Community groups having difficulty collecting enough signatures to place a renter protection initiative on the November ballot in Oakland brought the renter protection initiative before the Community and Economic Development committee during the afternoon of May 24. Around 60 speakers were present at the meeting including activists, tenants and landlords, with most speakers supporting the renter protection initiative.
Despite the pleas of all the speakers in support of the renter protection initiative and the massive housing crisis occurring that is displacing tens of thousands of renters with evictions and excessive rent increases by greedy landlords, things could have gone better at the CED meeting for the tenants facing displacement from their housing.
According to the Oakland Post the CED members decided to use a procedural alternative to ask the City Council for a full legal analysis of the renter protection initiative called the Protect Oakland Renters Act. They left open the possibility that the City Council may vote on June 21, to place the proposed ordinance on the ballot for November. The Oakland Post also reported that Mayor Libby Schaaf does not support expanding Just Cause eviction protections to newer residential rental buildings.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is in the pocket of big developers, and at times she is opposed to real renter protections needed to stop the displacement of Oakland renters by greedy landlords involved in the eviction-for-profit system, and economic cleansing.
Among the speakers at the CED committee meeting, Oakland Tenants Union member Eddie Ytuarte, and host of Pushing Limits on KPFA said, “Landlords are involved in bad behavior and may not understand the rent laws. Many tenants have come to the Oakland Tenants Union to complain about bad landlords.”
Phil Rapier a member of the Eviction Defense Center (EDC) said, “The fight against displacement is a fight against capital. This is a movement for human rights. This is not just a fight between tenants and landlords. This is a struggle for human rights.”
Amy Sekany of the Eviction Defense Center (EDC) said, “The soul purpose of the EDC is to protect renters from evictions. We have a team of three attorneys and are in court 3 to 4 times a week. We take on around 2,000 cases a year. Around 75% of our clients are African-American or Latino. Many are of or clients are disabled, and some have aids or cancer. Some are veterans. Many of our clients are in bad shape and are not in a good position to move when the evictions occur. There is not enough senior housing for all the seniors facing eviction. I can tell you hundreds of stories about so many people being evicted. We need your help to stop the evictions, and need you to pass this renter protection ordinance.”
Marc Janowitz an attorney with the East Bay Community Law Center said, “I serve the lowest income tenants in Oakland, to help them fight these evictions. We cannot afford to not pass these renter protections today.”
Leah Simon Wiesberg of Tenants Together said, “This renter protection ballot measure makes the rent board an independent rent board, and would make it accountable to the public.”
In a release from the Protect Oakland Renters organization, it said: “Thank you all for rallying and going to the CED Committee with us yesterday (or for being there in spirit), taking a stand against skyrocketing rents, and sending a strong message to Council and the Mayor that Oakland needs strong tenant protections, and needs to preserve Oakland's racial and economic diversity.”
“There were over 60 speakers, with the majority of speakers in support of our Protect Oakland Renters ballot measure, as well as a small collection of landlords that gave testimony as to why the City should not pass this measure.”
“Strong public testimony by our members, allies at PolicyLink, Dellums Institute, and tenant rights counselors and attorneys from Tenants Together, Causa Justa, Oakland Tenants Union, East Bay Community Law Center, Eviction Defense Center, and Public Advocates urged the Council to pass our Act onto the full Council, and explained the inaccuracies within the City Administrator’s staff report.”
“The CED Committee ordered the staff report be sent back to the Rules Committee and to be reassigned a Committee for further review. The Committee also requested that the City release the legal report on PORA."
“The results of the Community Economic Development Committee did not hurt our goal of placing a measure on the ballot. The error riddled and biased report was not endorsed by the CED Committee. We continue our work to have the Protect Oakland Renters Act introduced to the Oakland City Council.”
“Stay connected to our FB page for more of how you can keep supporting the Protect Oakland Renters Act! We're in a fight for our future in Oakland and it's going to take all of us to get this measure passed!”
Oakland renter protections known as the just cause eviction protections or Measure EE was passed by the voters in 2002.
It was weakened by the Oakland City Council in 2003, and was further weakened by the City Council with the Nuisance Eviction Ordinance in 2004.