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September 2 is looming and there is no word yet on whether the State is going to protect its most vulnerable residents from evictions. The past 6 months, Californians have been asked to sacrifice for the common good, asked to stay home & lose jobs, healthcare, and childcare.
The State has asked this of all of its residents, but has largely turned a blind eye to the disproportionate effect this would have on tenants who have little control over their housing. No one can stay #SaferatHome without a home.
From the beginning, @GavinNewsom has sacrificed tenants for headlines. In March, he announced Executive Orders that, essentially, told local jdxs that it was up to them to protect their residents from evictions. https://www.kqed.org/news/11809328/newsoms-eviction-moratorium-useless-misleading-tenants-groups-say
Predictably, we had a confusing patchwork of local protections implemented (if they were enacted at all). https://knock-la.com/understanding-californias-totally-inadequate-eviction-protections-6e611e90acd6
More predictably, many locals hid behind the initial media reporting of a statewide “eviction moratorium” claiming they didn’t need to do more to protect tenants. Other jdxs simply don’t have the activist infrastructure to fight for more protections. https://www.dailynews.com/2020/03/18/newsom-did-not-issue-a-statewide-eviction-ban-during-coronavirus-crisis/
The main saving grace these past 5 months has been the Judicial Council, a largely unelected body that oversees court operations. B/c no one else would act to shut down the eviction machine, the JC largely closed the courthouse doors to evictions with #JCRule1.
It was an unprecedented step for unprecedented times. https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/California-halts-tenant-evictions-statewide-15183200.php
But the JC betrayed court workers, tenants, advocates, & lawyers by lifting #JCRule1 w/ little announcement or lead time & doing so before the State acted to implement some semblance of a fair or orderly process for bringing the courts back online. https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/13/california-judges-lift-coronavirus-eviction-ban/
#JCRule1 ends on Sep 1. The State leg session ends Aug 31. The Governor continues to claim that he is working out a deal, but no details have been announced yet. Any announcement in the next few days that does not extend the full ban means the courthouses will be open on Sep 2.
If that happens, it will be a worse betrayal of the tenant community than @GavinNewsom EOs in March b/c at least then, local jdxs had the ability to act. Here, local jdxs won’t have time to react to any proposed deal & strengthen local protections accordingly before Sept. 1.
The effect will be devastating for CA. Beyond the simple moral implications of such a massive failure, it will:
- Exacerbate income inequality, especially for BIPOC communities
- Dramatically increase homelessness, stressing local and state budgets for years to come, and
- Exacerbate income inequality, especially for BIPOC communities
- Dramatically increase homelessness, stressing local and state budgets for years to come, and
- Disenfranchise massive swaths of the tenant community right before the November election, especially in rural areas where there are even fewer legal resources and fewer protections in place to protect their ability to stay in the home connected to their voter registration.
And least importantly (but likely pretty relevant for electeds), it will jeopardize the political future of the most prominent politicians who fail to protect the most vulnerable during a global pandemic – they will own the fallout over this humanitarian crisis.
