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PROFITEERS TARGET OAKLAND RENTERS
Oakland Councilwoman Brooks Is Moving Forward To De-Regulate Oaklands Condo-Conversion Laws! Oaklands Rental Housing Supply Is Under Attack!
Profiteers Target Oakland Renters
Realtors Push For De-Regulation Of Oaklands Condo-Conversion Laws
by Lynda Carson 11/15/03
Oakland CA--Profiteers from the real estate industry and Councilwoman Desley Brooks have united in the targeting of Oakland renters for displacement and are pushing for de-regulation of Oaklands condo-conversion laws.
Leading the charge to ultimately dismantle Oaklands condo-conversion regulations, Brooks who recently abstained from voting for Oaklands Affordable Housing Week has firmly established herself as the instrument of the profiteers that are seeking to maintain an opulent lifestyle by running Oakland renters out of town.
Oaklands present day condo-conversion ordinance known as Section 16.36.070 of the Subdivision Regulations has been in place for over 20 years, went into effect in 1981, and was amended in 1982 and 1984.
Section 16.36.070 requires that any conversion of four or more units throughout the City, or any number of units within the conversion impact area, must be alleviated by the development of new rental units to replace the ones being converted to condominiums. The ordinance states; The subdivider must demonstrate that one rental unit has been added to the city's housing supply for every unit converted to a condominium.
Councilwoman Brooks is pushing for an ordinance that allows an unlimited amount of condo-conversions to take place no matter how many Oakland communities may be displaced during the process, and she wants the requirement to replace the lost rental housing units to be tossed into the trashbins of history.
Under attack by the vultures of the realty industry, the condo-conversion ordinance has been an effective barrier against the profiteers that would dump their own mothers out upon the streets if a profit could be made by doing so. During the early 80's large numbers of tenants in multi-family residential buildings were being displaced from the Adams Point and Lake Merritt areas due to condo-conversions that were taking place and the condo-conversion ordinance was then adopted in an effort to protect the renters and save the rental housing supply in those areas.
Renters and activists alike recently noticed movement in Oakland to gut the existing condo-conversion laws from the books when a number of realtors spoke up at the September 30 2003, Oakland City Council meeting. Several of the realtors stepped up to the podium to publicly denounce the present day laws that protected the renters from their industry. The realtors insisted that the laws are the most onerous in the Bay Area and needed to be de-regulated so that they could make a living by selling condos to those seeking home ownership. No proposal was offered to remedy the situation for thousands of renters that would be displaced in some future time if the condo-conversion laws were dismantled.
Oakland has more than 88,000 rental housing units that supply various forms of housing strecthing across the flatlands into the hills above and along the waterfront. Long known as a working class city, Oakland is under attack by the forces of gentrification being fueled by the profiteers lured into town by the administration of Mayor Jerry Brown.
On Tuesday October 28, the condo-conversion issue heated up during a meeting that took place in Oakland City Hall which included Deputy City Attorney Roy Schwyer, Michael J. Smith plus three other realtors from the office of Michael Smith and Associates. Adam Gold of Just Cause Oakland (JCO) and James Vann of the Oakland Tenants Union (OTU) were also invited to attend the meeting.
Tenant activists charge that the meeting was the result of a circular that Councilwoman Desley Brooks had going around City Hall in an effort to seek support in gutting the existing condo-conversion laws on behalf of the realtors.
"I believe that the realtors or councilmembers were bugging Roy Schwyer to set up a meeting involving tenant activists and the realtors in an attempt to get us to sign off on the realtors proposed project to convert 71 rental units in Councilwoman Brooks district into condos without replacing them with more rental housing units", says, James Vann. "The realtors were looking for a way to get around the existing condo-conversion ordinance and when the subject matter turned to de-regulating the whole city of Oakland from the condo-conversion laws, we opposed the idea, wanted no further part of the discussions and left the meeting", Vann said.
Looking further into the matter, during a November 13 call to the office of Councilwoman Nancy Nadel, the official line was that Councilwoman Desley Brooks recently directed Deputy City Attorney Rick Illgen to look at the state and local laws governing the regulations for condo-conversions and that a conflict was found in regards to the Ellis Act. No explanation was offered as to what the conflict is.
James Vann of the OTU charges that it's a red herring, that no conflict actualy exists, and that the staff did a poor job researching the state and local laws or do not know what their talking about.
"The state law known as the Ellis Act gives the landlords all the rights they need to take a rental unit off of the rental market if thats their choice", says Vann. "What their really up to is to completely gut the local regulations governing condo-conversions and they are looking for an excuse to offer the public as an explanation as to why it has to be done. When the offices of the Councilmembers are putting stories out to the public that a conflict exists with the Ellis Act and therefore the condo-conversion laws need to be de-regulated, it's nothing more than a myth with no substance to back it up", said Vann.
Councilwoman Nancy Nadel said that she favors de-regulation of the condo-conversion laws as long as there are tight restrictions on how the conversions are to take place, and she further stated that the transfer tax from the sale of the condominiums would bring in needed revenues for the City of Oakland.
"Due to the imbalance of homeowners and renters in some areas of Oakland, I am open to a partial de-regulation of existing laws, but, I believe that we need tight restrictions to limit this to an experiment to see what the results are before we loosen things up any further", Nadel said.
"I believe that the de-regulation of the condo-conversion laws as they are being proposed (unlimited conversions) would be devastating for renters in district 3", says Nadel. "Renters do not have the funds to buy condominiums due to the high cost and recently the renters already took a big hit with the new ordinance to remove rent control from owner occupied duplexes and triplexes. De-regulation of the condo-conversion laws would only make matters worse for the renters in my district if their unlimited", Nadel said.
The Adams Point area is in Nadels district and is a prime location for the profiteers to make many fortunes by converting the rental housing supply into condos that would be sold over and over again. As P.T. Barnum once said; Theres a sucker born every moment!
In closing, says Nadel, "For Councilwoman Brooks to get my support on this one I would only allow a limited number of condo-conversions to take place per year in certain areas of Oakland. I would also require that renters have the first option to buy the condominiums, and for those being displaced I would require that they receive relocation fees of some kind".
It's unlikely that Oakland would offer any golden parachutes to the low-income renters of Oakland that would be placed at most risk if the proposed ordinance goes into effect, and most likely the Sherrifs Department would end up offering a boot to the ass of any stragglers failing to mave fast enough out of their beloved hovel once the eviction process takes place.
It only takes a moment to look at the submitted staff report being pushed through by Councilwoman Brooks to discover that the concerns Councilwoman Nadel expressed are not included in the new proposed ordinance and are only mentioned as an alternative to the ordinance Brooks is trying to get passed into law.
Activists are concerned that Nadels modest proposals to protect the renters from Brooks proposed anti-tenant ordinance will never be added to the full ordinance when it comes time for a vote before the full city council and they are considering strategies to stop this measure dead in it's tracks before it gets any more traction than it already has.
City officials in the pocket of the profiteers are claiming that they are actually promoting condo-conversions as a form of home ownership for Oaklanders. Meanwhile, critics of the proposed measure charge that the average Oakland household income in the flatlands is only around $29,000 to $33,000 per year and that the renters could not possibly afford to buy a $200,000 condo even if they wanted to.
The city staff report also states; Recently, the City has been approached by both building owners who want to convert, and potential homeowners who want to purchase units. All have expressed frustration with the current requirements.
Activists charge that Oakland is full of condos that are sitting empty because most Oaklanders are already priced out of the market and they believe that Councilwoman Brooks true mission is to make an end run around Measure EE and gut rent control in Oakland. It's no secret that Brooks dislikes having low-income renters in her district, and recently Brooks shocked Oaklanders when she attacked an 18 unit non-profit housing project meant for the disabled in District 6 near the Eastmont Mall in an attempt to crash the project .
With years of observing Oakland City Council meetings, critics note that renters lining up to the podium demanding the right to buy high priced condos in Oakland has never been a hot button issue being used by the people as a means to demand more affordable housing. As a matter of fact, the reverse is generaly the trend with large numbers of people demanding more low-income housing at the council meetings.
Anti-eviction activists are urging Oakland renters to unite as quickly as possible against the profiteers and to alert their neighbors of the impending attack upon the rental housing supply thats taking place. Renters are urged to contact all of the Oakland Councilmembers A.S.A.P., to demand that the condo-conversion laws of Oakland remain in place "as is" to save the rental housing supply from becoming extinct.
Upon the steps of Oakland City Hall on Wednesday November 19 at 11am, a Press Conference is scheduled to take place with community members in opposition to the proposal to gut the condo-conversion laws. Everyone is welcome to join in to unite with others or create their own campaigns to fight back against the profiteers attacking Oakland renters.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
START CONTACTING THE FOLLOWING A.S.A.P., TO DEMAND THAT THE CONDO-CONVERSION LAWS OF OAKLAND REMAIN FIRMLY IN PLACE!
Oakland City Planning Commission:
CLINTON KILLIAN (Chair) - 625-8823, cokoaklandplanning [at] yahoo.com
NICOLE Y. FRANKLIN - (415) 749-2592, nicole.franklin [at] sfgov.org
COLLAND JANG - 839-2820, colland [at] aol.com
SUZIE W. LEE - 836-6688, suzie [at] yhla.net
MICHAEL LIGHTY - 273-2200, ext. 242, mlighty [at] calnurses.org
MARK A. MCCLURE - 893-4405, mark_mcclure [at] alarconbohm.com
ANNE E. MUDGE - (415) 617-8900, aemudge [at] stoel.com
City Council:
Nancy Nadel – 238-7003 nnadel [at] oaklandnet.com
Henry Chang – 238-7008 cityochang [at] aol.com
Desley Brooks - 238-7006, dbrooks [at] oaklandnet.com
Danny Wan - 238-7002, dwan [at] oaklandnet.com
Larry Reid - 238-7007, lreid [at] oaklandnet.com
Jean Quan - 238-7004, jquan [at] oaklandnet.com
Jane Brunner - 238-7001, jbrunner [at] oaklandnet.com
Ignacio de la Fuente - 238-7005, idelafuente [at] oaklandnet.com
Mayor Brown: 238-3141, officeofthemayor [at] oaklandnet.com
Feel free to cut and paste the following e-mails all at once to demand the condo-conversion ordinance remains a barrier against the profiteers out to destroy the rental housing supply of Oakland!
cokoaklandplanning [at] yahoo.com, nicole.franklin [at] sfgov.org, colland [at] aol.com, suzie [at] yhla.net, mlighty [at] calnurses.org, mark_mcclure [at] alarconbohm.com, aemudge [at] stoel.com, nnadel [at] oaklandnet.com, cityochang [at] aol.com, dbrooks [at] oaklandnet.com, dwan [at] oaklandnet.com, lreid [at] oaklandnet.com, jquan [at] oaklandnet.com, jbrunner [at] oaklandnet.com, idelafuente [at] oaklandnet.com, officeofthemayor [at] oaklandnet.com
Realtors Push For De-Regulation Of Oaklands Condo-Conversion Laws
by Lynda Carson 11/15/03
Oakland CA--Profiteers from the real estate industry and Councilwoman Desley Brooks have united in the targeting of Oakland renters for displacement and are pushing for de-regulation of Oaklands condo-conversion laws.
Leading the charge to ultimately dismantle Oaklands condo-conversion regulations, Brooks who recently abstained from voting for Oaklands Affordable Housing Week has firmly established herself as the instrument of the profiteers that are seeking to maintain an opulent lifestyle by running Oakland renters out of town.
Oaklands present day condo-conversion ordinance known as Section 16.36.070 of the Subdivision Regulations has been in place for over 20 years, went into effect in 1981, and was amended in 1982 and 1984.
Section 16.36.070 requires that any conversion of four or more units throughout the City, or any number of units within the conversion impact area, must be alleviated by the development of new rental units to replace the ones being converted to condominiums. The ordinance states; The subdivider must demonstrate that one rental unit has been added to the city's housing supply for every unit converted to a condominium.
Councilwoman Brooks is pushing for an ordinance that allows an unlimited amount of condo-conversions to take place no matter how many Oakland communities may be displaced during the process, and she wants the requirement to replace the lost rental housing units to be tossed into the trashbins of history.
Under attack by the vultures of the realty industry, the condo-conversion ordinance has been an effective barrier against the profiteers that would dump their own mothers out upon the streets if a profit could be made by doing so. During the early 80's large numbers of tenants in multi-family residential buildings were being displaced from the Adams Point and Lake Merritt areas due to condo-conversions that were taking place and the condo-conversion ordinance was then adopted in an effort to protect the renters and save the rental housing supply in those areas.
Renters and activists alike recently noticed movement in Oakland to gut the existing condo-conversion laws from the books when a number of realtors spoke up at the September 30 2003, Oakland City Council meeting. Several of the realtors stepped up to the podium to publicly denounce the present day laws that protected the renters from their industry. The realtors insisted that the laws are the most onerous in the Bay Area and needed to be de-regulated so that they could make a living by selling condos to those seeking home ownership. No proposal was offered to remedy the situation for thousands of renters that would be displaced in some future time if the condo-conversion laws were dismantled.
Oakland has more than 88,000 rental housing units that supply various forms of housing strecthing across the flatlands into the hills above and along the waterfront. Long known as a working class city, Oakland is under attack by the forces of gentrification being fueled by the profiteers lured into town by the administration of Mayor Jerry Brown.
On Tuesday October 28, the condo-conversion issue heated up during a meeting that took place in Oakland City Hall which included Deputy City Attorney Roy Schwyer, Michael J. Smith plus three other realtors from the office of Michael Smith and Associates. Adam Gold of Just Cause Oakland (JCO) and James Vann of the Oakland Tenants Union (OTU) were also invited to attend the meeting.
Tenant activists charge that the meeting was the result of a circular that Councilwoman Desley Brooks had going around City Hall in an effort to seek support in gutting the existing condo-conversion laws on behalf of the realtors.
"I believe that the realtors or councilmembers were bugging Roy Schwyer to set up a meeting involving tenant activists and the realtors in an attempt to get us to sign off on the realtors proposed project to convert 71 rental units in Councilwoman Brooks district into condos without replacing them with more rental housing units", says, James Vann. "The realtors were looking for a way to get around the existing condo-conversion ordinance and when the subject matter turned to de-regulating the whole city of Oakland from the condo-conversion laws, we opposed the idea, wanted no further part of the discussions and left the meeting", Vann said.
Looking further into the matter, during a November 13 call to the office of Councilwoman Nancy Nadel, the official line was that Councilwoman Desley Brooks recently directed Deputy City Attorney Rick Illgen to look at the state and local laws governing the regulations for condo-conversions and that a conflict was found in regards to the Ellis Act. No explanation was offered as to what the conflict is.
James Vann of the OTU charges that it's a red herring, that no conflict actualy exists, and that the staff did a poor job researching the state and local laws or do not know what their talking about.
"The state law known as the Ellis Act gives the landlords all the rights they need to take a rental unit off of the rental market if thats their choice", says Vann. "What their really up to is to completely gut the local regulations governing condo-conversions and they are looking for an excuse to offer the public as an explanation as to why it has to be done. When the offices of the Councilmembers are putting stories out to the public that a conflict exists with the Ellis Act and therefore the condo-conversion laws need to be de-regulated, it's nothing more than a myth with no substance to back it up", said Vann.
Councilwoman Nancy Nadel said that she favors de-regulation of the condo-conversion laws as long as there are tight restrictions on how the conversions are to take place, and she further stated that the transfer tax from the sale of the condominiums would bring in needed revenues for the City of Oakland.
"Due to the imbalance of homeowners and renters in some areas of Oakland, I am open to a partial de-regulation of existing laws, but, I believe that we need tight restrictions to limit this to an experiment to see what the results are before we loosen things up any further", Nadel said.
"I believe that the de-regulation of the condo-conversion laws as they are being proposed (unlimited conversions) would be devastating for renters in district 3", says Nadel. "Renters do not have the funds to buy condominiums due to the high cost and recently the renters already took a big hit with the new ordinance to remove rent control from owner occupied duplexes and triplexes. De-regulation of the condo-conversion laws would only make matters worse for the renters in my district if their unlimited", Nadel said.
The Adams Point area is in Nadels district and is a prime location for the profiteers to make many fortunes by converting the rental housing supply into condos that would be sold over and over again. As P.T. Barnum once said; Theres a sucker born every moment!
In closing, says Nadel, "For Councilwoman Brooks to get my support on this one I would only allow a limited number of condo-conversions to take place per year in certain areas of Oakland. I would also require that renters have the first option to buy the condominiums, and for those being displaced I would require that they receive relocation fees of some kind".
It's unlikely that Oakland would offer any golden parachutes to the low-income renters of Oakland that would be placed at most risk if the proposed ordinance goes into effect, and most likely the Sherrifs Department would end up offering a boot to the ass of any stragglers failing to mave fast enough out of their beloved hovel once the eviction process takes place.
It only takes a moment to look at the submitted staff report being pushed through by Councilwoman Brooks to discover that the concerns Councilwoman Nadel expressed are not included in the new proposed ordinance and are only mentioned as an alternative to the ordinance Brooks is trying to get passed into law.
Activists are concerned that Nadels modest proposals to protect the renters from Brooks proposed anti-tenant ordinance will never be added to the full ordinance when it comes time for a vote before the full city council and they are considering strategies to stop this measure dead in it's tracks before it gets any more traction than it already has.
City officials in the pocket of the profiteers are claiming that they are actually promoting condo-conversions as a form of home ownership for Oaklanders. Meanwhile, critics of the proposed measure charge that the average Oakland household income in the flatlands is only around $29,000 to $33,000 per year and that the renters could not possibly afford to buy a $200,000 condo even if they wanted to.
The city staff report also states; Recently, the City has been approached by both building owners who want to convert, and potential homeowners who want to purchase units. All have expressed frustration with the current requirements.
Activists charge that Oakland is full of condos that are sitting empty because most Oaklanders are already priced out of the market and they believe that Councilwoman Brooks true mission is to make an end run around Measure EE and gut rent control in Oakland. It's no secret that Brooks dislikes having low-income renters in her district, and recently Brooks shocked Oaklanders when she attacked an 18 unit non-profit housing project meant for the disabled in District 6 near the Eastmont Mall in an attempt to crash the project .
With years of observing Oakland City Council meetings, critics note that renters lining up to the podium demanding the right to buy high priced condos in Oakland has never been a hot button issue being used by the people as a means to demand more affordable housing. As a matter of fact, the reverse is generaly the trend with large numbers of people demanding more low-income housing at the council meetings.
Anti-eviction activists are urging Oakland renters to unite as quickly as possible against the profiteers and to alert their neighbors of the impending attack upon the rental housing supply thats taking place. Renters are urged to contact all of the Oakland Councilmembers A.S.A.P., to demand that the condo-conversion laws of Oakland remain in place "as is" to save the rental housing supply from becoming extinct.
Upon the steps of Oakland City Hall on Wednesday November 19 at 11am, a Press Conference is scheduled to take place with community members in opposition to the proposal to gut the condo-conversion laws. Everyone is welcome to join in to unite with others or create their own campaigns to fight back against the profiteers attacking Oakland renters.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
START CONTACTING THE FOLLOWING A.S.A.P., TO DEMAND THAT THE CONDO-CONVERSION LAWS OF OAKLAND REMAIN FIRMLY IN PLACE!
Oakland City Planning Commission:
CLINTON KILLIAN (Chair) - 625-8823, cokoaklandplanning [at] yahoo.com
NICOLE Y. FRANKLIN - (415) 749-2592, nicole.franklin [at] sfgov.org
COLLAND JANG - 839-2820, colland [at] aol.com
SUZIE W. LEE - 836-6688, suzie [at] yhla.net
MICHAEL LIGHTY - 273-2200, ext. 242, mlighty [at] calnurses.org
MARK A. MCCLURE - 893-4405, mark_mcclure [at] alarconbohm.com
ANNE E. MUDGE - (415) 617-8900, aemudge [at] stoel.com
City Council:
Nancy Nadel – 238-7003 nnadel [at] oaklandnet.com
Henry Chang – 238-7008 cityochang [at] aol.com
Desley Brooks - 238-7006, dbrooks [at] oaklandnet.com
Danny Wan - 238-7002, dwan [at] oaklandnet.com
Larry Reid - 238-7007, lreid [at] oaklandnet.com
Jean Quan - 238-7004, jquan [at] oaklandnet.com
Jane Brunner - 238-7001, jbrunner [at] oaklandnet.com
Ignacio de la Fuente - 238-7005, idelafuente [at] oaklandnet.com
Mayor Brown: 238-3141, officeofthemayor [at] oaklandnet.com
Feel free to cut and paste the following e-mails all at once to demand the condo-conversion ordinance remains a barrier against the profiteers out to destroy the rental housing supply of Oakland!
cokoaklandplanning [at] yahoo.com, nicole.franklin [at] sfgov.org, colland [at] aol.com, suzie [at] yhla.net, mlighty [at] calnurses.org, mark_mcclure [at] alarconbohm.com, aemudge [at] stoel.com, nnadel [at] oaklandnet.com, cityochang [at] aol.com, dbrooks [at] oaklandnet.com, dwan [at] oaklandnet.com, lreid [at] oaklandnet.com, jquan [at] oaklandnet.com, jbrunner [at] oaklandnet.com, idelafuente [at] oaklandnet.com, officeofthemayor [at] oaklandnet.com
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