LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On Monday, February 3, 2020, a coalition of California renters, tenant advocates, elected officials and social justice organizations will host a trio of ballot qualification parties and press conferences in Los Angeles, Oakland and San Diego to announce and celebrate certification of voter signatures in support of a proposed ballot initiative that will allow for expansion of rent control in California.
Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s office is expected to announce Monday1 via email that enough voter signatures were verified by random sample to advance the measure for ultimate placement on the November 2020 ballot. On December 5th, advocates submitted nearly one million voter signatures, far more than the number needed2, to qualify the Rental Affordability Act.
WHAT: |
LOS, ANGELES, OAKLAND & SAN DIEGO: |
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BALLOT QUALIFICATION PARTIES & PRESS CONFERENCES |
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Announcing certification of voter signatures for the Rental Affordability Act |
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(1M signatures submitted in Dec 2019) |
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| WHEN: | MON., FEB. 3, 2020—5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ALL locations | |
| (press remarks from 6:30 -6:45 p.m., also all locations) | ||
| WHERE: | LOS ANGELES RAA Campaign HQ 6500 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles 90028
OAKLAND Out of the Closet Thrift Store 238 E. 18 St. Oakland 94606
SAN DIEGO Fair@44th Park 4350 El Cajon Blvd. San Diego 92105 |
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| WHO: | LOS ANGELES: Rene Moya, Director, Housing Is A Human Right and Campaign Director, Rental Affordability Act (RAA) ballot measure Michael Weinstein, President, AHF Hon. Mike Bonin, Los Angeles City Council Member Hon. Sue Himmelrich, Santa Monica City Council Member Elena Popp, Executive Director, Eviction Defense Network Larry Gross, Executive Director, Coalition for Economic Survival Zerita Jones, Los Angeles Tenants’ Union, Inglewood Chapter Other Speakers TBD |
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| NOTE: L.A. NEWS DESKS & B-ROLL: Go LIVE from Sunset Blvd event with legendary artist Barbara Kruger’s latest word mural “WHO IS HOUSED WHEN MONEY TALKS?” (painted on RAA HQ building) as a backdrop. | ||
| WHO: | OAKLAND: Jesse Brooks, Community Activist & AHF Mobilizer Soli Alpert, elected member of the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Dr. Demisha Burns, WORLD (Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases) Miki Jackson, Housing Is A Human Right Other Speakers TBD |
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| WHO: | SAN DIEGO: Rafael Bautista, San Diego Tenants’ Union Joaquin Vasquez, Candidate for California's 53rd Congressional District Susan Hunter, Housing Is A Human Right and Los Angeles Tenants’ Union, Hollywood Chapter Other Speakers TBD |
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Housing Is A Human Right (HHR), the housing advocacy division of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), and the leading sponsor of the RAA, is also very excited to announce the endorsement of the Rental Affordability Act by a suite of California’s most well regarded tenant advocacy and social justice organizations, including the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), the Eviction Defense Network (EDN) and the Democratic Socialists of America, Los Angeles (DSA-LA).
When passed, the Rental Affordability Act will remove current restrictions in state law, giving cities and counties the power to implement and expand rent control policies that limit how much rents can increase each year. It would allow local communities to:
- Expand rent control to more buildings while exempting newly constructed buildings.
- Exempt Single-Family homeowners who own up to two homes.
- Allow limits on rent increases when a new renter moves in.
“Now that our ballot initiative signatures have been certified, it’s onward and upward to November,” said René Christian Moya, Housing Is A Human Right and Rental Affordability Act Campaign Director. “While the national real estate industry is gearing up to spend untold millions against the Rental Affordability Act here in California, our campaign is rallying a broad, statewide grassroots coalition of working-class renters and their advocates. We look forward to the fight ahead, and to passing the Rental Affordability Act in November.”
“With the defeat of the deeply flawed SB 50 in Sacramento last week and now, the certification of our Rental Affordability Act ballot measure signatures, the affordable housing revolution has begun!” proclaimed Michael Weinstein, President of AHF, the organization sponsoring the initiative. “Housing affordability and homelessness are the most pressing social justice and public health emergencies in our time, especially in California. We’ll face a tough road ahead but are ready for the fight—and victory!—for all Californians and for housing affordability in November.”
The Rental Affordability Act is sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Learn more at https://www.rentcontrolnow.org/.
1 Feb 3, 2020, is the state’s statutory reporting deadline for certification based on the original 12/5/19 submission date of voter signatures.
2 Signatures of 623,212 California voters are needed to qualify the measure. (For random sample qualification, that number is 685,534.)
