Airbnb-supported Politicians CA and City of San Diego 2026
CA Governor Gavin Newsom, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria
Congressman Scott Peters, Senator Scott Wiener, Senator Catherine Blakespear,
Assemblymembers Chris Ward, David Alvarez (owner and chief strategist of Causa Consulting)
San Diego Councilmembers Stephen Whitburn, Kent Lee, Sean Elo-Rivera, Vivian Moreno
former Mayor Kevin Faulconer, former District 6 Councilmember and current President & CEO SD Regional Chamber of Commerce Chris Cate (promoted Matt Awbrey Day)
DONATIONS from: Committee to Expand the Middle Class = Airbnb
PRO-DENSITY BUILDERS & ASSOCIATES
Atlas West ADU Builder Daniel Shkolnik;
Casita Coalition Pro-ADU Denise Pinkston, Rafael Perez (running for City Council District 8);
City of San Diego Historical Resources Board 2024-2026, Urban Infill Developer, Rammy Cortez; pro-Complete Communities
City of San Diego Planning Commission Chair, Architect and Owner of cREate Development, Kelly Moden: developer 101 Ash Street and The Minn, Golden Hill;
San Diego Gas & Electric;
BIA, Building Industry Association of San Diego County, Lori Pfeiler, CEO, former Director SANDAG, former mayor City of Escondido, member Home Ownership Opportunities for San Diego, a coalition of housing and finance experts that includes YIMBY DEMS, Chicano Federation, and the Gen Z group Our Time to Act, pro-density and no cars urban planning activists;
Lighthouse Public Affairs Lobbyist and Strategist Holly Fraumeni DeJesus; clients: SANDAG and Carmel Partners/Kalonymus.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria
CA Governor Gavin Newsom
Matt Awbrey, former Mayor Faulconer's chief executive officer, now "Matter Strategies" land use adviser* for Kalonymus and Midway Rising developers.
Matt earned $24K for advising developers while a City employee.
Now he advises developers on how to combat the 30'h limit and build high rises in the coastal area.
https://www.bizprofile.net/ca/san-diego/matter-strategies-llc
CA State Senator Scott Weiner, wants to take Nancy Pelosi's position
CA Congressman scott peters supports HIGH RISES AND dense urban housing
The Turquoise Tower -12/25: https://x.com/RepScottPeters/status/1864751497004875822
Back Room Deals of California and San Diego Politicians
San Diego Assemblymember David Alvarez YIMBY advocate for housing density worked with Matt Awbrey at City Hall.
David Alvarez, pushed AB1287 Density Bonus Law and is pushing more density laws in 2026
SDRE CEO Christian Spicer middle
AIRBNB SPONSORS YIMBYS
Max Zeff, CEO Kalonymus, Developer of proposed 215 units Vela/Turquoise Tower, Pacific Beach 92109--an Airbnb Hotel and apartments.
https://elementix.ai/investors/ca/maximilian-zeff
IN 2022, Max Zeff, age 31, son of Ron Zeff, CEO Carmel Partners hired Matt Awbrey to find land in San Diego where Kalonymus could build a high rise without CA Coastal Commission interference.
Max bought $10,000,000 of property on Turquoise Street, PB, an area most people didn't know was exempt from the 30'h zoning. Max told a man whose property he purchased that he intended to build a 3-story apartment building.
After he bought the four properties, he applied for a building permit for The Vela Tower. A $185,000,000 Airbnb hotel and luxury apartments 240'h project.
To earn zoning waivers so he could build this big monstrosity, Kalonymus offered to include 5 very low income apartments, and 5 moderate (incomes of $180,00).
SUMMER 2026: The permit application is under review by the City of San Diego Development Services Dept. (DSD).
Max's dad Ron, owner of Carmel Partners, is notorious for avoiding "affordable units" in his multi-family luxury towers: Boston, Denver, Honolulu, New York Metro, Northern California, Southern California, Washington DC, Seattle, Stamford CT.
ADU Builder christian spicer, began managing properties 2011, graduated SDSU 2014.
GAVIN NEWSOM WITH CHARLIE KIRK CA Governor Gavin Newsom, 'NIMBYs, people who oppose an increase of building density in their neighborhoods are my big problem'.
Here's my YouTube video TOOTS TELLS Locals oppose Mayor Gloria's 'build more' policy https://www.youtube.com/@tootstells
YIMBYS (...Yes In My Back Yard, build more, pro-density) https://yimbydemssd.com
Housing Policy (Major Collaboration) Newsom has signed several of Wiener’s major housing production bills, including SB 79 (2025) to allow more housing near transit and SB 10 (2021) for density.
SDRE ADU BUILDER Christian J Spicer and SDRE Architect Jared Basler and Associates of SDRE:
Vertical Mvmt Construction Jody Watkins (co-partner with Spicer of SDRE);
Fletcher Cove Capital aka: Investors 1031 Exchange (SDRE's financing source) Tommy Hinson;
Sundae's RE Software Josh Stech, Andrew Swain (prior CFO Airbnb) and Trevor Hansen (give house leads to SDRE);
I Buy SD.com, Phil Green's ads you hear on the radio, who helps SDRE find little houses on big lots to buy;
City of San Diego Assistant Director Development Services Gary Geiler (his department permits ADUs, Geiler has worked closely with Basler since 2017);
Land Use & Housing Policy Advisor for Mayor Todd Gloria, Christopher Ackerman-Avila approves SDRE ADUs;
Jordan Beal and Seth O'Byrne, Compass Realty
mayoroddloria governor gavin newsom Airbnb YIMBY Circulate San Diego Congressman Scott Peters Senator Scott Weiner Senator Catherine Blakespear Assemblymember David Alvarez Councilmember Stephen Whitburn Councilmember kent lee California YIMBY Colin Parent YIMBY Democrats SDGE IBuySD.com SUNDAE Real Estate Seth OByrne Compass vacation rentals san Diego short term vacation rentals STVR San Diego City of San Diego vacation homes san Diego tootstells ADUBonus.org
AWBREY AND ALVAREZ HAVE ASSISTED A DEVELOPER TO BUILD A 240'H TOWER IN PACIFIC BEACH, AN AREA ZONED 30'H
CALIFORNIA YIMBY DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS ARE BUSY PASSING 128 HOUSING LAWS TO BENEFIT DEVELOPERS AND TRADE UNION WORKERS
THEY GET THEIR BACKS SCRATCHED IN RETURN.
LIST OF SAN DIEGO YIMBY POLITICIANS 2026 https://bluevoterguide.org/endorser-org/YIMBY_Democrats_of_San_Diego/CA/5074
EZRA KLEIN, author of Abundance with Scott Weiner. Density builds wealth.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is a staunch ally and prominent endorser of the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego.