Dangerous Ideas

Wow, this is big, fantastic news! The California Supreme court has just ruled in favor of marriage equality! This makes California the second state after Massachusetts to legalize same-sex marriage.

Of course, some people who believe in segregation may have succeeded in putting forth a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage for November’s ballot. If you believe in equality, please considering joining the effort to fight this attempt at enshrining discrimination in California’s constitution.

I’ll probably be volunteering with both ECQA, a general umbrella org. for marriage equality in CA, and API Equality to spread awareness of the issues and help get out the vote to defend our rights.

I just saw this on a mailing list I’m on. Anti-choice activists gather annually on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade to protest a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. Reproductive freedom activists also stage a demonstration at this time, and are calling out for anyone who believes in the cause to join participate:

Defend Reproductive Freedom, Rally/ March Sat. Jan. 19, San Francisco

Please join community members and activists at the “Forward– Not Back! Reproductive Justice for All!” rally and march to counterprotest the anti-abortion “Walk for Life– West Coast.” Spread the word:

Resist the religious right! Protest their anti-choice march with a vibrant reproductive rights presence on the 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade! Saturday, January 19th, 2008. Assemble at Justin Herman Plaza, Market and Embarcadero streets in San Francisco at 10:30am.

This will be the 4th year that 10,000 right wingers will be bussed in to San Francisco for their annual “Walk for Life– West Coast.” Organizers of the “Walk for Life” want to strip women of their rights to a safe and legal abortion.

We need YOU to participate in forming a counter-demonstration by joining the January 19th Coalition. Your ideas, energy and outreach are urgently needed.

We demand: free, accessible abortion on demand; no forced sterilization; health care; pre- and post-natal care and childcare for all; safe and accessible contraceptives; the end of discrimination of GLBTQI and queer communities; sexual freedom and quality sex education.

The next January 19th Coalition meetings are Wednesday January 9th and Wednesday January 16th from 7:00-8:30pm at New Valencia Hall, 625 Larkin Street, Suite 202, San Francisco (a few blocks from Civic Center BART and on the Muni lines 19 and 31).

For more information, please call (415) 864-1278 or email the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights at bacorrinfo@gmail.com. Or check out www.bacorr.org. Everyone is welcome.

If you can’t make a meeting just show up at 10:30am on 1/19/08, Justin Herman Plaza, SF.

One of my first personal close experiences with injustice in our society was the murder of Vincent Chin. My mom worked for General Motors at the time (she never met him in person) and was involved early in the fight for justice for him. Until activists made an issue of it, the murder of Chin by two white laid-off auto workers didn’t make waves.

Bigotry-motivated murders are still happening regularly, and still being underreported. Although the brutal murders of Brandon Teena and Gwen Araujo are well known, the Transgender Day of Remembrance Web site notes that more than one person a month has died because of their gender expression:

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgendered — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgendered people.

We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

Given the recent news about stripping gender identity protection from ENDA and that the stories of Brandon Teena and Gwen Araujo it’s almost surprising that the Day of Remembrance isn’t more widely covered. The Day of Remembrance has been going on for nine years. I’m on several LGBT mailing lists but only only one of them – Equality North Carolina – sent out a mailing mentioning the event. Of course, the HRC is one of the other organizations whose mailing list I’m on. They’re the organization I think of first when people talk about how same sex marriage is a rich gay white person’s issue. I don’t think that’s true, of course – marriage equality affects everyone – but I can see how people might come to think so if they see the HRC as a leading LGBT org.

Ironically, as Lambda Legal notes, removing protection for gender identity from ENDA cripples the act not just for transfolk, but for many others:

Lambda Legal’s preliminary assessment of the revised version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act shows the bill to be riddled with loopholes in addition to failing altogether to protect transgender people against discrimination.

“Leaving out protections for transgender people is unacceptable, and passing a bill riddled with loopholes will make it harder to achieve equality on the job,” said Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director at Lambda Legal. “You can’t be fired for being lesbian, gay or bisexual but you can be fired if your boss thinks you fit their stereotype of one.”

FYI, one creative way some artists have marked the day is the Transgender Day of Remembrance Web Comics Project.

There are a lot of sexist jokes that go around, either verbally or digitally. Women in male-dominated fields, like computing, experience this regularly. When we complain, we’re often told that it’s “just a joke” or to “have a sense of humor about it”, or “it’s bad, but it’s not a really big deal”. Now there’s research that shows that sexist jokes encourage more tangible discrimination:

“We found that men with a high level of sexism were less likely to donate to the women’s organization after reading sexist jokes, but not after reading either sexist statements or neutral jokes,” Ford said.

In the second experiment, men were shown video clips of sexist or non-sexist comedy skits and were then asked to participate in a project designed to determine how funding cuts should be allocated amongst select student organizations.

“We found that, upon exposure to sexist humor, men higher in sexism discriminated against women by allocating larger funding cuts to a women’s organization than they did to other organizations,” Ford said.

“We also found that, in the presence of sexist humor, participants believed the other participants would approve of the funding cuts to women’s organizations,” he said. “We believe this shows that humorous disparagement creates the perception of a shared standard of tolerance of discrimination that may guide behavior when people believe others feel the same way.”

I like that the lead researcher, Thomas Ford, is a man. It’s good to have allies! Sometimes men ask how they can help women in computing, and being good allies is a great start. Not just by doing studies like this, but also by speaking out when someone says something stupid.

I just heard from an organizer at SEIU Local 1877 (whom I do work with) that some of their members were pepper sprayed at a union rally. I can understand when two sides have a difference of opinion, but it’s really bad when a company resorts to physical violence when confronted with protests. Here’s a newspaper article on it:

Kevin O’Donnell, a spokesman for the union, said the demonstrators at the mall were there to voice grievances regarding alleged civil rights abuses committed by General Growth Properties againstemployees. “In the course of forming their union, they’ve been met with interrogation, intimidation, discrimination, censorship. You’ve had mall janitors who have been prohibited from talking to union organizers.” O’Donnell said that as a result of the scuffle with the security guards, janitors Maricela Flores and Sonia Sharwood and union organizer Raul Cardenas were taken to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Hayward to be treated for impaired vision, pain in the limbs and difficulty breathing.

Chin Jurn Wor Ping (CJWP) and our allies are organizing an event to commememorate the 4th anniversary of fight to keep affordable housing at Chinatown’s Pacific Renaissance Plaza. Here’s info from the pdf of the flyer. The East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) has put together a PDF showing the time line of the PacRen struggle.

Pacific Renaissance Struggle … 4-Year Commemoration ————————————–

• Pacific Renaissance Plaza
• Oakland Chinatown
• 9th St, between Webster + Franklin
• Saturday, April 28, 2007
• 10:30 am

For more information, contact Eric Chang :: wokwhiz@sbcglobal.net :: 650.580.7719

Dear Community Ally,

Four years ago, Oakland’s social justice community came together to support the Pacific Renaissance Plaza families who were being evicted from their homes. Please join us as we commemorate the fami- lies who stood up for housing rights and as we recommit to realizing justice for the Pacific Renaissance tenants and Oakland Chinatown.

It’s been four years since tenant families, community groups, and the City of Oakland sued the Pacific Renaissance developers. Last May, the parties entered into a tentative settlement agreement that would have resulted in preserving the 50 affordable housing units as permanently affordable housing for the Chinatown community. Yet the wheels of justice currently turn slowly, while many of the Pacific Renaissance families face uncertain futures.

The Pacific Renaissance units represent the last remaining option for affordable housing in Chinatown—a community that is experiencing a serious affordable housing crisis. It also represents unmet promises made to Chinatown. Beginning in the 1970s, community leaders fought to secure community benefits from the Pacific Renaissance project, which received over $30 million in public subsidies. With the docu- mented loss of thousands of Chinatown’s affordable housing units due to redevelopment, affordable housing at Pacific Renaissance was a key community demand.

With your continued help, we will write a different chapter of history on the treatment of Chinatown residents and realize justice for the Pacific Renaissance families. We look forward to seeing you on April 28th.

In peace and solidarity,

Chin Jurn Wor Ping, Oakland Tenants Union, Just Cause Oakland, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, East Bay Asian Local Development Corp, East Bay Asian Consortium, ACORN, East Bay Community Law Center, East Bay Housing Organizations, Movement Strategy Center, Alameda County Central Labor Council, Urban Strategies Council, Siegel & Yee; California Affordable Housing Law Project, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky, & Walker LLP; Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, SEIU Local 1021, League of Women Voters, East Bay Alliance for Sustainable Economy

Kathy Sierra, author of the Creating Passion Users blog, posted today that she’s going to stop blogging, maybe for a while, maybe forever. The reason is because some people have crossed the line from offering immature criticism to making death threats and suggesting sexual violence.

Not only is that bad enough, but this has been happening on blogs where prominent bloggers participate, and they haven’t been criticizing these comments while continuing to participate in sites like meankids. So it’s not just what’s being said, but also what’s not being said. It seems like this behavior is accepted in the blogosphere, and Kathy doesn’t want any part of that any more.

From Kathy’s (last?) blog post:

As I type this, I am supposed to be in San Diego, delivering a workshop at the ETech conference. But I’m not. I’m at home, with the doors locked, terrified. For the last four weeks, I’ve been getting death threat comments on this blog. But that’s not what pushed me over the edge. What finally did it was some disturbing threats of violence and sex posted on two other blogs… blogs authored and/or owned by a group that includes prominent bloggers. People you’ve probably heard of. People like respected Cluetrain Manifesto co-author Chris Locke (aka Rageboy).

[Note: This post includes disturbing language and a picture beyond anything I’d normally say here, so some of you might not want to continue reading. But I felt it was important to be specific about as much as the police investigation will allow.]

Sorry about the last minute notice, but there’s a vigil this evening for Ruby Rodriguez, who was murdered in San Francisco one week ago today. The press release mentions two other murders of transwomen of color in the past six months just in the Bay Area, which is a crazy high number.

This is from CUAV’s (Community United Against Violence) press release, which I saw on APIQWTC:

Community Mourns Murder of Latina Transgender Woman —————————————-

Requests Attendance at Vigil to Demand Change

San Francisco, California (March 22, 2007) – A Nicaraguan transgender woman, Ruby Rodriguez, 24 years old, was murdered on Friday, March 16, 2007. Her body was found on the corner of Cesar Chavez and Indiana Streets in the Mission District of San Francisco. The murder is currently under investigation by the San Francisco Police Department. Community United Against Violence (CUAV), EL-LA, San Francisco LGBT Community Center, TRANS Project, allies, and community members will hold a community vigil in her honor on Friday, March 23, 2007 at 6:00PM, on the corner of 24th Street and Mission Street in the Mission District.

Organizers request that the community bring a white candle to the vigil. There will also be an additional altar set up on Cesar Chavez and Indiana Street, and community members are encouraged to bring flowers, photographs, cards and good wishes to this site. Let us not forget Ruby. She was an exceptional woman who was intent on improving her life. Ruby participated in various support groups and language classes, and idolized Chicana singer Selena.

This murder comes at the heels of at least two other violent deaths of transgender women of color in the San Francisco Bay Area over the past six months. Transgender people, particularly low-income transgender women of color, are disproportionately poor, homeless, criminalized and imprisoned as a result of systemic discrimination in our daily attempts to access safe housing, healthcare, employment, and education. Unfortunately, Ruby’s murder is not an exception, but an everyday fear for many transgender people who are targeted and brutalized by institutions and society at large. Our communities mourn Ruby’s death and ask for a renewed commitment to real safety for transgender communities. It is vital that the Mayor’s Office, the San Francisco Police Department, and the District Attorney’s Office work to end the cycles of criminalization, poverty, and violence in transgender communities and communities of color.

Please direct any questions about the vigil to Tina D’Elia or Alexandra Byerly. If anyone has any information regarding Ruby’s murder, please contact Inspector Karen Lynch at (415) 553-1388 or Inspector Tom Cleary at (415) 553-9569 of the SFPD Homicide Unit.

The next protest against Monster Cable is this Wed., Feb. 21, 2007, at Union Square (San Francisco). Among others, you can see Hei Gu (Chinese drumming group) there with big red drums. From CPA’s Justice for Monster Cable Workers blog (slightly reformatted for clarity; I think this must have been pasted from another medium):

Weekly Boycott Action

Chinese New Year’s, But No Red Envelope for Workers

Wed., Feb. 21, 12 pm - 1:30 pm

Meeting at Union Square, dowtown San Francisco

Come spend your lunchtime with laid-off workers, community allies and musicians!

BOYCOTT MONSTER CABLE! After months of protests and no progress with Monster Cable, laid-off workers have launched a boycott of Monster Cable products. Support the boycott and Monster Cable laid-off workers in their demands that the company:

• Provide us with a just and fair compensation package which recognizes our years of service
• Contribute to a Community Transition Fund to support laid-off workers in vocational training and job development

The issue of low-income housing at Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland Chinatown may be nearing a close. PacRen has been put up for sale and the bids are coming in. And it’s not just affordable housing that’s on the line any longer, it’s also the commercial property as well. PacRen is a prominent fixture in Chinatown, and upcoming decisions by the City of Oakland will determine how much affordable housing will remain in the complex, and also the type of merchants that will be housed there. This could turn into a really positive thing – imagine a place where individuals and families with low incomes can afford to live in Chinatown, living in a plaza that includes locally owned shops true to the character of today’s Chinatown. Of couse, it could turn out differently, too, with affordable units being reduced or eliminated, and local merchants being pushed out, a story that’s repeated in so many communities these days.

Please take a moment to ask Oakland city council members to help preserve the character of Oakland Chinatown. Here’s an action alert from the SCEC:

STOP CHINATOWN EVICTIONS COMMITTEE —————————————-

(Asian Pacific Environmental Network, CJWP, Just Cause Oakland, Oakland Tenants Union)

COMMUNITY ACTION ALERT: OAKLAND CHINATOWN AFFORDABLE HOUSING HANGS IN THE BALANCE

ACTION NEEDED: Contact Oakland City Councilmembers and Mayor Dellums to Request that No Council Decision be Made at the February 20, 2007 Closed Session that Would Result in the Sale of ANY of the Pacific Renaissance Affordable Housing Units.

City Contact Information:

• Mayor Ron Dellums, 238-3141, officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com
• Dist. 1: Jane Brunner, 238-7001, jbrunner@oaklandnet.com
• Dist. 2: Pat Kernighan, 238-7002, pkernighan@oaklandnet.com
• Dist. 3: Nancy Nadel, 238-7003, nnadel@oaklandnet.com
• Dist. 4: Jean Quan, 238-7004, jquan@oaklandnet.com
• Dist. 5: Ignacio De la Fuente, 238-7005, idelafuente@oaklandnet.com
• Dist. 6: Desley Brooks, 238-7006, dbrooks@oaklandnet.com
• Dist. 7: Larry Reid, 238-7007, lreid@oaklandnet.com
• At large: Henry Chang, 238-7008, cityochang@aol.com

Please call and email the Mayor and councilpeople today. The message is simple: In their closed session on the 20th, only approve bids that will preserve ALL 50 of the affordable housing units at Pacific Renaissance.

COMMUNITY STRUGGLE BACKGROUND: Four years after the Oakland Chinatown and housing rights communities have been fighting to preserve the Pacific Renaissance affordable housing units, and three decades after Chinatown activists worked to secure these same units, we are close to securing permanent affordable housing for Chinatown’s low-income and elderly residents. Some of the key aspects of the struggle include the following:

• In the 70’s and 80’s, Chinatown activists worked to secure the Pacific Renaissance 50 affordable housing units in response to the devastation of thousands of affordable units in Chinatown due to City redevelopment efforts. The City of Oakland provided over $30 million in public subsidies to the Pacific Renaissance developers, including a $7 million loan for the affordable housing.
• In April 2003, the Pacific Renaissance developers attempted to evict all 50 families, mainly low-income, immigrant elders. The Oakland progressive community organized in support of these tenants. Community groups and tenants filed a lawsuit against the developers and compelled the City of Oakland to sue the developers for defrauding the City and tenants that resulted in the loss of the City’s $7 million loan and the 50 affordable housing units.
• In May 2006, on the eve of trial, the parties entered into a tentative settlement agreement that would result in the preservation of the Pacific Renaissance affordable housing units. The settlement provided for the City to purchase the commercial property, affordable housing, and parking spaces for $40 million. The City could then sell the commercial property and parking spaces to another buyer for a higher price. The City has been working to find a buyer for the property and set a deadline of January 31, 2007 for all bids.
• The community has made clear, again and again over the years, its support for retention of all 50 affordable apartments at Pacific Renaissance. They are central to meeting the housing needs of low-income residents as well as to the vitality and character of Chinatown.

WHAT’S AT STAKE: City Council Decision at the February 20th Closed Session Could Result in the Sale of Some of the Affordable Housing Units

• The City is trying to recoup its costs of the lawsuit by selling off some of the affordable housing units. We need to make sure our elected officials know that the housing rights and Chinatown communities do not want any of the units to be sold.
• Creative options exist to help close any money gaps that the City has including renegotiating the sales price of the Pacific Renaissance property, allowing a nonprofit housing developer to purchase the affordable units, and deferring the City’s attorneys fees. The City must get back into negotiations with the Community and Tenant Plaintiffs to work out a solution.
• This is a closed-door meeting with no public comment. We need to make our voices heard NOW to impact the decision on Tuesday.

Please call and email the Mayor and councilpeople today.

The message is simple: In their closed session on the 20th, only approve bids that will preserve ALL 50 of the affordable housing units at Pacific Renaissance.

Thank you for your crucial support.

For More Information Contact: Just Cause Oakland, 763-5877; victory@justcauseoakland.org

For more info on the web, http://www.cjwp.org/stopevictions.html

I just got a message from a friend at the Chinese Progressive Association about a new blog supporting the workers Monster Cable laid off. The site has background on the case … here’s an excerpt:

Background On Oct. 20, 2006, Monster Cable Products, Inc. laid off over 120 production workers from their Brisbane facility, outsourcing their jobs to low-wage labor overseas to increase profits. The company is a highly profitable company which sells high end audiovisual cables, home theater equipment, etc. The laid-off workers are mostly monolingual middle-aged Chinese, Vietnamese, Latino, and Eastern European immigrants who worked an average of over 8 years and as many as 20 years for the company.

The campaign is asking people to link to the blog, maybe using Monster Cable in the link text, so that it’ll come up higher in search rankings.

Monster Cable makes audio and video cables that are sold at places like the Apple store (there’s a blog post about a protest that was organized at this week’s Mac World conference), Circuit City, the Good Guys, etc.

It’s sad when people who build a place get pushed around and eventually can’t afford to live in the neighborhood they made a desirable destination. CJWP has been involved in the effort to get low-income housing reinstated at the Pacific Renaissance Plaza. Many of the people who were displaced were elderly, disabled, poor, and/or monolingual. Their homes at PacRen were important not only because they were affordable housing, but because they were in the heart of Chinatown, where they could see doctors, friends, and others who speak their language. The tenants’ battle has made some great progress, but it’s a complicated situation. From the Oakland Tribune:

The city purchased the space — plus 50 affordable residential units — for $40 million as part of a settlement agreement to end a drawn-out lawsuit with developer and owner Lawrence Chan.

The city hopes to retain the 50 affordable units, but needs to recoup its expenses — not only the $40 million but also several million dollars in lawyers fees, said Carl Chan.

The article talks about how some commercial tenants hope to buy the property but that it might be hard for them to compete with large developers:

If they go with the highest bidder — (possibly) an outsider with deep pockets — rent will increase and we cannot afford to stay here, said Wong, who hopes the city will give current tenants a chance to buy the property, even if they are not the highest bidder.

Wong and others point to Lawrence Chan as an example of an outsider — a Honk Kong-based developer — who doesnt have the communitys interest at heart. The business owners — many of whom own and work at their shops six or seven days a week for long hours and are familiar with the community — want to keep the plaza a vibrant center of Chinatown.

Just in time for the holidays, Monster Cable laid off employees and outsourced their jobs overseas. These employees have worked for Monster Cable for years and are mostly immigrants. The Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) is organizing a protest to crash their holiday party at 1 p.m. Friday (today!). Details from their mailing (reformatted):

MONSTER CABLE’S HOLIDAY PARTY ACTION! FRI, DEC 22ND AT 1 PM IN BRISBANE —————————————-

Last weekend, over 100 laid-off Monster Cable workers and their community supporters held a press conference and holiday march for justice, delivering candy canes to major electronics retailers who carry Monster Cable Products, such as Circuit City, Cambridge SoundWorks and Guitar City for them to call on CEO Noel Lee’s “holiday spirit” to fairly resolve the concerns of laid-off workers. Thank you for all that came out - but its not over, we need YOUR help for our next important action before Christmas.

Noel Lee, the CEO, is having a holiday party at his factory in Brisbane this Friday, December 22nd at 1 pm and we want to crash it! Since Monster Cable Stole the workers’ Christmas, its time to crash his Christmas party. It will be FUN! In the holiday spirit, we will sing Chinese and English Christmas carols and give a nice Christmas gift and card to Noel Lee!

We know the holidays are near and that everyone is very busy this time of the year, but this is the final action before Christmas. Please make it to this important action, details are below: >

• Date: Friday, December 22, 2006
• Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
• Place: Meet at Bayshore Blvd & Geneva Ave (in Daly City near Brisbane) - we will shuttle people over to the location - Please Call 510-449-1172 if you arrive later.

BACKGROUND On Oct. 20, 2006, Monster Cable Products, Inc. laid off over 120 production workers from their Brisbane facility, outsourcing their jobs to low-wage labor overseas to increase profits. The company is a highly profitable company which sells high end audiovisual cables, home theater equipment, etc. The laid-off workers are mostly monolingual middle-aged Chinese, Vietnamese, Latino, and Eastern European immigrants who worked an average of over 8 years and as many as 20 years for the company. Laid off workers want a just severance as with previous laid off workers and want the company to address their long term unemployment issues by contributing to a Community-Worker Transition Fund. Last year alone, Monster Cable’s estimated sales were over $300 million dollars.

*MAJOR RETAILERS THAT CARRY MONSTER PRODUCTS*

• Best Buy
• Home Depot
• Radio Shack
• Frys Electronics
• CompUSA
• Target
• Circuit City
• Cambridge SoundWorks
• Guitar Center
• Apple Store

Turns out the U.S. leads the world in incarceration. That’s both in number of prisoners kept and also the highest ratio of prisoners to the general population:

A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people – or one in every 32 American adults – were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.

Other countries are able to keep their numbers lower partly because of less severe laws, but also because they tend to emphasize treatment instead of incarceration for drug offenses.

It’s another sign of our punishment culture … In California, we have things like Three Strikes. We seem to like punishing people after the fact more than we like investing in preventing crime in the first place. It would be great to see a report detailing the cost differences (both money wise and social) between punitive laws and preventive programs.

The City Council committee will be holding a second hearing on the Condominium Conversion Ordinance this Tuesday (Nov. 28). Minor changes might happen, but it’s still going to go before the full council. That’s going to happen on Dec. 5.

Here’s a letter from Eddie of the Oakland Tenants Union about the meetings:

To Oakland Tenants Union and supporters

The Community and Economic Development Committee (CED) of the Oakland city council will hold a second hearing on a proposal to drastically weaken the Condominium Conversion Ordinance on Tuesday, November 28. Meeting time is 4 P.M.

The committee already approved the change on November 14 but will have another discussion on it on the 28th when perhaps some modifications to the original proposal may come up.

Keep in mind that the real important city council date is on the evening of Tuesday, December 5 when the matters goes before the full city council. Nonetheless, opponents of the change are invited to appear before the CED committee on November 28. Oakland Tenants Union and members from the Coalition to Protect Rental Housing will be there.

Under the change, as many as 800 units could be converted each year, thereby taking those units out of the rental market. At its core, many owners now cannot convert their units unless another housing unit has been created to replace it. The proposal is to do away with this one to one replacement. Getting rid of the replacement requirement would make it a whole lot easier to convert a unit and have it sell for a price higher than most tenants could afford. One of the things people can demand is that the city’s Planning staff conduct a systematic study of determining if tenants want the change, and how many will be evicted from their rented apartment because the buying price is too high.

The CED committee meets at City Hall, probably Hearing Room One.

Call 510 444-6089 for feedback or questions.

Eddie Ytuarte, Oakland Tenants Union