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CREATED:20141026T181300Z
DESCRIPTION:Occupy Forum presents…\n \nADDRESSING THE HOUSING\nCRISIS 
 HEAD-ON:\n\nProp G and CARES Campaigns\n  Attack Roots of San Francisco's 
 Housing Woes\n\nMost of us have heard the grim statistics: Ellis Act 
 evictions up 170% in the last three years; 10,000 San Francisco tenants 
 have been displaced by the Ellis Act since 1997, and most of us know many 
 people who've been evicted, often long time residents, and with low incomes 
 so they can't afford to stay in SF and must leave their community behind. 
 And we also know how the tech boom has brought a wave of young, single 
 people with high salaries to the city which has resulted in huge hikes in 
 rents and house prices making housing unaffordable to people with low or 
 even average incomes.\n\nAnd while the tech companies take in astronomical 
 profits every month, they aren't the only ones raking in the dough. Real 
 Estate companies and speculators have been making a killing with their 
 investments in housing, often seeing at least a 25% return on their 
 investment in a year. Much of the current crisis has been fueled by these 
 large speculators who don't live in the city, don't intend to live in the 
 buildings they buy and don't even want to be landlords - their interest is 
 purely profit. When their financial speculation includes our homes, we say 
 "Enough is enough."\n\nWhile there have been several attempts to address 
 this crisis, they have mostly dealt with small symptoms of the overall 
 problem such as making in-law units rent-controlled. And neo-liberal 
 politicians have approved every development in hopes that more expensive 
 condos would somehow dilute the market -- (this has been a complete 
 failure). Efforts to reform the Ellis Act by State Sen. Mark Leno were 
 defeated by Real Estate-funded Republicans. However, this coming election 
 on Nov. 4, Prop G is on target to become the first significant legislation 
 to address real estate speculation head-on.\n\nProposition G would levy a 
 hefty tax on real estate speculators in San Francisco if they buy and then 
 flip a mutli-unit building in less than 5 years. So Prop G would act as a 
 significant disincentive for speculators to buy buildings, evict tenants 
 and then resell them for huge profits. It's supported by most progressive 
 and moderate politicians such as Mark Leno, Tom Ammiano, David Campos, John 
 Avalos, Jane Kim and by groups like the SF Democratic Party, the SF Tenants 
 Union, the Harvey Milk Democratic Club and many more.\n\nOf course the real 
 estate agents who profit so handsomely by selling our homes from under us 
 aren't going to let this huge source of wealth generation be slowed in any 
 way and so the national, state and local realtors associations have put 
 well over $1.5 million into the NO ON G campaign, providing them with ten 
 times the budget of YES ON G which is mostly grass roots. They also know 
 that this prop could be a trend-setter for other parts of the country which 
 are also experiencing speculation-fueled increases in housing costs. We 
 need all hands on deck to get this legislation passed and to cool the 
 artificial boom in SF real estate.\n\nFred Sherburn-Zimmer is an organizer 
 with Housing Rights Committee and a founder of Eviction Free SF. Benito 
 Santiago is also an Eviction Free SF member who has successfully fought the 
 eviction of he and his neighbours from their Mission area homes. Both are 
 active workers for the YES ON G campaign and they will explain in more 
 detail what the Proposition is and how it will significantly help reduce 
 evictions and slow increases in rents and house prices.\n\nThen Julien Ball 
 of ACCE will discuss the current state of the housing crisis in SF and what 
 other measures are being proposed such at ACCE's CARES program. This is 
 based on the City of Richmond's bold plan to use eminent domain to take 
 over foreclosed upon homes from banks when they won't re-negotiate loans to 
 keep people in their homes. ACCE is hoping to get San Francisco to join 
 Richmond and adopt CARES to help the thousands of people whose homes are 
 currently or may enter foreclosure here. ACCE Action is part of Families 
 for an Affordable San Francisco, a community labor coalition that's been 
 campaigning for YES ON J (increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour); 
 YES ON G; and David Campos for State Assembly.\nJames Tracy, a long-time 
 Bay Area activist and author will discuss the crisis and his new book on 
 the topic Dispatches Against Displacement in which he promotes the vision 
 of cities constructed, not just for profit, but "developed by and for the 
 people who bring them to life and keep them running."\n\n\nQ & A and 
 Announcements will follow.\nDonations to OccupyForum to cover our costs are 
 encouraged; no one turned away!\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/10/26/18763350.php
SUMMARY:Occupy Forum presents… ADDRESSING THE HOUSING CRISIS HEAD-ON
LOCATION:Global Exchange, 2017, Mission Street, San Francisco, CA - 94110\nNear the 
 16th street BART station.
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/10/26/18763350.php
DTSTART:20141028T010000Z
DTEND:20141028T040000Z
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