Tenants Under Siege! A Chronicle:
TENAC CHRONICLES TENANTS UNDER SIEGE...
100 % Rent Increases Whack Seniors
Written by Jim McGrath Thursday, 10 September 2009 19:57
In the language of the mob, "whack" means to kill. 100% rent increases for those in their 80s and 90s and/or those severely disabled means the same thing, only more slowly. First comes economic death, as elderly people are forced to spend 75% or more of meager incomes or pensions to landlords just to keep the roof over their heads, and then parcel out the pitiful amount left for everything else. What it ultimately gets down to is "megabucks" for the landlords and pennies for everything else - food, clothing, medicine, and all the other things basic survival for seniors entails.
Some say the poor and elderly don't need as much as other people. That's true! They need more! The twilight of life is a costly business! Just ask those who have given up eating meat in order to afford cortisone!
100% increases for the elderly and/or disabled means economic extinction now and physical extinction later. Rent increase caps need to be extended to all seniors and disabled, not just some, and it needs to be done now!
TENAC urges the council to enact true "emergency" legislation, the kind that will keep our elderly and/or disabled citizens in their homes, not in shelters or homeless in the street.
LONG LIVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR ALL!
THE CHRONICLE CONTINUES:
Written by Jim McGrath Friday, 04 September 2009 16:22
WHO RUNS D.C.? THE MAYOR AND
COUNCIL? OR B.F. SAUL AND
CHEVY CHASE BANK?
The outrageous firing of Grayce Wiggins, the best Rent Administrator in District history, raises the above question big time. The mayor's fingerprints are all over Ms. Wiggins's pink slip, and below his, one strongly suspects, are those of B.F. Saul/Chevy Chase Bank, Wiggins's most ardent critics.
The mayor is relatively newly-installed in office and arguably still in his "shakedown cruise." After eight catastrophic years of Anthony Williams, moreover, tenants await much better things. After the Wiggins dismissal outrage, however, it appears we will have to wait longer. But while we wait, we also need to act.
First, we demand the immediate reinstatement of Grayce Wiggins. Second, we demand an explanation of her firing. Third, we demand "hands off" tenants' rights by the developers, re-developers, and bankers. They have been riding high in the saddle in this city for a long time. Just take a look around and see the "condominium conversion craze" taking place all around us for confirmation of that outrageous fact, to say nothing of absurd "voluntary" rent increases, where tenants invariably give up far more than they get.
SOMETIMES "NO" NEEDS TO MEAN "NO" EVEN TO KENNEDY-WARREN LANDLORDS
Written by Jim McGrath Friday, 04 September 2009 16:20
After losing a landmark ruling this past spring by District Rent Administrator Grayce Wiggins, who struck down its so-called "Voluntary Agreement," landlord B.F. Saul is at it again, trying to shirk D.C.'s Rent Control laws while handing the Kennedy-Warren tenants a raw deal at the same time. This time the charade is "Judge Shopping" - having not gotten what they wanted before, landlord Saul is now attempting to end-run around the Rent Administrator, trying to submit a "Revised Voluntary Agreement" to a court that lacks jurisdiction. And if that fails, Saul has told the Kennedy-Warrant tenants that they might go after the valiant Grayce Wiggins herself - for her job.
"Voluntary Agreements" are a sham, where tenants usually give up far more than they get. They are tailor-made to insure "factionalism" playing off one group of tenants against another. Now B.F. Saul has upped the ante, trying to manipulate the city's government for its own ends. "Market-rate" is the "Holy Grail" for landlords, but the market has become a casino, and the landlords are breaking the bank at Monte Carlo.
Kudos to the valiant Kennedy-Warren tenants who continue to stand fast in the face of a landlord backed by the wealth and influence of Chevy Chase Bank. We need affordable housing, not Rockefeller-class condominiums. Remember, housing is not a commodity. We are not talking about oil futures, pork bellies, or gold bullion, we are talking about the roof over people's heads.
TO "DEVOUT & PHILANTHROPIC TYCOONS": "CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME!"
Written by Jim McGrath Friday, 04 September 2009 16:06
For Immediate Release: December 16, 2008
For Information: Jim McGrath (202) 387-1893
www.wrathofmcgrath.com
The Washington Post recently published a loving valentine to tycoon B.F. Saul/Chevy Chase Bank, citing a long list of local beneficiaries receiving support from Mr. Saul. All recipients were described as Washington Institutions. Pity Sholl's Cafeteria, one of the city's greatest and most charitable of all, was not one of them. Today marks the seventh anniversary of the cafeteria's closing and the loss of a wonderful downtown landmark which served as a joyful refuge for busloads of budget-minded tourists, middle and low income tenants, homeless people, poor people, students, and even struggling Washington Post reporters. Even a fleeting visit to their checkbooks by donors like Saul would have ensured Sholl's survival. But the cafeteria was unceremoniously closed because of real estate greed, by those who turned a blind eye to everything lacking redevelopment bonanza potential.
May we respectfully suggest that some of Mr. Saul's philanthropy be extended to the valiant tenants at his crown jewel residential property, the Kennedy-Warren Apartments, especially now that he is about to realize an enormous capital gain in becoming "Capitol One." We do not ask for charity here, only fairness, such as not trying to force arbitrary, unfair and harsh involuntary "voluntary agreements" on tenants. During this great season of giving, coinciding with epic economic hardship for so many, doing the right thing for this exceptional group would truly be a "capital" thing to do
D.C. TENANTS' ADVOCACY COALITION
REPRESENTING ALL D.C. TENANTS
P.O. BOX 7237 WASHINGTON, DC 20044 (202) 628-3688
WEBSITE: www.tenac.org E-MAIL:
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