LOS ANGELES, CA - Tenant rights groups have been sounding the alarm about an impending post-pandemic eviction crisis. In Los Angeles, that day has come — putting hundreds of thousands of tenants at risk of losing their housing and compelling some to fight back.

LOS ANGELES, CA - The Los Angeles City Council passed a $150-million spending plan for funds raised by Measure ULA on Tuesday, marking the first time funds will be specifically allocated since Angelenos passed the tax in November.

The expenditure plan will be directed to six programs: short-term emergency rental assistance, eviction defense, tenant outreach and education, direct cash assistance for low-income seniors and people with disabilities, tenant protections, and affordable housing production.

“This is the largest source of revenue, that’s going to be consistent, that this city has access to for these uses ever,” said Councilmember Nithya Raman. “It’s really transformative for Los Angeles.”

ANTIOCH, CA - In yet another move to strengthen tenant protections, the Antioch City Council has approved new rules to help ensure against landlord retaliation and harassment.

The new rules will address landlord threats of rent increases when tenants request repairs, improper landlord towing of vehicles, landlord verbal abuse and psychological harm, while protecting tenants’ rights to organize and requiring notices from the landlord be given in a tenant’s spoken language, City Attorney Thomas Lloyd Smith said.

The action comes after more than a year of tenants and supporters advocating for help.

The council approved a similar ordinance in July. However, that version did not get the votes needed for a second reading to pass, with Councilwoman Monica Wilson absent, Councilman Mike Barbanica recusing himself and Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock dissenting.

On Tuesday, though, after hearing more than two hours of public comments and discussion, the City Council voted 3-1 to approve the latest version of rules, with Ogorchock dissenting and Barbanica again recusing himself due to his real estate work.

OAKLAND, CA - Oakland’s 2024 election is over a year from now, but candidates have already started to emerge in several important races. As of this week, candidates have filed papers or declared their intention to run for City Attorney and two City Council seats.

Up for grabs next year are the District 1, 3, 5, 7, and At-Large City Council seats and City Attorney. (Four school board seats are also in play and we’ll cover those in another post.)

The Oaklandside has compiled a brief round-up of these early announcements, and we’ll provide much more coverage as the campaign season kicks into full gear next year. Do you know of a candidate or something else we left out? Let us know and we’ll update this post.

SACRAMENTO, CA - A proposal to create more housing in Sacramento must succeed if the city ever hopes to solve the pervasive issues of homelessness that daily affects every resident — yet it may be two votes short of passing at the full city council.

The Sacramento Forward proposal would put a fundraising measure on the 2024 ballot, extend the Tenant Protection Program, implement support programs such as emergency rent assistance and increase developer fees. Among other housing and tenant protection goals, it would also adopt the Sacramento Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would require any tenant building listed for sale to be sold to the tenant or eligible community group if they can meet the initial listing price.

The proposal is already supported by the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, the Sacramento Community Land Trust, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and SEIU 1021, and it recently gained the support of City Councilmembers Caity Maple, Katie Valenzuela and Mayor Pro Tem Mai Vang at last Tuesday’s Law and Legislation Committee meeting.

ANTIOCH, CA - Nine current and former police officers in the East Bay face federal charges after a raid Thursday by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

The FBI's roundup of officers from the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments come after an 18-month investigation into an alleged criminal network.

"Today is a dark day in our city's history, as people trusted to uphold the law, allegedly breached that trust and were arrested by the FBI. As our city absorbs this tragic news, we must come together as one," Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in a statement. "Today's actions are the beginning of the end of a long and arduous process."

SACRAMENTO, CA - It's back to square one for the city of Sacramento, which was looking for ways to protect tenants from being harassed by their landlords.

Some council members on Tuesday took up the controversial issue concerning protecting tenants from harassing landlords. But the tenant anti-harassment ordinance, called TAHO, stopped short of leaving the law and legislation committee and going to the full city council for consideration.

Renters said they need more protection.

"They try to throw me in the street," Jesus Figueroa said. "Rent for the same apartment was $2,900 when I'm paying $1,800."

Renters shared stories with the Sacramento Law and Legislation Council Committee about their run-ins with landlords. The group Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment packed the chambers.

OAKLAND, CA - The apartments were supposed to be among the city’s affordable solutions for elderly, low-income residents — some lifelong Oaklanders, others immigrants — who couldn’t afford to live elsewhere.

Now, tenants say the Northgate Terrace apartments in the city’s small Koreatown district have effectively become slums — riddled with infestations, bad security, broken water heaters and absentee property managers. They are calling on the Oakland Housing Authority to conduct regular inspections and wrangle more regular maintenance out of The Related Companies, a national company that manages the property.