Tag: Sam Zell

By Posted on Posted in Issues
Why don’t City inspectors notice these problems?
Why don’t City inspectors notice problems like this balcony on San Pablo?

Balcony Lawsuit Says Owners Knew About Problems
If we had the proactive inspections program the City Council will discuss on December 1, then this tragedy may have been prevented.
“The lawsuit claims that Segue used cheaper materials to construct the balcony, making it more susceptible to water damage, and left it exposed to rain during construction in 2005…. Previous tenants reported seeing mushrooms – a clear sign of rot.”
http://theindianrepublic.com/lawsuits-filed-in-deadly-berkeley-balcony-collapse-reveal-3892.html

Tenants Reported Signs of Rot Weeks Before Deadly Balcony Collapse
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_29110467/
“Library Gardens was only 8 years old when the balcony collapsed, leading many to wonder how such a new building could have such a catastrophic structural failure. The city of Berkeley released a report that identified dry rot as the only contributing factor to the structural failure of the balcony, but the city said determining the reason for that failure was beyond the scope of its analysis. The lawsuit claims to have identified the reason.”
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/11/13/berkeley-balcony-collapse-contractor-used-inferior-wood-and-owner-ignored-signs-of-rot-including-mushrooms-sprouting-from-the-surface-lawsuits-allege/

Berkeley Tenant Fights for Garden
Berkeleyside: “Gorell moved into the rent-controlled, one-bedroom apartment in 1979 and began to add plants to the front and side of the building soon after that. Gene Anderson, the son of the original owners, and his wife used to visit annually and would compliment Gorell on how he had turned the space into an alluring swath of green, according to Gorell. Gorell also wrote to the Andersons in 1992 to describe his plans for the garden. There were no complaints, he said.”
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/11/11/lush-berkeley-garden-at-center-of-tenant-landlord-dispute/
Daily Cal: http://www.dailycal.org/2015/11/11/berkeley-tenant-fights-to-preserve-garden-in-ongoing-dispute-with-landlords-property-managers/ 

Activists Say They Are Targeted for Eviction at Redwood Gardens
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/11/11/18779862.php

Berkeley’s Largest Landlord Leaving Town
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/11/16/equity-residential-to-sell-8-berkeley-apartment-buildings/

Rent Wars
Excellent overview of California’s housing crisis and current tenant’s movement.
“Activists in cities that have long had rent control laws are pushing for stronger measures. In Los Angeles, activists like Larry Gross, Director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, want the city to stop allowing tenants to be evicted so that speculators can demolish their rent-controlled buildings.”
http://www.beyondchron.org/the-new-rent-control-wars/

Alameda Tenants Get Moratorium
Something is better than nothing!
“The Alameda City Council on Wednesday approved a 65-day moratorium on rent increases above 8 percent and no-fault evictions. Tenant advocates were hoping for an outright moratorium as the city considers various permanent tenant protections, including banning evictions without cause.”
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_29078395/bloody-alameda-meeting-highlights-tenants-growing-ire

Berkeley Fair Election Initiative
“But when elections are determined by fundraising alone, communities pay the price. And when the perception is that only money matters in campaigns, it erodes public faith in government. With voter turnout at historic lows, we need to do everything we can to increase participation.
What if I told you there was a proposal to encourage local candidates to spend more time talking to voters and less time dialing for dollars? What if this proposal could diversify the local donor pool, encourage more voters to participate and make City Council more responsive to the citizens they are elected to serve?”
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/11/06/lets-amplify-local-voices-in-berkeley-city-hall/

Evictions and Air BnB
“Data analysis of Airbnb usage in San Francisco tells a decidedly different story about who is benefiting. Although Airbnb refuses to share its numbers, a 2014 report commissioned by the San Francisco Chronicle found that of the (at the time) nearly 5,000 homes, apartments, and private or shared rooms for rent via Airbnb, two-thirds were entire houses or apartments with no owner present during the rental period, and almost a third of Airbnb rentals were controlled by people with two or more listings. Some of the “whole house” or “whole apartment” rentals are from hosts who happen to be away. But many others are being rented out by professional property managers who are handling multiple Airbnb rentals on behalf of absentee home- and condo owners. A separate study conducted by data analyst Tom Slee found similar results. He calculated that about 70 percent of Airbnb revenue comes from hosts who are renting out an entire home or apartment, and 40 percent comes from Airbnb hosts with multiple listings.”
http://prospect.org/article/evictions-and-conversions-dark-side-airbnb

Is Berkeley Like Disneyland?
“More than 40% of the homes that have permits to rent in Anaheim are owned by real estate companies, investment firms or the owners of multiple properties, according to city records.
“These are basically unsupervised mini hotels in our neighborhoods,” said Cornejo, who has called the police on his neighbors several times for late-night noise.
With so many strangers visiting their communities, some residents recently urged Anaheim council members to consider safety and security issues. Renter safety too has become a growing concern in the wake of some well-publicized reports of sexual assault, injuries and deaths at short-term lodgings in other towns.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-anaheim-short-term-rentals-20151111-story.html

Evictions and Rent Hikes Skyrocket In Oakland
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/eviction-and-rent-hike-complaints-skyrocket-in-oakland/Content?oid=4580708

NY Attorney General Disregards Airbnb Promises
“It is a transparent ploy by Airbnb to act like a good corporate citizen when it is anything but,” Schneiderman told Re/code in an emailed statement. “The company has all of the information and tools it needs to clean up its act. Until it does, no one should take this press release seriously.”
http://recode.net/2015/11/11/new-york-attorney-general-activists-call-bullshit-on-airbnbs-promises/

By Posted on Posted in Issues

Doorbells

Redistricting Referendum: Tuesday February 25
The referendum passed, with over 150 volunteers collecting 7,500 signatures over the holidays. Now, the Referendum Coalition needs support at the City Council meeting Tuesday February 25. If you can’t attend, please email Clerk@cityofberkeley.info to support ITEM 21b: “Choose an Alternate Redistricting Map, not a Special Election.” (A Special Election is recommended in Item 21a from the City Manager.)
Item 21b:
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Clerk/City_Council/2014/02_Feb/City_Council__02-25-2014_-_Regular_Meeting_Agenda.aspx
Referendum in the news:
http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/02/10/berkeley-voters-overturn-gerrymandering/

Demolition Ordinance
The City Council seems to have put bad changes to the demo ordinance on the back burner. However, some buildings may still have Zoning hearings under the old rules, which include an anti-tenant interpretation by the City Attorney. We will keep you posted.
Berkeley Neighborhoods Council:http://www.berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com/Newsletters/2014/Issue5/BNC_eNEWS_5_NHF5.htm
Demolishing older, affordable rentals to replace with luxury apartments is a national trend:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-13/demolitions-dire-for-poor-as-affordable-rent-gap-grows-economy.html

Tenant Sues over Eviction for Air BnB
“…case highlights an ongoing issue of Airbnb and other sites that allow people to rent out spare rooms or entire apartments to temporary visitors. Critics charge that the new sharing-economy services are so lucrative – and so laxly regulated – that they are forcing out residents and driving up rents by reducing the supply of available housing.”
Airbnb profits prompted S.F (PDF)

Rich People Say the Darndest Things
“The problem is that the world and this country should not talk about envy of the 1 percent. It should talk about emulating the 1 percent,” he said. “The 1 percent work harder. The 1 percent are much bigger factors in all forms of our society.” –Billionaire Sam Zell, who owns Equity Residential, now Berkeley’s Largest Landlord.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/05/sam-zell-1-percent_n_4733196.html

Consider the Source
“For moderates like Mayor Ed Lee, appearing to get tough on the Ellis Act is an easy way to address voter discontent about affordability without having to wade into more controversial issues like housing density and planning reform.”
http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-eviction-crisis-wasnt

Class Action Lawsuit Against Central Valley’s Biggest Slumlord
“When repairs are made, the complaint alleges, they are merely cosmetic and fail to address the health and safety issues, and JD Homes often retaliates against tenants who complain to authorities.”
http://tenantstogether.org/article.php?id=2944

More on Tenant Displacement in San Francisco
“There’s 50,600 proposed units of housing coming to San Francisco. Approximately 27,000 of these housing units have already been approved by officials, with 6,100 currently under construction. Most of the housing being built is “market rate,” meaning that it’s priced for those who can afford to spend roughly $36,000 a year on rent…The tech boom has conspired with rising housing prices to create an incredibly profitable incentive for landlords to push out low-income tenants and replace them with wealthy buyers, in spite of all the new units coming to market.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/13/san-franciscos-displacement-crisis/

By Posted on Posted in Actions, Issues

We won!

Thanks to a couple dozen folks who wrote the Zoning Board, a sound position from the Rent Board, a good letter from the East Bay Community Law Center, and some very strong leadership by Zoning Commissioner Sophie Hahn, the 8 rent-controlled units on Walnut Street will be replaced with permanently affordable housing at the fancy new Acheson Commons development on University Avenue.

I hope the strong support for the message “empty units are still rent controlled units” from the public and the Zoning Commissioners will send a message to the City Council majority, who appear to be gutting the Demolition Ordinance for the benefit of developers and in complete disregard for the voter-approved Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance. Amendments being considered on July 2 could change Berkeley forever.

PLEASE SIGN OUR ONLINE PETITION

https://www.change.org/petitions/berkeley-city-council-preserve-affordable-housing

By Posted on Posted in Actions

As discussed at the potluck, Acheson Commons is before the Zoning Board Thursday. BTU is asking members to write, and members who wrote before to ask a friend to write!

We have sent a detailed letter about our position.
See the May 7 and 21 posts here for details: https://www.berkeleytenants.org/?tag=acheson-commons

In brief, we hope members will write something like this:

We, the members of the Berkeley Tenants Union, request that you rule in the public interest and require the 8 units on Walnut Street be replaced with affordable housing.

And send it to:
TBlount@CityofBerkeley.info
and
info@berkeleytenants.org (we will bring them to the ZAB meeting)

Thank you for helping!

By Posted on Posted in Actions

1930 and 1922–24 Walnut Street (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2009)
1930 and 1922–24 Walnut Street (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2009)

In general, activists’ response led to deeper discussion of the issues but we need ALL members to respond to these action requests if we are to impact policy and decisions!

The Zoning Adjustments Board continued the appeal of Equity Residential’s mega-development. ZAB got about a dozen letters from BTU members objecting to a new interpretation of the Demolition Ordinance that would allow destruction of any empty rental unit without replacing it with affordable housing. This issue dominated the ZAB discussion but was continued to Thursday JUNE 13. BTU needs you to SHOW UP and STAND AGAINST UNMITIGATED DESTRUCTION OF RENT-CONTROLLED UNITS! This decision will certainly impact how the City Council decides on the new version of the Demo Ordinance. Don’t allow them to say empty units can be torn down – or you will be evicted soon!

By Posted on Posted in Actions
1930 and 1922–24 Walnut Street (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2009)
1930 and 1922–24 Walnut Street (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2009), courtesy of BAHA

Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board voted unanimously to approve Acheson Commons in December – but their vote included allowing a dangerous new interpretation of Berkeley’s Demolition Ordinance which will certainly lead to future evictions in Berkeley! Please write them NOW!

Thursday May 9 the ZAB is to reconsider allowing deep-pockets developer Sam Zell’s Equity Residential to tear down eight rent-controlled units on Walnut Street, but not replace them with affordable housing at the 205-unit development, which is one of the first under the Downtown Area Plan.

It seems the City has a new view of the Demolition Ordinance which allows destruction of empty rent controlled units without requiring replacement. They say if no one lives there, it isn’t “rent-controlled” – this will lead to evictions! This is also the view city staff were pushing for the revision of the Demo Ordinance, which should be before the City Council later in the summer, so we need to show that Berkeley won’t stand for unmitigated destruction of affordable housing while developers make billions on new bedrooms for dot-com commuters.

PLEASE WRITE TO ZAB RIGHT NOW! TBlount@CityofBerkeley.info

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