Alameda County renters' protection ordinances face an uphill battle today
After 37 months of no rent, San Leandro landlord goes on a hunger strike to protest county and city's eviction moratoriums
COUNTY NEWS
RENTERS’ PROTECTION ORDINANCES
—SECOND READING TODAY—Second readings of successfully approved ordinances almost always move forward. Today’s second reading of three controversial renters’ protection ordinances may be prove to be an anomaly to perfunctory second readings.
—Since early last December, there have been several curious missteps by Alameda County supervisors that have now placed the fate of the just cause and fair chance protections, along with a rent registry in serious doubt.
—Add to that a pair of somewhat unforeseen turn of events: the victory of Lena Tam, the board’s newest pro-landlord supervisor and the death of Richard Valle on Feb. 8.
—Valle’s passing puts each of the three ordinances in serious jeopardy. The new composition of the board already had three supervisors who mostly sided with landlords.
—Recall the three ordinances were approved on Dec. 20 with a different set of supervisors who held a 3-2 pro-renters majority. The calculus changed in early January when Supervisor Tam flipped the narrow majority to the landlords side.
—Without Valle’s support for the renters’ protection ordinances, only Supervisor Keith Carson remains on the renters side. It’s almost a certainty that each of the three ordinances will fail today either with majority votes on the landlords’ side or ties. Either way, losing votes for renters.
—MORE HOUSING ON AGENDA—It might be a very long day at the Board of Supervisors chambers today. Not only are the three renters’ protection ordinances on the agenda, but two others related to the county’s eviction moratorium.
—Supervisor David Haubert is hoping to revisit the county’s three-year old eviction moratorium on Tuesday. Haubert has previously pushed to amend or rescind the moratorium. However, it’s unclear what’s his intent since the eviction moratorium is likely to end as early as today, and wind down over the next 60 days.
—In addition, with the moratorium’s days numbered, Supervisor Nate Miley wants the county’s Community Development Agency to update the board on the status on unpaid landlords, along with a general sense of what may come next. In particular, the rate of evictions the county expects and whether any funding and service gaps exist for avoiding large scale evictions and impacts on landlords…
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