3 22-0542 Subject: Submit Amendments To The Just Cause For Eviction Ordinance To The November 8, 2022 General Election
From: Councilmembers Kalb And Fife
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution On The City Council's Own Motion Submitting To The Voters At The November 8, 2022, General Municipal Election, An Ordinance To Amend Oakland Municipal Code Section 8.22.300 Et Seq. (Just Cause For Eviction Ordinance) To: (1) Extend Eviction Protections To Tenants In Vehicular Residential Facilities And Newly Constructed Rental Units, Except Accessory Dwelling Units During The First Ten Years; (2) Remove Failure To Execute A Lease Extension As Grounds For Eviction; (3) Prohibit No-Fault Evictions Of Educators And Children During The School Year; And (4) Make Other Clarifying Amendments; And Directing The City Clerk To Fix The Date For Submission Of Arguments And Provide For Notice And Publication, And Take Any And All Actions Necessary Under Law To Prepare For And Conduct The November 8, 2022, General Municipal Election
As an OUSD parent and Oakland voter, I support these protections for tenants' legal rights that will support vulnerable members of our community and maintain stability in our school communities.
My name is Rose and I work with Causa Justa :: Just Cause in Oakland. I've seen firsthand the impact of how important protections are for tenants. Without them they would join the thousands of others who have been displaced to areas outside of the bay and far from their support systems. I support the Ballot Measure for the Expansion of the Oakland Just Cause Ordinance AND I am also asking that ADUs be included in the expansive protections. These units are a lifeline for tenants. All newly built housing must fall under the protections of the Just Cause Ordinance. It’s happened in dozens of other cities across the state with NO diminishing of construction with Just Cause ordinance. Data strongly refutes the claim that exempting new units will depress construction activity. Oakland is clearly a city with a strong residential development market, and the evidence indicates that including new homes under Just Cause protections is highly unlikely to change that.
Oakland continues to be in a severe housing crisis and this burden is carried primarily by Black, Brown and low income residents. Extending just cause provisions is a necessary step to securing dignified and stable housing for our communities
On behalf of the Casita Coalition, I urge the council to step back from this ballot measure. The reports provided to the council don't include all the important data--first, State Law provides an exemption for owner-occupied properties with an ADU--so Oakland and 99 other Bay Area cities are not outliers--they are in alignment with State Law. Second, the table showing RHNA numbers counts Above Moderate Income housing only--while all housing is important, is this really the category of housing that Oakland most needs to encourage to improve equity? If Low and Moderate income housing is included, the data shows a 35% LOSS of new housing in cities with Just Cause ordinances. ADUs are a unique and very valuable form of housing that helps families keep their homes and resist displacement, makes Oakland neighborhoods more diverse, and adds critically important NEW AFFORDABLE HOMES for lower income residents. Adding restrictions to an already challenging and expensive process will keep homeowners from building ADUs that Oakland needs to keep making progress with its housing goals. Consult with other City of Oakland staff and nonprofits such as Keys to Equity and the authors of the Oakland ADU Initiative Existing Barriers and Conditions Report--who have studied how ADUs help Oakland and how barriers such as eviction restrictions keep homeowners from building ADUs. Removing this exemption for new construction ADUs works at cross purposes with other Oakland efforts. Please vote no.
My name is Emma, and I am the Community Engagement Program Manager at The Center for Independent Living, a cross-disability advocacy and direct services organization serving northern Alameda County, including disabled residents of Oakland. I myself am an Oakland resident in District 5. I am in full solidarity and support of Councilmember Kalb and Fife's recommendation to strengthen eviction protections in Oakland; I work with disabled community members in Oakland each day who share their experiences of harassment, intimidation, and retaliation by landlords, oftentimes related to their disability or requests for reasonable accommodations or accessibility in their units, and many community members who have experienced eviction or threat of eviction. Due to ableism--the system of power that devalues and discriminates against people with disabilities--and its inextricable intersections with classism, racism, and displacement, disabled people disproportionately experience the impact of tenant violations and unjust evictions. Increasing eviction protections and tenant protections is a move that is deeply in line with equity, disability justice, meaningful community diversity, and the right to survive and thrive for those community members most at the margins of power. Cross-disability communities in Oakland HAVE, and WILL, continue to organize and mobilize around eviction protections; we form a powerful constituency and will be watching the Council's actions closely.
- we have a serious housing crisis in Oakland. The situation that existed when the Just Cause Ordinance was first approved by the City’s voters in 2002 has not been abated—it has gotten worse. We need to strengthen the Ordinance, expand the units to which it applies, and to provide its benefits to more tenants, not fewer.
- We should be protecting more of our neighbors, not fewer. Given the negative impacts of the pandemic on the most vulnerable among us, this ballot measure benefits the community at large, and we need these rights expanded.
- The Just Cause Ordinance helps prevent evictions. Evictions result in increased burdens on the health care system, negative impacts on health because of lack of stable housing, and disrupt children’s education when families are forced to move or become homeless. Just cause for eviction helps keep our communities safer and healthier.
Oakland needs more expansive and inclusive public policies that protect more tenants from evictions, we need to establish real, tangible solutions to address the ongoing housing and houselessness crisis. Thank you.
I am a homeowner in district 2 and I support this ballot measure, while also asking that ADUs be included in the expansive protections so that all newly built housing is protected under the Just Cause Ordinance. It’s happened in dozens of other cities across the state with no diminishing of construction with Just Cause ordinance. Oakland is clearly a city with a strong residential development market, and the evidence indicates that including new homes in just cause is highly unlikely to change that.
Data shows that there has been no diminishing of construction with Just Cause ordinances across the state. Data strongly refutes the claim that exempting new units will depress construction activity. Expansion of the JCO that is more inclusive benefits everyone! We should be protecting more of our neighbors, not fewer.
My neighbors deserve good tenant protections. We should not be the only city in the Bay Area with a date of construction exemption in its just cause ordinance! Other cities in the Bay Area have extended their tenant protections to all buildings. Oakland should do the same.
I support an all inclusive Just Cause Ordinance! – Include ADUs in Just Cause protections. The state has incentivized creation of ADUs to alleviate the housing crisis. Exempting ADUs from just cause undercuts sustainable housing efforts.
Oaklanders deserve good tenant protections. We should not be the only city in the Bay Area with a date of construction exemption in its just cause ordinance! Other cities in the Bay Area have extended their tenant protections to all buildings. Oakland should do the same.
I see that you still want to allow tenants to be able to stay in a rental even though they won't execute a lease. You already require owner-occupied rentals to house tenants perpetually, if the tenant doesn't want to move. Owner-occupied rentals do not have the financial resources of corporate multi-building housing providers. The small degree of assurance that a lease under Oakland's laws provides will help keep local homeowner-providers in business. If you care.
It just makes sense. Just Cause is a fair protection for tenants from unjustified evictions. In these times of hardship, tenants need all the support and protections the law can afford.
Yo apollo la propuesta de causa justa para protección de inquilinos y les pido que ustedes nos apoyen para embiarlo a la boleta electoral para votación de los ciudadanos
As an OUSD parent and Oakland voter, I support these protections for tenants' legal rights that will support vulnerable members of our community and maintain stability in our school communities.
My name is Rose and I work with Causa Justa :: Just Cause in Oakland. I've seen firsthand the impact of how important protections are for tenants. Without them they would join the thousands of others who have been displaced to areas outside of the bay and far from their support systems. I support the Ballot Measure for the Expansion of the Oakland Just Cause Ordinance AND I am also asking that ADUs be included in the expansive protections. These units are a lifeline for tenants. All newly built housing must fall under the protections of the Just Cause Ordinance. It’s happened in dozens of other cities across the state with NO diminishing of construction with Just Cause ordinance. Data strongly refutes the claim that exempting new units will depress construction activity. Oakland is clearly a city with a strong residential development market, and the evidence indicates that including new homes under Just Cause protections is highly unlikely to change that.
Oakland continues to be in a severe housing crisis and this burden is carried primarily by Black, Brown and low income residents. Extending just cause provisions is a necessary step to securing dignified and stable housing for our communities
On behalf of the Casita Coalition, I urge the council to step back from this ballot measure. The reports provided to the council don't include all the important data--first, State Law provides an exemption for owner-occupied properties with an ADU--so Oakland and 99 other Bay Area cities are not outliers--they are in alignment with State Law. Second, the table showing RHNA numbers counts Above Moderate Income housing only--while all housing is important, is this really the category of housing that Oakland most needs to encourage to improve equity? If Low and Moderate income housing is included, the data shows a 35% LOSS of new housing in cities with Just Cause ordinances. ADUs are a unique and very valuable form of housing that helps families keep their homes and resist displacement, makes Oakland neighborhoods more diverse, and adds critically important NEW AFFORDABLE HOMES for lower income residents. Adding restrictions to an already challenging and expensive process will keep homeowners from building ADUs that Oakland needs to keep making progress with its housing goals. Consult with other City of Oakland staff and nonprofits such as Keys to Equity and the authors of the Oakland ADU Initiative Existing Barriers and Conditions Report--who have studied how ADUs help Oakland and how barriers such as eviction restrictions keep homeowners from building ADUs. Removing this exemption for new construction ADUs works at cross purposes with other Oakland efforts. Please vote no.
My name is Emma, and I am the Community Engagement Program Manager at The Center for Independent Living, a cross-disability advocacy and direct services organization serving northern Alameda County, including disabled residents of Oakland. I myself am an Oakland resident in District 5. I am in full solidarity and support of Councilmember Kalb and Fife's recommendation to strengthen eviction protections in Oakland; I work with disabled community members in Oakland each day who share their experiences of harassment, intimidation, and retaliation by landlords, oftentimes related to their disability or requests for reasonable accommodations or accessibility in their units, and many community members who have experienced eviction or threat of eviction. Due to ableism--the system of power that devalues and discriminates against people with disabilities--and its inextricable intersections with classism, racism, and displacement, disabled people disproportionately experience the impact of tenant violations and unjust evictions. Increasing eviction protections and tenant protections is a move that is deeply in line with equity, disability justice, meaningful community diversity, and the right to survive and thrive for those community members most at the margins of power. Cross-disability communities in Oakland HAVE, and WILL, continue to organize and mobilize around eviction protections; we form a powerful constituency and will be watching the Council's actions closely.
I fully support this expansion because
- we have a serious housing crisis in Oakland. The situation that existed when the Just Cause Ordinance was first approved by the City’s voters in 2002 has not been abated—it has gotten worse. We need to strengthen the Ordinance, expand the units to which it applies, and to provide its benefits to more tenants, not fewer.
- We should be protecting more of our neighbors, not fewer. Given the negative impacts of the pandemic on the most vulnerable among us, this ballot measure benefits the community at large, and we need these rights expanded.
- The Just Cause Ordinance helps prevent evictions. Evictions result in increased burdens on the health care system, negative impacts on health because of lack of stable housing, and disrupt children’s education when families are forced to move or become homeless. Just cause for eviction helps keep our communities safer and healthier.
Oakland needs more expansive and inclusive public policies that protect more tenants from evictions, we need to establish real, tangible solutions to address the ongoing housing and houselessness crisis. Thank you.
I am a homeowner in district 2 and I support this ballot measure, while also asking that ADUs be included in the expansive protections so that all newly built housing is protected under the Just Cause Ordinance. It’s happened in dozens of other cities across the state with no diminishing of construction with Just Cause ordinance. Oakland is clearly a city with a strong residential development market, and the evidence indicates that including new homes in just cause is highly unlikely to change that.
Data shows that there has been no diminishing of construction with Just Cause ordinances across the state. Data strongly refutes the claim that exempting new units will depress construction activity. Expansion of the JCO that is more inclusive benefits everyone! We should be protecting more of our neighbors, not fewer.
My neighbors deserve good tenant protections. We should not be the only city in the Bay Area with a date of construction exemption in its just cause ordinance! Other cities in the Bay Area have extended their tenant protections to all buildings. Oakland should do the same.
I support an all inclusive Just Cause Ordinance! – Include ADUs in Just Cause protections. The state has incentivized creation of ADUs to alleviate the housing crisis. Exempting ADUs from just cause undercuts sustainable housing efforts.
Oaklanders deserve good tenant protections. We should not be the only city in the Bay Area with a date of construction exemption in its just cause ordinance! Other cities in the Bay Area have extended their tenant protections to all buildings. Oakland should do the same.
I see that you still want to allow tenants to be able to stay in a rental even though they won't execute a lease. You already require owner-occupied rentals to house tenants perpetually, if the tenant doesn't want to move. Owner-occupied rentals do not have the financial resources of corporate multi-building housing providers. The small degree of assurance that a lease under Oakland's laws provides will help keep local homeowner-providers in business. If you care.
It just makes sense. Just Cause is a fair protection for tenants from unjustified evictions. In these times of hardship, tenants need all the support and protections the law can afford.
Yo apollo la propuesta de causa justa para protección de inquilinos y les pido que ustedes nos apoyen para embiarlo a la boleta electoral para votación de los ciudadanos