2014 Legislative Updates

Despite the challenging climate for pro-tenant legislation at the state level, Tenants Together members and allies worked hard to push our issues forward. Beginning with our Renters' Day of Action in February, 500 tenants marched on the Capitol to demand Ellis Act reform, restoration of the Renters' Rebate, and passage of SB 391 the Homes & Jobs Act.

Our bill for Ellis Act reform, SB 1439 (Leno), made it off the floor of the State Senate, going further than any bill for Ellis reform in over a decade. We assembled a broad coalition of support, with tenant groups, unions, tech companies, local politicians, and grassroots activists working together to stop unfair Ellis Act evictions. Unfortunately the bill failed in an Assembly committee where two Democrats joined Republicans in killing our efforts for reform. Senator Leno has stated that he is committed to changing the Ellis Act to stop its use by real-estate speculators.

Following our Renters' Day of Action, Tenants Together co-sponsored legislation to restore the Renters' Rebate. The bill was held up in the Assembly Appropriations committee due to objections to the high price tag. TT will continue to fight for restoration of these essential funds. Add your voice here.

Our last demand for the legislative session this year, passing SB 391 the Homes & Jobs Act to secure dedicated funding for affordable homes in California, also failed to pass into law. However, according to our allies at Housing California who co-sponsored the bill, limited funds were secured through the Cap-and-Trade program for affordable housing near transit hubs. Still California does not have money specifically set aside to build more affordable housing, so this fight continues.

Things don't change overnight in Sacramento. Despite our legislative losses this session, we made headway in organizing tenants in large numbers to show up in the Capitol for the first time in decades. Legislators were forced to take a stand on tenant issues and consider our arguments. If we continue to organize, tenants can become a voice to be reckoned with in the Capitol. You can help us build power by becoming a member today.

City Manager Learns a Tough Lesson: Don’t Mess with Rent Control!

Equity Residential (EQR) owns over half the rent control housing in the city of East Palo Alto (EPA).  Headed by anti-rent control zealot Sam Zell, EQR has enjoyed a cozy relationship with East Palo Alto’s City Manger through which EQR has been able to interfere with the work of the rent program staff.  The situation became so unbearable that EPA’s widely respected Rent Program Administrator Carol Lamont resigned in protest in May of this year.

TT issued a Public Records Act request to uncover what was really going on in EPA.  The documents reveal that the City Manager had effectively given control over the regulatory process to the biggest landlord in East Palo Alto. Responding to complaints from Equity Residential (EQR), the city's largest landlord, the City Manager interfered with enforcement of the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO). Whether motivated by bias or incompetence, the City Manager allowed her office to be used by EQR as a tool to impose its will and override the efforts of the Rent Stabilization Administrator to enforce the RSO. EQR acknowledged her efforts in an email thanking her for her "continued support."

TT publicized the findings in a press release on July 9.  Media coverage followed.  Gonzalez’s response was to say that TT had “cherry picked from the documents.”  One online commenter said it best: “You can't cherry pick if there are no cherries to pick.”

In a dramatic hearing on July 14, tenants turned out in force to demand change.  Dozens of EPA residents spoke out against City Manager Gonzalez for her mismanagement of rent control, law enforcement, and other matters of concern.  On July 15, the City Council announced that it had hired a search consultant to find a new City Manager.

This is a huge victory for EPA residents and for the preservation of rent control in EPA.  It is also a major setback for EQR’s efforts to undermine rent control. This victory sends a strong message that City leaders who cozy up to major landlords do so at their own risk.

Tenants Together Calls for East Palo Alto to Replace City Manager for Interference with Rent Stabilization Program

Tenants Together is calling for the replacement of East Palo Alto's City Manager based on a comprehensive review of documents obtained through a Public Records Act request from the City of East Palo Alto. The request included a demand for all communications to or from City Manager Magda Gonzalez concerning the Rent Stabilization Program. Tenants Together reviewed over 3,000 pages of documents produced pursuant to the request. The City Manager's contract expires in October 2014, and it is the City Council's decision whether to replace her or renew the contract.

The documents reveal that the City Manager has effectively given control over the regulatory process to the biggest landlord in East Palo Alto. Responding to complaints from Equity Residential (EQR), the city's largest landlord, the City Manager interfered with enforcement of the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO). Whether motivated by bias or incompetence, the City Manager allowed her office to be used by EQR as a tool to impose its will and override the efforts of the Rent Stabilization Administrator to enforce the RSO. EQR acknowledged her efforts in an email thanking her for her "continued support."

"We are alarmed by the situation in East Palo Alto," commented Dean Preston, Executive Director of Tenants Together. "Most of the rental properties in EPA are consolidated in the hands of one mega-landlord, Equity Residential, a corporation headed by anti-rent control zealot Sam Zell. As if that weren't bad enough, this landlord has undue influence over a City Manager who apparently believes that her job, and that of the Rent Stabilization Program Administrator, is to coddle EPA's biggest landlord rather than protect the city's tenants. The future of rent control in East Palo Alto is at stake."

According to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, its purpose "is to protect residential tenants in the city from unreasonable rent increases, to discourage speculation in rental property, to protect tenants from arbitrary, discriminatory or retaliatory evictions and to assure landlords the right to a fair return. " Rather than further the protective purposes of the RSO, the City Manager goes out of her way to accommodate the concerns of the primary entity regulated by the ordinance, Equity Residential. The documents reveal that the City Manager directed the Rent Stabilization Program Administrator to refrain from assisting tenants with referrals to city inspectors to address substandard living conditions.

The documents also lift the curtain on the controversial "review" commissioned by the City Manager. Although promoted as an independent review, the resulting document reads more as a hit piece on the Rent Stabilization Program and its administrator, Carol Lamont. Lamont resigned in protest after being presented with the report. The public records show that no tenants (except a member of the rent board) were interviewed in preparing the review, while two of EPA's biggest landlords were the only landlords interviewed, both of whom had been accused of violating the ordinance and were known to be dissatisfied with enforcement efforts. The report's author in an email to the City Manager admitted lacking expertise on the Rent Stabilization Ordinance and its regulations. Rather than bringing in someone with the necessary expertise, the City Manager pressed forward with the report critical of the program's operation and the perceived (by the two landlords interviewed) bias of the Program Administrator. In an email to the author, City Manager Gonzalez said she was "pleased with the report."

Analysis of Documents Produced By City of East Palo Alto