The Advocate

  Sonia Reed found her first home ever in the hills of San Leandro. After winning a lottery through a local program to support first-time homebuyers, she couldn't believe her luck in finding a place in the Bay Area's competitive housing market. As someone who was formerly homeless, she was very excited to then become a first-time homeowner.  As a peer support and recovery specialist and Narcotics Anonymous volunteer for Alameda County, she is used to helping others. In fact, after struggling against hardship most of her life, Sonia has dedicated her career to fighting for others, including serving as a member of Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless Commission and a program manager at Bonita House.  But now she's the one in need of help. Upon coming to visit her new home in the unincorporated Hillcrest Knolls neighborhood , she was immediately met with racist slurs and hate from a couple of her neighbors. Insults were hurled about her race and her body. The co...

The Big Tent has just released its proposed Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protection Ordinance (RS&TPO). A copy is available here for everyone to read freely. This critical legislation would provide the following: 1. Rent stabilization to cap annual increases and keep housing affordable. 2. Just cause requirements for evictions to protect tenants and property owners. 3. A rent registry to track rental housing in the city to help enforce the ordinance and evaluate the market. 4. A review board that is representative and has authority to resolve disputes or violations. 5. A diversity, equity, and inclusion provision for broad-based applicability to ensure that the ordinance serves all residents of San Leandro. 6. Sufficient funding and staffing to support the ordinance. 7. An anti-harassment clause to protect renters when exercising their rights. 8. A private right of action so that individuals can hold violators and the city accountable. 9. Improved noticing requirements so that ev...

The Big Tent calls on the City of San Leandro to implement housing reform immediately and to declare that there exists a housing emergency. Each year, housing scarcity and rents rising faster than wages cause many renters in the City of San Leandro to be evicted or priced out of their homes, resulting in housing turnover and unstable neighborhoods. This displacement damages our families and communities by increasing homelessness, food insecurity, pollution, mental illness, and lowering life expectancy. Community displacement hurts not only San Leandro’s residents; it also holds dire consequences for the resilience of our economy. San Leandro’s manufacturing employers, schools, and small businesses are already challenged in their effort to find adequately skilled, reliable, local workers. An insufficient workforce hurts business growth and San Leandro’s ability to increase revenues and improve our facilities and services. San Leandro’s housing supply was approximately 73% below its Regi...