Richmond to vote on emergency moratorium on evictions and high rent increases

Richmond to vote on emergency moratorium on evictions and high rent increases

By Lynda Carson -- September 7, 20016

Renter protections will be on the ballot in 6 cities during November in the Bay Area. No matter how hard the landlords and the California Apartment Association are trying to stop the renters movement, tenant advocates across the Bay Area are urging renters to vote on strong renter protections during the upcoming November elections in the cities of Oakland, Richmond, Alameda, Burlingame, San Mateo, and Mountain View. The activists are urging people to vote “no” against any weak proposals placed on the ballot by the City Council in Alameda, and Mountain View.

Meanwhile, Richmond is facing a massive housing crisis due to greedy landlords trying to evict renters and raise the rent on renters before they have a chance to vote on renter protections in November.

According to Fair and Affordable Richmond, "On September 13th the Richmond City Council will vote on an emergency moratorium on evictions and high rent increases. If passed, it would go into effect immediately. To pass it, YOU need to make your voice heard. Call or email Nat Bates, Vinay Pimple and Tom Butt, tell them to pass this moratorium. Join us on 9/13, 5:30pm on Civic Center Plaza to show support and consider speaking during public forum."

Contact Councilmember Bates at natbates [at] comcast.net and 510-620-6743

Contact Councilmember Pimple at vinay_pimple [at] ci.richmond.ca.us and 510-412-2050

Contact Mayor Butt at tom.butt [at] intres.com and 510-620-6503

Show at 440 Civic Center Plaza at 5:30pm on September 13th

"If you or your neighbors are facing eviction, now is the time to act. This is the most effective way to stop the evictions and keep everyone home. Once we have a moratorium to hold us over, vote YES on Measure L on November 8th to enact rent control and just cause protections for our neighbors."

"When the City Council passed rent control last year, Richmond tenants got to breathe a sigh of relief. But the landlord-backed political group, California Apartment Association hired paid operatives to systematically tell voters things like, “if you sign this, it will renegotiate stronger rent control” to coax voters into signing a petition that actually overturned the council’s vote."

"This forced us to go to the ballot, buying the landlords over a year to jack up rents and evict our neighbors. We could have prevented this by passing an emergency moratorium on evictions and high rent increases, which requires 6 out of 7 council members. We didn’t have the votes to pass a moratorium then, and we don’t have them yet, but we need an emergency moratorium to stop these evictions now."

Notorious landlords are evicting their tenants all over the Bay Area including Douglas N. Robertson who is planning to evict and displace a minimum of 8 families from their longtime housing at 117 Anita Road before the voters of Burlingame can vote on renter protections in November, including just cause eviction protections and rent control.

As a result of his actions, Douglas N. Robertson has joined the ranks of other notorious landlords in the Bay Area involved in mass evictions including Scott Sternberg, James Kilpatrick, Matt Sridhar, and Danny Haber and Alon Gutmon.

A look at the housing crisis by the numbers in Oakland reveals why the voters need to pass stronger renter protections in Oakland, and elsewhere in the Bay Area in November.

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

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