Richmond’s renters protections take a sinister turn

Richmond’s renters protections take a sinister turn

By Lynda Carson - August 31, 2015

Richmond - Richmond’s renters protections have taken a sinister turn lately. The mastermind, plotters and financial backers of a petition to repeal renters protections in Richmond are hiding in secrecy, and their conspiracy remains shrouded in mystery.

Is it possible that the effort is totally shrouded in mystery because landlord Mayor Tom Butt may be involved up to his eyeballs in the effort to crush renters protections, along with his wealthy allies from the landlord/real estate industry?

Mayor Butt and his allies did everything possible to block the majority of council members from voting on an ordinance to provide renters protections, and it appears that he may be involved somehow in the sinister scheme to attack Richmond's renters.

In a world of dirty dogs, greedy landlords and conniving realtors, this latest attack on renters rights goes beyond the pale and should be investigated to determine if Mayor Tom Butt is involved in the plot against Richmond’s working class renters.

Barely a month after renters protections including rent control and just cause eviction protections were passed by a majority of council members, the scheme to attack Richmond’s renters became apparent. According to reports, one person after another has claimed that the people gathering signatures for the petition to repeal the renters protections have been telling lies to the public in an effort to trick them into signing the petition.

In a report by the Contra Costa Times, Richmond Public Library assistant Stacey Agnitsch stated that she was approached twice by petition gatherers whom she believed lied to her when they falsely claimed the petition would make rent control stronger.

Another resident named Eli Moore reported that a petitioner came to his door and claimed that the referendum was to prevent rents from going up because the city has voted to raise rents by 40%, which is not true.

In an email sent out by the Richmond Progressive Alliance on August 27, it states: We are reaching out to notify you of a misleading petition to repeal the new rent control ordinance in Richmond, CA. This petition is being circulated by paid professionals who are now earning $12.50 per signature, funded by an anonymous group.

If you have been contacted by one of these circulators, please disregard their fraudulent claims that the petition will support rent control. Not all of these circulators are making misleading or fraudulent claims, but we have received dozens of reports from residents and have cause to believe that up to half of their signatures are from supporters who have been otherwise fooled.
This petition will not support rent control, and the groups working to stabilize rents in Richmond do not endorse it. The community groups supporting rent control are listed at the bottom of this message.

This petition if validated will SUSPEND the ordinance for up to Nov. 2016, during which landlords will be free to unfairly raise rents and evict tenants without just cause.

If you support rent control and have accidentally signed this petition, we encourage you to fill out the form under the link below and submit it to the City Clerk on the third floor of 450 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, CA between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM, Mon-Fri. The forms are also at the City Clerk's office, so printing one out is not necessary. Your form must be submitted before whomever is behind the petition submits their signatures, so please do this as soon as you can.

http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/35522

If you have encountered a petition circulator and they made misleading statements to you, please contact contracosta [at] calorganize.org to tell your story. It is possible that this petition will be invalidated if enough voters have been misled about what the petition will do. Below are video testimonies of rent control supporters who were misled by signature gatherers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRlksxPgv3w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg2vNx1wx9I

Supporters of rent control from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have launched a campaign of automated calls urging residents not to sign the petition which has a deadline of September 4, being the same day rent control and just cause eviction protections are scheduled to go into effect.

If enough valid signatures are collected and turned in by September 4, it would block the newly enacted renters protections from going into effect.

Meanwhile, the sinister backers of the petition to repeal rent control and just cause eviction protections have been hiding in the shadows ever since the scheme came to light. It appears that no one wants to step forward to admit being part of the conspiracy to crush renters rights in Richmond, including Mayor Tom Butt.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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