Petition to repeal Richmond’s renter protections may not be valid

Petition to repeal Richmond’s renter protections may not be valid

By Lynda Carson - September 17, 2015

Richmond - The petition turned in by Pacific Petition, Inc., and the California Apartment Association (CAA) on September 3, 2015 with around 7,100 collected signatures to repeal Richmond’s renter protections may not be valid. This is based on public records, on file with the Secretary of State, in California.

According to public records, there is only one entity listed in the state of California under the name Pacific Petition, Inc., entity number C2625123, address 2940 16th St., Suite 102, San Francisco, and the status of the entity known as Pacific Petition, Inc., is dissolved.

David Spero is listed as the agent for service of process, home address 286 Guerrero, in San Francisco, and according to media reports, the California Apartment Association (CAA) payed Pacific Petition, Inc, to collect the needed signatures for a petition to repeal renter protections in Richmond, including rent control, and just cause eviction protections

The California Apartment Association (CAA) hired an entity (company) that is dissolved in the state of California as a business. A dissolved entity/business, that was used to collect the signatures for a petition, to repeal renter protections in Richmond.

Since Pacific Petition, Inc’s., status as an entity in the state of California is dissolved, it raises the possibility that the petition to repeal renter protections in Richmond is not valid because the company was operating with-out a valid license in the state of California, when it collected the signatures to repeal Richmond’s renter protections that were to go into effect on September 4, 2015.

In response to the petition by Pacific Petition, Inc., and California Apartment Association (CAA) that many citizens complained about because they were lied to, and tricked into signing the petition by signature gatherers, Richmond Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin and Mike Parker, both being members of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), have made statements in regards to the CAA backed petition that blocked renter protections from going into effect on September 4.

Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin said: “As many of you know, three specific Richmond-related petitions were circulated for signatures in our city recently.  They were turned into our City Clerk's office earlier this month.  The signatures are currently being reviewed in the Contra Costa Elections Office to determine whether or not they have sufficient qualifying signatures.”

“One of the petitions refers to the Richmond City Manager's salary, another refers to a development project in Richmond, and the third petition refers to Rent Control/Just Cause for Eviction in Richmond. I will continue to update you as the process of reviewing these petitions continues.”

Additionally, in a statement from RPA member Mike Parker called; “RPA Statement on Petition to Block Rent Control & Just Cause for Eviction.”

On September 11, RPA member Mike Parker said: “The filing of petitions to suspend the City’s rent control/just cause ordinance does not stop the need for tenant protections in a city where almost half the residents live in rented housing.”

“Despite statements by City officials that the filing suspends the ordinance, there is also legal opinion that the suspension does not take place until sufficient signatures are verified by the county, a process that may take up to 30 days.”

“If the signatures are verified, the ordinance will be suspended. The City Council will either repeal the ordinance or schedule it for a referendum vote, although it is not required to decide immediately. The coalition of community organizations that have been backing rent control will make recommendations to the City Council about next steps.”

“We wish to emphasize that this petition has been an abuse of the elections system. First, the petition was circulated without the sponsoring organization being known. Only after the petitions were filed was the role of the California Apartment Association revealed.”

“Second, the system of allowing paid signature gatherers already biases the initiative/referendum process in favor of wealthy persons or corporations. In this case the signature drive only succeeded because gatherers were paid three to six times normal rates. When rates jumped up to $12.50 per signature and in some cases a reported $20.00 per signature, petition gatherers from around the state converged on Richmond. The high rates encouraged gatherers to say anything to get a signature. We have many cases documented where potential signers were told that this petition would favor or strengthen rent control.”

Now that the current records with the Secretary of State reveal that the status of Pacific Petition, Inc., as an entity/business in the state of California is dissolved, it is possible that the City of Richmond may demand that the count of signatures on the petition that was turned in by the California Apartment Association (CAA) be immediately suspended, and that the renter protections scheduled to go into effect on September 4, 2015, be allowed to go into effect immediately.

Click on link below to see that the status of Pacific Petition, Inc., is suspended according to the Secretary of State.

http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/

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


For more on David Spero, click on the links below…

https://ucpi.sco.ca.gov/ucp/PropertyDetails.aspx?propertyRecID=10113989

https://ucpi.sco.ca.gov/ucp/PropertyDetails.aspx?propertyRecID=26004475

http://pacific-petition.san-francisco.ca.amfibi.company/us/c/3304101-pacific-petition#

http://www.buzzfile.com/business/Pacific-Petition-415-558-0452

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