Photos of the Candidates
Pro-Tenant Slate

Your Berkeley Tenants Union is getting busy this election season!

Members must pay their dues if you want to vote on endorsements. Dues are a sliding scale. Contact “info at berkeleytenants dot org” to learn more.

These days, BTU communicates about actions via emails and Facebook. Be sure to like the Facebook page you see displayed on the sidebar to the right!

Be sure that you are on the mailing list too!

BTU has monthly clinics for free counseling if you are in trouble. We are also working on several ballot measures, and of course we urge you to support the Pro-Tenant Slate for Rent Board. If you want to volunteer to help get activists from BTU and like-minded organizations elected to the Berkeley Rent Board, you can sign up here to assist the Right2Housing Slate:
https://berkeleytenants.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d3053fd94934e92d237a8b9e8&id=c69a08e63a&e=469b9ffc9e

ABOUT THE TENANT CONVENTION

The Berkeley Tenant Convention is a decades-old biennial event in which all Berkeley residents who fully support rent control are invited to nominate the progressive, pro-tenant slate for the Berkeley Rent Board. The sponsors of the 2020 Convention included the Berkeley Tenants Union, Berkeley Citizens Action, the Berkeley Democrats (NOT the Berkeley Democratic Club), the Cal Berkeley Democrats, the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, Friends of Adeline, the Gray Panthers, the Green Party, the NAACP, Our Revolution East Bay, SEIU 1021, UAW 2865 (the UC student-workers union), the Young Democratic Socialists of America – UC Berkeley, and Young Democrats for Justice in Palestine – East Bay.

ABOUT THE CANDIDATES

Photo of 2020 Pro-TenantSlate
2020 Pro-Tenant Slate

The candidates chosen at this year’s convention are Dominique Walker, who works at the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment; Mari Mendonca, a lifelong Berkeley resident who was appointed to the Rent Board recently; Xavier Johnson, who is a legal fellow at Centro Legal de la Raza; incumbent attorney Leah Simon-Weisberg, who has worked for San Francisco’s Eviction Defense Collaborative and Tenants Together; and Andy Kelley, Communications Director at the California League of Conservation Voters.

They are calling their campaign the Right2Housing Slate.

You can watch the whole 2020 Tenant Convention on video at BTU’s Facebook page, and keep up with the priorities and activities of our candidates at their website: https://berkeleyrentboard.org

FOR MORE INFO

Tenant Convention Slate for Berkeley Rent Board
“About 615 electronic ballots and 95 paper ballots were cast, this is an unprecedented turnout. Because of the pandemic, most efforts were done online.”
http://berkeleycitizensaction.org/?p=1193

About Mari
“She is City Councilmember Ben Bartlett’s appointee on the city’s Housing Advisory Commission. She is a member of Friends of Adeline, a neighborhood group that is working to stop gentrification in south Berkeley and to help shape the area’s future as it undergoes new planning. She has also been involved with unions.”
https://www.berkeleyside.com/2019/10/29/mari-mendonca-community-activist-appointed-to-fill-rent-board-vacancy#:~:text=Mari%20Mendonca%2C%20a%20Berkeley%20native,17%20to%20appoint%20Mendonca.

About Leah
“As current vice chair of the rent board, Simon-Weisberg’s legal and policymaking experience is part of what makes her an important member of the board, according to Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín.”
https://www.dailycal.org/2020/07/05/a-valued-partner-leah-simon-weisberg-runs-for-reelection-on-berkeley-rent-board/

Help Right2Housing Slate in the Election
https://berkeleyrentboard.org

Affordable Housing Forum January 21
BTU, in conjunction with Berkeley Citizens Action, Progressive Student Association, and CalSERVE, are hosting an event on affordable housing, with guest speakers including Mayor Jesse Arreguin, Councilmember Kate Harrison, and Rent Board Commissioner Leah Simon-Weisberg. Topics include rent control expansions, student housing, and the newly proposed state law, SB827, which would take away more local control over large for-profit housing developments. At the library Sunday the 21st, from 2pm-4pm.
https://www.facebook.com/events/213062839239569/

Counselor Training February 7 and 8th
Our friends at Tenants Together are offering a Tenants Rights Counselor Training. They cover state law, and refer renters with Berkeley-specific problems to us or the Rent Board. Taking their training or volunteering on their hotline is a great first step toward counseling for BTU. Right now, BTU has only one person answering questions from renters. Help us help Berkeley tenants!
Contact Sara (415) 495-8100

BTU on Campus Thursday February 8th
Cal Dems and the Progressive Student Association have invited BTU to discuss housing issues at 8pm. The location on campus is TBD, so check the Facebook event. This meeting is open to both students and non-students.
https://www.facebook.com/events/213062839239569/

Tenants Endorsement Meeting February 11
Meet all nine candidates for the open Assembly race for District 15. Pamela Price, challenger for Alameda County District Attorney, will also be present. While this event is open to all, you must be a member of BTU who has attended at least one other meeting in the past year and have paid dues in order to vote. Sunday February 11, 2 to 6 pm at South Berkeley Senior Center.

2018 Tenant Convention
Planning has begun for largest tenant gathering in Berkeley, the biannual convention to choose a united team to run for Berkeley Rent Board. Contact BTU if you are interested in being a candidate, and follow developments about this year’s meeting on the tcon website:
http://berkeleytenantsconvention.net/

Your Name Here
I moved away from Berkeley but so far no one at BTU has stepped up to manage the website, and no one is really sending me any content. Does someone in Berkeley want to take on this task for BTU?

At the April 2016 Tenant Convention – sponsored by BTU and many other community organizations – a record turnout of Berkeley progressives selected a team of four candidates for Rent Board. Christina Murphy, Alejandro Soto-Vigil, Leah Simon-Weisberg and Igor Tregub are your team – vote CALI!

However, the Pro-Tenant CALI team has opposition! Sitting landlord Commissioner Judy Hunt only managed to recruit one young property manager to run for election as part of her slate.

Property Manager Nate Wollman
Property Manager Nate Wollman

One of the major differences between the two groups is their positions on the ballot measures that most impact renters: Measure AA and Measures U1/DD. The team chosen at the Tenant Convention all support Measure AA and Measure U1 and consider the landlords’ measure DD a dangerous deception. Hunt was the only vote on the Rent Board not supporting U1. She repeatedly refused to vote for Measure AA as a Commissioner, though it was put on the ballot at the request of the Rent Board to update parts of the Rent Ordinance which got behind the times. (Measure AA is non-controversial, has no official opposition except Hunt and Wollman, and is endorsed by the School Board and Berkeley Federation of Teachers.)
Property Manager Wollman is one of the main critics of Measure U1’s exemption of new construction from the tax to encourage building of more housing, although he strongly supports more development in his Rent Board platform. “We have a lot of so called progressives that harp on the ideals of making this city more inclusive, more affordable, more accessible to students and low income renters and then go an protest at zoning board meetings about proposed developments,” Wollman told Berkeleyside.

Learn More About CALI:
The schedule shows the CALI team is out talking to voters with their supporters every Saturday and Sunday. They also plan to hold phone banks.
http://berkeleyrentboard.org/

Rent Board Candidates on Video:
League of Women Voters held a forum for all six candidates.
http://www.lwvbae.org/videos-of-candidates-in-the-berkeley-municiple-elections-2016/

Bernie Sanders Endorses Pro-Tenant Slate!
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/09/25/bernie-sanders-endorses-pro-tenant-slate-november-rent-stabilization-board-elections/

Daily Planet Endorsements for Berkeley
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-10-07/article/44973?headline=Endorsements-for-the-Berkeley-City-Races

Berkeleyside Coverage
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/10/17/election-2016-berkeley-spotlight-on-the-rent-board/

Hunt and Wollman have few endorsements
Hunt and Wollman have few endorsements

election-3

This year, Berkeley Tenants Union held two endorsement events. In the spring, we shared a meeting with Berkeley Progressive Alliance and Berkeley Citizens Action to select candidates, and in the fall we shared a meeting with BCA to make endorsements on measures.

This is the first year the reconstituted BTU has done endorsements on measures, because this year there are several measures important to renters – particularly Measure AA (relocation funds for evicted renters) and Measure U1 (tax big landlords to fund affordable housing). Results of our ballot measures vote will be posted tomorrow.

Rent Board

opt3cali2Vote for four. Vote for only four — no ranked choice in this race.
Vote for the CALI Slate chosen at the Berkeley Tenant Convention!!
All are BTU Members:
Christina Murphy, Alejandro Soto-Vigil,
Leah Simon-Weisberg, Igor Tregub
http://berkeleyrentboard.org/

 

Mayor: Jesse Arreguin

Jesse used to chair the Rent Board, was chosen at the Tenant Convention multiple times, and help pass recent rules for renters, including:

City Council:

Ending the Bates hold on City Council could really help make Berkeley’s housing policies into housing realities. Electing a realtor as mayor probably won’t.

District 2 West Berkeley: Nanci Armstrong-Temple
An activist with strong ties to the community and Black Lives Matter.
http://www.nanciforberkeley.vote/

District 3 South Berkeley: Ben Bartlett
Chosen by Max Anderson to take his place.
http://www.benbartlett.vote/

District 5 North Berkeley: Sophie Hahn
Voice of reason on the Zoning Board. Leader at Sierra Club.
http://www.sophiehahn.com/

District 6 Northeast Berkeley: Fred Dodsworth
Longtime advocate who has helped with Tenant Convention. BTU Member.
http://freddodsworth.nationbuilder.com/

electionHere is a link to the responses to our questionnaire from all local candidates who chose to answer (BPA led the questionnaire, in collaboration with BTU and BCA).
https://berkeleyprogressivealliance.org/2016/04/23/candidates-for-mayor-and-city-council-2016/

 

 

 

 

BALLOT MEASURE CONTROVERSY

A draft of the ballot measure BTU supports will be reviewed by City Council on May 31.

The Berkeley landlords submitted their ballot measure petition to the City Clerk today. Now the Clerk will check a sample number of the signers – it could be some time before we hear if the petition was validated. They submitted 3,326 signatures; because it is a tax measure it requires 1,932 valid signatures.

BTU’s Selawsky Sounds Warning
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-05-13/article/44490?headline=Deceptive-housing-petition-now-circulating–John-T.-Selawsky-jwebsky-earthlink.net

Committee for Safe and Affordable Homes:
www.fundaffordablehousing.org

The Landlords’ Petition:
http://www.thebrhc.org/ballot-measure.html

BACKGROUND ON BRHC and BPOA

The Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition was formed last summer by leaders of the Berkeley Property Owners Association as a 501(c)6 for lobbying, lawsuits, and other political activities. According to their website, they elect their Board of Directors by allowing each landlord one vote per unit, so the largest property owners control the group.

Daily Cal: http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/25/berkeley-landlord-coalition-raises-money-to-seek-greater-political-influence/
Daily Planet: http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2015-06-12/article/43384?headline=Berkeley-Landlords-Form-Political-Action-Committee-to-Raise-Half-Million-per-Year–
Daily Cal: http://www.dailycal.org/2015/07/08/berkeley-mayor-tom-bates-criticized-for-encouraging-landlords-to-form-pac/
Mayor Bates Urges Landlords to Form PAC: https://youtu.be/vzvHaSP3LJ4 (see 24 minutes in)

RENT BOARD ELECTION

267 voters at the 2016 Tenant Convention (photo Christine Schwartz)
267 voters at the 2016 Tenant Convention (photo Christine Schwartz)

Daily Cal article focusing on Christina Murphy and Leah Simon-Weisberg

Leah Simon-Weisberg (photo C. Schwartz)
Leah Simon-Weisberg (photo C. Schwartz)

Tenant leader and current Rent Board Commissioner Judy Shelton is quoted in the article as saying, ““These are progressive people who are all very passionate about supporting

Christina Murphy (photo C. Schwartz)
Christina Murphy (photo C. Schwartz)

tenants,” said Shelton, whose term is ending this election season. “They’re supporting each other, and we in the progressive community support them too.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/13/christina-murphy-leah-simon-weisberg-run-rent-stabilization-board/

Daily Cal on the Tenant Convention
In 2012, a similar pro-landlord slate — Tenants United for Fairness — ran one candidate in order to combat allegations of a pro-tenant bias within the rent board. The following year, the slate allegedly did not submit campaign finance statements from prohibited organizations — including Premium Properties — to the city. Tenants United for Fairness agreed to pay a $4,000 fine to the city and has not run a candidate since Judy Hunt was elected in 2012.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/04/24/pro-tenant-convention-elects-slate-candidates-november-election-sunday/

Leah Simon-Weisberg Launches Website for Rent Board Election
http://www.leahsimon-weisberg.com/

BTU ENDORSEMENTS

While the Tenant Convention had 267 voters, BTU’s endorsements meeting for Council and Mayor had a lower, but still impressive, turnout of 109 voters. Although Kriss Worthington announced he was also running for mayor, organizers of the event from BTU and our progressive allies would not change the rules at the start of the meeting, so only one candidate can use our endorsement in each race, although voters in the November election can rank their choices.

Mayor: BTU Member Jesse Arreguin

District 2: Nanci Armstrong-Temple

District 3: Ben Bartlett

District 5: Sophie Hahn

District 6: BTU Member Fred Dodsworth

BTU / BPA / BCA Endorsements Meeting in East Bay Times
“Building affordable housing, blunting gentrification and finding compassionate solutions to homelessness were central issues addressed April 30 by mayoral and council candidates seeking joint endorsement by the left-leaning Berkeley Progressive Alliance, Berkeley Citizen’s Action and Berkeley Tenants Union.”
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29845596/berkeley-progressive-groups-back-arreguin-mayor

BTU / BPA / BCA Endorsements Meeting in Daily Cal
Registered members of any of the three groups who had paid their dues were eligible to cast a ballot. Approximately 100 ballots were cast for each position. Voters were allowed to either cast a ballot for any of the candidates who spoke at the meeting or write in candidates….Worthington, who was seeking mayoral endorsement but has not yet registered for candidacy, asked for the groups to endorse two candidates for each position. Worthington said he is running for mayor in a formal political partnership with Arreguin.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/02/progressive-voters-meet-endorse-mayoral-city-council-candidates/

Berkeley Progressive Alliance Op-Ed
These organizations are part of a network of progressive Berkeley citizens working to curb the influence of special interests and make local government accountable to the residents of Berkeley. They include a campaign in to increase funding for affordable housing in Berkeley.”
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-04-22/article/44418?headline=It-s-Time-to-Make-Berkeley-Truly-Progressive–From-Margot-Smith-for-BPA

Jesse Arreguin For Mayor Op-Ed on Housing
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-04-15/article/44389?headline=Housing-Costs-Major-Topic-for-Berkeleyans–Councilmember-Jesse-Arreguin

Nanci Armstrong-Temple, District 2: South and West Berkeley
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/05/11/berkeley-resident-files-to-run-for-district-2-city-council-election/

Ben Bartlett, District 3: South Berkeley
http://benbartlett.vote/

Sophie Hahn, District 5: North Berkeley
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-01-29/article/44128?headline=Sophie-Hahn-Announces-Run-for-Berkeley-City-Council-District-5–From-the-Sophie-Hahn-Campaign-Committee

Fred Dodsworth, District 6: Berkeley Hills
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/03/09/berkeley-resident-fred-dodsworth-files-to-run-for-district-6-council-seat/

2016-RSB-convention-flyer-IMAGE-1200x1200FNLThe 2016 Rent Board Convention to select a pro-tenant slate for the elected Rent Board will be held on April 24th – THIS SUNDAY! – at the South Berkeley Senior Center on Ellis at Ashby. The gathering is sponsored this year by BTU, Friends of Adeline, the Berkeley NAACP, Berkeley Green Party, Berkeley Progressive Alliance, Berkeley Citizens Action, Socialist Alliance, the Peace and Freedom Party, CalSERVE, and UC Berkeley Students for Bernie Sanders.

The convention has been held each election year by a coalition of progressive groups for over 20 years in order to present a unified slate for the November Rent Board election. This year, there are 11 candidates for four seats. Because Rent Board Commissioner is the only elected office in Berkeley with term limits, there are only two protenant incumbents: Asa Dodsworth and Alejandro Soto-Vigil.
Candidate statements are on the convention website. Asa Dodsworth and Marcia Levinson did not send written responses. Sponsoring groups also send representatives to rate the candidates, interview them, and get more information about specific concerns of their membership. The convention site will also host the ratings and comments from community screeners, as well as the rules of the convention.

Candidate statements, screener feedback, convention rules:
http://berkeleytenantsconvention.net/

Candidates are:

Asa Dodsworth, Marcia Levenson, Matthew Lewis, Thomas Lord, Christina Murphy, Poki Namkung, Christine Schwartz, Leah Simon-Weisberg, Alejandro Soto-Vigil, Igor Tregub, Eleanor Walden. Dodsworth, Simon-Weisberg, Lewis, and Tregub have served on the BTU steering committee.

BEWARE! You must be inside for all candidate statements in order to vote. Folks not in by 2 PM may not get ballots. Convention starts Sunday at 1:30 PM!