Urgent: A Better Housing for Long Beach Update
by Joani Weir and the Better Housing for Long Beach Team
BREAKING NEWS!
City Council Meeting
On April 2nd, 2019, the City Council of Long Beach voted to push through an ordinance for rent control. The city council deafened their ears to the vote of the people.
The mayor and council members have voted to place a rent cap plus a base relocation charge and Just Cause Eviction AKA Rent Control into Long Beach. BUT do not be fooled into thinking there will not be great costs to the renter as well as the small property owner. We all know these new mandates will come with more inspections, fees, city administration fees etc…. Though council and city staff are going to control the rents of housing providers, they are not going to cap the fees charged to renters and housing providers. They will not cap the bonuses and high pensions they pay themselves. Bad policies like this is what puts property owners out of business, thus renters lose their housing.
Council members are sending emails to their constituents denying that they voted on rent control. Ask your council member what is the difference from their “tenant protections” and what is understood as “rent control”. Is there a rent increase cap? Yes. Will you be forced to pay someone to leave who is a problem tenant? Yes. Tenants will see it much harder to get their landlords to boot out a neighbor who is a nuisance or even one who is a criminal. Will the cost of housing increase? Yes. When vacancies occur, housing providers will be forced to push the rent as high as possible to make up for the the lost rental income. This will cause less affordable housing in Long Beach. Do not be fooled by their sly interpretation.
Not all city council members were in support of the new ordinance for rent control. We thank Councilwoman Suzie Price, Councilwoman Stacy Mungo, and Councilman Daryl Supernaw for siding with the people against rent control. There is still hope for Long Beach! We encourage you to thank them for their stance on this issue.
We would also like to express a very special thank you to all who were in attendance for this specific council meeting! We estimate that we had at least 300 people in attendance from our side! The overflow of property owners and knowledgeable renters displayed our stance on rent control to the council.
The power of conversation must be greatly exhibited within these next couple of months. We have seen many people from the opposition flip over to our side just by the use of one single conversation! Get the word out! Share the facts. There is power in truth!
Keep Pressing On!
Let us not grow weary! We have two months to push back against the council before it is codified. We need your help! Again, let your voice be heard to the mayor and council members. Remind them the majority of the citizens voted down Proposition 10 and signed thousands of petitions against rent control. It is not time to silently lose your home and livelihood.
Join us in showing our disapproval with the council’s decision by:
(1) calling or emailing all city council members.
(2) getting the word out among the people in your sphere of influence (wear your BH4LB hats!)
(3) supporting Better Housing for Long Beach by donating to keep us in the fight and
(4)Do not donate or support any council member or the mayor if they support rent control.
Please immediately call and email Mayor Garcia and all council members and tell them to oppose all forms of rent control aka “tenant protections” and please ask them to stop the attack on small housing providers and renters in Long Beach.
MAYOR ROBERT GARCIA
333 West Ocean Blvd, 14th Floor
Long Beach, California 90802
Mayor@longbeach.gov T (562) 570-6801 F (562) 570-6538
Council Members by District:
| 1st District-Councilwoman | Lena Gonzalez Email: district1@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-6919 |
| 2nd District-Councilmember | Jeannine Pearce Email: district2@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-2222 |
| 3rd District-Councilwoman | Suzie Price Email: district3@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-6300 |
| 4th District-Councilman | Daryl Supernaw Email: district4@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-4444 |
| 5th District-Councilwoman | Stacy Mungo Email: district5@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-5555 |
| 6th District-Councilman | Dee Andrews Email: district6@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-6816 |
| 7th District-Councilman | Roberto Uranga Email: district7@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-7777 |
| 8th District-Councilman | Al Austin Email: district8@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-6685 |
| 9th District-Councilman | Rex Richardson Email: district9@longbeach.gov Phone: (562) 570-6137 |
Words cannot express the appreciation that our team feels for your continued support in this fight! We are making our mark in history that will affect generations to come! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at (562) 786-985
Fighting for You,
Joani Weir
and the Better Housing for Long Beach Team
P.S. Please donate to Better Housing for Long Beach so we can continue to fight against Rent Control. We are in this together!
