Letters to Pam
Report: Unincorporated Alameda County renters are facing widespread fears of eviction, issues with unmet repairs, mold; Barbara Lee wants to eat the rich
COUNTY NEWS
ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
—TRI-VALLEY PEN PALS—A letter sent by Livermore Police Chief Jeramy Young strongly urged Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price to prosecute repeat offenders with harsher penalties.
—Young sent the July 6 letter to Price in an attempt to seek criminal enhancements against a repeat offender who allegedly attacked two woman last May at a shopping center in Livermore. The suspect, Colby Berry of Fremont, reportedly was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of the incident.
—As news of Young’s letter spread, along with the police chief making appearance on local news stations, it appears the media attention greatly angered Price.
—In another in a series of videos produced by the DA’s office, the latest featured Price angrily reiterating her policy for not seeking enhancements, which she has long maintained fuels a pipeline to prison that mostly affects African Americans.
—“This the way forward,” a cocksure Price said at the conclusion of the video.
—While Price may have been upset at the Livermore police chief’s letter, there are other things going on behind the scenes in the Tri-Valley that are rattling the embattled DA.
—Over the past few weeks, Tri-Valley officials have been contemplating their own letter to Price. In this instance, regarding the death of 26-year-old Blake Mohs, the Home Depot security guard in Pleasanton who was killed by two suspects attempting a robbery.
—Last month, the mother of Mohs testified in Congress and urged Price to apply criminal enhancements to the prosecution of the two suspects in her son’s death.
—It’s unclear if the letter will be sent, but in an attempt to head off another missive from being put into the public record, Price met with Tri-Valley officials recently to state their case for continuing the DA’s policies for avoiding enhancements.
—As a recall effort against Price begins, the letter from the Livermore police chief and pending letters from leaders in the Tri-Valley is a reminder that this part of Alameda County is not Price country, although she performed better in this region in the 2022 election than in 2018.
—RESTING THEIR CASE—As local and state campaign finance reports trickle in over the next few days, here’s an interesting one:
—The Alameda County Prosecutors Association PAC, which quickly raised $125,000 last year in a bid to stop Pamela Price from becoming district attorney, showed no financial activity over the past six months.
—The PAC reported no cash on hand, as of June 30, according to a campaign finance report released on Wednesday.
—The committee ostensibly supported Price’s opponent last year, Terry Wiley, the former Alameda County chief assistant DA. Almost all of the money raised by the PAC was routed to Wiley’s campaign last fall.
—Labor issues involving Price have festered for much of this year, but knowing the new DA’s reputation for delivering retribution to her opponents, it remains to be seen whether the Alameda County Prosecutors’ Association will renew its fundraising efforts as a recall campaign against their boss commences.
RENTERS PROTECTIONS
—EDEN RENTERS’ SURVEY—A new rental housing report commissioned by My Eden Voice, a grassroots advocacy group in unincorporated Alameda County, found a strong current of worry and unease among tenants.
—The group, along with the East Bay Housing Organizations, released the report on Wednesday.
—They found a majority of the roughly 400 renters in unincorporated Alameda County, where minimum tenant protections currently exists, are worried about the continuing housing crisis, fears of eviction, the worsening habitability of the area’s housing stock, and unmet requests for repairs by landlords.
—One-third of respondents said they have faced severe habitability issues in their rental units, including excessive mold. Tenants say they fear retribution from landlords if they push too hard for repairs, the survey found.
—Renters of single-family housing units, in particular, were the most fearful of an eviction. In addition, nearly half fear another rent increase will occur, potentially resulting in self-eviction or homelessness.
—Unincorporated Alameda County is well-known to be home to some of the highest rates of poverty in the county.
—My Eden Voice says rents in these areas have increases by 24 percent since 2020, an average of 8.2 percent. “Despite this being within the state laws limits, it still proves to be a large burden for families, especially those with disabilities,” said Maria Miranda of My Eden Voice.
—Along with the survey, the group recommended several policy proposasl, although most, including a just cause ordinance, were scuttled earlier this year by a new pro-landlord Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
—Among the recommendations: Expanding upon a recently approved pilot program for rental inspections and improved access to legal aid for renters. The group found more than half of renters were unaware about their legal rights in advance of a potential eviction.
—STATEWIDE RENT CONTROL—They tried in 2018 and again in 2020. Now a third statewide rent control ballot measure is coming in 2024.
—The ballot measure to repeal the state’s Costa-Hawkins Act, which limits rent control on single-family rental units, qualified for the November 2024 ballot on Wednesday.
—The repeal of Costa-Hawkins has long been a goal of progressives in deep blue California, but the numbers have not translated to the ballot box.
—The two previous iterations of this ballot measure were turned away by voters with 59 percent opposition.
D.C. NEWS
—EAT THE RICH—East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee and a scion of the Disney family wrote an opinion piece for CNN on Wednesday that warns against growing economic inequality in the U.S.
—“We’re speed-racing toward an oligarchy, where a handful of spectacularly wealthy people call all the shots,” Lee and Abigail Disney wrote. “We need significant reform to our campaign finance system, but that’s not enough—the sheer size of the fortunes of some of America’s richest people are themselves destabilizing.”
—The opinion piece comes after the introduction by Lee and other progressive congressmember of the OLIGARCH Act, which would tax the ultra-rich at a tiered rate starting at two percent of their wealth, and topping out at six percent.
—READY FOR THEIR CLOSEUP—U.S. Senate hopefuls Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff, and Katie Porter were among 37 lawmakers who penned a letter to both sides of the Hollywood writers and actors strike. Fremont/Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna also signed the letter that urged for fair labor negotiations, but also served as a warning to movie and television studio executives.