Tag: election 2016

By Posted on Posted in Issues
BPOA spent $1 Million - and lost!
BPOA spent $1 Million – and lost!

Like progressives all over America, Berkeley voters are sad, angry and frightened about the national election results. However, we have a lot to celebrate at home, and can look forward to once again leading these United States in progressive, humane, and innovative solutions, particularly to the problem of ensuring safe and affordable homes for all.

The big landlords who control about 50% of all rental housing in Berkeley spent about a million dollars to defeat the affordable housing tax Measure U1, and promote their deceptive Measure DD. That is well over $15 per voter! Yet Berkeley voters reaffirmed affordable housing as a core Berkeley value with 75% voting for U1 and 71% voting against DD. This tax on large landlords is expected to generate $4 million annually in new revenue for affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs!!

East Palo Alto also passed a similar landlord tax, and it is hoped this will be a model to take back profits being drained out of our communities and use them to build homes.

Additionally, Berkeley supported stronger protections for families being evicted for owners to move in. Measure AA, which passed with an astounding 73% of the vote, was put on the ballot at the request of the Rent Board.

ProRenter candidates also got strong support from Berkeley. Renter Cheryl Davila beat incumbent Darryl Moore in District 2 despite generous spending by the Association of Realtors for Moore. BTU Members Ben Bartlett and Sophie Hahn were also elected to the City Council, and BTU Member Jesse Arreguin was elected as Mayor!

Perhaps the best news of all for tenants is that landlord incumbent Judy Hunt was voted off the Rent Board, with the “CALI Slate” chosen at the 2016 Tenant Convention easily defeating Hunt’s tiny team.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, California gained its first new rent control in decades, and even in places like Alameda, where the tenant measure was defeated, renters did gain new protections on November 8.

Soon the new City Council will move forward on core BTU issues like Short Term Rentals and mitigations for Demolition of Rent Controlled Units. BTU will work to guide our new leaders, who we hope will be more responsive to what everyday folks need in order to keep Berkeley a place we can all call home.

ProTenant Slate Wins Rent Board, Removes Landlord Incumbent
“The 2016 Berkeley Tenant Convention, hosted by a coalition of Berkeley political groups and attended by nearly 400 Berkeley residents, selected the four CALI Slate members from nine potential candidates.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/11/09/cali-slate-sweeps-open-seats-berkeley-rent-board/

Victories for Affordable Housing, Tenants Rights
“Berkeley citizens voted to pass Measure U1 on Tuesday with 74.06 percent…Berkeley voters passed Measure AA on Tuesday with 72.29 percent of the vote as of press time, which will place more regulations on owner move-in evictions.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/11/09/city-measures-t1-u1-v1-w1-x1-y1-z1-aa-pass-measures-bb-cc-dd-fail/

Landslide for Landlord Tax
“Berkeley voters approved a landlord tax that will raise millions for affordable housing.
The measure, U1, passed with about 74 percent of the vote. A competing measure, which landlord groups placed on the ballot in an effort to undermine U1, was crushed, with 71 percent voters rejecting it…
Proponents of U1 filed a state Fair Political Practices Commission complaint against the Berkeley Property Owners Association, alleging they broke the law by using anonymous LLCs to finance their opposition campaign and make it appear that a large group of landlords were opposing the measure, when in fact it was just a handful. The FPPC hasn’t ruled on the complaint yet.”
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2016/11/09/berkeley-landlord-tax-easily-passes

Berkeley Gets Activist Renter as Mayor
“Arreguin said, “I am a renter. I’m like many people in Berkeley, I’m trapped in this housing crisis.”
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/11/11/berkeleys-first-latino-mayor-elect-is-also-its-youngest-ever/

Progressives Take Three of Four Council Seats
“Sophie Hahn handily won the District 5 council seat being vacated by Capitelli, defeating another candidate with real estate industry backing, Stephen Murphy, 61.9 percent to 38.1 percent. Hahn is a member of the Zoning Adjustments Board. Capitelli endorsed Murphy, his appointee to the Planning Commission and the panel’s current chairman.
Berkeley for several years has been the scene of a major debate over skyrocketing rents and the shortage of affordable housing, with a six-person council majority backing many controversial development-related issues.”
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/11/09/berkeley-voters-elect-arreguin-mayor/ 

Not Everybody Got Rent Control
“Voters in Alameda, Berkeley, Oakland, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Richmond supported some form of rent stabilization or eviction protection legislation while only Burlingame and San Mateo favored a “no” decision.”
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Alameda-County-Voters-OK-Rent-Control-Housing-Measures-400516081.html

Details on Rent Control Votes
“Measure L in Richmond, which would enact limits on rent increases and landlord evictions, was victorious with 64 percent of the votes cast. In Oakland, with all 279 precincts reporting, 74 percent of voters supported Measure JJ, which requires landlords to get permission from the rent board before increasing rents above the consumer price index and expands eviction protections. In Mountain View, Measure V, which was placed on the ballot by voters, had a slim victory with 53 percent, while W, the council-backed measure fell short with 49 percent.
In Alameda, ground zero for the battle for rent control, Measure M1, the strict tenant rent control measure sponsored by tenants groups, only garnered 34 percent of the vote, well shy of the necessary simple majority. Instead, 56 percent of voters approved L1, a competing, council-backed initiative that did not cap rent increases. Instead landlords must go to mediation in order to increase rents above 5 percent. And in San Mateo County, Measure R in Burlingame mustered just 31 percent of voters, while Measure Q in San Mateo got 38 percent.”
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/11/03/bay-area-rent-control-measures/

Oakland Gets What Berkeley Has: Details on Renters Upgrade
https://oaklandnorth.net/2016/10/28/oakland-residents-to-vote-on-rent-control-initiative-this-november/

Mountain View Gets Eviction Protections Too
http://www.mv-voice.com/news/2016/11/15/fearing-evictions-city-backs-immediate-tenant-protections

Record Spending and Fair Political Practices Complaint
“The political action committee for the Berkeley Property Owners Association has steered more than $892,540 in donations to defeat Measure U1 and promote Measure DD, two competing measures that would raise the business tax on rental units… Most of the donors to the “Committee for Real Affordable Housing – Yes on Measure DD, No on Measure U1, Sponsored by the Berkeley Property Owners’ Association,” have not made contributions in their own names. They have used the LLC they created to run various apartment complexes. UC Berkeley’s Progressive Student Alliance  filed a complaint about this practice with the Fair Political Practices Commission, which is investigating the situation.”
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/11/07/fight-involving-measure-dd-and-measure-u1-is-costliest-in-election/

Student Editorial Contrasts Berkeley Wins with National Loss
“Moreover, Berkeley voters proved largely immune to false and misleading campaigns, easily selecting measure U1 over DD, increasing landlord taxes for Berkeley’s wealthiest landlords while still protecting both tenants and small landlords.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/11/15/trump-will-not-halt-berkeleys-fight-justice/

National: Senator Boxer Leads Charge to Make Popular Vote Count
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Senator-Boxer-to-Introduce-Bill-to-Eliminate-Electoral-College–401314945.html

By Posted on Posted in Issues

At the April 2016 Tenant Convention – sponsored by BTU and many other community organizations – a record turnout of Berkeley progressives selected a team of four candidates for Rent Board. Christina Murphy, Alejandro Soto-Vigil, Leah Simon-Weisberg and Igor Tregub are your team – vote CALI!

However, the Pro-Tenant CALI team has opposition! Sitting landlord Commissioner Judy Hunt only managed to recruit one young property manager to run for election as part of her slate.

Property Manager Nate Wollman
Property Manager Nate Wollman

One of the major differences between the two groups is their positions on the ballot measures that most impact renters: Measure AA and Measures U1/DD. The team chosen at the Tenant Convention all support Measure AA and Measure U1 and consider the landlords’ measure DD a dangerous deception. Hunt was the only vote on the Rent Board not supporting U1. She repeatedly refused to vote for Measure AA as a Commissioner, though it was put on the ballot at the request of the Rent Board to update parts of the Rent Ordinance which got behind the times. (Measure AA is non-controversial, has no official opposition except Hunt and Wollman, and is endorsed by the School Board and Berkeley Federation of Teachers.)
Property Manager Wollman is one of the main critics of Measure U1’s exemption of new construction from the tax to encourage building of more housing, although he strongly supports more development in his Rent Board platform. “We have a lot of so called progressives that harp on the ideals of making this city more inclusive, more affordable, more accessible to students and low income renters and then go an protest at zoning board meetings about proposed developments,” Wollman told Berkeleyside.

Learn More About CALI:
The schedule shows the CALI team is out talking to voters with their supporters every Saturday and Sunday. They also plan to hold phone banks.
http://berkeleyrentboard.org/

Rent Board Candidates on Video:
League of Women Voters held a forum for all six candidates.
http://www.lwvbae.org/videos-of-candidates-in-the-berkeley-municiple-elections-2016/

Bernie Sanders Endorses Pro-Tenant Slate!
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/09/25/bernie-sanders-endorses-pro-tenant-slate-november-rent-stabilization-board-elections/

Daily Planet Endorsements for Berkeley
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-10-07/article/44973?headline=Endorsements-for-the-Berkeley-City-Races

Berkeleyside Coverage
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/10/17/election-2016-berkeley-spotlight-on-the-rent-board/

Hunt and Wollman have few endorsements
Hunt and Wollman have few endorsements

By Posted on Posted in Issues

election-3

This year, Berkeley Tenants Union held two endorsement events. In the spring, we shared a meeting with Berkeley Progressive Alliance and Berkeley Citizens Action to select candidates, and in the fall we shared a meeting with BCA to make endorsements on measures.

This is the first year the reconstituted BTU has done endorsements on measures, because this year there are several measures important to renters – particularly Measure AA (relocation funds for evicted renters) and Measure U1 (tax big landlords to fund affordable housing). Results of our ballot measures vote will be posted tomorrow.

Rent Board

opt3cali2Vote for four. Vote for only four — no ranked choice in this race.
Vote for the CALI Slate chosen at the Berkeley Tenant Convention!!
All are BTU Members:
Christina Murphy, Alejandro Soto-Vigil,
Leah Simon-Weisberg, Igor Tregub
http://berkeleyrentboard.org/

 

Mayor: Jesse Arreguin

Jesse used to chair the Rent Board, was chosen at the Tenant Convention multiple times, and help pass recent rules for renters, including:

City Council:

Ending the Bates hold on City Council could really help make Berkeley’s housing policies into housing realities. Electing a realtor as mayor probably won’t.

District 2 West Berkeley: Nanci Armstrong-Temple
An activist with strong ties to the community and Black Lives Matter.
http://www.nanciforberkeley.vote/

District 3 South Berkeley: Ben Bartlett
Chosen by Max Anderson to take his place.
http://www.benbartlett.vote/

District 5 North Berkeley: Sophie Hahn
Voice of reason on the Zoning Board. Leader at Sierra Club.
http://www.sophiehahn.com/

District 6 Northeast Berkeley: Fred Dodsworth
Longtime advocate who has helped with Tenant Convention. BTU Member.
http://freddodsworth.nationbuilder.com/

electionHere is a link to the responses to our questionnaire from all local candidates who chose to answer (BPA led the questionnaire, in collaboration with BTU and BCA).
https://berkeleyprogressivealliance.org/2016/04/23/candidates-for-mayor-and-city-council-2016/

 

 

 

 

By Posted on Posted in Issues

Thanks to California Senator Diane Feinstein, there is a national movement to call for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate how commercial landlords using short term rental platforms are impacting housing shortages and contributing to high rents nationwide.

Now you can join their calls for a national investigation.
Airbnb-National-Petition

 

“Senators Dianne Feinstein of California, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez requesting the agency “study and quantify” the prevalence of commercial renters using Airbnb, HomeAway Inc., VRBO and other short-term rental services. The letter said activity on those sites can result in housing shortages and drive up prices.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-13/u-s-senators-ask-ftc-to-probe-airbnb-s-impact-on-housing

Feinstein, Elizabeth Warren and other US Senators are also calling for investigation into charges of race discrimination on sites like Airbnb:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-warren-housing-idUSKCN0ZT2WI

Democrats Discuss Airbnb Problems…
RACISM: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/289105-airbnb-race-controversy-comes-to-dem-convention
BAD DATA: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/27/airbnb-panel-democratic-national-convention-survey

…But Party Leaders Boost Short Term Rentals Use During Convention
“Like Grucella, one-quarter of all Philadelphia-area hosts for this week’s DNC were new to the role. And their homes were in demand. Airbnb estimated its Philadelphia partners would welcome over 5,000 guests for the convention, a 250 percent jump from a typical week.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20160730_Airbnb_has_a_busy_week_in_Philly.html
“About 40,000 people are in Philadelphia for the convention, and Airbnb says 7,000 of them are using its home rental services, staying in spaces rented out by 3,000 hosts.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-26/airbnb-and-uber-to-democrats-you-need-us

Berkeley has passed up another opportunity to be a leader of policies that protect affordable housing by delaying any vote on short term rentals, even after a year of debate. 

Berkeley’s next hearing on Short Term Rentals is expected to be Wednesday September 7th at the Planning Commission.

Video about Airbnb Race Discrimination:
https://youtu.be/dOEd4h-pQfg

Congressional Black Caucus On Airbnb Racism
“Members of the CBC are deeply concerned about recent reports of exclusion of African-Americans on the Airbnb platform, and we sincerely hope the leadership of Airbnb will take the issue of discrimination seriously and implement common sense measures to prevent such discrimination and ill-treatment of its customers in the future.”
http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/06/27/airbnb-racism-allegations-head-to-capitol-hill/

More on Warren’s Call for Investigation:
“Opponents argue that Airbnb, a platform that allows users to rent out their homes to strangers, is aggravating housing crises in cities across the country by flooding markets with short-term rentals and, as a result, reducing much-needed affordable housing. While Airbnb claims that many of its users are occasionally renting out rooms to make extra cash, some experts who have studied the limited data available argue that the platform is allowing people to operate sophisticated hotel businesses while dodging taxes and other key regulations.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/13/elizabeth-warren-airbnb-government-investigation

By Posted on Posted in Issues

Short Term Rentals held over by Berkeley City Council until Thursday July 7. BTU will post an update in a couple of days regarding the Mayor’s last-minute introduction of a proposed contract with Airbnb.

Durant Demolition approved under new demolition law which calls for mitigation of the loss of rent controlled housing through a fee to fund new low-income housing – however, the fee has not been set yet! Also, that developer has filed a lawsuit against the new version of the law.

Two Competing Landlord Taxes on Berkeley Ballot
“Depending on the business license tax rate increase, the CSAH measure would fund 40 to 70 units annually, while BRHC’s would pay for just 12, Barton added. The measures also differ on exemptions. The apartment owners’ measure raises taxes on every rental housing unit currently taxed.

Gulbransen says the lack of exemptions makes their measure more equitable. The CSAH measure exempts tax increases on low-rent units housing tenants living under rent control since 1998, units rented under federally subsidized programs and permanently affordable inclusionary units in newer buildings.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_29928806/berkeley-voters-could-face-dueling-robin-hood-tax

“But in California, the profits from ever-increasing land values aren’t shared for the public good. They’re collected by landlords in the form of higher rents…. But a broad-based coalition of Berkeley renters, affordable-housing activists, political leaders, and even some landlords are trying to revive the idea of a land tax. And they want to dedicate the millions it could raise to affordable housing.”
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/berkeley-city-council-approves-ballot-measure-to-tax-landlords-and-create-affordable-housing-fund/Content?oid=4818958

“The additional tax would raise an additional $5 million a year from landlords over the current $3.5 million, for a total of $8.5 million a year, according to estimates by the Committee for Safe and Affordable Housing, which supports the measure. Apartments rented to Section 8 tenants, apartments with tenants in occupancy since before 1999, and certain other properties, would be exempt from the tax increase; there also would be a hardship exemption. The measure would prohibit passing the business tax increase along to most tenants. Proceeds of the tax increase would facilitate 45 affordable housing units per year.”
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29974957/berkeley-council-oks-funding-measures-november-ballot

Rent Board Candidate Igor Tregub
Igor is also a member of the BTU Steering Committee.
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/26/igor-tregub-files-run-rent-stabilization-board/

UCB Report: Market Rate Housing Doesn’t Prevent Gentrification
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2016/05/27/uc-berkeley-report-lao-wrong-about-market-rate-housing-panacea
see also
https://news.berkeley.edu/2016/05/23/researchers-stress-role-of-subsidized-housing-in-easing-affordability-crisis/

Council Talks About Housing Plan
 “Proposals approved for implementation or further study ran the gamut from financial incentives and taxes, to rezoning, red tape-cutting, beefing up the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and protections against eviction. Many will be the subject of a larger council discussion on housing tentatively scheduled for early fall.”
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29919572/berkeley-backs-package-steps-address-housing

Jesse Arreguin Discusses Housing Policy
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/31/berkeley-city-must-take-comprehensive-approach-to-housing-crisis/

UC Students Have Trouble Accessing Rights
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/06/20/housing-struggles/

San Francisco Tenant Takes On Costa Hawkins in the Media
http://mediaoneservices.com/mary-catherine-wiederhold-and-neil-hutchinson-62816/

Affordable Housing Bond on Alameda County Ballot
http://www.ebho.org/2012-02-07-00-50-21/regional-policy-a-land-use/alameda-county-housing-bond

Concord Wants Rent Control!
“The full City Council is scheduled to discuss the rental situation in Concord and the policy options available to the council on July 26.”
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/concord/ci_30066419/rent-control-hot-topic-concord

By Posted on Posted in Issues
More Evictions in West Berkeley
More Evictions in West Berkeley

On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council will consider a request from the Rent Board to place a measure on the November 2016 ballot to update the Rent Ordinance. Because that law was passed by the voters, it can only be changed at the ballot box. This will be Item 48 on the June 14th agenda.

Update: This Will Be On The November Ballot

Summary of the Changes
The main request is to revise the amount of assistance tenants receive when they lose their homes to an owner move-in eviction (OMI). Berkeley’s relocation funds have not been updated since 2000. The changes would also expand relocation assistance to all tenants; currently only low-income Berkeley tenants get any recompense at all after such no fault evictions. Berkeley is the only rent controlled jurisdiction in California which restricts help by income. Since rents have gone up over 40% in five years, all tenants need help with moving costs and new security deposits.

The other important change to the Rent Ordinance would be to protect families with children from owner move-in evictions during the school year. An owner could still evict a family, but the family would not have to disrupt their children’s education and could wait until the summer to relocate. San Francisco has had such protections for renter families for many years.

OMI evictions in Berkeley doubled between 2013 and 2014.
When Berkeley voters passed “Measure Y” in November 2000, they also voted to have the Rent Board monitor such evictions. Recently, the Rent Board won an important court victory (see https://www.berkeleytenants.org/?p=1386) which upheld the agency’s ability to reset the rent to the previous tenant’s rent-controlled rent when a landlord evicts a tenant but does not actually move in.

The Rent Board reports on owner move-in evictions every six months. The reports show that most owners who evict buy the building and then evict within two years. The reports also show that most “fake” OMIs happen in larger buildings, and that recent OMIs are concentrated west of Sacramento Street. Yet the Rent Board only tracks evictions which follow the law. If tenants leave simply because they are threatened with an OMI, the Rent Board cannot track the eviction or enforce the law. Tenants who accept a buyout also have new protections passed by the City Council a few months ago, but typically waive their rights under the Rent Ordinance for some cash.
Relocation funds would increase to about $15,000 per household.
BTU hopes increasing the relocation payment a landlord is required to give might cut down on false evictions.

Read Item 48 here: RSO Changes Ballot Measure Final
“The law currently requires landlords who evict for the purpose of moving into the rental unit to pay $4,500 only to tenant households who qualify as low income. Tenants who are evicted for owner move in but do not qualify as low income receive nothing. Berkeley is one of the only major rent control jurisdictions in the state that does not provide relocation assistance to all tenants, regardless of income. Also, the relocation assistance amount set forth in Measure Y has not been adjusted since it was passed almost 16 years ago. The amount of the assistance is nearly four times lower than that required by the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood – each of which have periodically adjusted relocation payments over the years in response to rising rents, moving costs, and inflation.”

Report on Owner Move In Evictions:
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Level_3_-_General/Measure%20Y%20report_9-18-15(1).pdf

By Posted on Posted in Actions

The Berkeley City Council may finally pass some Short Term Rental (STR) laws on Tuesday, May 31. The problem for tenants is that city staff won’t enforce the existing ban on STRs until Council makes the new laws, yet the draft being contemplated by Berkeley repeats the mistakes that have caused problems for San Francisco, Portland and other cities with tight rental markets that are popular tourist destinations.

In May and June of 2015, several activists and tenants impacted by short term rentals in their building filed code enforcement complaints on behalf of BTU against some of the landlords who are listing multiple empty units on AirBnB and other websites.

So far, Berkeley has refused to act on these and other complaints.

Some Landlords List Many Units
Some Landlords List Many Units

A new report from San Francisco on the impact of AirBnB on the rental housing market calls for SF Supervisors to require “hosting platforms” to only advertise rentals that are legally listed with the city. Yet Berkeley’s draft recommended by planning Staff does even require that an advertisement show an identifying license number.

We ask Berkeley Tenants to join BTU in asking the City Council to enact legislation requiring hosting platforms to only list units and hosts that are registered with our City and to fine hosing platforms like HomeAway, FlipKey and Airbnb if they advertise rentals which are not legal here. This would allow less expensive enforcement of the new laws, which will allow regular folks to rent out their own home. We hope the new law will stop large landlords from turning whole apartment buildings into hotels – as several have done already!
We also want to support the Rent Board, Planning Commission and Housing Commission in suggesting that units where tenants have been evicted through OMI or Ellis Act evictions should not be allowed to be short term rentals in Berkeley. Please take a look at the report from the Rent Board, which is an attachment below.
Finally, we suggest you write to the City Council to request that no whole units, not even in-law or accessory units, be converted to hotel rooms when we need every single housing unit to be offered to folks who live and work in Berkeley! Although the original Council referral asked that the law require any short term rental to be someone’s primary home, the Staff draft of the new law would allow some 2nd units on owner-occupied properties to be offered as tourist rentals. As the analysis of the impact of Airbnb in San Francisco shows, losing units to short term rentals does drive up housing costs.

More Information:

Kathy’s Letter on Enforcement
STRS Council May 2016 from KH

Handy Chart on Different Versions from Jesse Townley
http://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Level_3_-_General/7a2.pdf

Council Item 30 for May 31
This item has six attachments, including two versions of the ordinance. BTU favors the Planning Commission draft, but even that’s not ready to be law as written. The best place to access the item is in the full agenda packet on page 285.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35320626/2016-05-31%20Agenda%20Packet%20-%20WEB.pdf

Rent Board Report on No-Fault Evictions
https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Committee_Meetings/2016/16_May_12_FULL_Agenda_Packet_4x4_Committee.aspx

Berkeley’s Housing Commission on Vacation Rentals
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/10/04/housing-advisory-commission-makes-short-term-rent-recommendations/

SF Report on Enforcement
http://www.sfbos.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=55575

SF Analysis of STR Impact 2016
http://www.sfbos.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=52601

Also on the May 31 Agenda:

Item 19 Support AB 2502 Inclusionary Housing
Ask the state to allow local requirements for affordable rental housing. Right now, Berkeley can’t require that developers include lower-income units on site if the housing being built will be rental housing. California needs to make a law to allow Berkeley control over local zoning mitigations.

Item 21 – End Discrimination Based on Tenant’s Income Source
Owners would have to accept Section 8 Housing Vouchers.

Item 27 – Placing a Measure on the November 8, 2016 Ballot to Increase the Business License Tax on Owners of Five or More Residential Rental Units

Item 31 – Tenant Protection OrdinanceRead more »

By Posted on Posted in Issues

BALLOT MEASURE CONTROVERSY

A draft of the ballot measure BTU supports will be reviewed by City Council on May 31.

The Berkeley landlords submitted their ballot measure petition to the City Clerk today. Now the Clerk will check a sample number of the signers – it could be some time before we hear if the petition was validated. They submitted 3,326 signatures; because it is a tax measure it requires 1,932 valid signatures.

BTU’s Selawsky Sounds Warning
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-05-13/article/44490?headline=Deceptive-housing-petition-now-circulating–John-T.-Selawsky-jwebsky-earthlink.net

Committee for Safe and Affordable Homes:
www.fundaffordablehousing.org

The Landlords’ Petition:
http://www.thebrhc.org/ballot-measure.html

BACKGROUND ON BRHC and BPOA

The Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition was formed last summer by leaders of the Berkeley Property Owners Association as a 501(c)6 for lobbying, lawsuits, and other political activities. According to their website, they elect their Board of Directors by allowing each landlord one vote per unit, so the largest property owners control the group.

Daily Cal: http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/25/berkeley-landlord-coalition-raises-money-to-seek-greater-political-influence/
Daily Planet: http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2015-06-12/article/43384?headline=Berkeley-Landlords-Form-Political-Action-Committee-to-Raise-Half-Million-per-Year–
Daily Cal: http://www.dailycal.org/2015/07/08/berkeley-mayor-tom-bates-criticized-for-encouraging-landlords-to-form-pac/
Mayor Bates Urges Landlords to Form PAC: https://youtu.be/vzvHaSP3LJ4 (see 24 minutes in)

RENT BOARD ELECTION

267 voters at the 2016 Tenant Convention (photo Christine Schwartz)
267 voters at the 2016 Tenant Convention (photo Christine Schwartz)

Daily Cal article focusing on Christina Murphy and Leah Simon-Weisberg

Leah Simon-Weisberg (photo C. Schwartz)
Leah Simon-Weisberg (photo C. Schwartz)

Tenant leader and current Rent Board Commissioner Judy Shelton is quoted in the article as saying, ““These are progressive people who are all very passionate about supporting

Christina Murphy (photo C. Schwartz)
Christina Murphy (photo C. Schwartz)

tenants,” said Shelton, whose term is ending this election season. “They’re supporting each other, and we in the progressive community support them too.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/13/christina-murphy-leah-simon-weisberg-run-rent-stabilization-board/

Daily Cal on the Tenant Convention
“In 2012, a similar pro-landlord slate — Tenants United for Fairness — ran one candidate in order to combat allegations of a pro-tenant bias within the rent board. The following year, the slate allegedly did not submit campaign finance statements from prohibited organizations — including Premium Properties — to the city. Tenants United for Fairness agreed to pay a $4,000 fine to the city and has not run a candidate since Judy Hunt was elected in 2012.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/04/24/pro-tenant-convention-elects-slate-candidates-november-election-sunday/

Leah Simon-Weisberg Launches Website for Rent Board Election
http://www.leahsimon-weisberg.com/

BTU ENDORSEMENTS

While the Tenant Convention had 267 voters, BTU’s endorsements meeting for Council and Mayor had a lower, but still impressive, turnout of 109 voters. Although Kriss Worthington announced he was also running for mayor, organizers of the event from BTU and our progressive allies would not change the rules at the start of the meeting, so only one candidate can use our endorsement in each race, although voters in the November election can rank their choices.

Mayor: BTU Member Jesse Arreguin

District 2: Nanci Armstrong-Temple

District 3: Ben Bartlett

District 5: Sophie Hahn

District 6: BTU Member Fred Dodsworth

BTU / BPA / BCA Endorsements Meeting in East Bay Times
“Building affordable housing, blunting gentrification and finding compassionate solutions to homelessness were central issues addressed April 30 by mayoral and council candidates seeking joint endorsement by the left-leaning Berkeley Progressive Alliance, Berkeley Citizen’s Action and Berkeley Tenants Union.”
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29845596/berkeley-progressive-groups-back-arreguin-mayor

BTU / BPA / BCA Endorsements Meeting in Daily Cal
“Registered members of any of the three groups who had paid their dues were eligible to cast a ballot. Approximately 100 ballots were cast for each position. Voters were allowed to either cast a ballot for any of the candidates who spoke at the meeting or write in candidates….Worthington, who was seeking mayoral endorsement but has not yet registered for candidacy, asked for the groups to endorse two candidates for each position. Worthington said he is running for mayor in a formal political partnership with Arreguin.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/02/progressive-voters-meet-endorse-mayoral-city-council-candidates/

Berkeley Progressive Alliance Op-Ed
“These organizations are part of a network of progressive Berkeley citizens working to curb the influence of special interests and make local government accountable to the residents of Berkeley. They include a campaign in to increase funding for affordable housing in Berkeley.”
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-04-22/article/44418?headline=It-s-Time-to-Make-Berkeley-Truly-Progressive–From-Margot-Smith-for-BPA

Jesse Arreguin For Mayor Op-Ed on Housing
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-04-15/article/44389?headline=Housing-Costs-Major-Topic-for-Berkeleyans–Councilmember-Jesse-Arreguin

Nanci Armstrong-Temple, District 2: South and West Berkeley
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/11/berkeley-resident-files-to-run-for-district-2-city-council-election/

Ben Bartlett, District 3: South Berkeley
http://benbartlett.vote/

Sophie Hahn, District 5: North Berkeley
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-01-29/article/44128?headline=Sophie-Hahn-Announces-Run-for-Berkeley-City-Council-District-5–From-the-Sophie-Hahn-Campaign-Committee

Fred Dodsworth, District 6: Berkeley Hills
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/03/09/berkeley-resident-fred-dodsworth-files-to-run-for-district-6-council-seat/

By Posted on Posted in Issues
Landlords Are Circulating This Petition
Landlords Are Circulating This Petition

Remember Robin Hood? Berkeley tenants tried to put a measure on the 2014 ballot to tax the rich and build homes for the poor. It didn’t work out. But in 2016, Berkeley progressives of various stripes all joined together in a coalition to fight the housing emergency with good public policy. We expect the City Council to place a balanced measure on the ballot which will fund affordable housing by increasing fees to Berkeley’s largest landlords.

The Committee for Safe and Affordable Housing is led by Berkeley’s two leading candidates for mayor. That’s right, Councilmembers Jesse Arreguin and Laurie Capitelli agree – to get more money for affordable housing we need to tax the real estate investors whose rent increases create the need for more affordable housing. We need the money to help non-profit organizations, land trusts and limited-equity cooperatives to build or buy housing and keep it affordable for everyone from teachers and childcare workers to cooks and secretaries. And our measure won’t pass on these increased fees to renters.

Great News, right? Until…

The Berkeley Property Owners Association saw a way to stop this new ballot measure by creating a competing measure. It is well known that two measures on a ballot usually mean both measures fail.

The landlords have already succeeded in confusing the voters – so members have been asking us for more information on The Petition You Should Not Sign. Here it is:

► This landlord trick is the only “affordable housing” petition being circulated. Our measure will be placed on the ballot by the City Council if we can keep the pressure on our leaders. Do not sign any “affordable housing” petitions.

► The City Council measure supported by BTU will raise about $5 million annually. The BPOA measure will raise about $1 million annually, saving Berkeley’s larger landlords $4 million a year.

► The Safe and Affordable Homes City Council measure will finance construction or acquisition & rehabilitation of one project with 40 to 50 affordable homes every year. The BPOA measure on the petition will only raise enough money to do one project every five years.

► The BPOA measure can be passed through to over 1,200 Berkeley tenants who are not protected by rent control. The Council/BTU measure uses carefully targeted exemptions to protect almost all renters from an increase.

► The BPOA measure on the petition being circulated is unfair because

  • It taxes income from “inclusionary” units where the rent is restricted and the unit is rented to lower income tenants.
  • It taxes smaller, moderate-income landlords instead of focusing on larger professional real estate investors like the owners who control BPOA.
  • It taxes income from apartments rented to tenants receiving assistance from the Section 8 and Shelter + Care programs, while the Safe and Affordable Homes measure exempts these owners to encourage renting to Section 8.

Have Your Signature Invalidated – use the form below. You can fax, scan and send as an email attachment, or drop it off in person to the Berkeley Clerk at 2180 Milvia Street. They must be able to see your signature, so you can’t just email (unless it’s a scan, in which case send to clerk @ city of berkeley dot info).
REQUEST FOR WITHDRAWAL OF SIGNATURE

Help Spread The Word with Our Fliers:
BTU-Do-Not-Sign
BTU flier 2-up NEW

By Posted on Posted in Issues
by guest author Rob Wrenn

The City of Berkeley’s March 2016 Community Survey has now been released and it contains good news for advocates for increased funding for affordable housing.

Given a choice of 12 issues, “Building affordable housing” was ranked number 1 by survey respondents with 22%, followed by the related issue of “Addressing  homelessness” with 17% .

37% answered that “providing affordable housing” was “extremely important”, while 41% said it was “very important”.  As far as actions considered extremely important, “providing homeless services” was number 2, with 33%.

Increasing the Business License Tax on Landlords
Four questions were asked about increasing the Business License Tax on landlords of residential buildings, an action supported by BTU, BCA, the Berkeley Progressive Alliance and affordable housing advocates generally. The survey shows strong support for the tax, which need not be written to require more than a 50% vote.

When asked whether they would vote for a measure to increase the tax on landlords with five or more units by an average of $30 a month per rental unit, with revenues going to providing new affordable housing and homelessness prevention efforts, 60% said Yes, and 13% were undecided or didn’t know.

The same question, but applied to landlords of buildings with 10 or more units, received 55% yes; 20% undecided.

When told that the increase in the tax could not be passed on to tenants and would bring in a about $4 million every year, enough to create 300 affordable units over ten years and would also fund emergency rental assistance to help Berkeley families avoid homelessness, the yes vote jumped to 67%

Finally  if the tax were $45 a month per unit and would bring in about $6 million a year, enough to create 450 affordable units,  53% said they would be more likely to vote for it; 23% said less likely.

Housing Bond Measure
61% said they would vote for a $500 million Alameda County bond measure to fund construction, development, acquisition, and preservation of affordable housing affordable to low and middle income individuals and families that would prioritize vulnerable populations and would provide down payment assistance for middle income households. Tax after bonds were issued would be $12 per $100,000 in assessed value. 18% said no and 21 were undecided or replied that they didn’t know. Such a bond would require a two-thirds vote countywide and would have to be strongly supported in Berkeley to pass countywide.

Demographic info:

  • 48% of respondents were home owners; 47% were tenants
  • Only 11% were full-time students; 20% were retired
  • 62% of respondents were white; 10% black; 10% Asian
  • Only 14% were 18-24.
  • 72% were reached on a cell phone.
  • 43% lived in Council districts 5, 6 and 8 where turnout tends to be high in local elections; 30% from the progressive districts 3, 4 and 7 that have large tenant populations.
  • On the whole, students, who are likely to support such a measure, were underrepresented in the sample and white people were slightly overrepresented relative to the population.
  • 34% consider themselves “progressive” “in terms of local politics”, while 34% consider themselves “liberal” and 21% “moderate”; with only 5% for “conservative”.
  • Only 3% were Republicans.

Public Financing
38% said they would support an amendment to the City Charter for public financing of local elections. 32% were opposed; 30%, a sizable number, undecided.

You can find the entire survey here:
http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Community-Survey-032116.pdf