Yesterday, an assembly meeting occurred in Hayward which was sponsored by the Regional Tenant Organization (RTO), an affiliation of thirty-one tenant associations spanning the Bay area. Tenant organizers from SonomaCounty, San Francisco, San Jose, East Palo Alto, Alameda, Oakland, and many other communities attended. A representative from the Eden Community Land Trust weighed in; the ECLT is loosely affiliated with the Oakland Community Land Trust and is seeking to acquire and develop affordable tenant housing in the unincorporated areas of Alameda County and the City of Hayward. In turn, the ECLT, OCLT, and Bay Area Community Land Trust are affiliated with the California Community Land Trust Network.
The overall theme of the assembly centered around how tenants in specific rental communities have organized to counter significant rent increases and improve living conditions, successful approaches, and how to keep the tenant momentum going and growing. The pandemic, job loss and financial hardship seemed to help fuel the growth of these tenant organizations as well as state-wide organizations such as ACCE and Tenants Together.
There's no question that the tenant movement is on a roll and making strides locally and state wide.
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