Teach-In November 22
BTU is proud to be a sponsor of the Housing Teach-In on Sunday November 22nd.
Berkeley’s Housing Crisis – WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2015 from 2:00 – 4:30 P.M.
2133 UNIVERSITY AVE (Next to Ace Hardware)
Facilitator:
Paola Laverde, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner
Speakers:
Stephen Barton, Ph.D., Former Director of the Housing Department and Deputy Director of the Rent Stabilization Program in Berkeley
Moni Law, Affordable Housing Activist
Rick Lewis, Executive Director, Bay Area Community Land Trust and former Housing Advisory Commission Member
Austin Pritzkat, President, Berkeley Student Cooperative
Katherine Harr, Berkeley Tenants Union
Berkeley faces a housing crisis. Rents are soaring and home prices are out of reach for most of us. The city is an increasingly unaffordable place for low and moderate income households and for students, which is threatening the city’s valued diversity.
A City of Berkeley study found that in 2014 the average rent for a two bedroom apartment in a new building was $3434 a month. Older rent controlled housing has also gotten more expensive. The rent for new tenants in two bedroom apartments increased by 32% between 2011 and 2014.
Panelists will address:
- What are the dimensions of this crisis and what can we do about it?
- What could our local elected officials do to address this crisis?
- How do we prevent displacement?
- How could the City generate more revenue for the Housing Trust Fund to fund affordable housing construction and acquisition?
Ideas will include increasing the business license fee on large landlords, increasing fees for affordable units required in new for-profit housing, using new revenue sources such as the proposed tax on short-term rentals, and allowing more small housing on existing lots.
TEACH-IN
Sponsored by the Ad Hoc Committee for a Progressive Berkeley with support from the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition, the Berkeley Tenants Union, CalPIRG, and Berkeley Citizens Action.