Topic: Right to Housing

Broken-Hearted Tenants to Deliver Valentine’s Day Message to Councilmember Wesson: Where is the Love for LA’s Tenant Majority?

What: LA Human Right to Housing Collective members are broken-hearted over Councilmember Wesson’s delays in economic relief for more than 650,000 households in the City of LA.  They will deliver a Valentine to Councilmember Wesson and demand that he move forward with the community’s recommendations to reform rent control in LA.  With another budget crisis looming and more City employees and other workers losing jobs and hours, the issue of affordable rent is even more critical.  As Chair of the City Council’s Housing Committee, Wesson has put these urgent reforms on hold for months, as he prepares for the March election – putting politics over people’s lives and homes.

When: Valentine’s Day

Monday, February 14, 2011

10:00 AM

Where: Councilmember Wesson’s Campaign Headquarters

4635 West Pico Boulevard (Rimpau and Pico), LA, CA 90019

Why: Tenants have been fighting for rent control reform for two years, since the City released a $1 million study showing that landlords benefit more than tenants under the current Rent Stabilization Ordinance.  Last Spring, after failing to enact a temporary rent freeze in the midst of an economic and housing crisis, the City Council ordered the Housing, Community and Economic Development committee to prepare comprehensive reforms to the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance.  Councilmember Wesson, as Chair of this committee, has refused to act.

Now, with another rent increase deadline looming and the CPI still zero, Wesson has not taken any action on this crucial issue in months.  He is even proposing another study be conducted as a mechanism to delay reform for another year or two.  Tenants and others will hold a short presentation outside the office, and then deliver the Valentine and housing demands.

Who: Los Angeles Right to Housing Collective is a coalition of organizations from across the City of Los Angeles.  Our members consist of tenants, homeowners, immigrants, low income families, homeless people, seniors and youth from across Los Angeles, including East LA, Downtown, South Central, Venice, Koreatown, and Pico Union.  We believe that affordable, decent, safe, and sanitary housing builds stable communities and that housing must be accessible to everyone.