(L-R) Denny Zane, former mayor of Santa Monica, Francisco Dueñas, Housing Justice Campaign Director for ACCE, Renee Moya, Director at Housing is a Human Right, and Nicole Hodgson, of the Pasadena Tenants Union and PTJC with moderator Peishi Cheng (Photo – W.K.)
Community organizers and tenant rights advocates from across Los Angeles County convened at Throop Church on Thursday, June 20, 2019 to discuss the current state of the housing crisis and lay out a vision for moving forward.
By Matthew Sorrenti
The Housing Justice Panel Discussion was hosted by the Pasadena Tenants Justice Coalition (PTJC). The panelists included Denny Zane, former mayor of Santa Monica and formerly of Santa Monicans for Renters Rights (SMRR), Francisco Dueñas, Housing Justice Campaign Director for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Renee Moya, Director at Housing is a Human Right, and Nicole Hodgson, of the Pasadena Tenants Union (PTU) and The Pasadena Tenant Justice Coalition (PTJC).
Moya emphasized that the poor and working class have long faced a housing crisis, but what has changed since the 2008 recession is that the crisis has reached the middle class. According to Moya, this is largely the result of housing being treated as an investment commodity, as opposed to a human right. Zane pointed to the incursion of the tech industry for forcing up rents.
Both panelists agreed that SB-50, the California Senate bill to streamline zoning for high-density housing, primary would benefit developers. They shared the assessment that the housing crisis stems from a lack of affordability, not a lack of supply.
Tenant Rights Advocates panel discussion at Throop Church on Thursday, June 20, 2019 (Photo – Staff)
The need for rent control and just-cause eviction reforms was the primary topic of discussion. Hodgson identified northwestern Pasadena as a community facing rent hikes. The goal of the PTU and PTJC, according to Hodgson, is to broaden the coalition to better reflect the communities most impacted by gentrification, and to turn the most rent-burdened tenants into coalition leaders. Dueñas affirmed the necessity of building partnerships with diverse communities in order to break through the well-funded opposition. All panel members agreed that the real estate lobby, the developer lobby and local politicians were the primary opponents of rent control and just-cause eviction reforms.
The panel discussion in the viefinder of Telemundo cameras (Photo – ColoradoBlvd.net)
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