HOPE for Housing in San Leandro

Do you believe everyone deserves a safe place to call home? It's a simple question really, but for some people, the answer isn't. As far back as 1944, we've known that housing is a human right. Even now, when we think of the "American Dream" we think of housing. We imagine a place to live and call our own. So much of our identity and community is intertwined with the place we think of as home.

But for many people in San Leandro that's impossible.

The minimum wage here is $15.50 per hour. Assuming you are getting shifts full-time, your annual earnings before taxes are $32,240. Meanwhile, the median rent for a studio apartment is $1,849 per month. That's $22,188 per year. You now have $10,052 left for everything else. Oh, but wait, taxes are actually $5,408! Now you only have $4,644 for groceries, utilities, internet, transportation, health insurance, and maybe some clothes to wear. For the entire year. After rent and taxes, you have to live on $387 per month in one of the most expensive metropolitan regions in the entire world.

You aren't a minimum wage worker? Great! Guess what? It still costs almost $79,000 per year to afford the average one-bedroom rental unit in San Leandro without starving or going into debt according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Do you know what the median annual salary is in our city after taxes? $33,804.

Now remember that in Alameda County, your rent can go up by as much as 10% per year. And if you can't afford it? Well, you could always go ask the city's Rent Review Board for help. Except they have literally no power to do anything. They're also mostly comprised of real estate firm members, corporate developers, and landlords. What about if you ask your elected officials for help? Well, according to Mayor Juan Gonzalez, "why don't you just not rent?" Because, y'know, obviously we're all as independently wealthy as him from a career with KPMG helping big businesses cheat on audits and engage in corruption.

And most of those firms, corporations, and landlords? They agree with him and are doing everything they can to prevent any fairness in housing for our community! They oppose rent stabilization and tenant protections, spending millions of dollars to defeat these types of initiatives. While their choice is immoral, it's also strange given that one of the most common complaints we hear from them is about homelessness and all the issues associated with it. In fact, homelessness rises faster wherever rent exceeds a third of income.

Indeed, we know from recent research that rent regulations “do not necessarily increase the rent of non-regulated units and may actually keep rent more affordable for all.” Rent regulations have “minimal impact on new construction” and “rent stabilization increases housing stability, which has important health and educational attainment benefits.” Notably, “there is no conclusive evidence about the impacts on ‘mom and pop’ landlords” and “rent regulations may deter gentrification.”

So why has the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce continued to oppose these commonsense measures? Why does the same local real estate lobby that propped up redlining in sundown San Leandro still stand against helping everyone have a place to call home? Why are conservative property owners threatening violence and attacking anyone who even proposes reforming our current system? Your guess is as good as mine.

However, there's HOPE! San Leandro Housing Opportunity and Protection for Everyone is proposing a bevy of solutions:

1. Rent caps, so that landlords can raise rent only by a certain percentage each year.

2. “Just cause” protections, so renters will not be evicted without a fair reason.

3. A rent registry that tracks data on rental properties for enforcing the ordinance and evaluating the market.

4. A review board to hold hearings on issues related to the ordinance.

5. Sufficient funding to administer and enforce the ordinance, from a fee on registered units, paid by the housing provider.

6. Broad applicability to the greatest number of units, including mobile home spaces.

7. Anti-harassment and right to organize provisions that empower and protect tenants.

8. Right to enforce violations through private legal action.

9. Enhanced notice requirements for evictions that include specific information explaining the grounds.

10. If a landlord fails to comply with the ordinance, their tenant will have a defense to eviction in court.

This new ordinance will not only protect existing tenants from poverty and homelessness, it will also ensure those homes are available for future generations while helping to expand our stock of available housing citywide. And it still allows property owners to profit from their investments.

Please sign HOPE's open letter to the city by going here. If there's one thing we've learned from the pandemic, it's that everyone deserves a safe place to live. Let's build a better San Leandro together.

Take note and take care.