We organize and have members in the city of San Diego, Imperial Beach, National City and Chula Vista. Our Blackstone Tenants Union is organizing and fighting for tenants in Blackstone-owned buildings across the county. In San Diego and South County cities, we’re busy organizing and building power to win housing for all, equitable investment in our neighborhoods, and ensuring civic engagement year round in this binational region.
569 Third Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91910
619-754-9407 ext. 307
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In 2021, ACCE and allies won one of the strongest eviction moratoriums in the country when the San Diego Board of Supervisors banned most just-cause evictions and passed protections for tenants affected by the pandemic. This was followed a year later in May 2022 by the passage of a temporary no-fault eviction ban in the city of San Diego. ACCE members are leading the campaign to make this ban permanent. Also in 2022, ACCE leaders in Chula Vista successfully fought for permanent just cause and tenant anti-harassment protections, and residents of the Siesta RV Park in Imperial Beach won stronger protections for RV and mobile home park tenants. In 2023, ACCE members led the fight in the city of San Diego and in Chula Vista to pass stronger just cause protections- the only cities in the county with strong protections against no-fault evictions. These protections start on the first day of a tenant's lease and include greater relocation assistance. ACCE San Diego leaders also spearheaded the creation of the Blackstone Tenants Union, aimed at organizing tenants living in buildings owned by notorious corporate landlord, Blackstone. They’ve held actions at Blackstone-affiliated companies and confronted the UC Regents over their investment in Blackstone’s real-estate fund. The San Diego chapter has been driving tenant education and organizing efforts that have led to preventing evictions and winning rental assistance. San Diego ACCE is working with the Legal Aid Society of San Diego to provide outreach to tenants about their rights, including Know Your Rights tenant clinics.
San Diego County is currently sitting on almost $2 billion in reserves that could be invested in vital services and programs, like housing, mental health, and rehabilitation that would help to advance the communities that need them. As a result, ACCE together with community, faith-based organizations and labor allies formed the Invest in San Diego Families Coalition to ensure the investment and prioritization within the county budget to improve the quality of life for residents in the region. This effort so far has yielded winning rental assistance funding, translation services, and $15 million in legal counseling and tenant services for San Diego families. As part of the Community Budget Alliance, ACCE is working with other local organizations committed to fighting for equitable public investment in the city of San Diego’s budget. With the CBA, we have helped create and push for the People’s Budget, which includes proposals to invest in alternatives to policing, non-emergency responses, and youth violence prevention programs. For FY2022, the CBA succeeded in including such initiatives as full funding for the Commission on Police Practices, funding for more park space in communities of color, and small business funding set aside for BIPOC-owned businesses and street vendors.
San Diego is the largest border city in the US and immigrants, both documented and undocumented, contribute greatly to the local economy and culture. Early in 2017, ACCE members and partners successfully pushed a “Welcoming City” resolution in Chula Vista and a “Compassionate City” resolution in National City (both approved unanimously) to ensure that local police departments are not sharing immigration status information of their residents with federal immigration agencies. As part of the Invest in San Diego Families Coalition, ACCE San Diego helped win the creation of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, and an Immigrant Legal Defense Fund to provide representation for people facing deportation.
ACCE San Diego is at the forefront of growing our grassroots electoral power throughout San Diego County and beyond. Every election cycle, ACCE leaders have mobilized voters through massive door-knocking and phone call campaigns for our local and statewide progressive ACCE-endorsed candidates. In the last eight years, San Diego County has increased its share of the Latino vote, as well as low-income voters and voters in the south county. These efforts at increased voter participation have paid off in recent general elections, where ACCE-endorsed candidates in San Diego and statewide have won positions with expressly progressive and people-centered platforms. In the November 2024 election, ACCE members helped propel these San Diego-area endorsed candidates to victory: Sean Elo-Rivera for San Diego City Council, Marcus Bush and Jose Rodriguez for National City City Council, and Alysson Snow for Lemon Grove Mayor. Finally, to ensure that we can elect more progressive candidates well into the future, ACCE San Diego has formed a PAC with the CA Working Families Party.