Oakland Renters Urgent Action March 16 Against The NEO

******ACTION ALERT*******
*****PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY******

Nuisance Eviction Ordinance (NEO)
Say No To Agenda Items; 16 through 16.3
(16/16.1/16.2/16.3)

On March 16, Oakland City Council will vote on a frightening ordinance
called the "Nuisance Eviction Ordinance". This ordinance would give
landlords, neighbors and the police the ability to evict tenants for
actions considered "nuisances" without: a) charging tenants with a crime or b) having any real evidence. This ordinance threatens everyone's rights
who lives in Oakland. Councilmember Larry Reid has introduced this measure supposedly to increase safety in Oakland.

What will this Nuisance Eviction Ordinance mean for Oakland?
* abuse - tenants will be evicted without evidence or due process
* increased homelessness
* families torn apart
* decreased safety in our communities
* the likelihood of increased racial profiling, and a disproportionate
impact on communities of color and other marginalized Oakland
communities.

What you can do:
- COME TO THE MARCH 16 MEETING BY 5:45 PM To Sign Up In Opposition To Agenda Items 16 through 16.3, at Oakland City Hall!
We need to show that there is opposition to this ordinance.
- Call City Council members to tell them to vote NO on
the Nuisance Eviction Ordinance
- Email / fax City Council members to tell them to vote NO (see sample
email below)

Please also sign up to speak at the March 16 City Council meeting:
(No On Agenda Items, 16 through 16.3)

http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/city_clerk/testclerk.cfm.

Let croakland [at] criticalresistance.org know if you've signed up, so we
know how many people are coming out in support.

More about this ordinance is at the bottom of this email. This email
also includes a sample email to send to city council members, and the phone numbers of city council members.

Questions? Call 510-444-0484, or email
croakland [at] criticalresistance.org.

--------------------------------------------------
Sample email (email addresses are to all council members & Jerry
Brown).
Please copy and add your own comments and include your name and address at the
bottom.

nnadel [at] oaklandnet.com, cityochang [at] aol.com, dbrooks [at] oaklandnet.com, dwan [at] oaklandnet.com, lreid [at] oaklandnet.com, jquan [at] oaklandnet.com,
cityclerk [at] oaklandnet.com, officeofthemayor [at] oaklandnet.com,
jbrunner [at] oaklandnet.com, idelafuente [at] oaklandnet.com

I am writing you today to urge you to vote NO on the Nuisance Eviction
Ordinance which comes before you on March 16. A "NO" vote on the
Nuisance Eviction Ordinance (NEO) means that you understand that:

- the NEO does not address public safety in our communities -- instead,
it criminalizes and exiles members of the community without providing real solutions to problems in our communities.
- The NEO will increase homelessness, which our city does not have the
resources to deal with.
- The NEO will destroy families by not permitting families to live
together.
- Denying people housing will not make Oakland safer.
- Oakland needs a comprehensive approach to safety that deals with our
community's real needs: housing, services, and jobs.
- Everyone in our community deserves stable housing.

I urge you to vote NO on the Nuisance Eviction Ordinance.

Sincerely,

----------------------------------------------------

CALL OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS - ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN THEIR
DISTRICT:
Find out what district you live in:
http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/council/city-officials.html
District 1: Jane Brunner, 238-7001 (tel) or 238-6910 (fax)
District 2: Danny Wan, Phone: (510) 238-7002, FAX: (510) 238-6910
District 3: Nancy Nadel, 238-7003 (tel) or 238-6129 (fax)
District 4: Jean Quan, tel: 510/238-7004, fax: 510/238-6129
District 5: Ignacio de la Fuente, 238-7005 (tel) or 238-6910 (fax)
District 6: Desley Brooks, 238-7006 (tel) or 238-6129 (fax)
District 7: Larry Reid, 238-7007 (tel) or 238-6910 (fax)
At Large: Henry Chang Jr., 238-7008 (tel) or 238-6938 (fax)

----------------------------------------------------
More info:
Owners told to evict problem tenants
Oakland may act if they refuse
Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, February 19, 2004
)2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ


URL:
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/19/BAG5053Q301.DTL


Oakland has become the first city in Northern California to adopt a law
allowing the city to force private landlords to evict tenants arrested
for drugs, weapons or other crimes.

While property owners already have such authority, the ordinance
adopted late Tuesday by the City Council allows the city, on the basis of
police reports, to intervene if landlords refuse to act.

"This is a very good thing for neighborhoods,'' said North Oakland
activist Don Link, who helped neighbors force tenants to leave a building after suing the landlord in small-claims court. "We can't wait around while people destroy the neighborhood. . . . I think just the threat of the suit would prod most property owners to clean things up.''

Los Angeles and Buena Park (Orange County) have similar ordinances. In 2002, Los Angeles ordered 190 evictions. In 131 cases, the offending tenant left without challenging the eviction. Most of the remaining cases were settled out of court, often by one tenant leaving the family home.

The Oakland law allows the city to specify that only alleged
troublemakers are evicted while innocent family members, such as grandparents, remain in the dwellings they share with those being evicted. The law also allows for the possible closure of convenience stores, hotels and other tenants of commercial buildings.

"This will help law-abiding residents reclaim their blocks,'' said
Councilman Larry Reid, who sponsored the ordinance. "I think this will
really help us deal with street-level crime.''

Tenants evicted under the law cannot rent from that landlord again for
at least three years. Landlords who refuse to evict the problem tenants
can be fined as much as $1,000 a day. Property owners who fear for their safety can ask the city attorney's office to conduct the eviction.

"This allows the city to evict tenants who violate the law without
sweeping up innocent people in broader net,'' said Deputy City Attorney Richard Illgen.

Police Chief Richard Word agreed. "Many of the complaints we receive
are from renters who have to live next door to problem tenants. This can be horrible and frightening, especially if you have young children."

At Tuesday's council meeting, there was some confusion after only five
of eight council members voted in favor of the ordinance, with
Councilwoman Desley Brooks against the measure and Councilwomen Jane Brunner and Nancy Nadel abstaining. Although some new ordinances require six "yes" votes to become law, the Oakland city attorney's office determined that the eviction law required only five votes.

Brooks, Brunner and Nadel were concerned that the new ordinance did not have sufficient protections for tenants who felt they were wrongly accused. Reid agreed to amend the ordinance when it comes before the council for a second reading in March to allow tenants who successfully resist eviction in court to be awarded attorney fees.

"We don't want to be anti-tenant,'' Reid said. "We don't want innocent
people to suffer.''

But longtime tenant activist Lynda Carson said she feared the new city
law would lead to "witch hunts" against innocent tenants. She said
landlords aided by police would abuse the law to force out longtime renters and replace them with yuppies willing to pay more money.

"They really want to gentrify this city,'' Carson said. "This insidious
law makes it easier for landlords to get rid of anyone they want. They can just claim you are a nuisance.''

E-mail Jim Zamora at jzamora [at] sfchronicle.com

2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ

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