City Government

Organize for Moratorium on Rent Increases

Published

9 years ago

April 2, 2016

In response to rising calls for action from the community, the City Council will vote Tuesday, April 5 on whether to declare a housing state of emergency, in response to an unprecedented crisis that affects nearly every family and neighborhood in Oakland.

If approved by at least six members of the council, the moratorium on excessive rent increases and all but just cause evictions would go into effect for 90 days, giving the council time to pass laws that would relieve some of the pressure on Oakland residents.

The call for action came out of a meeting of the Oakland Post Salon at the end of February, where participants—individuals and members of organizations— unanimously decided they would organize to demand the City Council respond to the needs of the community.

Prior to the Post Salon meeting, other organizations called for a state of emergency, including the John George Democratic Club, Block by Black Organizing Network and the Oakland Tenants Union.

Organizers are asking local residents to come to the City Council meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Oakland City Hall to express their feelings on this issue. They are encouraged to bring their friends and neighbors.

People can sign up online to speak on item #12 at the meeting at: www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CityClerk/s/SpeakerCard/SpeakerCard/OAK032373

Organizers are also urging residents to call or email Mayor Libby Schaaf and members of the City Council before Tuesday’s meeting.

Their contact information is:

District 1, Councilmember Dan Kalb (510) 238-7001, dkalb@oaklandnet.com

District 2, Councilmember Abel Guillén (510) 238-7002, aguillen@oaklandnet.com

District 3, Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney (510) 238-7032, lmcelhaney@oaklandnet.com

District 4, Councilmember Anne Campbell-Washington (510) 238-7042, acampbellwashington@oaklandnet.com

District 5, Councilmember Noel Gallo (510)-238-7005, ngallo@oaklandnet.com

District 6, Councilmember Desley Brooks (510) 238-7006, dbrooks@oaklandnet.com

District 7, Councilmember Larry Reid (510) 238-7007, lreid@oaklandnet.com

Councilmember At-large Rebecca Kaplan (510) 238-7008, rkaplan@oaklandnet.com

Mayor Libby Schaaf (510) 238-3141, officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com

City Administrator Sabrina Landreth (510) 238-3301, cityadministrator@oaklandnet.com

The email address council@ oaklandnet.com goes to all council members.

The community coalition – the Oakland Post Salon, Oakland Tenants Union, Oakland Alliance, Block By Block Organizing Network, John George Democratic Club, Wellstone Club – that sponsored the request to declare a “Housing State of Emergency” with Moratoriums on Rent Increases (above CPI), and on No-Cause Evictions, named a volunteer Action Committee to work on passing the ordinance.

The Oakland Education Association (OEA) has endorsed the call for action, and Qilombo in West Oakland also called for a housing state of emergency.

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Activism

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

1 day 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.