Hot Off the Press: Community Connection #38

community connect 38new layout final

[click on link above to read CC #38]

In this issue you will join residents as they go “trick or treating” at Mayor Villaraigosa’s mansion, which of course is owned by the public. Also, you can read about the Housing Authority’s latest attempts to silence the voices of public housing tenants who are opposing HACLA’s Annual Plan. You will join the Community Connection in Brazil for the Homeless World Cup as our correspondent covers the games and thriving social movements. As always you will find these stories and many more in your Community Connection.

LA CAN Represents Los Angeles in Geneva, Switzerland

Skid Row resident and Community Organizer, Deborah Burton is headed to Geneva to attend the United Nations’ (UN) Universal Periodic Review.

Created by resolution through the UN General Assembly in March 2006,  the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations.

As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed.  The UPR is a cooperative process which, by 2011, will have reviewed the human rights records of every country.

The UPR is one of the key elements of the new Council which reminds States of their responsibility to fully respect and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The ultimate aim of this new mechanism is to improve human rights situations in all countries and address human rights violations wherever they occur.

As an organizer with LA CAN and the LA Human Right to Housing Collective, as well as an impacted tenant, Deborah will be there to hear just how the  UNITED STATES reports its housing situation, which should include homelessness, predatory lending, public housing, and section 8 programs. She will also have the opportunity to testify directly to violations of the human right to housing she has personally experienced and/or viewed.  Lastly, Deborah will be networking with social organizations and other officials from around the globe.

To view Deborah and other human rights defenders in action–at the United Nations–watch the Day 1 & 2 excerpts below. Excerpts provided by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty

Community Screening: Coming Home, The Dry Storm

As the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina passes, the devastation continues.

The Los Angeles Right to Housing Collective recently hosted the LA  premier of Coming Home, The Dry Storm highlighting longtime public housing tenants fighting for justice in New Orleans.

This event was part of a week of national screenings, launching in Washington DC during the Black Congressional Caucus. There was also be a group discussion about public housing in Los Angeles and the Collective’s efforts to promote and defend the human right to housing.

And They’re Off! Tenant Leaders Head to Washington D.C.

Left to Right: : A. Brown, Pueblo del Rio Tenant Leader, D. Burton, LA CAN Tenant Organizer

–Los Angeles,

Tenant leaders and tenant Organizers descended on Washington D.C. to attend the historic annual convening of the Congressional Black Caucus [CBC]. The agenda of the 111th Congress is one that resonates with Black people–as well as other people who are struggling–all across the nation and globe. However, in years past the regal event filled with fancy gala’s and high-priced entertainment has some folks on the ground guessing about the true intent. Not wanting to continue guessing leaders from across the country boarded buses, trains, and automobiles to go and see for themselves.

Check back frequently because we will be giving updates on the real happenings in D.C. as the CBC does its thing. Also, at the end of our trip we will share our opinion(s) on how much  progress the 111th Congress has made on our agenda.

AGENDA OF THE 111th CONGRESS

Opportunities for All – Pathways Out of Poverty

1. Promote Educational Reinvestment in Low Income & Disadvantaged African American Communities
   • Guarantee child care assistance to low-income families and promote early education for all.
   • Improve student achievement and graduation rates for low income and minority children, with special emphasis on science and technology education and training opportunities.
   • Expand college access for first generation and low income students by simplifying and expanding Pell Grant opportunities and increasing support for Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), Historically Black Colleges and University’s (HBCUs) and community colleges.
   • Connect disadvantaged and disconnected youth to after-school and summer programs, job training and employment.
   • Promote lifelong educational options.
2. Increase Access to Economic Security
   • Raise and index the minimum wage to inflation or a percentage of median income.
   • Expand and make permanent the increases for the earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit made available in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
   • Increase unemployment assistance.
   • Increase support for education, job training, and small business opportunities for low income and minority communities in the emerging Green economy.
3. Eliminate Health Disparities
   • Provide universal coverage with improvements in Medicaid and Medicare.
   • Increase resources for prevention with special focus on community based efforts.
   • Provide and fully fund programs to increase underrepresented minorities at all levels of the health professions.
   • Address and improve the social, economic and environmental determinants of health in our communities.
   • Ensure that the impact of research and all health related provisions in minority communities is assessed through data collection, disaggregation and analysis.
4. Provide Just Housing Options
   • Support comprehensive public housing reform and expansion of the Section 8 housing choice voucher program.
   • Protect renters, especially those affected by housing foreclosures.
   • Prevent foreclosures by increasing the number of loan modifications.
   • Stop predatory lending, foreclosure rescue fraud and general housing discrimination practices.
   • Provide adequate housing options for vulnerable communities, including children, veterans and homeless persons.
5. Strengthen Civil Rights & Judicial Reform
   • Provide redemptive opportunities for people with criminal records and strengthen opportunities for stable employment and reintegration into their communities.
   • Eliminate sentencing disparities.
   • Stop the cradle to prison pipeline.
6. Address Global Poverty
   • Continue to support the Millennium Development Goals to end poverty;
   • Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
   • Achieve universal primary education;
   • Promote gender equality and empowerment of women;
   • Reduce child mortality and improve maternal health;
   • Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
   • Ensure environmental sustainability; and
   • Develop partnership for development by furthering open and non-discriminatory trading and financial system; deal comprehensively with developing countries’ debt; make available benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.
   • Expand trade and development assistance.

Hot Off the Press: Community Connection #37

[enter here to read real stories of Angelenos making history] community connect 37FINAL

It is that time again, Community Connection time! This edition will highlight the Los Angeles Right to Housing Collective’ response to the May 21, 2010 melee in City Council. We will take you to the Mayor’s Mansion and LA Council President Eric Garcetti’s home where residents let him know “that we shall not be moved!” We will also bring you news from Northern Cali where executives of Amerland Group, headed by Ruben Islas, have been arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection to faulty fire systems in one of their affordable housing for seniors projects [search back-issues of the CC and read more about Amerland’s failures to adequately serve low-income families and individuals].  These are but a few of the stories that are just a mouse click away, join us as we connect communities locally and abroad.

Solidarity Statement on the May 21, 2010 Proceedings in Los Angeles City Hall

Dear LA CAN supporters and friends,

On May 21, 2010 tenants and their allies who were fighting for a temporary rent freeze were betrayed by Councilmembers and attacked by LAPD in City Council Chambers.

We are writing to explain the details of these events, urge your public support, and ask you to sign and return the attached solidarity statement.

On May 21^st a 4-month moratorium on rent increases was being considered by City Council, an action that reflected months of organizing and the active involvement of more than 1,000 low-income tenants from across the city in the rent stabilization reform process.  The proposed moratorium was a significant compromise by tenants.  Our original demands were (and still are) for comprehensive rent stabilization ordinance reform and a one-year moratorium until full reforms were in place.  The motion to write the moratorium had passed two weeks prior with an 8-6 vote, and a vote was needed on this day to adopt it.

Council chambers was filled with mostly Black and Brown tenants, including mothers with their children, people with disabilities, elders, Veterans, and others, with more than a hundred people in overflow areas. Tenants had taken the day off from work, left their children in school after hours, and/or had to make special family arrangements to attend the meeting.  After five hours of a Council meeting that included numerous awards, commission appointments, and the declaration of Harvey Milk Day, the Council took up the moratorium item.  Limited public testimony was taken on this crucial issue – about 12 minutes each for those supporting and opposing.  Councilmembers Hahn and Alarcon expressed their support for the moratorium and their willingness to include some additional compromise, and called for a vote.

Council President Garcetti then intervened in the process and introduced an alternate motion to send the issue back to Committee, although two weeks prior he had voted to move it forward — essentially killing the moratorium and any chance for respite for rent-burdened tenants.  That motion passed 10 – 5, with only Councilmembers Alarcon, Hahn, Huizar, Krekorian and Wesson voting on behalf of tenants.

Tenants were outraged by this betrayal and the obvious priority placed on landowners over tenants.  We began chanting such things as “Housing is a Human Right” and “Traitors.”  Councilmember Zine, who was acting President at the time although Mr. Garcetti was in Chambers, immediately called for the police to clear the room.  Within minutes, there were over 60 officers pouring into Council chambers with bean bag guns, taser guns, and billy clubs ready.  Councilmember Zine remained in the President’s seat, instigating the officers and continually commanding LAPD on the loudspeaker with such orders as “Get ’em out of here.”

Tenants continued chanting as we were moving toward the door.  Our chants posed absolutely no physical threat to any person or property.  An order to disperse was never given by LAPD.  Yet, when the entire large group had already moved about 2/3 of the way to the door, officers charged the group, using extreme force and violence against tenants.  Officers had been aggressive toward tenants all day, but escalated their efforts to the extreme at this point.  The police locked a group of people in the chambers at one point. Also, the police attacked people – shoving, pushing and pulling them to the ground.  They stomped, choked, hit with billy clubs, and shot one person with a taser gun at least four times.  Three people were forcefully arrested, two of whom face felony charges.  These were not planned or justified arrests.

At no time during this violence did Councilmember Garcetti retain his seat or his obligations as Council President, nor did he intervene to prevent these human and civil rights abuses happening in front of his face.  Instead he allowed Councilmember Zine to incite the officers further while he sat and laughed and chatted in Mr. Zine’s assigned chair.

We know that many of you consider Mr. Garcetti a friend, an ally, or a supporter, and many of us have as well.  Yet, on May 21^st, he was wrong on all counts – he initiated and allowed multiple and massive human rights violations. For years tenants have been overburdened by their rent payments, many paying over 50% of their income to maintain homes. In the meantime landlords have generally had profitable, growing businesses.  Yet, tenants got no break.  Councilmember Garcetti betrayed tenants with his motion to kill the moratorium, a violation of the human right to housing.  He acted on behalf of wealthy property owners instead.  He was not protecting small, “mom and pop” landlords, who had already been exempted from the proposed moratorium.  He was not protecting labor, as he originally claimed to housing leaders, since many union members were present in Chambers and directly expressed their support for the moratorium to him prior to the vote.  And, last, Mr. Garcetti allowed a physical assault on the democratic process in his own Chambers and sat silent watching police brutality against low-income people of color.  This cannot be acceptable to any of us.

There were others who were wrong that day.  Nine other Councilmembers caved to the pressure of large, wealthy landlords instead of taking the opportunity to provide temporary respite for rent-burdened tenants in an historic economic crisis.  Councilmember Zine basically ordered LAPD officers to escalate their tactics against tenants who were already peacefully, but not quietly, leaving chambers.  Councilmember Rosendahl had indicated he would vote against the moratorium.  Many other councilmembers sat and watched the brutality unfold.  And, to date, only Councilmember Alarcon made a public statement that reflected the sad state of affairs in City Hall on that day.

But Councilmember Garcetti is the President and he introduced the motion to kill the moratorium.  He could have simply voted no, and we would have seen where the votes fell.  He did not.  He is also obligated to preside over Chambers, facilitate an open public process, and ensure the safety of those participating in that process.  He did not.

On the same day that Harvey Milk Day was established in Los Angeles, the exact same police force and brutality tactics used against Harvey Milk and those in the gay rights movement were used against LA’s housing rights movement.  In City Hall.  In front of the Council’s own eyes.  As Angelenos, we are asked to participate in civic processes and give input and when we did, enforcers were called in to violently silence us. Again, this cannot be acceptable to any of us.

Today we inform you that we will continue our fight and push forward our demands to ensure that Housing is a Human Right in Los Angeles.  Also, we want to let you know that we hold every Councilmember accountable to the tenant majority in Los Angeles.  The council, as a whole, is morally responsible for ensuring safe, stable and decent affordable housing regardless of market conditions or their own political aspirations.

We urge you to act.  We urge you to publicly voice your opinions and position about this travesty of justice.  While private conversations are often useful, in this case we need widespread and public response.  We cannot allow May 21^st to happen without accountability from all of those who participated – either actively or silently.  As a first and simple step, you can sign the attached solidarity statement, which will be shared with public officials and others. We also urge you to send/email more extensive letters to Councilmember Garcetti and others, and provide copies to us.  There are many other ways you can support the LA Right to Housing Collective’s actions now and in the future, so please contact us if you are interested and willing to act.

Signed:

The LA Right to Housing Collective, including:

Coalition LA, Comunidad Presente, Inquilidos Unidos, Los Angeles Community Action Network, POWER, South Asian Network,

Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, and Union de Vecinos.

(All of whom had members and staff present in Council Chambers on May 21, 2010)

News clips and raw video are available at:

KTLA-Rent-Control-Advocates-and-LAPD-Clash-at-City-Hall-Raw-Video

?id=135380@kcbs.dayport.com

LA Right to Housing Collective Return to City Hall After Being Brutalized

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cops on City Hall South Lawn after Press Conference

Media Coverage: City News Service Coverage of Press Conference

–May 31, 2010

On Wednesday May 26, 2010 members of the Los Angeles Right to Housing Collective returned to City Hall on the heels of the “Rent Freeze Ruckus.” Days earlier, while attempting to secure a 6-month rent freeze for Los Angeles renters, the City Council unleashed the LAPD to silence our chants of displeasure (see earlier post below). Those chants in no way posed a physical threat to any person or property in council chambers; however, our chants of truth was clearly too much for a “bought and paid for” city council to stomach.

Acutely aware that the City Hall belongs to all Angelenos; that we pay the salaries of our wayward council people; and, that the LAPD supposedly still protects and serves everyone we felt justified in going back to the scene of their sins.

Prior to going inside chambers to face council members the Housing Collective held a press conference to decry the human rights violations and to affirm that we will continue fighting. Within minutes of our arrival it was clear that the LAPD would again be in full force hoping to quell our voices. A steady stream of officers arrived with riot gear in hand. During the press conference one officer actually walked into the group of residents gathered and attempted to serve a subpoena. Of course the person they tried to serve was not the person they were looking for, which makes you question what they were really attempting to do.

Once inside City Hall the scene did not change much. Officers lined the walls inside chambers, stood sentry over the hallway and entrance leading to chambers, and still many others gathered in the rotunda. There was nervousness among the councilmembers in the air as the agenda got underway. It was clear from the immediate shuffling of school children in and out of council chambers that our “selected leaders” were on edge. During public comment speakers form Coalition LA, Comunidad Presente, Inquilidos Unidos, LA CAN, POWER, SAJE and Union de Vecinos eloquently addressed, and noticeably shamed, council members who dared listen. It was most disturbing, though, that none of the councilmembers responded in any way and, besides Councilmember Alarcon, all have remained silent about the brutality that happened right in front of their eyes last week.

When we exited City Hall, there were large groups of officers awaiting us at every turn.  Many of them were in riot gear, with helmets in hand.  This unacceptable overuse of police in response to residents peacefully lifting their voices must be addressed and stopped immediately. We are urge you to call and email your Councilmembers, as well as Councilmember Garcetti specifically, expressing your feelings about the rent freeze being killed and the use of police force and violence in Council Chambers.

The fight is far from over and we remain committed to securing the human right to housing.

UPDATE:

First, the good news is that Gerardo, Dogon and Deanna are all out of jail.  Gerardo’s charges were rejected by the DA on Tuesday morning, which is great news.  Deanna and Dogon both have court appearances scheduled for mid-June.  We will definitely need your support in the courtrooms.  

Los Angeles Right to Housing Collective Fight for Tenant Rights

City Council and LAPD respond to call for RENT FREEZE by attacking tenants and arresting three residents

City Council made tenants wait over five hours before declining to vote on a moratorium against rent increases. Instead, Council President Eric Garcetti introduced a motion to send the issue back to committee.  The motion passed 10-5, essentially ensuring rents will go up for most tenants on July 1^st.   The only votes in favor of tenant rights were Councilmembers Alarcon, Hahn, Huizar, Krekorian and Wesson.

When tenants voiced their anger, frustration and disappointment by chanting loudly in Council Chambers, Acting President Dennis Zine ordered Los Angeles Police Department to remove tenants from council.  About 30 LAPD officers began roughly forcing tenants out of Council chambers. One Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) member was forced to the ground against a wall by several officers, his tee shirt ripped almost in two, and another was hog tied after being roughly pulled to the ground by his neck. Another disabled female LA CAN member was arrested solely for shouting at Council that this was all Council’s fault.  More than five hours later, all are still being detained and LAPD claim they are being “processed.”

City Council spent the first two and a half hours of the meeting giving out ceremonial awards, making hundreds of people who had come to Council wait. Although the chambers were 90% filled with people interested in the moratorium, on either side of the issue, Council heard several other items before finally hearing the item.  The measure would have suspended an automatic 3% rent increase for four months, with an exemption for “mom and pop” landlords.

Tenants asked for this relief because the rent increase, usually based on the Consumer Price Index, was negative 0.6 last year and so they did not believe landlords should be entitled to an increase. In the 25 years since the 3% “floor” was enacted, the CPI has been under 3% eleven times, thus giving landlords a rent increase regardless of inflation.  As low-income people are facing cuts in wages and benefits, unemployment, hikes in bus fares and DWP costs, and more, a rent increase may just be the final push, forcing families into the streets.

Raw video is available at:   LAPD attacks residents who are simply voicing their opposition to cowardly vote.

?id=135380@kcbs.dayport.com

Rent Freeze for Main Street!

Freeze Our Rents Right Now

-Los Angeles, CA

Angelenos, withering under the weight of a depression with no end in sight, are calling for the Los Angeles City Council to give them a break. The break they are demanding comes in the form of a “rent freeze” slated to last for the next 12 months. It is fact that the lion’s share of Los Angeles residents are indeed renters. Plus, in light of the housing bubble collapse, many more Angelenos have been thrust into marginal housing; an already over-burdened social service system; and the ranks of homelessness.

As cuts to crucially needed services continue to send the quality of life for poor residents straight down the toilet, banks and businesses continue to get bailed out. Adding insult to injury  in many instances banks have assumed the role of landlord in foreclosed multi-unit properties. There are numerous reports stating that banks are not making repairs, violating health and safety code standards, and attempting to drive people from their units. Why? Because it is easier to get rid of an empty building, that’s why!

Many of these institutions are direct, or indirect beneficiaries, of the bailout.

A Little History

The City-sponsored “Economic Study of the Rent Stabilization Ordinance and the Los Angeles Housing Market” (RSO Study) was released in June 2009. This study includes recommendations relative to the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), including calling for the elimination of the 3% “floor” on rental increases allowed by the RSO based on the Consumer Price Index and elimination of the additional 1% rent increase allowed for each utility (gas or electricity) where it’s included in the rent. The study showed that the utility increases allowed in the RSO bears no relationship to the actual cost to landlords, thus providing landlords with a significant windfall at tenants’ expense.

The current CPI rate for 2010 is -.62 %, which means that renters will face unjustified rent increase of 3%, due to the “floor” beginning July 1, 2010, unless the rent increase moratorium is passed.

The City of West Hollywood currently has a 0% allowable rent increase. In San Francisco rent increases are now 0.1%,  in Oakland it is 0.7%, in Santa Monica it is a 1% increase, and in Berkeley it is a 0.1% allowable rent increase.  Why does Los Angeles continue to stand out and to have a 3% minimum increase on the books?

On May 5, 2010, in a 3-1 vote in our favor, we were able to convince the Community & Economic Development Committee that a moratorium is warranted. As with all political struggle our original 12-month demand was reduced to 4 months–of course this was without our knowledge or support. While this falls short of our ultimate 12-month moratorium we are clear that we will continue to fight hard for a vote on Friday that reflects the community’s. Moreover, we will not stop fighting for the Human Right to Housing until all of our demands are met.

If you are a tenant living in Los Angeles we urge you to come and join the growing ranks of tenants fighting for the rent-freeze and the universal right to housing.

Details:

LA City Hall , 200 N. Main, Los Angeles, CA

Friday, May 7^th 10:00am – conference to be held immediately after the vote

Demand a One-Year Rent Freeze

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED!!  PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM J

TENANTS COULD ACHIEVE ONE-YEAR RELIEF FROM RENT INCREASES!

Councilmember Alarcon has introduced a motion for a one-year moratorium on any rent increases in rent-stabilized buildings in Los Angeles.  This moratorium needs to move forward VERY quickly or it could get lost in the city’s budget process.  Landlords are already calling Councilmembers and weighing in against it – not surprisingly.

But….there are more tenants and tenant supporters than there are landlords – so they need to hear from us now! Please make your own calls and ask colleagues, members, neighbors and others to make calls between today and Friday, April 30^th. Be sure to specifically tell the Councilmembers if you live or work in their district – but call them any or all as an LA resident.

We are asking for at least 2 calls from each person in the next week:

FIRST and most urgent: Call Councilmember Herb Wesson who is Chair of the Housing and Community Economic Development Committee (HCED).  Strongly urge him to schedule the moratorium proposed by Councilman Alarcon to freeze rent increases for rent controlled units from July 2010 – June 2011. We want him to schedule it on the HCED agenda on or before May 5^th.  We also need to urge his support for the final policy.  The motion was introduced in City Council and is now waiting to be heard in his committee.  If Wesson does not put it on the agenda, it can’t be drafted.

District 10, Herb Wesson, 213-473-7010

Sample script if needed – My name is___________  and I am with (organization name) and  a resident of the City of Los Angeles (tell him specifically if you also live in his district).  I am calling to ask that Councilmember Wesson put the moratorium preventing rent increases on the agenda for the next HCED meeting.  I want him to know this issue has to be on the agenda by May 5^th or it won’t be enacted in time to prevent rent increases this year.  I also would like to know if Councilman Wesson plans to vote in favor of the moratorium (and if he does not support it, why not?)

SECONDLY Please call the councilmember that represents your neighborhood and/or the area your organization works in.  Below are organizations who already volunteered to make calls in specific council districts – we need to cover as many councilmembers as possible, so take on as many districts as makes sense.  Email me to update me on which district(s) you can cover.   OUR GOAL IS THAT EACH COUNCILMEMBER RECEIVE AT LEAST 500 CALLS OVER THE NEXT WEEK.  We are urging each of these councilmembers to support the moratorium because renters simply can’t take any more increases during these tough economic times.

Sample script if needed – My name is___________ and I am with (organization name) and I am a resident of the district.  I am calling to ask that Councilmember_________ vote in favor of the moratorium on rent increases for rent controlled units.  The moratorium is only for one year. We are ONLY seeking a temporary break on our annual rent increases.  Tenants are faced with reduction in wages and increases in utilities and transportation costs.  These savings will help us cover other basic necessities to survive.  Can we count on the Councilmember’s support?

For these councilmembers, make calls and urge them to support the moratorium (commitments to date listed):

District 1, Ed Reyes, (213)-473-7001 – Comunidad Presente, Coalition LA, Inquilinos Unidos, Healthy Homes Collaborative

District 2, Paul Krekorian, (213)-473-7002 – we need organizations here who have members!

District 4, Tom LaBonge, (213)-473-7004 – CES, KIWA

District 5, Paul Koretz, (213)-473-7005  We need organizations here!

District 6, Tony Cardenas, 213-473-7006  We need organizations here!

District 9, Jan Perry, 213-473-7009  LACAN, Comunidad Presente, SAJE, Esperanza

District 11, Bill Rosendahl, 213-473-7011  POWER

District 13, Eric Garcetti, 213-473-7013  CES, LACAN, Healthy Homes Collaborative

District 14, Jose Huizar, 213-473-7014  Union de Vecinos, LA CAN

District 15, Janice Hahn, 213-473-7015  POWER

LASTLY – don’t forget to call Councilmember Alarcon and thank him for introducing the motion and tell him you support it!

District 7, Richard Alarcon, 213-473-7007

Stay tuned for more information – a LOT more action will be needed to achieve this crucial victory.  You may see numerous emails on this issue as several coalitions and organizations are actively involved – don’t delete them!  We need everyone engaged.