African American developers across California are worried about a rule change the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is considering.

In the letter addressed to the HCD, Murray, who is African American and a developer, did not refer to the racial implications of the rule change.

Murray is now President and CEO of the Weingart Center, a Los Angeles-based non-profit that provides services to homeless people, including developing affordable housing.

If HCD applies the rule change, developers and the organizations backing housing projects would have to have previously owned or operated apartments for the population the housing development targets, which, in this instance, are homeless individuals.

The CHD proposal to update MHP contracting criteria comes at the time when Gov. Newsom has prioritized fast-tracking housing for the state’s homeless population, which accounts for nearly one-fourth of all unsheltered people in the United States.