Alameda renters invade city council meeting

Michele Dennis and Rafeeq Muhammad

Two people were arrested on Nov. 4 when a special Alameda city council meeting turned violent as landlords and renters debated the rise of housing costs in their city.

Nearly 300 people, including citizens, property owners, and sign carrying Rent-coalition members showed up at the meeting to decide on imposing a moratorium to stop or restrict the rise in rent prices and no fault evictions in the city of Alameda. Alameda County, on the east side of the bay, is home to over 1.6 million people living in 14 incorporated cities and six unincorporated communities, according to the 2014 U.S. census. Consultant BAE Urban Economics briefed the council with their study findings that between 2000 and 2013 the median rent in Alameda City had jumped 54 percent compared to a 56 percent jump across Alameda County.

[mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#018eaa”]”Any restriction on my ability to rent is like anybody here getting a restriction on what they would earn in income.”[/mks_pullquote]

Landlords showed up early at the meeting and monopolized the limited space in the hearing room, but dozens of angry renters, anxious to speak at the meeting which was limited to just two hours, gathered outside the conference room in City Hall and tried to storm it as they chanted “Let The Renters Speaks” and “Moratorium Now.” One protestor, who identified their self to reporters as activist, transgender woman and teacher, Bob Davis, 68, pushed her way into the room, but Assistant City Manager Bob Haun shoved her to the ground.

Davis then grabbed Haun’s ankles bringing him down. In the moments following, Davis got up, moving back into the crowd. Police stepped in, pushed the teacher to the floor, blooding Davis’ face as they took her into custody. A second person John Klein, 64, was also taken into custody. “Nothing like this has ever happened at a City Council Meeting,” Alameda Police Lt. Jill Ottaviano commented. She confirmed that Haun’s hip was fractured after she brought him down and serious charges could be brought against Davis.

Over half the population of this tight knit 79,000 member community, are renters; many of them are families, who say the extreme price increases they’re experiencing will force them to leave the city, their friends and their schools behind to find more affordable housing, according to attendees. Rene Hutchins, who says she is a frustrated renter, told the council her landlady imposed, “a $300 rent increase and … also she’s asking me to leave in 60 days, next month, during the holidays.”

[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#018eaa”]“We have a serious problem with large rent increases in Alameda.”[/mks_pullquote]

Mark Landreth, who identified himself as a landlord, voiced his concerns over having a rent control ordinance rather than the Rent Review Board, which currently settles disputes. An ordinance puts limits on how much landlords can raise rent while review boards are open forums to solve disputes between landlords and tenants, according to the City of Alameda.

“Any restriction on my ability to rent is like anybody here getting a restriction on what they would earn in income, ” he told the meeting. He said he is afraid a Rent Control policy would force him to have to sell his property. Alameda is one of several Alameda County communities who have Rent Review Boards rather than actual rent control. But rising housing costs are affecting communities all over the county. In nearby San Leandro, cases heard by their board went from 3 to 39 over the past year. In Alameda, where there is a very active Renters Coalition, cases jumped from 25 in 2014 to 34 in 2015.

“We have a serious problem with large rent increases in Alameda,” acknowledged Mayor Trish Herrera Spencer, a renter herself. She extended Wednesday’s meeting to allow equal numbers of renters to speak. It ended at 2 a.m. with the Board deciding to implement a temporary 65-day moratorium on any rent increases over 8 percent and any “no-fault” evictions.