By Bay City News

The city of East Palo Alto will recommend Tuesday that the City Council continue anti-displacement tenant supports to keep people in their homes and apartments, especially after statewide eviction moratoriums have expired.  

According to the staff report presented to the council, tenants in East Palo Alto continue to face the same challenges as they did during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic; the only difference now is that the same tenant protections, such as prohibiting eviction for nonpayment of rent, are no longer in place.  

A little history: revenue from Measure O, approved by voters in 2016 as a tax on certain rental properties, went to agencies that help with anti-displacement services, the city said. 

In 2019, Nuestra Casa, Jóvenes Unidos por la Acción Comunitaria, and East Palo Alto Community Legal Services submitted a joint proposal for eviction defense and tenant education and outreach.

These are called “Measure O Contract Organizations.” Their proposal was accepted in early 2020, directing the city manager to approve a one-year contract with the agencies for $279,088, with half the cost coming from Measure O funding and the rest from the city’s Rent Stabilization Program, the city said.  

Then COVID-19 hit, intensifying the need for eviction protection and rent relief. Measure O contract organizations stepped up to assist with state-funded relief for tenants; the City Council received a report and overview of Measure O Contract accomplishments and activities in January.  

Now that the moratoriums have expired, the city has compiled urgent community needs to present to the council. They include legal services for people facing eviction or displacement, tenant outreach in multiple languages to make sure people know their rights and what resources are available, case management, and direct financial and rental assistance.  

City staff is requesting that the council authorize new requests for proposals for new Measure O facilitators to provide these services as contractors. The total amount allocated for these purposes would be $900,000 over two years, including $300,000 in direct rent and financial assistance for those in need.  

The East Palo Alto City Council meets this Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. via video conference at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88620562049.

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A man was stabbed in East Palo Alto on Monday night following celebrations for the Fourth of July, the day that commemorates the independence of the United States.

According to the local Police Department, officers responded to a report at 11:35 p.m., of a stabbing victim in the 400 block of East O'Keefe Street.

Upon arrival, officers found the victim and administered first aid before paramedics arrived, but the person died at the scene.

Police are withholding the victim's name pending notification of next of kin, according to a police news release issued around 3 a.m. Tuesday.

The stabbing death marks East Palo Alto's third homicide this year.

Authorities are urging anyone with information regarding this incident to call Acting Commander Angel Sanchez at (650) 853-3154. 

Information can be shared anonymously via email to epa@tipnow.org and via text or voicemail to (650) 409-6792.

With information from Bay City News.

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By Manuela Tobias. CalMatters

Eviction protections for thousands of California households still waiting in line to receive payments from the state's multibillion-dollar rent relief program expired Thursday.

Since September 2020, the Legislature has passed and Governor Gavin Newsom has signed four laws protecting tenants from eviction who were unable to pay rent due to COVID-19. 

The most recent extension protected until June 30 tenants who had applied for rent relief from the $5 billion state program before the March 31 deadline but had not yet received a response or payments. Those tenants can now be taken to court by their landlords.

“It’s highly unlikely that they will complete all of these applications before June 30, when eviction protections expire,” said Sarah Treuhaft, vice president of research at PolicyLink, a nonprofit that has been reviewing the state’s rent relief program, during a news conference this week. 

"This means they are likely to be evicted and eventually get rental assistance," he stressed.

Debra Carlton, senior lobbyist for the California Apartment Association, said they have asked their members not to take tenants with pending applications to court.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the program through a contractor, said July 1 that it had approved all completed applications for eligible tenants. 

Geoffrey Ross, the program's deputy director in charge, said they are still processing 13,000 applications that are missing documentation or represent an appeal following a denial. They hope to clear all pending applications by early August.

The rent relief program has paid 339,000 households an average of $11,000 for a total of nearly $4 billion, according to the state's public data dashboard. Checks will soon be on the way to about 16,000 households approved this week.

The gap between completed and approved applications has narrowed significantly over the past week as case management has ramped up. 

On June 30, the program's dashboard showed that about 404,000 people had completed their applications. Late this morning, after this story was originally published, the dashboard was updated to show just 352,000 completed applications. 

In that regard, Ross said that more than 70,000 applicants were removed from the queue and issued rejections due to account inactivity. 

Those applicants with incomplete applications were contacted at least three times and given at least 20 days to respond, often longer, he said.

Using data from June 23, PolicyLink, which has been reviewing weekly program data from the state through Public Records Act requests, found more than 28,000 initial applicants and 57,000 reapplicants have yet to hear back from the program. 

So Ross, of the housing department, said the data, although produced by the state, is "flawed in interpretation," but declined to comment on specifics.

Horne LLP, a Mississippi-based accounting firm that specializes in disaster relief, will receive a maximum payment of $278 million to distribute federal rental relief funds capped at $4.5 billion, according to a contract renewal dated April 1 that CalMatters obtained through the Public Records Act on June 17. 

The housing department could not say how much the company had been paid to date.

State Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and co-author of the latest extension, acknowledged that the program has been “incredibly frustrating.” She said she had been assured by the state housing department that her qualified applications would be paid.

“I think it’s no secret that it’s had its challenges,” he said. “And while I sympathize with some of the challenges we’ve had as a state government in terms of dealing with a global pandemic that none of us anticipated, it’s also our job as a government to function well, especially when you’re talking about critical social safety nets.”

But there is a silver lining for tenant advocates. A key part of the now-expired law was the prevention of stricter local anti-eviction measures, many of which are now set to take effect, including in Los Angeles County.

The state faces at least two lawsuits over the program from tenant advocates, who argue it has denied funding to qualifying tenants and is not covering the amount of rent debt originally promised.

As of June 17, more than 135,000 people, or nearly a third of all households, who applied for rental assistance had their applications denied, according to data CalMatters obtained from the housing department through the Public Records Act. 

That number skyrocketed in recent weeks as the program ended. The lawsuit, which cites the same data set, says tenants receive little to no explanation for their denials, making it difficult to challenge the final decision.

“Tenants are facing eviction even as their landlords receive these giant checks and tenants who are eligible for assistance are being denied these cryptic notices that don’t tell them why. It just doesn’t make sense,” said Madeline Howard, a senior attorney with the Western Center on Law & Poverty, one of the groups suing the state over the program.

The housing department’s Ross couldn’t provide specific numbers on denials but said about half of applicants are denied eligibility because they make too much money, don’t reside in a location covered by the state program, requested a time period outside of the program’s guidelines or couldn’t prove their tenure or the impact the pandemic has had on their ability to pay rent. 

The other half of the denials were due to incomplete or inactive applications. 

He said an unspecified number of applications were fraudulent or had been submitted multiple times.

She added that tenants with incomplete applications are told which section they need to provide further evidence, but are not limited to specific documents. She also noted that they were given instructions on how to contact their case managers for help.

Wicks said the latest state budget, approved this week, includes nearly $2 billion to repay the state for a line of credit opened earlier this year to pay tenants who applied before March 31, though it does not include new funding for rent relief. 

The program covered rent for up to 18 months between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2022, for low-income tenants who were financially impacted by COVID-19.

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By Tran Nguyen. San Jose Spotlight

San Jose, the 10th largest city in the United States, was once dubbed "the feminist capital of the world."

But as the years passed, the title faded with the decline in women holding elected office in Silicon Valley. San Jose scraped the bottom of a Pew research study six years ago that compared the ratio of men to women on city councils. And the city has had only two female mayors in its entire history.

Now all that could change.

The November election could propel eight women into city political office, including the possibility of Supervisor Cindy Chavez becoming San Jose’s third female mayor. And one woman is fighting to remain in the halls of power. In total, the San Jose City Council could have 8 women on its dais next year — nearly 72 percent of its 11 members.

“It’s really exciting that we have multiple women potentially elected to the City Council,” former San Jose Vice Mayor Rose Herrera told San Jose Spotlight. “It’s about time.”

After former San Jose Mayor Janet Gray Hayes became the first female mayor of a major U.S. city in 1975, a wave of female elected officials came to San Jose. By 1981, seven of San Jose’s 11 city council members were women.

He later became "Man José."

Since Gray Hayes' tenure on the council, San Jose has only elected one other female mayor, Susan Hammer, who served from 1991 to 1999. In the past 24 years, only 12 other women have been elected to the office, city records show.

Meet the women

Chavez, who has been in elected office for 17 years, is running against Councilman Matt Mahan for mayor, the top political seat in San Jose. Chavez is among 12 women who have been elected to the San Jose City Council, which was elected in 1998.

San Jose currently has five women on its council: Councilmembers Magdalena Carrasco, Maya Esparza, Sylvia Arenas, Dev Davis and Pam Foley.

Foley won re-election in June without challengers, and Davis will keep her seat after losing a bid for mayor. Carrasco is finishing up, and another woman could possibly replace her: former Assemblywoman Nora Campos, who held the East San Jose seat from 2000 to 2010. Campos is facing County Board of Education Trustee Peter Ortiz.

Another candidate, Irene Smith, could replace Councilman Raul Perales in the fight for the downtown District 3 seat. She will face San Jose-Evergreen Community College District Trustee Omar Torres.

In San Jose District 7, Esparza fends off a challenge from Fire Captain Bien Doan.

Arenas is seeking higher office, mounting a formidable race for county supervisor. However, if he doesn't win that race, he will remain in his seat on the District 8 council.

If all female candidates prevail in the San Jose election and Arenas remains on the council, San Jose will see a majority-female City Council, headed by a woman, for the first time in decades.

A fight for representation

Herrera, the former vice mayor who resigned in 2016, grew up seeing a wave of female leaders take charge in the South Bay. But since she won her race, female representation has declined. For most of her time in office, former Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen was the only other woman on the dais.

After Nguyen left office in 2014, only Herrera and Carrasco remained.

“If you don’t have a seat at the table, your perspective isn’t there,” Herrera said. “Having women’s perspectives is so important when you’re making decisions that affect a million people.”

Herrera fought hard to see more women on the bench. She also urged her colleagues to adopt a Gender Pay Equity policy to address the pay disparity between men and women in 2015.

Foley, the Ward 9 councilwoman who won her seat in 2018, said female candidates tend to have a harder time building their networks and soliciting support.

“Women who are successful in running for office have learned to ask for money, to ask for support and backing,” Foley told San José Spotlight, adding that traditional resources needed to win elections have often gone to men. “It’s harder for us to ask for help. We’re the ones doing the work, but that doesn’t mean we’re putting our hand up to run for political office.”

Recovering the title

Local organizations, like Democratic Activists for Women Now (DAWN), have spent years training and supporting female candidates to increase representation and improve women’s rights.

“While we have made progress, I think women are generally dissatisfied with how our government works,” DAWN Vice President Frances Herbert told San José Spotlight. “With the attack on women’s rights, there will be more women coming forward to run for office.”

Herbert also noted that a female majority on the San Jose City Council does not guarantee women's rights and perspectives.

“We must elect like-minded women and men who embody these political agendas,” Herbert said. DAWN endorsed Torres over Smith in the downtown District 3 race.

Foley said she is excited to see the momentum among the female candidates in this election, although she believes the fight for the mayor's seat will be a close race.

“We may have a female mayor this time and we can claim the title of ‘Feminist Capital of the World,’” Foley said. “I really love that.”

The second round is on November 8.

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By Pamela Cruz and Constanza Mazzotti

“There is no greater religion than service to others. Working for the common good is the best creed,” said the German doctor and philosopher Albert Schweitzer. And if anyone knows about service, help and fighting for others, it is Dolores Huerta, a woman whose extraordinary life in support of the rights of farm workers does not stop.

Dolores Huerta doesn't ask for permission, she just does what needs to be done.

For her, nothing is impossible. Yes, We Can! has been her rallying cry for decades, seeking to help the voices that no one wants to hear, the hands of those who don't want to look at them, and those who have seen their rights trampled on for years.

It would seem that at any moment his struggle would stop, however, at almost ninety years old, his voice continues to sound strong in the speeches of former President Barack Obama, or when Hillary Clinton pays tribute to his career alongside César Chávez (his comrade in arms) and his famous Grape Strike with which he negotiated for the first time in the United States the rights of farm workers and with which he established legal contracts and health insurance. 

She doesn't like giving interviews, but her voice resonates strongly with her own story of struggle and feminist symbol.

He was born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico, but at a young age he moved with his mother to Stockton, California, a farming community in San Joaquin County, where he continues to be a legend in the fight for the rights of immigrant farmers.

After being a Girl Scout and having dedicated herself to teaching at the primary level, her life took a totally different direction when she realized the injustices that peasants experienced around her, reason enough to begin a fight for their rights, until everyone had the same job opportunities under fair and dignified conditions.

“I couldn't see the children coming into the classroom hungry and needing shoes. So I thought I could do more organizing the farmers than trying to teach their hungry children,” he said in one of the few interviews given to a television channel.

Always influenced by the strength of her two parents: Juan Fernandez, who worked as a miner, laborer and farmer in New Mexico, but above all, was a union activist leader and state assemblyman. Dolores saw little of him after he divorced her mother when she was barely three years old.

His mother, Alicia Chavez, owned a small hotel in Stockton, California, where she helped farm families and covered the entire cost for those who were immigrants. 

More formally, Dolores Huerta, as she is commonly called, began her life's struggle alongside Cesario Estrada Chávez, better known as César Chávez, an American peasant leader and civil rights activist.

However, Dolores Huerta's work did not begin there, since in 1955 she was a founding member of the Community Service Organization (CSO) alongside Fred Ross (1919-1992), an activist originally from San Francisco, who organized Mexican-Americans in California. 

Fred Ross, who was a teacher to Huerta and Chavez, would also be the one to transmit, through the CSO, the teachings against segregation and police brutality, the creation of voter registration, and improved public services as well as the fight to enact the new legislation to his best disciples.

Thus, Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez later joined forces to found, outside the CSO, the National Farm Workers Association or “NFWA”, the predecessor of the United Field Workers Union (UNFW).UFW(see the following table).

NFWA focused its efforts on including undocumented immigrant workers in health systems, getting them to vote, and creating voting materials in Spanish, among many others.

The organization later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), led by Filipino Larry Itliong, to form the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) in 1962.

The main objectives of this committee were to improve the lives of agricultural workers, both in their economic and social situation, as well as to free them from the stigma they had for dedicating themselves to this work.

At the same time, the United Farm Workers carried out mobilizations, strikes and even boycotts against companies that did not provide good conditions for their workers and that posed a health risk, actions that have only gained strength until now. 
“Working conditions are very, very bad as they have no protection whatsoever. Farm workers do not even have basic human needs. They have no toilets or drinking water in the fields. They cannot defend themselves when they are degraded or humiliated or subjected to inhuman working conditions,” she denounced.n a radio interview with Maria Huffman carried out on February 23, 1968, a crucial year for social movements in Latin America.

The grapes of wrath

On September 8, 1965, Filipino members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) demanded higher wages and more than 5,000 grape workers went on strike in the Delano area of Kern County, California. 

The protest would last five years, during which Dolores Huerta would become the leader who achieved agreements in favor of exploited farmers.

This is how the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) emerged in 1966, through which Dolores managed to negotiate the first contract with the Schenley Wine Company. 

This was the first time the United States negotiated farm worker rights, including health care, labor hiring, contract administration and lawsuits on behalf of workers, and regulation of toxic pesticides. 

Huerta also achieved amnesty for peasants who lived, worked and paid taxes in the United States in order to enjoy the privileges of citizenship, resulting in the Immigration Act of 1985. 

Lifetime achievements

Among her most important awards, Huerta has received a number of awards, including the National Women's Hall of Fame (1993), the American Civil Liberties Union Award (1993), the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award (1998), and the Ohtli Recognition (1998).

In turn, the Four Freedoms Award (2003); Humanitarian of the Year (2008); induction into the Labor Hall of Honor (2012); Presidential Medal of Freedom (2012); induction into the California Hall of Fame (2012); and the Radcliffe Medal (2019).

Dolores Huerta has her own foundation, remains a member-secretary of the United Farm Workers and Vice President of the United Women's Labor Union, is a Vice President of the California AFL-CIO and is a board member for the Feminist Majority Fund which advocates for equal political rights for women. 

As if that were not enough, she is the mother of eleven children and 14 grandchildren, with whom she has combined her life full of social struggle, stating that "being a woman has helped me because we have more endurance than men."

Today, every April 10th, the day of her birth, is proclaimed as Dolores Huerta Day in California.

With information from the Dolores Huerta Foundation.

You may be interested in: Politics takes significant toll on residents over 4th of July weekend

Cierra el sexto mes del año y comienza el séptimo. Tan solo a un par de días de que todos los habitantes del país celebren en 4 de julio,¿qué debes saber sobre lo que aconteció esta semana? Estas son las noticias locales del 27 de junio al 2 de julio.

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Un incendio hirió a un bombero y desplazó a seis el domingo por la noche en San Francisco, informó el Cuerpo de Bomberos de la ciudad. El incendio inició a las 23:23 horas del lunes en una residencia en el 636 de la calle Moultrie.

El bombero fue llevado a una sala de emergencias para recibir atención y fue dado de alta. Se espera que estén bien. Ninguno de los residentes resultó herido.

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Un hombre de 31 años fue apuñalado en el distrito de Tenderloin de San Francisco el sábado, dejándolo en una condición potencialmente mortal, dijo la policía el lunes. El apuñalamiento se informó alrededor de las 14:30 horas en las calles Leavenworth y Turk. 

El sospechoso huyó después de apuñalar a la víctima con un cuchillo, según la policía. La víctima fue llevada al hospital.

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Una mujer de 72 años fue golpeada y herida por parte de alguien que conducía un scooter eléctrico en el vecindario Tenderloin de San Francisco el lunes por la tarde y que posterior al incidente se dio a la fuga, dijo la policía.

La colisión se informó poco después del mediodía en la cuadra 300 de Ellis Street. La mujer fue llevada a un hospital para recibir tratamiento por sus heridas, que no se consideran potencialmente mortales.

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La Junta de Supervisores de San Francisco y la alcaldesa London Breed llegaron a un acuerdo el lunes por la noche sobre un paquete de gastos para adquirir, construir y reparar proyectos de viviendas más asequibles en la ciudad.

Si se aprueba, los 114 millones de dólares en gastos incluirán 40 millones para la adquisición de terrenos, 20 millones para reparaciones en viviendas preexistentes públicas y subsidiadas por el Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de EE. UU., 12 millones para viviendas asequibles para educadores y 10 millones para renovaciones de ascensores en hoteles de ocupación de habitación individual.

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La policía de San Mateo informó el miércoles temprano que la mujer de 78 años reportada como desaparecida el martes por la noche por su familia fue encontrada. 

Destacó que Gloria Flor fue vista por última vez alrededor de las 22:30 horas del martes en el área de 25th Avenue y Flores Street el martes, sin embargo, justo después de las 3:00 horas del miércoles la policía informó que Flor había sido encontrada.

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San Francisco busca que se construyan más desarrollos de viviendas en áreas zonificadas para viviendas unifamiliares, por lo que la Junta de Supervisores votó el martes para rezonificar áreas que la ciudad ha designado como distritos de casas residenciales para permitir desarrollos con unidades múltiples. Se espera una votación final de la junta el 12 de julio.

Las casas o distritos residenciales cubren alrededor del 60 por ciento de la tierra urbanizable de la ciudad, según un comunicado de prensa del supervisor Rafael Mandelman.

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El Departamento de Policía de San Francisco aconseja a los amantes de los fuegos artificiales que se mantengan alejados de Treasure Island el 4 de julio, debido a la construcción en curso. Las áreas de visualización para el espectáculo de fuegos artificiales y el estacionamiento serán extremadamente limitadas y las carreteras hacia las áreas de estacionamiento serán inaccesibles.

Los fuegos artificiales comenzarán en el paseo marítimo de San Francisco, cerca de Fisherman’s Wharf, a las 21:30 horas del lunes.

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Una persona murió luego de una colisión entre dos embarcaciones de recreo en la Bahía de San Francisco cerca de Angel Island el jueves por la tarde, según un portavoz de la Guardia Costera de EE. UU.

Los investigadores del Departamento de Policía de San Francisco y el Departamento del Sheriff del Condado de Marin están investigando la causa de la colisión entre un velero y una lancha motora de placer con consola central de 25 pies. La colisión hizo que la lancha se saliera de control hasta que los policías pudieron apoderarse de la embarcación. 

El operador de la consola central fue expulsado de la embarcación durante la colisión, tras el accidente, el operador fue sacado de la bahía por testigos presenciales y se administró ayuda, pero la persona murió. No hubo informes de que alguien más sufriera lesiones.

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Un hombre murió luego de un tiroteo en el vecindario Lower Haight de San Francisco el jueves por la noche, según la policía. El tiroteo se informó alrededor de las 21:15 horas en la cuadra 400 de Rose Street.

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With information from Bay City News.

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