San Jose Councilmember Peter Ortiz collaborated with local organizations, SOMOS Mayfair and Working Partnerships USA, and organized “The Affordable Housing Town Hall” on Wednesday at Mayfair Community Center.
The event focused the attention on plans the organizations have to address issues related to housing and rent in San Jose.
In addition to Ortiz, the event showcased two other panelists: Huascar Castro, the associate director of housing and transportation policy at Working Partnerships USA and Andrea Portillo, director of community organizing and policy at SOMOS Mayfair.
During the event, the three speakers discussed the importance of tenant’s legal representation and projects related to affordable housing with members of the community.
Castro, who talked about tenant protection, said it’s extremely important for San Jose renters to have protection in cases of evictions.
“Just in that alone, by allowing a higher percentage of tenants to have representation through the eviction proceedings, we are allowing jurisdiction and ultimately reduce displacement which has been identified as a major goal for the city,” Castro said.
He also said Working Partnerships USA is taking steps toward building tenant’s legal representation, including the right to counsel.
“A Right to counsel works similarly to when someone is arrested and has a right to being represented, by ensuring anyone facing eviction has the right to legal representation,” Ortiz said.
Castro said by allowing a right to counsel, the city will ultimately save money because those who are given legal representation will not need access to other social services.
“Study shows us, for a little more context, that this return could be as high as $12 for every $1 invested in the right to counsel program,” Castro said to the audience.
Renters in San Jose must now earn $54 an hour in order to afford the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment according to a May 16 ,2022 County of Santa Clara article.
Castro said allowing tenants to receive legal representation balances the playing field.
“[Tenants] are having to deal with the traumas of facing eviction and they’re the ones in court facing housing insecurity,“ Castro said. “Add to the layer that they don’t have legal representation and that the landlord has a private market fully funded attorney ready to do all of their bidding.”
San Jose is currently the second most expensive city to rent in with a median rent price of $2,502 a month according to a Feb. 21 Earnest study.
“An ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] study showed that landlords come to court with a lawyer 92% of the time, but tenants only have legal representation 2% of the time,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz also spotlighted the importance of the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), which gives qualified non-profit organizations the right of first offer and/or the right of first refusal to purchase certain properties offered for sale in the City, according to its website.
“COPA is the strategy that we’re going to use to combat displacement in East San Jose,” Ortiz said. “My district five has been designated as an area that’s extremely vulnerable to displacement, so it’s important for my residents and to the voters and to the voters of my district.
Portillo, who was the second speaker of the night, also remarked on the importance of COPA.
“The goal again is a preservation policy, and so by having qualified nonprofits who share the same values, who value tenant engagement and ownership and education and value anti-displacement work and see the value in that,” Portillo said. “[Nonprofit organizations] will be able to purchase the property so that tenants can remain in their homes long term.”
In San Jose, 7.7% of people were living in poverty in 2021, according to the census.gov
Portillo said it’s important to prioritize very low and extremely low income tenants.
“This policy has been very contentious, there's a lot of opposition, mainly from realtors associations and pro for-profit developers,” Portillo said. “It’s really important that we have a councilmember that’s championing this that can help us move it in the avenues that he can.”
Organizations are working to provide housing and legal representation for tenants, but the Silicon Valley tech industry still plays an important role in this issue.
Portillo said tech companies may generate displacement into communities.
“The market shifts, the types of housing that they build are not meant for our very low, extremely low income folks,” Portillo said. “So it definitely does have an impact on the levels of displacement that we see for the community.”
Ortiz said, although he supports tech companies, they should complement their expansion providing resources to the neighborhoods.
“I think the way it's growing, the way Silicon Valley is growing, it's not taking into consideration the people who currently live here, especially working people in East San Jose. They are not investing in our local school districts,” Ortiz said.
