Berkeley and Oakland embrace new tenants’ right to buy
By Ariel Boone on Berkeley and Oakland are poised to pass TOPA—landmark legislation that would give tenants the right to buy their homes.
Berkeley City Councilmember Jesse Arreguin
In Dialogue with Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín
By Timothy Busby on Jesse Arreguín has been the Mayor of Berkeley since 2016. He ran on a platform of building more affordable housing, raising the minimum wage, and changing the city’s approach to addressing the homeless crisis. In the years since, he has been met with both praise and criticism: while some have embraced his leadership, others have argued that he is not as progressive on the issue of homelessness as he led his constituency to believe—such as with his yes vote on the council’s recent overnight RV parking ban.
Berkeley Celebrates Luxury Housing for the Elite
I would have no problem with building luxury apartments if we weren’t in a housing crisis. Build for the rich, I would say. Build crazy stuff with gold-plated toilets and let them buy it. But we are in a housing crisis. The Downtown Berkeley Association tried to outlaw sitting on the sidewalk.
Berkeley Chooses Compassion: Measure S Rejected by Voters
The victory over Measure S is the first time since 1994 that a ballot measure to criminalize homeless people has been defeated anywhere in the nation. This victory is even more remarkable considering that Berkeley’s powerful business organizations vastly outspent the financially strapped homeless organizations that opposed the initiative.
No Proof of Correlation Between Homelessness and Business Decline
Kriss Worthington denounced Measure S as immoral and a diversion from the issues of homelessness and poverty. Sales taxes have declined the most in places with a smaller concentration of homelessness. This gives the lie to the repeated efforts by some business owners to blame homeless people for declining profits.
Berkeley’s Choice: Compassion or Repression
“I really think it’s a stupid measure and it’s not going to do anything to help people on the street,” said Jesse Arreguin of the Berkeley City Council. “It’s not going to solve homelessness, it’s not going to do anything to improve the plight of small businesses in our city.”