By Posted on Posted in Issues

Join us the third Sunday of each month at 4PM for our regular membership meeting and potluck! Unless we announce otherwise, these meetings always take place at Grassroots House at 2022 Blake Street, Berkeley (right a bus stop on Shattuck, or within walking distance from both the Downtown Berkeley and Ashby BART stations).

All Berkeley tenants are invited to attend, even if you’re not yet a member! In the meantime, make sure to sign-up for our emails so you don’t miss any of our announcements!

By Posted on Posted in Campaign Finance Disclosure, Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements

Ads that link to here are paid for by the Berkeley Tenants Union PAC, FPPC #1469678. Major funding provided by the Berkeley Tenants Union, Berkeley, CA ($1,600).

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.