Stressed renters need answers, not attitude
As he leaned in his chair like a satisfied dinner guest, Richmond City Councilman Nathaniel Bates called the meeting over an emergency 45-day moratorium on evictions a charade.
It was Sept. 13, and the council was deciding whether to approve a measure to relieve tenants facing eviction as landlords — who renovate and raise rent — rush to beat an election day vote on rent control.
Along with his “charade” remark, Bates chided supporters of the moratorium for “interrupting the tranquillity of the city.” This incited an immediate reaction within the council chambers: Supporters began shouting. A recess was called.
Losing a home, one of the biggest interruptions life has to offer, is not something to play games with. But if anyone on the council knows what it’s like to play games with the public, it’s Bates.
In 2014, Bates, who was running for mayor, put forth a proclamation calling on the city to recognize and celebrate October as LGBT History Month. It was so obviously insincere. It was Bates and former Councilman Corky Boozé who gloated as hateful council attendees disrupted meetings to protest the sexual orientation of their council colleague Jovanka Beckles, a lesbian.
Bates lost his mayoral bid, and voters booted Boozé from the council.
Now Bates is showing condescension again — this time
toward supporters of tenant protections. Maybe it’s time for him to give up his comfortable seat on the council’s dais.
In his online council biography, Bates is referred to as “the strongest and loudest voice for our families and our neighfigure borhoods,” who “has been fighting on behalf of Richmond’s families for over 40 years.”
Of the more than 30 speakers who asked — no, begged — the council to pass the moratorium, many spoke of their families with deep roots in Richmond’s neighborhoods. If they’re evicted from their apartments, many have nowhere to go and many don’t want to leave the community they call home.
Who exactly are the Richmond families Bates is currently fighting for?
The moratorium failed to win the council’s support. Bates, Mayor Tom Butt and Councilman Vinay Pimplé voted against Councilwoman Gayle McLaughlin’s proposal.
It was short-term relief for a long-term headache, like a two-fingered temple massage. It would’ve allowed renters more time to out the next move.
In November, a measure to limit evictions and impose rent control is on Richmond’s ballot. In November, Bates is up for re-election. The seats of Pimplé and Jael Myrick, who voted in favor of the moratorium, are also up for election.
Since Richmond renters can’t get help from their council, they’ve turned to groups like the Richmond Progressive Alliance, an organization of community activists. The RPA has two candidates — Melvin Willis and Ben Choi — seeking council seats.
“We’d like to have more council members who are truly accountable to the people,” said Marilyn Langlois, an RPA cofounder who spoke at the meeting. “It’s very important to have that voice on the council.”
Before the council meeting, more than 40 people gathered on the steps at Civic Center Plaza to present a camera-ready image of displeasure. Several held signs, while others shielded their eyes from the sun as if standing at attention. To the side and shaded by shrubs, a young girl worked on math homework with a pencil dulled to a nub.
The people wore hats — cowboy and baseball — and turbans. Handbags dangled from the arms of strollers. They used canes and the arms of others to steady themselves, to stand among renters and homeowners.
They looked like neighbors, a portrait of Richmond that could be erased.
An argument promoted by people opposing rent control is that it doesn’t work and that it ultimately drives up housing prices by burdening new renters with higher housing costs to make up for the rent control shortage.
Jeffrey Wright, a Richmond native and local real estate agent, said rent control will cap rents below fair market value. He said that many landlords in Richmond, including himself, haven’t been aggressive in vacating their properties in anticipation of rent control passing.
The need for rent control would be tossed out the window if there was an increase in affordable housing stock. Rather than digging in their heels, proponents of both sides should look ahead.
Be progressive. Do what San Francisco and Oakland were slow to do: acknowledge there’s economic disparity and acknowledge that all people, especially those with low incomes, deserve housing security.
For Richmond’s council, there are other problems to solve too, like finding a place for young football players to practice without the fear of being hit by stray bullets, and making sure cyclists have dedicated lanes on busy streets.
It all requires honest debate by council members who bring solutions to the table, not bad attitudes.