today on getting answers. how does $1,000 a month cash, no strings attached sound 450 families in san francisco will be getting that in a new pilot program funded by google. a truck that's the symbol of the oakland a's goes missing, and die hard fans put on their

detective hats to try to locate it. our media partner, the san francisco standards unique story of fans undying love for team that's leaving. but first, california's population and fortune are back on the rise after years of decline. but is the bay area following suit? you're watching, getting answers. i'm kristen sze. thanks for joining us. for those seeking signs that the future is golden again for the golden state, the department of finance's new data today may offer a ray of sunshine. the state's population grew by 0.17% last year, not 1.7% 0.17. so sorry about the graphic. there but at 67,000 people more. that brings our total to 39.1 million californians. but a closer look reveals the growth is not being felt evenly. joining us live now to talk about the new report, deputy director for the department of finance, h.d palmer hd. thanks for joining us today. >> thanks for having me, kristen. >> so your department does this.

is it annually, we do this report once a year. we do another one in december that shows the change over the course of the fiscal year from july to june. but this one that we do now, that we've just released covers the calendar year. so this measures the change in population from january of 2023, to january of 2024. and for the last few years, it has been a situation of explaining why california's population has been declining on a year over year basis, something that we've really never heard of before and seen before. and there's been a lot of political freight that's come with that about people thinking it's cal exit and, you know, they're or are u-haul vans that are going over into nevada and arizona fleeing the state. one of the things that we've been telling people is that there are some unusual factors that have been affecting us that are going to work their way through the process. and this report today finally shows that those things that have been dragging our overall numbers down in recent years are finally in the rear view mirror.

>> all right. >> two of them, one, the deaths, associated with the covid, have been working their way through the process. the second thing is that we're returning to historic levels of legal foreign migration into california, that we're really dialed back during the former federal administration. so those two things really are the reasons that dragged our population numbers down in recent years and why, now that we've worked through that, they're coming back. >> all right. so let's take a little closer. look. we're going to zoom in a little bit and look at the county by county. and i think we have a map for that because it doesn't show an evenness in terms of the population growth coming back. right. so if we take a look at this map, let's just say the darkest green means the biggest population growth. and orange is where you're seeing the population loss for the most part. i know there are exceptions here. it looks like it's really the central valley that's growing. is that right? and do you know why, it's the southland la in particular, but

also the central valley is growing as well. and part of that is kind of a lagging indicator of what happened during covid, when we had a totally remote work environment. a lot of people who had the ability to do so decided that they were going to move away from the bay area, for example, and up the i-80 corridor into sacramento, into the foothills up here, and then over the altamont pass into southern san joaquin county. we're still seeing that happen in the numbers from 2023, but at a at a slower level than it had in the previous two years, which is why you're still seeing substantial growth in areas like lathrop, for example, if you look at the top ten cities in the state in terms of their percentage growth, lathrop was number two. they added 560 new housing units. so some of that growth that's in the central valley is still, a remnant or a factor of the remote work that happened. totally remote work at the beginning of the pandemic. but now that you're seeing more businesses returning to a hybrid

environment where you have to be in a couple of days a week, that's changing the migration patterns a little bit, although you're still seeing areas like lathrop for example, that are along those commuter corridors that are still seeing, growth 8-80 let's just bring that map back up, because i find it to be fascinating here in the bay area, as you said, the exodus has certainly slowed. >> and even though we do have some counties that have lost a little bit in terms of the population, napa and sonoma grew right. solano and contra costa grew a little bit. although san mateo, alameda, marin did still drop a little bit. and san francisco, this is very important has stabilized. of course, a lot of the narrative has been surrounding san francisco, the tech companies pulling out, people leaving for a variety of reasons. but that's really stabilized, right? >> san francisco has, in fact, they saw an increase, in our numbers in overall housing, primarily in what they call multifamily units or, or apartment buildings. but yeah, it all bay area wide. it's been

a mixed bag. there has been growth, as you said, in san francisco, contra costa and napa. santa clara has been about holding even. there's been some declines in san mateo and alameda, sonoma and marin. but in the areas that you're talking about with growth outside of san francisco, some of what we see in napa and contra costa, we believe, is still folks moving a little bit away from the bay area because of the issue of affordability, so that's still kind of settling down from the swings of, of the migration that we saw that was associated with the remote work associated with covid. >> so hd, this is where you're going to need to break it down for us, because when you look at, let's say zero, let's just say san francisco zero, you know, like net zero, as in, you know, the numbers stayed the same. that could be 10,000 people left, or 100,000 people left and 100,000 people came in or nobody moved at all. which is it? do you get granular enough to know whether people were coming or going? >> it's a mix of both. and we're going to have in our next report

in december. more information on that. one of the things i can speak to is what's called net migration. we're not talking about foreign migration, legal immigration to the us. we're talking about people leaving california or coming back into california. and we've all heard the doom loop, cal exodus type of rhetoric that's been going on. a couple of things to recognize about that. one is that outmigration from the state is not a new phenomenon that's been going on for more than a decade. what we're seeing in the data that we just released today is that the rate of people leaving california has declined dramatically since 2020. there were a net. when you combine the number of people moving in and out, it was about a net out of 280,000in 2020. it was one quarter of that last year, about 90,000. and if you look underneath that over that same period of time, more people were moving from other parts of the country into california and fewer people were moving out. okay, so there still is outmigration, but it's dramatically slower. >> pardon me if i'm still not totally understand. do these

numbers differentiate rate between legal and illegal immigrants? >> they they do. these numbers that we have do not include any any estimates for undocumented immigration. that's a separate calculation that is done by the federal government. got it. okay. numbers deal with legal legal migration to california. >> thank you for clarifying that. and do these numbers or do you have the numbers that tell us, the age groups of people who are coming and going, as in, are we getting younger with the new people coming in, or is it, you know, what can you tell about that? >> well, one of the things that we've noticed and we get data from the us census bureau that helps inform this. we talked a minute ago about the people who are coming from other parts of the country into california, in matching that with the us census data that we're getting. we're seeing that on average, the people who are moving into california, the tend to be younger, and they tend to have a higher level of educational attainment. in other words, a bachelor's degree or higher. so we think that bodes well for california in terms of people

who are still coming here, to advance their career, to hopefully stay and raise a family and we'd like to be able to see that trend continue now. so one of the things that we've been able to find is that more people have been coming back to california, and according to the census data, they tend to be better educated and they tend to have a higher level of income, and they tend to be younger. >> i just want to zoom out as we wrap up this conversation. why are we talking about this? why are you tracking it? why is population growth important to a state, to our economy, to our political power? >> well, it's important to local governments in particular. we do not only annual projections, we do long range projections. and local governments look to our numbers to say what's going on with the population that we're seeing and projecting in our particular area. that's important to us. for how many new schools do we need to build? how what do we need to expect in terms of the kind of utilities? what are we expecting in terms of the potential for needing new housing, one of the things

that's good news in this report is we're seeing for the second year in a row, growth of housing statewide, not only single family but multi-family homes. so these are data that we provided over the years from the department that particularly help local governments plan for their growth and what they need locally to be able to deal with their local populations. >> certainly helps with planning. and from everything else i've ever studied in economics, people equals brighter future in terms of finances and outlook. so thank you so much, h.d. palmer with the department of finance. really appreciate you coming on today. >> thank you for having me. >> up next, google is funding a new guaranteed basic income program aimed at helping hundreds of bay area families avoid homelessness. why the results of this pilot program will be studied closely, and how they could affect all of us

that had been recently homeless will receive $1,000 a month to spend, as they will. the trial is being funded by google. joining us live now to talk about it, erica kish, ceo of compass family services, which is running the program along with hamilton families. erica thanks for joining us. thank you. give us the details of this new pilot. i know it's $1,000 a month and 450 families that were recently homeless will get this. for how long? >> so each of the families that are exiting our rental subsidy program and are selected by random design for the program will get $1,000 a month for 12 months. uh- there's a control group receiving $50 a month.

we're on a mission to prove that a year of guaranteed basic income or gbi, is the boost that families need for long term housing stability. >> all right, so that means no strings attached, right? you don't tell them how to spend the $1,000. it can be whatever they want. is that right. >> that's correct. yeah. and many studies that have been done so far have shown that families use the money to address their basic needs food, diapers, car repairs. and that's our experience at compass family services. families needing significant help with those things that are kind of day to day life and death, i see. >> okay, so it sounds like the families will be chosen at random via sort of a lottery process within your population. is that right? >> yes. their families exiting our rental subsidy program or hamilton families rent rental subsidy program and begin the payments. it's already begun. we have families that are already

enrolled. and it goes it's going to go over the next five years. >> i see now i know that this couldn't have been possible without google's support. why did they sign on to be part of this? >> google has supported our work for some time. i think google has invested in this initiative and other initiatives to help improve housing in the san francisco bay area, something that all of us need to be dedicated to. >> you know, since the concept became part of the mainstream conversation during the 2020 presidential election, i'm talking about ubi universal basic income or gbi version of that guaranteed basic income, but not for everybody, look, there have been a lot of lots of pilots here locally across the country, really the ones here. how have they worked out? >> i think all the pilots that we've heard about have been successful, our pilot particularly is for a certain set of families at a certain time, which is when they're

exiting the subsidy and going through kind of a tricky transition to become fully independent, the amount of money $1,000 a month is significant, as well as the length of time, 12 months, which is relatively long. >> right, look, stockton, i know i've talked to a former mayor, michael tubbs, about it. right. they did this a few years ago. can you remind our viewers what happened there? what did they find? >> they had positive results. they found that a small amount of money goes a long way. helps families or households. to be able to meet basic needs and to be more stable for the long term. >> you know, i think there are a lot of people who look at this and go, this is promising, and maybe it could one day be done on a wider basis. but usc miracle messages did one as well. i think i read about that $750 a month given to 69 people in san francisco and l.a. for six months. they found people given that money were more

likely to avoid becoming unsheltered again. unsheltered which is great because that's the goal. but they also found that about 2% was spent on alcohol, drugs and cigarets. that's the money. 2% of the money. that's not a large amount. but for gbc skeptics who feel as public or donated, money should not be spent on such things. what do you say to them, i would say, you know, there are many studies that have shown that that is not how this money is being used, that households use it to take care of their children, to buy diapers, to buy food, and that folks who are getting gbi also are working and continue to work, and that the gbi is sort of offering a little bit of a safety net for those families, and a little bit of a relief of the anxiety that they are facing just trying to make ends meet. but our experience and we did a little project like this a couple of years ago at compass, a small pilot that was funded by wells fargo with a

handful of families. families were using it for the right thing. they were using it for taking care of their kids, for clothing, for utility. those are the most common usages that we're aware of. >> let me also just ask you, i know that this is rather limited. i know you know previous pilots have included, for example, single moms, right? there are different groups of people have received them. and i guess i wonder, in an ideal world, in your view, what would be the right populations to be able to be included in such a thing? and how wide do you see this? do you hope that this will one day lead to a universal one, perhaps funded by the federal government, based on taxes from corporations or how do you see this being done optimally? >> yeah, absolutely. we would be thrilled to see this become universal, the stimulus that was given out during the covid pandemic was a form of ubi. it just wasn't called that. and that made a very significant difference for households, and i

think is evidence of why an intervention like this is so exciting and so important. so yes, we would like it to see this for households across the board to relieve the worries about day to day survival, to make sure that children are getting their basic needs met, to reduce the number of families that are facing homelessness and housing insecurity, especially here in the bay area where, you know, basically the bay area is defined by our housing issue and we want to change that. right. and we can. >> so this this pilot, the results will be studied by nyu. is that right? >> yes. this current pilot, we're working with nyu and, j-pal out of mit. they're doing the research piece, and, and, it's a five year pilot. >> all right. and then the success will be measured on what , we're looking at all different factors, families ability to

maintain their housing to meet basic needs, to have a bank account. aspects of employment, housing quality, child wellness, family wellness. so we're looking at various factors, well, erica kish, we certainly hope for a great trajectories for these families involved in the pilot. and we look forward to the follow up and the results from the study. thank you so much. thanks. >> can't wait to share them with you. thank you. >> coming up next, a bizarre quest with east bay roots. two a's fans go in search of a team relic that longtime followers are sure to recognize. that

next. stop. we got it? no. keep going. again... [ gasps ] next. if you don't pick one, i... am i keeping you from your job? next. stop! do we finally have it? let's go back to the beginning. are you... your electric future. customized.

the fully-electric audi q4 e-tron. get exceptional offers at your local audi dealer. two die hard fans from showing their devotion to the green and gold. the pair set out on a quest to find a lost relic. it's the rooted in oakland box truck, pictured here. longtime a's fans

will know it was used by the team as a symbol of hometown pride at a time when the a's were fighting to have a new ballpark here. our media partner, the sf standard, wrote this article tracking their journey to find the truck and the story of where it ended up joining us live now is san francisco standard reporter joel umanzor. hey, joel. >> hey. thanks for having me. yeah absolutely. >> the fact that you did this story. are you an a's fan? >> i am not, but i'm an east bay guy, so it kind of hit very close to home for me. >> okay, okay. so for the unfamiliar, what's the rooted in oakland box truck? >> so the rooted in oakland box truck was like one of those things that the oakland a's rolled out, shortly after the raiders announced their departure to las vegas as kind of like, a mantra of, alliance to the area, a hope for a's fans who were, you know, hopeful that the a's were going to figure out a way to stay in oakland, which

we ultimately know about five years later, they've announced their their intention to depart, you know, to sacramento and then hopefully, in their eyes, to las vegas. >> so this truck was what driven to all sorts of events to kind of promote this love for the a's. is that it? >> yeah. i mean, talking to some fans, they remember seeing it at a promotional events, you know, board of supervisors and alameda county meetings team rolled it out really kind of like, you know, as a mantra. you know, we saw a lot of rooted in oakland signage on the stadium, and it was kind of like a rallying cry for a lot of these east bay fans who were hopeful, that the a's were going to stay. >> okay. so of course they're not. we know this. they're going to vegas and they're playing sacramento next season. and, you know, now we've got this truck and fans hadn't seen it for a while. so two people you talk to and tell us who they are went about searching for it. they were just adamant that they were going to find out what happened to this truck. >> yeah. no gabe hernandez and,

rob roberts, two, local east bay fans, just diehard a's fans affiliated with the last dive bar as you guys know, the group selling a lot of merchandise and leaning a lot of the causes for east bay fans, they kind of sprung into action, the box truck kind of appeared on social media, facebook, twitter, and, you know, these fans kind of were like, well, we need to do something. we need to get the back. so they actually went out and set out to go buy it for the oakland ballers team that will be playing in oakland, as a semi, you know, professional baseball team in the area, they wanted to buy it from whoever, you know, had the rooted in oakland truck to kind of use it for merchandise and food sales at the at the games coming up. >> okay. so how did they find it? and when they found it, this very sad, they realized that dream was not going to happen. tell us what happened. >> yeah, so we ended up, i shadowed these guys and we had a tip that led us to alamo, in contra costa county, we ended up, you know, finding the box

truck, which was on a gentleman's property. who is a contractor for the a's. he was he told us he was tasked with, getting the box truck turned on and operating because it had, you know, been non-operational sitting at the coliseum for a long, you know, a good amount of time. probably within the last year and a half, so the a's kind of entrusted him with getting it, up and running, with the intention of eventually donating it to charity. >> oh, okay. well, make a wish, right? didn't you say it was like something? okay so that is a good cause. but, you know, of course, that's where gabe and rob, sadly, i guess their story ends there. or is there more to it? what now? >> no, i mean, i mean, i think that, it's really a symbolism for, you know, a lot of these east bay fans who kind of feel jaded, at the a's for leaving, which is understandable. you know, you grow up with the culture around you for decades and decades, and it's hard to kind of grasp what the reality of it leaving, but, ultimately,

it it is for a good cause, the a's are planning on donating it to make-a-wish, which they confirmed themselves. and, these guys were okay with that. it's at least some some good is happening when it comes to the box truck. and even though they couldn't get it for the ballers, at least it's, going to something that's a charitable cause. >> yeah, that is true. that is true. so gabe and rob, i take it they're going to be rooting for the where are they going to place their faith and love and passion into next? >> i mean, you know, they're still, you know, diehard a's fans. and i think that it'll take some time. but when, you know, talking to them, they really were throwing their support behind the ballers. and a lot of these, local and regional, whether that be the in stockton, the ports out there and, these, these independent league organizations that are situated around. so they're really looking to kind of support those, those efforts, versus following the a's to las vegas. >> all right. thank you so much, joel. great story. and if you want to read it and more of the

san francisco standard's other orig

experts from around the area. world news tonight with david muir is tonight, breaking news here in new york city. the city's mayor speaking just moments ago. will new york take action tonight against demonstrators who smashed their way into a building at columbia? are some of the protesters outside agitators? also tonight, four officers including a u.s. marshal shot and killed. the stunning video just released. and the new tornado threat tonight across multiple states. first tonight, a