"Just Cause" rent initiative

Recently I attended an informal, neighborhood potluck organized in and around the PANIL community. After talking to several people, I realized that at least 30% of us were renters. I also realized that unlike Berkeley or San Francisco, there is virtually no effective protection here for tenants and renters are still at the mercy of their landlords in the most essential aspect of their tenancy -- the tenancy itself. As it stands now, renters in Oakland can be forced to vacate their units without any reason at all, at any time. This may not present a problem in other parts of the country, but here in the Bay Area, because of the unavailability of affordable housing, it can be a matter with traumatic consequences, especially if you've lived here for many years and have developed life sustaining networks and friendships.

A couple of people I spoke with felt they had no other choice but to move thousands of miles away and uproot their lives just to survive. I'm sure there are many others in similar circumstances, or will be in the near future. Mayor Jerry Brown and the landlord-heavy City Council have virtually turned a blind eye to this issue. I urge the PANIL community to support the "Just Cause" initiative and consider how we can put pressure on these representatives of our "democracy" and demand that Oakland live up to housing ethics worthy of a city as politically sophisticated and diverse as ours is.