Meanwhile in East Palo Alto...

tenants are protesting against their landlord. Two years ago, the apartment complex we live in was bought up by Page Mill Properties, a big housing corporation, that owns about half of the available rental units in East Palo Alto, about a million dollars worth of real estate. In the county a rent stabilization ordinance is in place to provide for affordable living for lower income groups.

Page Mill Properties (PMP) has attracted large scale investors by guaranteeing high profits of 13%. The way they realize that is as follows: tenants get illegal rent increases of 30-75%. If they cannot pay, they are evicted. Of course this is illegal, but at the same time PMP is suing the city to break the rent ordinance. While the PMP lawyers are dragging their feet, many tenants are forced to leave their houses. Some families are living in a car on the street.

It is outrageous that a company is trying to get away with this and enriches itself at the expense of the poorest people in the neighborhood. The tenants have organised themselves and are represented by a couple of lawyer firms who have taken the case on a pro bono basis. Neighbor Chris is a driving force behind this and has put together a very clear website www.epa-tenants.org which explains everything in detail. Take especially notice of the role of California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) in this. They drew up and signed a UN manifest in 2005 in which they pledged to socially and environmentally responsible investment practices. Three months later they invested 100 million dollars in Page Mill Properties's predatory equity scheme. Painful detail is that some evicted tenants are Californian public employees...

Last week I have been standing at the side of the road with a large protest banner during morning traffic to draw attention for this cause. One way to contribute is by contacting the districts Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. Please leave a message at her office expressing your concern and ask that she looks into this (Phone: (650)323-2984 or leave an email message). Every response counts!

Cheers,

Thijs