Tag: Haas Institute

By Posted on Posted in Actions, Issues

Yes on Prop 10
Repeal Costa-Hawkins

Prop 10 is the most important ballot measure renters in California have voted on in decades!

If y’all want to save what is left of Berkeley, or San Francisco, or Oakland or even LA, y’all better get out there and do something for Yes on 10!

Get Involved:
Yes on 10
https://voteyesonprop10.org/

Learn to Talk About Prop 10
http://www.tenantstogether.org/campaigns/repeal-costa-hawkins-rental-housing-act

PROP 10 is about LOCAL CONTROL
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/election-endorsements/article218278780.html

Comprehensive Research Report from UC Berkeley
https://haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/opening-door-rent-control

The Community Power Slate sponsors a Yes on 10 forum:

SUNDAY OCTOBER 21 – 3 PM
South Berkeley Senior Center
2939 Ellis Street at Ashby

 

Community Power Slate
Elect a Pro-Tenant Rent Board in Berkeley

For over a quarter century, Berkeley progressives have come together to choose a consensus slate for the Rent Board. This spring, the Berkeley Tenant Convention chose local leaders John Selawsky (formerly on the School Board) and Paola Laverde, currently the Rent Board’s Vice Chair and an outspoken advocate for Yes on Prop 10. Also on the Community Power Slate for Berkeley Rent Board are James Chang, UCB junior Soli Alpert, and Maria Poblet, a founder of Causa Justa Oakland.

The landlords are running an opposition slate, so pay attention when voting!
https://www.facebook.com/CommunityPowerSlate/

MORE ELECTION NEWS

Berkeley City Council
BTU endorsed Kate Harrison (District 4: Downtown) and Igor Tregub (District 1: Fourth Street, North Berkeley BART). Igor used to be on the Rent Board and has always been a solid advocate for tenants. Kate is the wisest leader in Berkeley, with a lot of behind the scenes experience in San Francisco’s crazier days. She has done amazing work for affordable housing on the City Council in her very short term.

Both of these leaders are reasonable people with good hearts who look at facts when making decisions.
Send them money!
http://electkateharrison.com/
https://www.igortregub.com/

BTU also endorsed Rigel Robinson, a newcomer whose website mentions nothing about renters in the housing policy statement. He is currently External Affairs Vice President of the ASUC and will fill the district with the most renters, taking the place of longtime tenant leader Kriss Worthington, who has endorsed Robinson.
“Rigel believes we need to build more housing, for all students, right next to campus, right now. As a City Councilmember, he’ll push for zoning requirements that allow for taller, denser buildings around campus — while fighting for more units that are affordable.”
https://rigelrobinson.com/

Finally, BTU endorsed Mary Kay Lacey for District 8. Lacey will fight for renters in the district which has been represented by Lori Droste, who repeatedly voted to eliminate rent controlled units through demolitions and conversions to Air BnB. Lacey became known for her work on the Task Force to Save Alta Bates hospital.

“Protect against displacement by building targeted affordable housing for students, working families and those facing eviction… I am also fully committed to the Pathways Project and a ‘housing first’ solution to our homelessness crisis.”
https://lacey2018.com/issues/

BTU-Endorsed Candidates:
State Assembly: Jovanka Beckles
Rent Board: Soli Alpert, James Chang, Paola Laverde, Maria Poblet, John Selawsky (Community Power Slate)
Council District 1: Igor Tregub
Council District 4: Kate Harrison
Council District 7: Rigel Robisnon
Council District 8: Mary Kay Lacey

BTU-Endorsed Housing Measures:
Prop 10 (Costa-Hawkins Repeal): YES!
Measure O (Affordable Housing Bond): Yes
Measure P (Transfer Tax for Homeless Services): Yes
Measure Q (Rent Board Amendments): No Endorsement
Prop 1 (Affordable Housing Bond): Yes
Prop 2 (Homeless Prevention Bond): Yes
Prop 5 (Property Tax Break): No

Now, The Good News

At their 10th anniversary celebration, the statewide renters group Tenants Together chose to honor Berkeley’s own Julia Cato, who has worked hard with several groups – including BTU – to make sure the voices of seniors and tenants are heard by the folks who represent us.

Tenants Together also has a counselor training coming up. I don’t think anyone does counseling for BTU since I left, so someone really should try to get the program up and running again! Tenants could use a peer advocate to help them navigate the bureaucracies that govern, even if California does get some better laws this election day!

More Worried About Trump than Lakireddy?
Get Involved on the National Level!

The Right to the City Alliance / Homes For All held their second national Renter Power Assembly this summer, with over 100 tenant groups coming together from all over the United States. Start by joining their mailing list to give renters a unified voice on national housing policy!

“If the housing crisis has been slow to register at the level of national politics, it’s not for lack of momentum at the grassroots. There is no major city in the United States today without a multitude of tenants’ rights groups, and “gentrification” has, in the span of a decade, crossed from left-wing academic journals into everyday language. From coast to coast, a loosely organized, intersectional, and bottom-up movement is coalescing around housing justice—the idea that housing is inextricable from a range of other issues like racial justice, poverty, the environment, immigration, and the rights of the formerly incarcerated.”
https://righttothecity.org/

LEARN MORE SUNDAY:
https://www.facebook.com/events/315079089075676/

KEEP UP WITH BTU ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/berkeleytenants/

ELECT RENTERS
https://www.facebook.com/CommunityPowerSlate/

SAVE CALIFORNIA 
https://www.facebook.com/yesonprop10/

 

 

By Posted on Posted in Issues

update 8/9/15: RICHMOND GOT PROTECTIONS! 

“The ordinance, first voted on in July, has undergone several changes and required two readings before becoming law. It takes effect Sept. 4 but will base rents at their July 21 levels to prevent landlords from spiking prices. … Under the new law, landlords will only be able to increase rents by 100 percent of the Consumer Price Index, roughly 2 percent a year, and pass on 40 percent of the city-imposed fee to tenants. The fee is estimated to range between $170 and $230 a year per unit, or $14-$19 a month.
The ordinance applies to about 10,000 units in the city and excludes all housing built after Feb. 1, 1995, single-family homes, condominiums and units used for child and residential social services provided on a nonprofit basis. It also includes a just-cause for eviction ordinance that covers all rental units in the city and prevents residents from being evicted without a reason.”
http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20150806/richmond-rent-control-ordinance-finalized/3

The Contra-Costa times did an in-depth article about Richmond’s situation. Sadly, they have a lot of quotes from opponents of rent control and little from organizers in Richmond. BTU wasn’t contacted, even though this article highlights Berkeley’s strict rent control system, which many had hoped Richmond would use as a model.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28607835/richmond-seeks-middle-ground-rent-control

Previous article: Richmond passed rent control and eviction laws in July, but the proposal failed to pass the required second reading this week.

With the new law, Richmond would become the first city in Contra Costa County to restrict rents. The program would be funded by a $370 per unit fee, much higher than the fee Berkeley landlords plan to challenge in court. However, some of the fee may be passed to Richmond renters.

Like Berkeley, Richmond plans to register and track rents. Richmond’s proposed law exempts tenancies assisted by the Housing Authority, including Section 8 rentals, as well as single family homes and post-1995 buildings, as required by state law.

“Proponents note that Richmond’s black population fell 35 percent from 2000 to 2013. The median rent rose 13 percent from January 2014 to January 2015, according to UC Berkeley’s Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society.”
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Rent-control-stalls-in-Richmond-at-least-for-6413720.php

“Rent increases will be pegged to 100 percent of the Consumer Price Index for the region, or roughly 2.3 percent a year.”
http://www.contracostatimes.com/richmond/ci_28520869/richmond-becomes-first-city-contra-costa-approve-rent

“The rent control ordinance, set to take effect on Dec. 1, applies to about 9,900 units out of almost 34,000 total rental units, according to City Manager Bill Lindsay. About half of the city’s housing stock is rental.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2015/07/richmond-passes-rent-control-contra-costa-fees.html

“In a new twist, landlords will now be able to pass 40 percent of the associated fees on to their tenants. The fees would vary from $170 to $230 per unit per year, or $15 to $20 a month.”
http://www.contracostatimes.com/richmond/ci_28573415/richmond-tenants-pay-40-fees-from-rent-control