 🥑
@mnolangray.bsky.social
20K followers 460 following 2.8K posts
the once and future city planner // senior legislative director for california YIMBY // AICP // proud kentuckian // #BBN // buy my book ❤
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
mnolangray.bsky.social
Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.
mnolangray.bsky.social
Oh, don't worry, they're already trying to memoryhole all that and ask us and our foundation partners for grants.
mnolangray.bsky.social
Three movies that help me make sense of the news in 2025.
mnolangray.bsky.social
A city is not the aggregation of the financial interests of the people who currently live there. It's the aggregation of the dreams of all the people who desperately yearn to live there.
mnolangray.bsky.social
Other gathering are being organized across the state, check out your local Slack!
mnolangray.bsky.social
Sacramento YIMBYs: We will be gathering at Der Biergarten on K Street at 5:30pm. All are welcome to come and celebrate the passage of SB 79 and all of the other housing bills signed today!
mnolangray.bsky.social
And that's just California YIMBY—none of this happens without an amazing author, great legislative staff, and co-sponsors who worked just as hard! I'll always cherish the work we did! /thread
mnolangray.bsky.social
Anyway, that's my team—the people whose work I feel a special obligation to celebrate. It took the whole California YIMBY team fully mobilizing to pass this thing!
mnolangray.bsky.social
California YIMBY works with a few lobbyists, but this year I worked most closely with the amazing Sosan Madanat of W Strategies, who was also a lead on SB 79. She and I also worked together on SB 684-1123. A lobbying rockstar!
mnolangray.bsky.social
Ed Mendoza, another microblogging celebrity, was lead on our postentitlement bills. (He also worked on a lot of building code stuff that happened behind the scenes.) No film photos of him, tragically, so here's a photo I took at one of our team retreats.
mnolangray.bsky.social
Max Dubler was the policy lead on our ADU and historic preservation work this year. He really stepped up and did a lot of policy on top of microblogging! I think a few of you may already know him?
mnolangray.bsky.social
Aaron Eckhouse was the policy lead on SB 79. (And before that, the CEQA infill exemption.) He burned a lot of midnight oil on both. He's a walking encyclopedia of California housing policy and will now lead on implementation. Overwhelming respect for him. @aceckhouse.bsky.social
mnolangray.bsky.social
Emily Jones led the campaign on our end, driving hundreds of emails and calls along with our amazing digital and organizing teams, and generally keeping the ship afloat. Here she is filling in for Joe Biden in a photo we staged during committee season.
mnolangray.bsky.social
Brooke Pritchard was the legislative lead on SB 79—a career defining victory from an awesome staffer. Here she is with some of the SB 79 team.
mnolangray.bsky.social
It takes a community to pass a bill, but I would like to highlight my amazing team, without whom this would not be possible.

Jordan Panana Carbajal was the legislative lead on all of our assembly bills and our senate bills other than SB 79. He's a bill passing machine!
mnolangray.bsky.social
Our focus now turns to (a) implementation and (b) advancing reform in 2026, specifically reducing costs and expanding financing to ensure that more projects pencil. California YIMBY not in the business of passing bills—we're in the business of ending the housing crisis. cayimby.org/waystogive/
Donate - California YIMBY
Support our mission to legalize more homes. Explore multiple ways to donate and give today to make a difference.
cayimby.org
mnolangray.bsky.social
In addition to these bills, it looks like the governor signed all of the Fast Track Housing Package bills that made it to his desk. This is a package of individually small bills that fix a lot of problems with building housing in California. cayimby.org/fast-track-h...
Fast Track Housing Package
California is in the midst of a severe housing shortage that has locked many families out of homeownership, left many more spending most of their income on rent, and put hundreds of thousands of our n...
cayimby.org
mnolangray.bsky.social
Lots of excitement over SB 79—understandably. I would add, every single bill California YIMBY sent to the governor was signed today. www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/10/g...
mnolangray.bsky.social
Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.