City Government

Council Votes 7-0 Tenant Rent Protections

Published

11 years ago

March 21, 2014

City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to pass stronger rent laws, limiting annual rent increases to no more than 10 percent for tenants and imposing a 70 percent cap on costs of building developments passed to tenants.

Advocates for both tenants and landlords came to a resolve after Vice Mayor Reid encouraged both parties to mediate and come to a mutual agreement after a Feb. 25 Community and Economic Development meeting. The agreed upon resolution was presented to the council on Tuesday before the vote.

“I’m very pleased with the things that happened, and have the deepest appreciation for everyone involved,” said Vice Mayor Larry Reid. “The compromise is a viable working victory for both landlords and tenants.”

Proposed by Councilmember Libby Schaaf and seconded by Vice Mayor Larry Reid, the motion was passed with seven ayes and one excused from Councilmember Desley Brooks who was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

Reid went on to acknowledge James Vann, Greg McConnell, Luke Blacklidge, Marc Janowitz, Michele Byrd, Connie Taylor, Rich Illgen, and Councilmember Schaaf.

Schaaf pointed out that the 10 percent cap is not limited to just capital improvements, but applies to all rent increases. Her proposal also required that rent refunds be paid with interest.

“What the Council passed let every family know that they will never get an increase of more than 10 percent in a year or more than 30 percent over five years,” said Councilmember Schaaf in an interview with The Post.

“It was a great victory for tenants and a great victory for consensus building in Oakland. Everyone was surprised and encouraged that landlord’s and tenants could reach so much consensus on how to protect our families and make Oakland’s neighborhoods stable,” she continued.

The council also unanimously passed to eliminate debt service increases and the final adoption of the ordinance will come before the council on April 1. The council will conduct a final reading of the rent regulation on April 22.

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

6 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.