Vacancy Tax: Better Than Rent Control How to push down rents while INCREASING the supply of housing....
Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2018 7:17PM
BART Board Addresses 16th Street/Mission Street BART Plaza The BART Board of Directors addressed the status of the 16th Street/Mission Street Plaza at today’s meeting....
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 1:48PM
BART Removes Benches From 16th Street/Mission Street Plaza Without public discussion or advanced notice, BART closed most of the southwest 16th Street/Mission Street Plaza from September 10, 2018 to September 20, 2018 for construction... BART removed the approximately six benches from the plaza and has not reinstalled them, denying people places to sit in a public space.
In a posting on his Facebook page, viewable only to people logged into their Facebook accounts, BART Director Bevan Dufty announced that BART will install new benches by November ...
Posted: Mon Oct 8, 2018 9:31AM
Affordable Rents? A State of Emergency Intensifies Rents explode in cities after massive sales of public housing to brutal investors. In 1987, there were 5.5 million social apartments in Germany. Today, there are only 1.5 million. Land speculation is prevented in Vienna. The Vienna Housing Fund buys up possible development land. In impoverished Germany after WW1, local communities built hundreds of thousands of nonprofit apartments thanks to pressure from below....
Posted: Mon Oct 1, 2018 4:32AM
Opinion: EBALDC ignores tenants requests for recent lead testing inspection reports Instead of ignoring and stonewalling the concerned tenants at Effie’s House that have reasonably requested a copy of the lead testing inspection reports of Envirocheck Inc., it would be very helpful if EBALDC respected the tenants enough to release the results of the lead testing inspection reports from August of 2018!...
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 9:08PM
Against the Rent Madness and For a Nonprofit Orientation! The Alternative Housing Summit on Sept 21 inBerlin discussed alternatives to the market-based housing policy. Exploding rents and lack of affordable housing are the most burning social questions and drive people to the streets. More market is not the solution! Housing for People, not for Profits!...
Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 4:53AM
Governor Brown Signs AB-2178 Into Law On September 18, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB-2178, making it the law in California, adding new restrictions on the ability of volunteer and non-profit community groups to share free food....
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:17PM
Puerto Rico Struggles to Rebuild from Hurricanes Say Religious Leaders Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico last September 20th. According to the Associated Press, 60,000 thousand homes still have temporary or blue-tarp-covered roofs that would not survive a Category 1 hurricane. Tens of thousands of people across the island still lack access to housing or reliable electricity. After the hurricanes more than 130,000 people migrated to US States away from the island....
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:56PM
Cat Brooks’ Campaign for Mayor Raises Over $100,000 in Grassroots Donations Oakland mayoral candidate Cat Brooks announced that her campaign contributions have surpassed $100,000 in grassroots donations....
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:04PM
Proposal to List Chlorpyrifos as a Toxic Air Contaminant Opens for Public Comment The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) today announced a proposed regulation that would pave the way for increased restrictions on the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in California.It would designate chlorpyrifos as a “toxic air contaminant,” which California law defines as an air pollutant that may cause or contribute to increases in serious illness or death, or that may pose a present or potential hazard to human health. The move comes after an extensive period of scienti...
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:09AM
Call Governor Jerry Brown To Veto AB-2178, Which Restricts Our Right To Share Free Food The California Assembly and Senate have nearly unanimously passed AB-2178, which would impose new restrictions on individuals and community groups, like San Francisco Food Not Bombs, that share free meals. Please call the Governor’s office at 916 445 2841 and ask that AB 2178 be vetoed....
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 7:44AM
Promote Public Housing! A basic principle of the market economy is that the market only reacts to solvent demand, not to needs. If a need is not reflected in solvent demand, the market simply does not react. Supply-side expansion of affordable housing is key, not subject promotion....
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 9:08PM
Your Pain Is Not Real: How Doctors Discriminate Against Women Women experiencing health problems and pain are routinely neglected by medical professionals, because of sexist myths and stereotypes about women....
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 4:12PM
Social Policy as Social Infrastructure Work and income must be uncoupled. In Germany, thanks to higher productivity and information technology, 30% more was produced from 1970-2010 with 30% fewer workers. The state should represent the public. Demonizing China will not resuscitate the Rust Belt. Reducing working hours, sharing work and public investment are crucial. The Internet, Touchscreen,and GPS happened because of state investment and risk-taking...
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 3:34AM
HUD Prioritizes Funding for Communities Taking Steps Against Criminalization of Homelessness Forthcoming Homeless Law Center Report Shares Progress and Tools for Doing More...
Posted: Mon Jul 9, 2018 11:39AM
Santa Cruz City Manager Refuses to Reopen Louden Nelson/San Lorenzo Park Bathrooms Closed as part of a broader campaign targeting unhoused folks outside, the bathrooms at Louden Nelson Center, San Lorenzo Park, and City Hall remained locked and/or closed to the general public. City Manager Martin Bernal ducked an invitation to explain at a gathering a week ago. He then met the next day with Conscience-and-Action [C&A] activists and rejected suggestions to reopen the bathrooms or immediately provide additional accessible portapotties....
Posted: Sun Jul 8, 2018 4:00PM
Interview with Social Philosopher Friedhelm Hengsbach The financial markets have uncoupled from the real economy since the middle of the 1970s. Politicians listen and react to every sound from the financial sector. The state allows itself to be extorted by the different lobby groups. Who paid for the bank bailout? The general public or the state made itself poor, guaranteed capital and took over toxic securities...
Posted: Thu Jul 5, 2018 3:18AM
Housing as Infrastructure Housing as a human right is sometimes superseded by the right of speculation. Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (a Federal program), non-profit or cooperative housing and SROs (single-room occupancy) are three solutions to the housing crisis. Strategies like public subsidies are known from earlier housing emergencies. The Vienna example shows government housing policy can go different ways....
Posted: Mon Jul 2, 2018 7:32AM
SF Tenants Fight Stronger Than Ever After # Years The Midtown Tenants Association in SF's Western Addition has been resisting mass evictions and carrying out the city's longest rent strike since 2015....
Posted: Sun Jul 1, 2018 5:50PM
More Public Investments are Sensible and Necessary Low-interest rates should create possibilities for expansive budgetary policy. Public investments in the infrastructure and education could benefit future generations by helping raise long-term prosperity and well-being. The one-sided narrowing of budgetary possibilities is excessive and counter-productive....
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:42AM