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Renters Option To Challenge Task Force Proposal!
THE RENTERS OPTION!
New Rent Increase Formula Is Not A Done Deal!
Task Force Proposal Is A Total Disaster For Low-Income Renters!
New Rent Increase Formula Is Not A Done Deal!
Task Force Proposal Is A Total Disaster For Low-Income Renters!
RENTERS OPTION TO CHALLENGE TASK FORCE PROPOSAL.
By Lynda Carson 8/9/01
Whatever the deal was between the Oakland Tenants Union, the Landlords, and City Council Members to allow for more rent increases, it's not a done deal yet, and I recommend that the renters of Oakland take charge of their lives, and demand that the City Of Oakland dare not abolish the 3% CAP ON ANNUAL RENT INCREASES. The final vote on this is ahead in the fall, perhaps as soon as October, 2001. You have the RENTERS OPTION!
According to Task Force Documents:
Based upon a July 10, 2001 Memo from Councilmembers Spees and Bruner to the full City Council; Item "14-F Residential Rent Arbitration" is being redrafted and coming back in the fall for a City Council Vote. Item 14-F contains the issue of the proposed FORMULA to replace the 3% cap on annual rent increases. It's still "NOT A DONE DEAL!"
It says; We need to clarify the intent and the actions of the June 26, 2001
Community and Economic Development on this item; "14-F".
According to Councilmembers Spees and Brunner in #5 of '14-F;
The Committee directed staff to bring back the redrafted ordinance in the fall, incorporating Items 1-4 of "14-F Residential Rent Arbitration."
Item #4 of 1-4 says; The Committee confirmed that the annual rent increase percentage would be the average of the full Bay Area urban CPI and the Bay Area urban less shelter. However, this was challenged by James Vann who wants to tinker with this deal just alittle bit more, and it's being analyzed by the staff. IT IS NOT A DONE DEAL!
This means that the above NUMBER 4 HAS NOT BEEN VOTED ON YET! They are to vote on this in the fall, which means that renters have the "OPTION" to fiercely
Lobby against this deal. As they say, it's not a done deal till the Council Votes on it. You can fight City Hall!
A deal this big needs full community participation. It's Your Money!
This would be the RENTERS OPTION. Challenge this now with every resource
available, with letters, calls, e-mails, protests, sit-ins, demonstrations, rally's,
and pure ingenuity to convince these deal makers that you reject the Task Force Deal to raise the rent's to the CPI Formula Proposal. Why must we accept
less? SAVE THE 3% CAP ON ANNUAL RENT INCREASES! It's your life!
My intent is to convince all renters in Oakland to unite on this against the
TASK FORCE PROPOSAL! My intent is not to damage Oakland Tenants Union or
Tenant Activists. I believe that we can save the 3% cap on annual rent increases if we are relentless in this one goal for the moment. I urge the Oakland Tenants Union to join in this effort, NOW!
The rents are insanely high as is, and until WE UNITE TOGETHER, there is no end in sight. NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGHT BACK! Take charge of our lives from the bosses.
See estimated damage to renters from the loss of the 3% Cap On Annual Rent Increase's for yourself. Just Click Below...The Task Force did not offer you this option to see what they have in mind. Have you wondered why? It will cost us many millions upon millions through the years....
Click below to see the CPI for Bay Area/Less Shelter. Unless we stop this dead in it's tracks "NOW," the rents shall soon SKYROCKET to height's never before seen in the whole history of Oakland. Let us all find common ground on this one issue. Click Below...
http://stats.bls.gov/special.requests/sanfrancisco/cpisanf.htm
Tell your Friends. Tell your Neighbors. Convince yourself that you refuse to sit
idly by, and that you are really in control of your own destiny. Add your comments at the SF/IMC, and organize like never before. I trust in you.
Sincerely Lynda Carson
By Lynda Carson 8/9/01
Whatever the deal was between the Oakland Tenants Union, the Landlords, and City Council Members to allow for more rent increases, it's not a done deal yet, and I recommend that the renters of Oakland take charge of their lives, and demand that the City Of Oakland dare not abolish the 3% CAP ON ANNUAL RENT INCREASES. The final vote on this is ahead in the fall, perhaps as soon as October, 2001. You have the RENTERS OPTION!
According to Task Force Documents:
Based upon a July 10, 2001 Memo from Councilmembers Spees and Bruner to the full City Council; Item "14-F Residential Rent Arbitration" is being redrafted and coming back in the fall for a City Council Vote. Item 14-F contains the issue of the proposed FORMULA to replace the 3% cap on annual rent increases. It's still "NOT A DONE DEAL!"
It says; We need to clarify the intent and the actions of the June 26, 2001
Community and Economic Development on this item; "14-F".
According to Councilmembers Spees and Brunner in #5 of '14-F;
The Committee directed staff to bring back the redrafted ordinance in the fall, incorporating Items 1-4 of "14-F Residential Rent Arbitration."
Item #4 of 1-4 says; The Committee confirmed that the annual rent increase percentage would be the average of the full Bay Area urban CPI and the Bay Area urban less shelter. However, this was challenged by James Vann who wants to tinker with this deal just alittle bit more, and it's being analyzed by the staff. IT IS NOT A DONE DEAL!
This means that the above NUMBER 4 HAS NOT BEEN VOTED ON YET! They are to vote on this in the fall, which means that renters have the "OPTION" to fiercely
Lobby against this deal. As they say, it's not a done deal till the Council Votes on it. You can fight City Hall!
A deal this big needs full community participation. It's Your Money!
This would be the RENTERS OPTION. Challenge this now with every resource
available, with letters, calls, e-mails, protests, sit-ins, demonstrations, rally's,
and pure ingenuity to convince these deal makers that you reject the Task Force Deal to raise the rent's to the CPI Formula Proposal. Why must we accept
less? SAVE THE 3% CAP ON ANNUAL RENT INCREASES! It's your life!
My intent is to convince all renters in Oakland to unite on this against the
TASK FORCE PROPOSAL! My intent is not to damage Oakland Tenants Union or
Tenant Activists. I believe that we can save the 3% cap on annual rent increases if we are relentless in this one goal for the moment. I urge the Oakland Tenants Union to join in this effort, NOW!
The rents are insanely high as is, and until WE UNITE TOGETHER, there is no end in sight. NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGHT BACK! Take charge of our lives from the bosses.
See estimated damage to renters from the loss of the 3% Cap On Annual Rent Increase's for yourself. Just Click Below...The Task Force did not offer you this option to see what they have in mind. Have you wondered why? It will cost us many millions upon millions through the years....
Click below to see the CPI for Bay Area/Less Shelter. Unless we stop this dead in it's tracks "NOW," the rents shall soon SKYROCKET to height's never before seen in the whole history of Oakland. Let us all find common ground on this one issue. Click Below...
http://stats.bls.gov/special.requests/sanfrancisco/cpisanf.htm
Tell your Friends. Tell your Neighbors. Convince yourself that you refuse to sit
idly by, and that you are really in control of your own destiny. Add your comments at the SF/IMC, and organize like never before. I trust in you.
Sincerely Lynda Carson
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_____________________________________________
From: JamesEVann [at] aol.com
Sent; Tuesday , june 26, 2001 9:38 AM
To: Brunner, Jane; Nadel, Nancy; De La fuente, Ignacio; Dick Spees
Subject: Errors And Needed Revisions To Staff Report on Rent Board Changes.
Enclosed here, and as an attacment, are important tenant review comments:
Respectively,
James Vann
Chairperson Brunner (and CEDA Committee Members):
Tenant representatives met last night to review the staff recomendation on Revisions to the Residential Rent Arbitration Ordinanceon agenda of your CEDA
Committee this morning. As previously stated, tenants representatives, while feeling that the proposed changes are minimal, will support the recomendation.
In followup of our discussion last week, we are disappointed that some ommisions from the staff report have not been corrected in the recomendation now before the Committee.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Is there any point in adding more of this HORRIFIC correspondance between City Officials and Tenant Representatives that scheme to break into the bank accounts of the Renters of Oakland to pluck out MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of hard earned dollars from an already stressed out population? That really was
the works of James Vann (above) who so gallantly defended Eddie Ytuarte when I posted Eddies "Challenge" to hear from more than I about the future rent increases heading our way. The nerve of them both! They need to get on a one way shuttlecraft for Mars!
Who the hell was representing you or I in any of this?
Am I ranting and raving like a lunatic? I do not think so...I'm just one more person that is so sick of our so-called Representatives sticking it to us, and
then telling us that they really did us a favor. I already told james that he does not Represent me. How about you?
JamesEVann [at] aol.com
My goddess, if I can be the spark to get some life out of all of you that are ready to refuse to go along with these CROOKS that so dryly "Ho-Hum" sit down at a table and barter away our lives as though WHAT? I lack the words to describe what is happening here. And if I mentioned my real thoughts, it would probably be illegal. It's not illegal to think yet, is it?
At any rate, do not let any of these pricks try to convince you that they are doing you a favor as they OPEN UP YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS to some already RICH
BASTARD MILLIONAIRE' that wants more of your money than he should ever have, as they threaten you with eviction so that the next chump can pay double the rents! It would be so much more respectable to have some crack head rob us at gun point, rather than to have some bumbling bureaucrats shuffle some papers around telling us to bend over!
The White Collar Criminals tie us up into knots with their paperwork making us defenseless, and then they RAPE us. May they all rot in hell!
I pray to the goddess that all of us UNITE from here to hell to stop these Crooks in their tracks. Because one way or another the "FIX" is in and they plan to screw us anyway we look at it.
Sincerely Lynda Carson
Subject: Eddie "Fair?"
Was it you who suggested that we email Mr "Fair?"
Have a look at what he wrote back to me:
On Tue, 7 Aug 2001 09:28:46 -0700 (PDT) r
writes:
> What's the matter with the 3% cap? Big developers just
> not making enough $? Think that the poor of Oakland
> should just move a little further away from their jobs
> and communities to other, more manageable areas? Think
> there's just a line of rich yuppies waiting to move
> into Oakland as soon as those poor folks would just
> get out of the way??
> WRONG.
> You are wrong on this issue, Eddie "Fair."
Thank you for your e-mail above.
i am not going into detail about the 3% cap other than
refer you to the article James Vann wrote about this
subject of Aug. in SF IndiMedia.
He best states my position.
i would have loved to hear from you earlier.
What have you been doing all this time?
Why didn't we hear from you before the two city council meetings where the cap and other rent ordinance proposals were discussed. You could have easily had a public forum before the city council and denounced me for selling out tenant interests. I'm sure other tenants in Oakland would have been interested
in what you have to say. why do you criticise me after the fact?: If you are going to be an effective agitator or activist you might want to think how you can be more effective in firing off your well-intentioned political points. Perhaps you are young and inexperienced and don't know much about community acitivism.
Hopefully, you will encounter a good guide......
Sincerly,
Eddie "Fair"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wrote him back to say that it was an interesting tactic to insult people who attempt to participate in the political process. "I'm sure your political career will go far..."
***********************************************************
Are there others out there receiving replies from Task Force Member Eddie Ytuarte? The above came in this morning from someone that wrote to him...Eddie challenged folks to contact him. Eddie is one out of the other 3-4 members that show up at the Oakland
Tenants Union Meetings. Sometimes a few stragglers appear. LC
Task Force Member
Eddie Ytuarte
510/444-6089
EddieFair [at] juno.com
Ms. Carson is calling for a mobilization by Oakland renters to fight city Hall and against the lifting of the 3% percent cap.
My basic position on rent control has been rent adjustments should be geared to the consumer price index minus shelter. This is in tune pretty much to the position of members of Just Cause Oakland and the Oakland Tenants Union, of which I am a member of both groups. I am quite sure members of both groups would also support the 3% level if tenants of Oakland want it at 3%.
The fact is, when the latest recomendation went before the city council, tenants were were not protesting against the changing of the formula. If just some tenants would have let it be known that the change in formula would be such a disaster, I would have easily supported maintaining the 3%.
Unfortunately, Ms. Carson did not call for this mobilization the first time the change in formula was considered by the city council in early July. But Ms. Carson was not there so there was no serious consideration of this issue.
Before Ms. Carson wrote me about me in SFindimedia on August 6, had any of you seen her call for mass mobilization she issued today. It's not there. I challenged Ms. Carson to bring out the fight in Oakland tenants on August 6--and she responded, and I am delighted
(although she has to learn to more accurately describe private phone calls between her and I.)
Just remember: The rent cap is just one piece of the housing rights fight in Oakland. Ms. Carson did not include in her proposal these other struggles but I am sure she will speak to them as time goes on. These issues include Just Cause, gentrification, decent housing, the rent board, the staffing and "leadership" of the rent arbitration program, affordable housing (particularly for very low income, people with disabilities, and communities of color), affordable housing space for non profit organizations, and one or two others.
If you folks are still reading I just want to urge you to keep sending me e-Mails. I have had the opportunity to exchange e-mails with some fine people whom I had not been in contact before. Keep writing and think of getting involved in housing efforts in Oakland (and other communities if you live outside of oakland)
At least one Oakland tenant (in favor of the 3% cap) has already e-mailed a communication to the entire Oakland Housing Task Force, of which I am a member, and which is a focus of housing politics in Oakland. Please, send us more; send us more and let us know what is on your mind and what you want done.
But above all, consider joing Oakland housing groups--Two which come to mind are Just Cause Oakland and Oakland Tenants Union. If you need more information of these two
organizations; or just would provide any kind of feedback to me, contact me.
Please feel free to e-Mail me at: EddieFair [at] juno.com
Thats EddieFair [at] juno.com