How to read this site

Sources and responses

Government audits, statutes, budget documents and public filings support factual claims. News reports are attributed to the publication. Campaign language is presented as a candidate’s claim or promise. The relevant agency or candidate response appears alongside the criticism.

A complaint states allegations. Naming an official as a defendant does not establish personal wrongdoing or a court finding. Contribution records establish payments and dates; they do not establish that a contribution caused a contract or government decision.

Reading the numbers

Allocations are budget commitments, not necessarily money already spent. Housing and homelessness funding covers different programs and years. A one-night homelessness estimate is not a count of everyone served in a year, so dividing a multiyear allocation by that estimate would produce a misleading cost per person.

Unclaimed-property General Fund revenue is not synonymous with interest earnings. Comparisons distinguish principal, net receipts, reported investment values and program-specific costs. Calculations are labeled and their inputs are cited.

Dataset reuse

The downloadable California homelessness estimates compilation is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). You may copy, share and adapt this site’s compilation with attribution to MaliaCohen.org, a link to the license and an indication of any changes. This license covers our compilation; it does not license third-party articles, photographs or other source materials.

Dates, qualifications and corrections

Pages show review dates. A dated statement describes the record at that time. Published biographies describe the qualifications candidates choose to disclose; an omitted credential does not establish that a person lacks it.

For corrections, use the contact information on the publisher’s campaign website and identify the page, disputed statement and supporting document. Corrections should update the claim, its citation and the review date together.

Images and illustration

Portrait backgrounds have been removed or retouched for layout. Generated encampment and resort scenes are illustrations, not photographs of a particular encampment or the fundraiser. They are not evidence of attendance, conditions or conduct.