VISALIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A broad coalition of California renters, housing advocates, elected officials, and social justice organizations will host a press conference in Visalia, CA on Saturday, August 19th in support of the ‘Justice for Renters Act,’ a statewide ballot initiative that would remove California’s rent control ban and give local communities the right to stabilize rents and make apartments more affordable for low-income and middle-income renters. This is the first Justice for Renters event in the Central Valley, which, according to NBC News, has seen some of the steepest rent increases since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with rents up 39.4% in Bakersfield, 38.4% in Visalia, 38% in Fresno, 35.3% in Merced, and 29.6% in Redding.
| WHAT: | ‘Justice for Renters Act’ Press Conference | |
| WHEN: | Saturday, August 19 at 12:30 p.m. | |
| WHERE: | Comfort Suites Visalia – Convention Center, The Sequoia Room | |
| 210 E. Acequia Ave, Visalia, CA 92391 (directly across from the Convention Center) | ||
| WHO: | Hon. Santos Garcia, Mayor, City of Madera | |
| Hon. Verónica Vázquez, Councilmember, City of Delano | ||
| Art Rodriguez, Organizing Director, Central Valley Empowerment Alliance & Vice Chair of Renters Council | ||
| Carolyn Fowler, California Democratic Party Controller | ||
| Mari Ruiz Perez, Chair, California Renters’ Council | ||
| Christine Pelosi, Tenant & DNC Member | ||
| Aide Hernandez, Tenant, and DACA farmworker who dropped out of college to help parents pay rent | ||
Susie Shannon, Policy Director, Housing Is A Human Right (HHR) (press conf. emcee) |
The Justice for Renters ballot campaign kicked off May 25th with a press conference on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall. Advocates needed to collect at least 546,651 valid California voter signatures to qualify the measure. They collected more than 810,000 in total.