Public Comment

The Berkeley Housing Authority Special Meeting held on Tuesday Feb. 13th was an unusual event. Not only was it not previously announced, we read about it in the Daily Planet in the Tuesday edition, consequently it was not well attended by people whose shelter depends upon BHA. With the exception of one woman who spoke right to the point: that the City Council, who sits as the Housing Authority Board of Directors, have failed for 4 or 5 years to lift the agency out of it’s “troubled,” read failing, status, the other speakers recited jargon, statistics, and acronyms. I watched the performance, or should I say charade, on television. I was shocked at the lack of passion, outrage, or meaning that was expressed by Tia Ingraham, BHA Managing Director, or Steve Barton, Berkeley Housing Director, or the City Council members. Have none of these people ever suffered insecurity? Have none of these people ever serious been faced with the prospects of poverty? Darryl Moore thanked the two for an “informative report.” I was as mystified by his accolade as if indeed English was not my native language! 

As I understand the problem, the rents to the landlords that were set by the (BHA) Berkeley Housing Authority exceeded the National (FMR) Fair Market Rent level accepted by (HUD) Housing and Urban Development. But, when BHA contracted those rent levels HUD acceded to that contractual agreement. Now BHA is being punished for its delinquent (troubled) status, and the rents to the landlords are to be cut to be more in line with the national average. This seems like a breach of contract to my layman’s eye. However, the landlords want to pass that shortfall on to the tenants, rather than take a reduction in rent and absorb the fact that they have been overpaid for the last how-ever-many years, as any welfare recipient would be forced to do if they had been overpaid. We learned at the BHA meeting that 2, 3, and 4 bedroom units would not be affected by the March 1st rent hikes, but studio and 1 bedroom apartments would be increased by $35 and $45 a month respectively. The people who occupy studio and 1-bedroom apartments statistically are disable and/or elderly single people. SSI (Disability Insurance), and many seniors on Social Security get a little over $800 a month. An extra $35 or $45 a month is a substantial sum on that sort of budget. If that is considered a victory I fail to see it! 

It is not news that the rents in Berkeley are prohibitive to all but the affluent. A 1-room apartment is over $900 a month, 1 bedroom over $1100, 2 bedrooms over $1200. Under these conditions, without our Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Berkeley will lose the character of cultural and intellectual variety that has made this city the New York of the West. Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, now a Berkeley resident and University of California, Berkeley, scholar recently voiced the same concerns in the Planet. 

The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Ordinance was orchestrated and passed by a few social activists and though it’s been gutted and remodeled by the landlord lobbies at the State level we still have viable rent control in Berkeley. Can rent control laws be configured to extend to tenants who live in Section 8 and Public Housing? This is a question we must pursue. Homelessness and the fear of homelessness is not something we can tolerate. 

Eleanor Walden is an advocate for low-income tenants.