What: Press conference after a final vote on an unprecedented package of anti-displacement renter policies including protections tied to emergency declarations
When: Tuesday, September 17 at 10 AM
Where: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Administration Building (575 Administration Drive)
Who: North Bay Organizing Project, Legal Aid of Sonoma County, Sonoma County Tenants Union, UndocuFund
Contact: Lina Blanco, comms@northbayop.org
Sonoma County, CA – On Tuesday, September 17, a broad coalition of social justice, tenant rights, immigrant, climate, labor and public health organizations will host a press conference outside the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting following the final vote on a novel renter protections ordinance. In response to seven years of community organizing during multiple climate catastrophes, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is set to approve a first-in-the-nation package of renter protections that includes a moratorium on evictions during declared emergencies and stronger Just Cause eviction protections for unincorporated Sonoma County. The 2017 Sonoma Complex Fires centered Sonoma County renters on the frontlines of a housing crisis exacerbated by climate change. If the vote passes, Sonoma County renters will have spearheaded a more equitable path forward, by building power with one another, to ensure the public health imperative of stable housing during declared emergencies.
“Security, stability, and confidence, these are the benefits we tenants fought for and won in this County,” says Sandra DeLeón, a Healdsburg farmworker leader and mother of two daughters. “These historic disaster eviction protections will give immigrant and working people the right and dignity to recover before the next emergency.”
Tenant leaders of Sonoma County continue to transform local, regional, and national policies that address social inequality, housing displacement, and climate injustice. Since 2008, frontline community leaders of the North Bay Organizing Project (NBOP), supported by allied organizations such as Legal Aid of Sonoma County, have organized to secure anti-eviction policies, language justice in emergency response systems – many of which are the first-of-their kind in California, and set nation-wide policy on climate change and housing.
"These strong eviction protections transform the immediate crises Sonoma County's undocumented neighbors face [following disasters] into forward-thinking policies that ensure our government takes responsibility for everyone’s dignity and self-determination in future disasters —because we refuse to let those most impacted be left behind,” says Beatrice Camacho, Director of UndocuFund and co-founder of the statewide California UndocuFund Network.
“Legal Aid's data show that over 30% of eviction notices are not due to any fault by the tenant,” says Patrick McDonell (he/him), attorney. “Arbitrary evictions cost our community dearly and are existential threats to low-income families—a burden that falls hardest on families with children and People of Color, according to The Struggle for Home (bit.ly/struggleforhome). The Board has taken courageous action here to limit the harm of displacement in Sonoma County."
Tenant protection policies in Sonoma County are a testament to the self-determination of working class and immigrant communities to ensure all solutions center equity and justice in the face of the climate crisis. After Tuesday’s vote, Sonoma County could be among the first in the nation to prioritize the stability of climate-impacted communities and affirm the health and dignity of working families before the next disaster strikes.
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North Bay Organizing Project
NBOP is a grassroots, multiracial, and multi-issue organization of over twenty faith, environmental, labor, student and community-based organizations in Sonoma County. Founded in 2010, we focus on the structural causes of economic, social, and environmental inequities confronting working people in Sonoma County. We unite people to build leadership and grassroots power for social, economic, racial and environmental justice and strive to empower ordinary people to do extraordinary things in the pursuit of justice. To learn more, visit www.northbayop.org.
Legal Aid of Sonoma County
Legal Aid promotes social justice and advance basic human rights for vulnerable people in our community. Legal Aid serves financially challenged families and children, youth, the elderly, people with disabilities, employees, veterans, immigrants and victims of domestic violence. We assist with civil legal issues like eviction, domestic violence, elder abuse, disaster relief and many more. To learn more, visit www.legalaidsc.org.
Sonoma County Tenants Union
The Sonoma County Tenants Union (SCTU) builds tenant power through embedding anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and intersectional feminist principles in our work in solidarity with other movements for collective organizing. We strive for transformative change around housing rights, practices, and policies, and thus elevate the experiences, knowledge, and needs of those most affected by our current systems: low-income people of color, people with disabilities, trans and queer people, undocumented people and unhoused people. To learn more, visit www.sonomatenants.org.
UndocuFund
UndocuFund is a mutual aid initiative supporting undocumented community members in Sonoma County impacted by disasters. Established in 2017 during the Tubbs wildfire, the fund addresses the unique challenges faced by the estimated 42,000 undocumented residents who are the backbone of the local economy, driving key industries like agriculture, construction, and service work. We are committed to bridging gaps, providing mutual aid, and strengthening the community members who are essential to our collective well-being. To learn more, visit: undocufund.org
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