For over a year now, renters' rights group Tenants Together has been working with renters, their supporters, labor unions, and city officials in East Palo Alto where Page Mill Properties has been engaged in open conflict with the city and its residents. After learning that CalPERS, the country's biggest public employee pension fund, was an investment partner with the giant landlord, Tenants Together testified before the CalPERS Board of Administration to bring the crisis to their attention and call on them to intervene with Page Mill. They asked CalPERS to move Page Mill to rescind illegal rent increases and cease the unjust eviction of its tenants.

Tenants Together also warned CalPERS that predatory equity investments are extremely risky financially. In fact, Page Mill Properties went into receivership just two months ago, leaving tenants to work with new court-appointed management as they try to get relief from unjustly high rents and unabated maintenance problems.

Youth United for Community Action members led a rally in front of West Park Apartments on November 4th to call for the roll back of rents. Participants included renters, neighbors, and community activists, who chanted and sang songs specific to their cause. They pledged to keep up the pressure with a series of actions until rents are rolled back to be in line with what is required by the city's rent stabilization ordinance.

Read more Photos: 1 | 2

Tenants Together | Youth United for Community Action

Single Payer health care plan advocates took direct action to get answers from Nancy Pelosi on November 3rd. Fifteen people occupied her San Francisco office, demanding to talk with the Speaker of the House, who was in DC at the time. Dan Bernal, Pelosi's District Director, refused to put Speaker Pelosi on the phone with the demonstrators to address the fact that key elements of Congress' final health care reform bill are missing. The demonstrators said Pelosi broke her promise to include the Kucinich amendment, that would allow states to enact their own single payer plans, in Congress' final health care bill.

"We deserve to know why she has turned her back on working people nationwide," said a spokesperson for CSEA (California School Employees' Association) whose members buoyed the protest. Two CSEA representatives were arrested along with ten others when they refused to leave the building after three hours of occupying Pelosi's office. Also participating in the protest both inside and outside the building were members of CARA (California Alliance of Retired Americans), the San Francisco Gray Panthers, and other groups advocating direct action to achieve a single payer health care plan.

About 100 demonstrators chanted loudly in front of the building. Meanwhile, protesters inside Pelosi's office lifted their cell phones to hear the supporters on the outside, and joined in the chants. That was cause enough for Pelosi's District Director to have those remaining in the office arrested. According to Dan Hodges, Chair of Health Care for All-California, chanting and singing was extended to mean that the demonstrators had disobeyed police officers. Hodges said, "Because Bernal was too cowardly to file an official complaint, an elaborate charade was worked out by Bernal, building management and the Federal Protection Service," and the branch of US Homeland Security made the arrests.

Photos | Breaking Report

About 200 advocates of a single-payer health care system, which would eliminate the private health insurance industry, chanted and sang in front of the Market Street offices of United HealthCare starting in the early morning of October 28. At about 8:00am they then marched to the Blue Shield office on Beale St., where 30 of the demonstrators staged a sit-in, blocking access to the health insurer's office.

The San Francisco demonstration was part of a national day of direct action against the insurance industry. Protests at ten other locations took place the same day in other cities; a similar national day of civil disobedience at insurance company sites was held earlier this month. Protesters advocated a single-payer system in which the state or federal government would create one system of health insurance to cover everyone, as would be created by Rep. John Conyers’ H.R. 676.

At the Beale Street location, protesters were joined by a local contingent of “Billionaires for Wealthcare” in formal wear and accompanied by a maidservant. The Billionaires held signs supporting the status quo and sang several numbers including “We Shall Overcharge” to the traditional tune "We Shall Overcome". Other artistic action included music and chants led by Brass Liberation Orchestra and a giant "Octopus of Death" representing insurance industry profiteering. The octopus extended large tentacles choking protesters who portrayed needy patients denied care by Blue Shield.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Mobilize for Healthcare

Health care was just one of many topics on the minds of Bay Area residents when President Obama came to San Francisco to attend a fundraiser for the Democratic National Convention on October 15th. CodePink hand delivered a petition with signatures directly to the president at the event, urging him to keep his promises for peace.

Outside of the St. Francis Hotel where Obama spoke, a demonstration of thousands included a large contingent of single-payer health care plan proponents; they overwhelmingly outnumbered the few with placards calling for a public option. Other demonstrators called upon the administration to get serious about global warming.

People with views representing diametrically opposite positions rubbed shoulders as the crowd lined Powell Street many layers deep bordering Union Square. Ultra right wing Tea Party members waved American flags and chanted "No new taxes" next to satirical street theater activists Billionaires for Wealthcare who shouted back, "Thank you teabaggers for shooting yourselves in the foot to keep the rich wealthy!"

The demonstration was scheduled to last for two hours, but many protesters arrived early and stayed long after the 6:30pm permitted time. Activist musical group Brass Liberation Orchestra kept up a beat for peace and health care throughout the afternoon.

Read more | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 Videos: 1 | 2

Rep. Boehner (R-Ohio) recently said, "I'm still trying to find the first American to talk to who's in favor of the public option, other than a member of Congress or the administration"; this despite polls showing that a majority of voters support the idea of having a government plan. His statement was all the inspiration the Raging Grannies needed to ring up their friends in "Billionaires for Wealthcare" and form a united action to protest the Republican stance on health care reform on October 12.

Under the watchful eye of Menlo Park police the two street theater groups, whose memberships have quite a bit of overlap, lined the entrance to the Stanford Park Hotel. On the left, the Raging Grannies held signs calling for Boehner to "get a clue about health care" while on the right the Billionaires shouted "John Boehner you're our man, we really love your orange tan". They carried signs mocking Republicans' close ties to health insurance companies, including one that read "Blue Cross/Palin 2012".

The Billionaires loudly poo-poohed the idea that health care should be available for free or low cost to "the masses". After about an hour of demonstrating in front of the hotel, they retired to the British Bankers Club in Menlo Park for some much needed liquid refreshment; some of the cross-dressing Grannies joined them, first changing into their Billionaire regalia.

Photos: 1 | 2 | Videos: 1 | 2

Raging Grannies Action League | Billionaires for Wealthcare

Donna Bird, Writes:, "In New Zealand we seem to have become the dumping ground for U.S. chemicals and the experimental ground for the biotech products manufactured in the United States and we are paying the price. New Zealand is being turned into a parking lot. Our forests, waterways and our health are all being systematically destroyed by your patented products which are designed to kill things.

"We banned your nuclear ships but the thing is, it feels like you ‘nuked’ us anyway. The deaths and destruction are subtle. It will leave the infrastructure behind but the soil and water will not ensure safe habitation for who knows how long….if ever.

"Very recently we a had minor victory with the Taupo District Council banning 1080 aerial drops. This evil compound made in Alabama, enough to kill 20 million people every year, is shipped to NZ to kill opossums. Our death by poison rate is 3 times that of the road toll.

"Why is there such a need for the U.S to control everything? Why can’t you people be satisfied with what you have got? Why so greedy? Your products are destroying the world on a global scale and we’re supposed to like you? Can’t you people look at the big picture and think at least 6 generations ahead?" Read more

Tempers flare at dog-death meeting In New Zealand - Environmental Activist Thrown Out | The Criminal Cover-up Of Pam Marrone's Agraquest Operation | Injured Agraquest Biotech Worker David Bell Tells His Story | Pam Marrone & Agraquest You Will Not Get Away With Your Environmental/Healthcare Crimes | New Zealander Donna Bird Poisoned By Spraying "You guys in America have to stop that"

On Wednesday, September 30th, feminists, activists, and community members protested against budget cuts in front of the California State Building at Civic Center. The rally and speak-out featured demands to "chop from the top" and tax the rich and corporations as a strategy for solving the budget crisis. There were speakers and representatives from many groups as well as students, workers, tenants rights and queer rights activists.

The rally was initiated by Radical Women, a socialist feminist, grassroots activist organization that provides a radical voice within the feminist movement and the Left, and trains women to be leaders in the movements for social and economic justice. It has branches in a number of cities. Read more

AIDS Organizations Meet in SF to Protest Governor Schwarzenegger's Budget Cuts | People with Disabilities Arrested While Protesting State Budget Cuts in SF | SF Mayor Gavin Newsom Hides From Tenants Seeking Renter's Relief Measures

An acrobat trained in China kept kids on the edge of their seats with juggling, unicycling, and handstands; the Raging Grannies turned people of all ages into kids again leading them in songs with vegetarian themes. These and other stage performances were punctuated with lectures by renowned vegetarian authorities in San Francisco's County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park on October 3 and 4. Other highlights of the 10th annual World Veg Festival included cooking demos, vegetarian friendly clothing booths, and international taste treats.

Presenter Howard Lyman told an enthralled audience why he is a cattle rancher but won't eat meat himself, and John Robbins provided tips for longevity from his book Healthy at 100. Other speakers promoted vegan or vegetarian diets, sharing tips for home cooking and gardening for maximum nutritional benefit.

The San Francisco Vegetarian Society and In Defense of Animals together presented the yearly event to commemorate World Vegetarian Day. Both co-sponsors manned heavily trafficked tables selling shopping bags and T-shirts with clever quips and gave advice to festival patrons mesmerized by the variety of booths, entertainers and demonstrations. In Defense of Animals is a national, non-profit organization based in San Rafael, dedicated to protecting and advocating for the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals. The San Francisco Vegetarian Society was founded in 1968 and promotes the nutritional, ethical, social and environmental benefits of a vegetarian diet.

Photos: 1 | 2 | San Francisco Vegetarian Society | In Defense of Animals

The Santa Cruz, CA collective Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) won a major award in August from The Society for the Study of Social Problems, a national organization of sociologists. The SSSP’s "Social Action" award and a check for $1,000 are given each year to a not-for-profit organization which embodies and enacts the social justice goals of the SSSP.

For a decade and a half WAMM has collectively grown and given away some $29 million dollars in cannabis and is the subject of a book by Wendy Chapkis and Richard Webb, Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine. Another dramatic chapter in the history of WAMM occurred in August, when collective members had to fight off a forest fire to save their medicine garden.

See also: West Coast Leaf: Autumn 2009

Feeling conservatives had been winning the limelight in the debate over healthcare reform through a serious of high profile stunts and remarks, advocates of reform decided to steal back some of the media's attention, forming a flash mob Sept. 26 in an Oakland Whole Foods in response to the CEO's recent Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal in which he opposed reform.

At 6:11 p.m., 35 protesters, who had been fake-shopping the aisles of the green foods giant, convened at the middle of the store, and launched into singing "Hey Mackey, you're a swine," some shouting it into a megaphone and others dancing a choreographed jig as a live orchestra blared from all directions.

The market's security questioned the group and eventually police were called. No complaints have been filed. Store security allowed the performance to unfold for several minutes in the store, and again didn't interfere as the protesters filed out through the entrance to stage a continued demonstration on the sidewalk. Read more

Previous Related Indybay Feature: Berkeley Protest At Whole Foods After CEO Comes Out Against Public Health Care

BOYCOTT WHOLE FOODS

About 300 protesters gathered in front of Anthem Blue Cross' San Francisco headquarters September 22nd to bring attention to the company's opposition to health care reform. Demonstrators converged on California's Blue Cross office before noon and continued their loud protest for over two hours. They set up two sound systems, one for entertainment that playfully mocked the health insurance company's large profits, a second for speakers who told emotional stories of their problems with denied claims and treatment at the hands of one of the nation's largest insurers.

Satirizing the wealthy lifestyle of investors who profit from health care companies, a street theater group called Billionaires for Wealthcare gave speeches insisting that profits must be considered before the needs of people. They aped the rich with fake diamonds, golf clubs and top hats, and hoisted a placard reading "Blue Cross/Palin 2012". Following the Billionaires' exuberant performance, speakers, including real doctors and patients, took to a second sound system to chastise Anthem Blue Cross for what one person called the company's "unforgivable arrogance".

Later while the gathered crowd marched around the building chanting loudly, fifteen delegates from the protest attempted to enter Anthem Blue Cross' 13th floor office in the Embarcadero Center with a list of demands. Blue Cross personnel refused to open the door but listened to the delegates through an intercom, giving no response. The Billionaires, who joined the delegation to the high rise headquarters, insisted that they be allowed to enter the office saying, "after all, we OWN you." They were also rebuffed.

Video | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Billionaires for Wealthcare

WAMMfest 09 will take place on Saturday, September 26th from noon to 5pm at Duck Island in San Lorenzo Park, Santa Cruz. WAMMfest is an annual festival organized by the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) to thank the community and public officials for all the support and encouragement over the years, especially since the DEA raid of WAMM's collective garden and arrest of Valerie and Mike Corral in 2002.

WAMM is a collective of patients and caregivers, providing hope, building community, and offering medical marijuana at no cost to seriously ill patients with a doctor's recommendation. WAMM provides safe access to a safe, organic supply of medical marijuana for the treatment of terminal and chronic illness, to relieve suffering.

Read more | WAMMfest | WAMM

This fall, Congress will decide whether to update the Child Nutrition Act, the law that determines what 30 million children eat at school every day. Activists interested in petitioning Congress to increase funding for the Act, in order to give schools the resources to serve healthy and natural food, celebrated the Labor Day holiday by gathering with neighbors at Eat-ins throughout the Bay Area.

An Eat-In is a group of people gathering in public in order to share a home-cooked meal. Through the national Time for Lunch campaign, Eat-Ins were organized to help people network over "real" food, food that is grown locally when possible, and is fresh and wholesome. At present the vast majority of public schools only manage to meet mandated nutritional requirements by serving foods that are artificially supplemented.

In San Mateo, residents of an ecovillage invited neighbors to visit their cooperative housing along the bay and share a meal. In Los Gatos and Sonoma activists for healthy food ate in the shade in parks, while in Sunnyvale the Raging Grannies entertained a lunch gathering on a farm located on grounds owned by the Santa Clara Unified School District, adjacent to Petersen Middle School. San Francisco's Brooks Park with its giant fruit and vegetable sculptures made a perfect backdrop for healthy food enthusiasts who want to see more fresh produce on school lunch plates.

Photos: Sunnyvale: 1 | 2 | 3 | San Mateo | San Francisco | Los Gatos | Sonoma

East Palo Alto's biggest landlord missed a $50 million balloon payment to their bank last month, creating a situation that is both perplexing and dangerous for tenants. Page Mill Properties abruptly closed both their tony downtown Palo Alto office and their East Palo Alto offices last week, but they abandoned the tenants long before that. Tenant complaints include swimming pools covered in algae, long broken laundry facilities, and threatening "quit or pay" notices sent to tenants who were, in actuality, paid up on their rent. Tenant activists have also been harassed by Page Mill employees.

The Menlo Park Fire Department told the Palo Alto Daily News this week that of nine buildings recently inspected, only ONE of the current alarm systems is "even remotely" working. "We gave them a citation, a notice to repair, back in the June/July time frame. They have not done that," said the Fire Chief. Tenants are hoping that recent court action will bring some semblance of order to the neglected properties. On September 9, the San Mateo County Superior Court appointed Southern California based Ward Realty Advisors as receiver for the 1800 units. That company is now slated to select a property manager to take over running the buildings early next week.

On September 1 the court granted plaintiff Eric Oberle's motion for a preliminary injunction in a class action lawsuit against the giant landlord. That injunction barred Page Mill from collecting or enforcing rent increases that do not comply with East Palo Alto rent stabilization rules. Some tenants feel that this ruling may have been the final straw for the landlord whom they say not only failed to pay the bank but pocketed August and September rents as they left the properties abandoned.

Read more | EPA-tenants.org

Previous Indybay coverage: Mega-Landlord Pulls Out Suddenly, Leaving Tenants in Fire Trap | Possible Criminal Charges Against Landlord Page Mill Properties

On Tuesday, September 15th, the Santa Cruz Branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom will host a discussion with representatives of local grocers to discuss the standing of their business in the face of corporate food giants like Whole Foods and Safeway. Questions on the agenda include, "What are the effects of big box stores holding a portion of space for products which local growers and bakers provide?" and "How can we support those local businesses which are supporting our community?" The event begins at 7pm at the Quaker Meeting House, 225 Rooney St. (at the end of Morrissey). Read more