Article by Sandy Perry for the Affordable Housing Network newsletter: FIGHTING TO ROLL BACK THE SEQUESTER Some 50 determined tenants and their allies appeared at the Housing Authority of Santa Clara County on March 25 to advocate for relief from the draconian federal sequester imposed last year. Because of the 2014 elections, Congress has eased up temporarily on the worst of the sequester cuts, so the local Housing Authority now has funds to repair some of the damage. Tenants rallied outside the building before the meeting started. After sharing their own stories, they heard messages of support from important community allies like Rev. LePennington Dean of the Interfaith Council, Mark Romoser of Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Rev. Jeff Moore of the San Jose Silicon Valley NAACP, and Chuck Jagoda from the Stop the Ban Coalition in Palo Alto. Inside the meeting Marisa Merino, Rose Wallis, Cindy Jordan, Liz Bowen, and many other tenants and advocates gave stirring testimonies, and the Housing Authority Commissioners agreed to reduce rents to 32% of income and end a landlord rent freeze that had caused a rash of 90-day notices. In addition, spurred by Sharon McKain and Richard Twohy, the Commissioners agreed to consider next month extending the hardship exemption that disabled tenants depend on to make ends meet. Tenants considered the changes a victory, but were disappointed that Commissioners failed to address the problem of denials of reasonable accommodations to the disabled. The Mercury News covered the meeting but did not explain the whole truth. It failed to point out that all this unnecessary suffering is created by soulless technology corporations that do not pay their fair share of taxes. In this day and age, it costs a relative pittance to house our people, but it is a price that the so-called pillars of our society and the leaders of Silicon Valley - who cause the affordable housing crisis in the first place - refuse to pay. If our economic system cant even house its own people, what is it good for?
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 04:25:16 +0000
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