By Posted on Posted in Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements

Vote for these pro-tenant candidates and ballot measures!

Local Candidates and Ballot Measures

  • Alameda County Board of Supervisors: Nikki Fortunato Bas
  • Berkeley Mayor: Kate Harrison
  • Berkeley City Council District 2: Jenny Guarino
  • Berkeley City Council District 3
    • John Chip Moore (#1)
    • Ben Bartlett (#2 – recommended but not endorsed)
  • Berkeley Rent Board: Right to Housing Slate (Alfred Twu, Avery Arbaugh, Dominique Walker, and Xavier Johnson)
  • NO to recalling District Attorney Pamela Price
  • YES on Berkeley Measure W (Fund homeless services)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure Z (Soda tax)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure AA (Allow Berkeley to spend money voters have already approved)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure BB (Tenant Protection & Right to Organize Act)
  • NO on Berkeley Measure CC (Gut rent control ordinance and divert housing retention funds to a landlord slush fund)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure GG (Tax large buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions to fund building decarbonization retrofits using union labor)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure HH (Set minimum air quality standards in City of Berkeley buildings)

State Candidates and Ballot Measures

  • State Senate: Jovanka Beckles
  • State Assembly: Margot Smith
  • YES on Proposition 3 (Repeal Prop 8/Allow same-sex marriage)
  • YES on Proposition 5 (lower the vote approval threshold to 55% for local bond measures)
  • YES on Proposition 6 (Ban involuntary servitude, i.e. slavery)
  • YES on Proposition 32 (Minimum wage increase)
  • YES on Proposition 33 (Repeal Costa-Hawkins/Allow stronger rent control)
  • NO on Proposition 34 (Retaliatory scheme by big landlords to restrict the political activities of a single progressive nonprofit)
  • NO on Proposition 36 (Roll back Prop 47/Worsen mass incarceration)

By Posted on Posted in Meeting

Join us this Sunday, September 22 for our regular membership meeting! We will be meeting from 4:00pm to 5:30pm at Grassroots House (2022 Blake Street). The meeting will also be a potluck, and you can sign-up here to let everyone know what you’re bringing!

Finally, we’re excited to announce our guest speaker for this Sunday’s membership meeting is City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra!

By Posted on Posted in Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements, Meeting

Join us this weekend to kick-off BTU-endorsed campaigns for the November election! 

On Saturday from 6pm to 8pm at Grassroots House (2022 Blake St), we’ll be hosting the campaign kickoff for the Right to Housing Slate for Rent Board and Jenny Guarino for City Council.  This will be a fundraiser for the candidates, so we encourage you to bring your checkbook.  (No one will be turned away for lack of a donation.)

All five candidates (Jenny + the four members of the slate) are using public financing, which means the city’s Fair Elections Fund will match donations from Berkeley residents by a ratio of 6-1. That means, for example, if you donate $10 to a candidate, they will receive $70, and if you donate $60 then they will receive $420!  (You may donate up to $60 to each candidate, for a total of $300 total, which would become $2100 after matching funds are applied.)

Sunday is a two-parter at San Pablo Park (look for us next to the community center).  From 3pm to 5pm, we’ll be holding our membership meeting and potluck (sign-up to bring a dish here).  Then from 5pm to 8pm, we’re launching our first canvass for the November election!  We’ll be campaigning for the Right to Housing Slate, the Tenant Protection & Right to Organize Act, Jenny Guarino, and Jovanka Beckles.

You can RSVP for this weekend’s kickoffs here.  And you can sign-up to bring a dish for Sunday’s potluck here.

Want to donate but can’t make it this weekend?  You can find the donation links for the Right to Housing Slate here and for Jenny here.

By Posted on Posted in Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements

Earlier this month, our members voted to make the following endorsements:

  • Right to Housing Slate (Avery, Alfred, Dominique, Xavier) for Rent Board
  • Jenny Guarino for City Council District 2
  • YES on Berkeley Measure W (Fund homeless services)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure AA (increase Berkeley’s appropriations limit for the next 4 years)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure BB (Tenant Protection & Right to Organize)
  • NO on Berkeley Measure CC (Gut rent control ordinance and divert housing retention funds to a landlord slush fund)
  • YES on Proposition 32 (minimum wage increase)
  • YES on Proposition 33 (repeal Costa-Hawkins)
  • YES on Proposition 6 (ban involuntary servitude)

Our members also voted to endorse Regional Measure 4 ($20 billion affordable housing bond). However, BAHFA voted to withdraw Measure 4 while our membership vote was ongoing.

Additionally, our members previously voted to endorse:

  • Nikki Fortunato Bas for Alameda County Supervisor
  • Margot Smith for State Assembly
  • Jovanka Beckles for State Senate
  • YES on Berkeley Measure GG (Tax large buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions to fund building decarbonization retrofits using union labor)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure HH (Set minimum air quality standards in City of Berkeley buildings)
  • NO on recalling Pamela Price

The BTU membership also previously voted to endorse YES on a ballot measure to repeal Article XXXIV of the California Constitution. However, the State Legislature subsequently withdrew that measure from the ballot.

By Posted on Posted in Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements, Meeting

Join us Sunday, August 25 from 3PM to 5PM at San Pablo Park (2800 Park Street) for our next regular membership meeting! This meeting will be a potluck, so we encourage you to bring food to share with other members! The main topics of this meeting will be finalizing our November endorsements and organizing for the November election.

After the meeting finishes, we will hold a canvass for the Rent Board Slate and Jenny Guarino for City Council District 2.  You can RSVP for the canvass here.

By Posted on Posted in Counseling

**If your landlord threatens to evict you for ANY reason, immediately email info@berkeleytenants.org with the subject line “I AM BEING EVICTED” so we can provide you help ASAP. (California tenants outside Berkeley should call Tenants Together at 888-495-8020.) Because of the extremely unfair legal deadlines for tenants facing evictions, it is crucial for tenants to react very quickly to eviction notices (even for blatantly illegal evictions). Do NOT wait to use our counseling clinic if you are facing an eviction.**

BTU is proud to hold a free monthly counseling clinic, where any East Bay* tenant may speak with a professional tenant attorney.  Our next clinic will take place THURSDAY, June 27 from 3PM to 5PM via phone.  In order to use the clinic, you must sign-up for a spot here by 11:59PM FRIDAY, June 23 (i.e. FOUR days before the clinic).  However, we only have a very limited number of spots available; priority is always given to BTU members (see below for how to join or renew your dues), followed by sign-up order.  (Members are also told about our clinics earlier than non-members.)

You can join BTU/pay your dues by clicking the yellow “Donate” button in the upper-right corner of our website.  Dues are a sliding scale of just $10 – $27 per year; however, those who can afford to pay more are strongly encouraged to do so.  If you’d prefer to pay dues by cash or check (which lets BTU avoid paying a transaction fee), please email info@berkeleytenants.org to have someone come pick up your dues in-person (we’ll do so in a way that maintains proper social distancing).

* Our clinics’ tenant attorneys are unfortunately only able to assist tenants living in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. If you are a tenant who lives in Solano County (or anywhere else in California), we encourage you to call Tenants Together at 888-495-8020 for counseling.

By Posted on Posted in Endorsements

UPDATE: The deadline to request a ballot is now Tuesday, June 18; the deadline to cast a ballot is now Friday, June 21

You must request your ballot by Friday, June 14 and then cast your ballot by Tuesday, June 18

Help select the progressive, pro-tenant Berkeley Rent Board slate!

Every election year since 1994, the Rent Board Convention has selected the progressive, pro-tenant slate for the open seats on the Berkeley Rent Board. The Berkeley Tenants Union is once again co-sponsoring this year’s Convention; the other sponsors are Friends of Adeline, Healthy Black Families, the Berkeley NAACP, the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, the Young Democratic Socialists of America – UC Berkeley, Our Revolution East Bay, the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, the Gray Panthers, UAW 4811, SEIU 1021, and the Cal Berkeley Democrats.

The 2024 Berkeley Rent Board Convention took place on Sunday, June 9 from 11am to 1pm on Zoom. (Additionally, UAW 4811 hosted a watch party at their union hall for anyone in the community who wanted to watch the Convention with other people.) You can watch the Convention recording. You may can also read the candidates’ questionnaire responses and read sponsoring organizations’ evaluations of the candidates.

Any Berkeley resident at least thirteen years old (including non-citizens) who fully supports tenants’ rights and affordable housing may vote in the Convention.  Each Convention, hundreds of Berkeley residents cast ballots and this year is expected to be no different as the housing affordability crisis continues to loom in Berkeley. To vote in the Convention, you must request your ballot by Friday, June 14 and cast your ballot by Tuesday, June 18.

Finally, please consider making a donation to help the Convention organizers cover all the costs. To donate, go to www.berkeleytenants.org and click the yellow “Donate” button in the upper right corner of the website’s homepage (please type “Convention” in the “Add a message to BTU” line to help us distinguish these donations from BTU dues). If you would prefer to donate by cash or check, please email berkeleytenantsconvention@gmail.com to coordinate.

Important Links

Convention Timeline

  • Sunday, June 9 at 11am-1pm: Convention occurred on Zoom
  • Friday, June 14: Last day to request a ballot
  • Tuesday, June 18: Last day to vote

By Posted on Posted in Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements, Rent Board Convention

Candidate applications for the Berkeley Rent Board Convention are due Sunday, May 19.  For more information about running in the Convention, please review the candidate packet at bit.ly/2024CandidatePacket.

The Convention Planning Committee thanks candidates and community members for their feedback recommending this extension to make the process more equitable and inclusive.

Help select – or even run for – the progressive, pro-tenant Berkeley Rent Board slate!  This year, there are FOUR seats up for election in November on the Rent Board.  (If current Rent Board Commissioner Soli Alpert wins the May 28 special election for City Council District 4, then there will be FIVE at-large seats on the Board up for election in November.)

Every election year since 1994, the Rent Board Convention has selected the progressive, pro-tenant slate for the open seats on the Berkeley Rent Board. The Berkeley Tenants Union is once again co-sponsoring this year’s Convention; other confirmed sponsors include along with Friends of Adeline, the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, the Young Democratic Socialists of America – UC Berkeley, Our Revolution East Bay, the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, the Gray Panthers, the Green Party, SEIU 1021, and the Cal Berkeley Democrats.

The 2024 Berkeley Rent Board Convention is will take place in early June (likely June 8 or 9).

Persons interested in running for the pro-tenant slate must complete the candidate questionnaire – located at bit.ly/2024CandidatePacket – by SUNDAY, MAY 19.  You do NOT need to be a tenant to run at the Convention.

Any Berkeley resident at least thirteen years old (including non-citizens) who fully supports tenants’ rights and affordable housing may vote in the Convention.  Each Convention, hundreds of Berkeley residents cast ballots and this year is expected to be no different as the housing affordability crisis continues to loom in Berkeley.

More information about the Convention will be announced via email closer over the next few weeks.  If you have any questions, please visit berkeleytenantsconvention.net or email berkeleytenantsconvention@gmail.com.

Finally, please consider making a donation to help the Convention organizers cover all the costs. To donate, go to www.berkeleytenants.org and click the yellow “Donate” button in the upper right corner of the website’s homepage (please type “Convention” in the “Add a message to BTU” line to help us distinguish these donations from BTU dues). If you would prefer to donate by cash or check, please email berkeleytenantsconvention@gmail.com to coordinate.

By Posted on Posted in Counseling

**If your landlord threatens to evict you for ANY reason, immediately email info@berkeleytenants.org with the subject line “I AM BEING EVICTED” so we can provide you help ASAP. (California tenants outside Berkeley should call Tenants Together at 888-495-8020.) Because of the extremely unfair legal deadlines for tenants facing evictions, it is crucial for tenants to react very quickly to eviction notices (even for blatantly illegal evictions). Do NOT wait to use our counseling clinic if you are facing an eviction.**

BTU is proud to hold a free monthly counseling clinic, where any East Bay* tenant may speak with a professional tenant attorney.  Our next clinic will take place TUESDAY, May 21 from 3PM to 5PM via phone.  In order to use the clinic, you must sign-up for a spot here by 11:59PM FRIDAY, May 17 (i.e. FOUR days before the clinic).  However, we only have a very limited number of spots available; priority is always given to BTU members (see below for how to join or renew your dues), followed by sign-up order.  (Members are also told about our clinics earlier than non-members.)

You can join BTU/pay your dues by clicking the yellow “Donate” button in the upper-right corner of our website.  Dues are a sliding scale of just $10 – $27 per year; however, those who can afford to pay more are strongly encouraged to do so.  If you’d prefer to pay dues by cash or check (which lets BTU avoid paying a transaction fee), please email info@berkeleytenants.org to have someone come pick up your dues in-person (we’ll do so in a way that maintains proper social distancing).

* Our clinics’ tenant attorneys are unfortunately only able to assist tenants living in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. If you are a tenant who lives in Solano County (or anywhere else in California), we encourage you to call Tenants Together at 888-495-8020 for counseling.