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Jerry Justice

Tenants protest Jerry Brown’s unjust notion of Affordable Housing

By Joseph Bolden ( author of the PNN column Ask Joe He don’t know)

A family, gets a 30-day eviction notice A grandmother, and her daughter, Diana Robinson who has three children of her own, a three Generation Family.... OUT!

On a lackluster, pale gray day in Oakland, two crowds converge outside City Hall, police stand some distance away. One of two separate crowds outside surrounds the area, the other marches forward holding hand-written signs, bullhorns amplify a voice saying "Justice!"- What Do We Want?" "Justice. "When Do We Want It"? "NOW! - WHAT DO YOU WANT? JUSTICE." WHEN DO YOU WANT IT? NOW!" The two crowds blend into one. Their purpose: stating recent actions taken by Mayor Jerry Brown and his affordable housing plans. It's Wednesday, June 7, 2000, The protest and rally against evictions in Oakland, as in San Francisco, is heating up.

Only one sun was hidden on this overcast day, others are bursting from souls, hearts, and minds in people fed up, unafraid. These people are slowing the Jerry's plan for Oakland's "revitalization", plans which include taking the heart, soul, and backbone out of the city by shoving both long time residents and families into the streets as real estate speculators debauch the city. This in turn leads to grab'n greed so called renovation of homes and hotels into higher rent prices, making "affordable housing" another code word for price 'em out, price 'em all out.

Donna, her daughter and her grandmother, all live in a duplex building have to leave because the building they've lived in for over a decade has been sold. Funny, a mother and a grown daughter with three children of her own living in a duplex building, and because they are in the same building all must move out ; yet if the grown daughter or mother had lived in separate places one could have easily stayed with the other. This matriarchal family living together in Oakland, a true close knit family is a liability when their housing is sold out from under them-THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!

The development boom sweeping through the San Francisco Bay Area has arrived in Oakland. After many years of decline and disinvestment, capital is coming to Oakland. This capital is needed to facilitate the community's development, but the most vexing question is a simple one: Who will benefit from this boom?

The Current Crisis

• No-Cause Evictions and Nowhere to Go

Oakland landlords can evict tenants with 30-day notices for no reason whatsoever a practice that has increased 300% in the last year. The vast majority - 76% - of residents being evicted are people of color. Unscrupulous landlords abuse this loophole in the rental laws by unfairly evicting responsible tenants, and then raising the rent more than the annual 3% rate set by City Council.

These residents and other low-income people in search of housing are out of luck in a market where rents rose 18% in Alameda and Contra Costa counties between 1997 and 1999 ( more then $150 per month). Many long-term residents--including elderly, disabled, and families with children--are being forced to leave.

• The "10k" Gentrification Plan

Mayor Jerry Brown wants to rejuvenate Oakland's downtown by building housing for 10,000 new residents. This "10k plan" is designed to attract new retail and entertainment to create a bustling urban atmosphere. City staff are assembling sites, undertaking environmental clean-up and demolition, and promising other incentives to developers of housing that will serve households earning at least $75,000 to $100,000. Several thousand units of this housing are already in the works.

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The downtown workforce will resemble the East Bay economy - most jobs will be at the top of the wage range or at the bottom. Those jobs at the bottom will be in the service sector - hotel workers, restaurant staff, janitors, cashiers, clerical staff, health care workers, ect.- and will provide the backbone of the Mayor's revitalization effort. If fact, half of all new jobs downtown will pay less than $12 an hour, or $25,000 a year. One third will pay less that $10 an hour. Half of the service sector jobs will be provide medical insurance.

• Shredding the "Safety Net"

Residential hotels, the Henry Robinson Multi-Service Center and a network of social service agencies located downtown provide critical assistance for Oakland's poorest residents. Job Consortium, West Oakland Health Center's First Step, Sentinel Fair Housing and many others provide job a critical web of social services for downtown, greatly contributing to community stability. Yet rising rents downtown, fueled by the arrival of the "dot-com" economy and the City's revitalization plans, threaten to force these agencies out.

A People's Vision for Downtown Oakland

The 10k plan and all of the developer interest it has generated provide excellent opportunity to create a vibrant downtown, while preserving Oakland's racial and economic diversity. To reach the goal, The City must include affordable housing, tenant protections and a network of social services in the vision and reality of downtown Oakland.

Our Demands

We call on the Mayor and City Council to support the following demands in supporting a downtown Oakland for all of us:

• Put the Just Cause for Eviction ordinance, as written by Just Cause Oakland, on the November 2000 ballot.

The Just Cause for Eviction ordinance will stop landlord abuses of the existing laws, and it will protect all Oakland residents against evictions for profit.

This law will require landlords to give a just and legal reason for any eviction, such, as selling drugs out of the apartment or failing to pay rent. This law will also protect responsible tenants who are good neighbors and add to the community in which they live. Landlords will not be able to evict them just to line their pockets!

• Enact a policy that 25% of all housing built under the 10k plan be affordable to households earning less than $35,000.

This should be achieved through a combination of strategies and resources already used in Oakland and other Bay Area cities. Nonprofit developers can leverage City funds with other public and private monies to develop affordable units within their projects.

• Preserve the multi-service center, the residential hotels and the network of social service agencies downtown.

The City must work with the Multi-Service Center to keep the facility downtown where it is accessible to its clients. Similar to efforts in San Francisco, the City should assist downtown nonprofit social agencies to relocate, perhaps in one central location.

Residential hotels must be preserved as a vital resource to prevent homelessness.

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THERAPY COSTS TOO MUCH!!!!
Dee Gray, M.S.W., M.F.C.   Licensed Therapist specializing in advocacy and crisis counseling. Mother, daughter and family counseling. Adoption and juvenile dependency. Literary and creative art counseling. Individual and group therapy. Sliding scale fee. (415) 541-5629.