One LA Gets Out The Vote for Los Angeles Public Transit Bond
"We came. We knocked doors. We registered. We organized." Following months of civic academies, in a long campaign to improve public transit in Los Angeles, while creating local jobs and preserving affordable housing, One LA leaders knocked on doors from South Los Angeles to the San Gabriel Valley to West LA and the San Fernando Valley. Leaders are promoting a "yes" vote on Measure M, a ballot measure that they helped shape, in addition to other Propositions. Additional photos, One LA
TMO Fights Off Gentrification in Houston Neighborhood
TMO leaders of Resurrection Catholic Church won the first of two council votes to protect the Denver Harbor neighborhood from predatory development. This council vote established Chapter 42 Minimum Lot Size protection for 100 properties in the Denver Harbor area, preventing the lots from being subdivided below the minimum prevailing lot size, as is often the practice when developers build multiple townhomes on what was originally a single residence.
Read moreDAI Leaders Secure Strongest Tenant Protections in Texas
With three asthmatic children in the family, Patricia Vega (in photo above) was constantly on the lookout for mold. "Every time we move, we think it gets better, but it does not." Realizing that the Dallas housing code enforcement offered no protections, she, with a group of women from San Juan Diego Catholic Church, enlisted the support of Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) to change the law.
In a little over a year of public action, DAI church leaders confronted landlords, secured the support of allies, negotiated with adversaries, and ultimately changed the housing code of Dallas in a fundamental way. Says Heather Way, a professor at University of Texas School of Law who specializes in affordable housing law, "These reforms are much needed and should have a big impact on protecting the health and safety of Dallas's most vulnerable." FOX News calls the code the "toughest landlord rules in the state." Said former code enforcement prosecutor, Councilmember Adam McGough, "this is unprecedented."
Read moreMarin Organizing Committee Says, "Yes In My Backyard"
Marin Co., CA - This summer, more than 50 appeared before the Marin County Board of Supervisors to urge them to site, fund and operationalize a year-round shelter for 60 homeless men and women. For the last eight years, Marin's "Rotating Emergency Shelter" (REST) program has operated on a provisional basis, depending on 40 supporting congregations, 17 congregational hosts and thousands of volunteers.
Read moreDAI is Winning on the Rewrite of Dallas' Housing Code
With City Council signalling support for significant reforms in the Dallas rental housing code, Dallas Morning News gave kudos to Dallas Area Interfaith for keeping "these issues on the council's radar and set the stage for many of the most important tweaks in the code." For the first time, the Dallas code would require inspections of the insides of single-family rentals and more frequent inspections of multi-family housing complexes.
Towards that end, the city manager's proposed budget calls for hiring 15 additional code enforcement officers to handle the exapnded responsibilities.
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MOC Signature Campaign Exceeds Goal, Reaches 8,000+
With the goal of building support for the County to site, fund and operationalize a year-round shelter for 60 homeless men and women by 2018, leaders of Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) launched a signature campaign to reach 6,000 voters. Within five months, leaders had collected over 8,000 signature cards, and counting.
DAI Compels Housing Committee to Adopt Tougher Regulations
Bachman Lake residents lined up at the podium with photos depicting bedbugs, mold, leaky windows and malfunctioning air conditioning -- all of which came from a neighborhood inspection of apartments involving 60 resident leaders -- organized by Dallas Area Interfaith. On Monday, resident leaders held a press conference urging the city's Housing Committee to adopt their recommendations in a bid to toughen up Dallas' housing code. One leader, Patricia Vega, has two children with asthma living in an apartment with mold in the bedroom and a broken window that leaks when it rains. Said Dr. Barry Lachman, President of the Asthma Coalition of Texas and leader with Temple Shalom, "no family should ever have to live under the conditions we saw in Bachman Lake."
The housing committee agreed, and city council will vote on the proposal next month.
Read moreSound Alliance Challenges State Legislators at Action Assembly
At the Sound Alliance's Action Assembly on Homelessness, leaders confronted state legislators from District 46, including Senator David Frockt, Representative Gerry Pollett, and Representative Jessyn Farrell about the lack of affordable housing and the regressive tax structure of the Washington state budget. Leaders secured public commitments for statewide budget reform in order to expand the resources available to fund public education and other human services.
Sound Alliance leaders are planning to partner with Spokane Alliance to work with statewide legislative allies to develop a proposal in time for the 2017 legislative session. House meetings are being organized now to determine statewide priorities.
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