Feature Archives

East Palo Alto residents surrounded city council members as they entered City Hall on December 1st. Residents of Page Mill Properties and their supporters rallied in front of the building to attempt to secure the support of council members in the tenants' long battle against the mega-landlord. Page Mill, East Palo Alto's largest landlord, has been in dispute for years with tenants. In September, Page Mill failed to make a $50 million payment and a judge appointed Ward Realty Advisors to take control of their 1,800 rental units in the city.

On November 4th, tenants and community members gathered in front of East Palo Alto's West Park Apartments to hold the first in a series of actions to demand the roll back of rents that have seen drastic increases in the last few years. In 2006, Page Mill Properties began gobbling up rent-controlled housing and illegally raising rents with the nation's biggest public employee pension fund CalPERS as a principal investment partner. Tenants Together, California's statewide organization for renters' rights, is calling on CalPERS to adopt predator-free real estate investment policies that will prevent it from ever committing funds to Page Mill type schemes again.

It was the Raging Grannies versus Billionaires for Wealthcare outside the Stanford Park Hotel where Congressman John Boehner spoke to a $1,000 per plate Republican crowd in Menlo Park on October 12. The Grannies went on the offensive and tried to give the Billionaires a "shot of reality" as the two street theater groups protested the House Minority leader's event.

On September 9, the San Mateo County Superior Court appointed a receiver for Page Mill Properties 1800-unit East Palo Alto apartment portfolio after the giant landlord abandoned their property management duties and offices last week. East Palo Alto's biggest landlord missed a $50 million balloon payment to their bank last month prompting Wells Fargo to seek a temporary restraining order barring Page Mill from collecting further rents and destroying any books relating to the properties.

More than 1,000 people came to hear Congresswoman Anna Eshoo speak about health care reform at a town hall meeting in Palo Alto on September 2nd. They filled the theatre to capacity and dozens were left standing outside. The Congresswoman, who is one of the authors of the health care reform bill spearheaded by President Obama, struggled to maintain decorum as right-wing protesters heckled her. A rally outside the auditorium lasting for over an hour ahead of the event included demonstrators on both sides of the issue.

Health care reform activists dressed as fictitious "Billionaires for Wealthcare" demonstrated on August 26th at a town hall held by US Congress member Anna Eshoo (D) in Menlo Park. The Billionaires brought comic relief to some of the strain that right-wing "Tea Party" protesters, who were at the town hall to demonstrate against health care reform, brought to the event.

On August 22, in San Mateo, "Billionaire" activists stood at a busy intersection in front of a branch of Ameritrade and spread their message: Private Health Care--Because Corporations Know What's Best for You!