Tenants oppose Oakland's renovation plans that may displace hundreds

Tenants oppose Oakland's renovation plans that may displace hundreds

By Lynda Carson March 22, 2009

Oakland -- During a recent March 10, Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) meeting and a March 17, Oakland City Council meeting, several poor, elderly and disabled renters appeared at the meetings to speak out against the $10 million major renovation plans that have targeted Oakland's poor at numerous housing sites, threatening to displace over 500 households from their habitable rental housing in coming months if the proposals move forward.

Low-income renters at four Oakland residential housing sites face displacement from their housing by major renovation projects being proposed by city officials and local nonprofit housing organizations, affecting around 290 low-income rental households citywide, including another 334 or more low-income households facing displacement by major renovation plans for 5 other rental properties owned by Oakland Community Housing, INC. (OCHI).

OCHI developed around 25 low-income housing sites citywide since it's inception before going broke in 2008. In addition to offering to give away OCHI's numerous properties for free, the City of Oakland has offered millions of dollars to local nonprofit housing developers willing to get involved in the takeover of OCHI's properties that appear to be abandoned by the developer, but are still occupied by low-income renters and may be challenged in court by other lien holders at a later date.

The millions of dollars being offered by the City are to be used for major renovation projects at OCHI's properties whether they actually need them or not, which will result in the displacement of the poor from their rental housing after the nonprofit housing organizations takeover OCHI's properties and start doing the major renovation projects.

Among the 9 Oakland properties where tenants may face displacement, including the bottom 5 OCHI properties listed below, include; Drachma Housing, Effie's House, Hugh Taylor House, the Posada De Colores Apartments, Eldridge Gonaway Commons, the Foothill Plaza Rentals, Marin Way Court Apartments, the Oaks Hotel, and Slim Jenkins Court.

The City wants the developers to takeover OCHI's properties and do major renovation projects at each targeted OCHI housing site, and is offering additional funding for legal fees and $5,000 per unit in developers fees for up to as much as $150,000 per renovation project. Relocation costs have not submitted in any of the renovation proposals, and during a March 17 City Council meeting, CEDA member Marge Gladman stated that the developers are responsible for relocating those being displaced by the renovation projects. "Some renters in the proposed renovation projects will be displaced for as long as a year from their housing while the renovation work takes place," Gladman said.

At the recent CEDA and City Council meetings in Oakland, local housing developers including staff members from Resources for Community Development (RCD), East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), Affordable Housing Associates (AHA), and the East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) all spoke out in favor of the multi-million dollar renovation proposals and OCHI property transfer schemes they would profit from, while several low-income renters appeared and spoke out in opposition to the renovation schemes that would displace the poor from their housing.

At one of the recent meetings where renters and developers spoke out for or against the renovation projects, Margaret Gordon a renter at one of OCHI's properties opposed the renovation plans by saying, "I am opposed to the renovation proposals because, if the renovation plans are approved it will be the second time in four years that I'm being forced to move from my housing into a motel and will have to move everything into storage, redirect my children to different schools, and take my vacation time to make all the arrangements needed to pack everything up and move again. It's way too much for me," Gordon said.

Eleanor Walden a former Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Member who resides in an affordable housing project spoke out at one of the meetings, saying, "I oppose the displacement of the tenants facing major renovation projects in their housing because many of them will probably never manage to return to their housing once they are forced to relocate after the renovations begin."

Senior citizen Nancy Cross spoke out against the renovation plans at several Oakland meetings recently and said, "Many of the nonprofit housing organizations make it too difficult to move into their affordable housing developments because they refuse to rent to people with evictions appearing on their credit reports, and some housing organizations have minimum income requirements that keep poor people from moving into so-called affordable housing. Many people may not be able to move back into these renovated properties if they have to relocate somewhere else while their homes are being remodeled," said Cross.

Indeed, many tenants are fearful of displacement with-out having iron clad agreements in advance stating that they have the right to return to their homes at the same monthly rental agreement, and that no changes will be made to their existing contracts that could be possibly used to keep them from moving back into their homes after the renovations occur.

Others claim that they will refuse to move regardless of what promises may be made about their housing, because they do not trust anyone that may profit by their displacement during these tough economic times, and the critical housing shortage that exists making it nearly impossible for poor people to relocate to other locations.

During June of 2008, Oakland’s City Council voted to release $900,000 in relocation funds to help OCHI displace over 500 very low income households out of their properties throughout the City. Many families were told that their best option would be to move into transitional housing - homeless shelters - because funding was inadequate to relocate the poor, elderly, disabled and their families into permanent housing. Tenants fear that the same situation will occur to them in future months when they are being displaced from their housing due to the current renovation projects being proposed.

According to Pastor Benjamin Fulcher, a low-income renter of Oakland, "I have been involved for years in housing issues and with people being forced out of their housing in Oakland. The biggest complaint is that there are never any good relocation plans for those being displaced from their housing. The City gives people a check rather than a place to move into, and the money is never enough to find an apartment to move their families into, and many become homeless as a result. The tenants facing displacement from the current renovation plans for many of Oakland's so-called affordable housing sites need to hold out and stay right where they are until the developers have a place for them to relocate into while their homes are being renovated, and a solid agreement in writing that has been offered beforehand, giving the tenants the right to return at the same rents after the renovations are completed, no matter what," says Fulcher.

Local attorney John Murcko, an attorney for the tenants of the California Hotel which is also an abandoned OCHI property, told the Oakland City Council on March 17th, "I urge you to vote no against the resolutions being proposed to transfer OCHI's properties including the resolutions to spend millions of dollars to renovate OCHI's properties. This money should not be given to the non profit organizations called East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation and Resources for Community Development. Instead, the council should set up a city agency to rehabilitate and run these projects including Marin Way Court, the Oaks Hotel, Slim Jenkins Court and other OCHI properties. The City has given over twenty million in cash and credits over the last 15 years to OCHI, and it still failed. The City is capable of running these properties on it's own, with-out giving millions of dollars to corporations to run these housing properties, with-out a solid agreement in advance as to how the millions would be spent. Whats to keep the non profit organizations from spending the money on salaries like AIG has been doing with tax payer subsidies," says Murcko."

After several demands were made for an investigation of OCHI during the March 17th City Council meeting, Councilman Ignatio De la Fuente stated that he was not opposed to an investigation of OCHI, and stated that he would contact the state Attorney General's office.

The renovation proposals that may displace hundreds of low-income Oakland households, goes before the Oakland City Council for one last time during the 6:pm City Council meeting, and speakers should arrive early to fill out speaker cards before 6:pm.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com