Jersey City Times: Right-To-Counsel Moves Forward
“The Jersey City City Council Wednesday night took the first step to establishing a “Right to Counsel” for the city’s tenants who comprise about 70 percent of the population and who, advocates say, face increasing prospects of evictions by landlords’ hiking rents to unprecedented numbers.”
Read “Right-To-Counsel Moves Forward, Smoke Shops to be Licensed” in Jersey City Times
HCV: Jersey City Council passes amended right to counsel ordinances on first reading
“Jersey City is facing an eviction crisis. Rents are rising faster than incomes. Tenants deserve to know their rights and defend them. Developers have poured money into Jersey City. But not enough new units are affordable. More and more residents are being displaced. It’s time for developers to give back to the city…”
WFMU: Right to Counsel Interview #2
Right to Counsel JC Co-Chair Jake E. returned to DJ Trouble’s “This Is the Modern World” on WFMU!
Jake E, organizer for the Right to Counsel Campaign makes a second appearance on Jersey City’s very own WFMU to discuss the Right to Counsel campaign’s push ahead of the final vote on June 14th and tenants’ rights in Jersey City.
You can listen to the full interview here. Jake’s interview starts at 1:24:11 in the episode!
Winning Green Power for the People
Tonight we are going to talk about winning. Earlier this month the Build Public Renewables Act passed through the New York State budget - a monumental victory for the Public Power NY Coalition that has been organizing for four years to pass the bill.
No outlet has covered the fight for Public Power in New York more than Revolutions Per Minute. Since day one in 2019, we’ve had lead organizers of the campaign on the show to speak about why we need Public Power and how we were going to win it.
Tonight on this special Best of BAI fund drive show - we’ll revisit some of those interviews and hear from the organizers who won socialist climate legislation here in New York. We’ll also hear past interviews with Assemblymembers Zohran Mamdani and Sarahana Shrestha
If you’ve been listening along with us since day one, go to WBAI.org right now and make a donation to keep us on the air.
You can follow the Public Power NY Coalition on twitter @PublicPowerNY
To learn more about how the Public Power NY Coalition won the Build Public Renewables Act watch BPRA: A Win in the Fight for a Green New Deal
Freedom Advisory Against Florida Fascism
Today, the Democratic Socialists of America is issuing a freedom advisory for the people of Florida in opposition to the fascist actions of its politicians. We recognize the travel advisory issued by Florida Senator Rick Scott as part of a continued pattern of red-baiting and attacks against Black organizations like the NAACP in our country’s history. Scott’s “socialist travel advisory” is a mocking response to the NAACP rightfully warning people about the openly hostile laws created and upheld by Florida Senator Rick Scott and Governor Ron DeSantis that target African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
While we disagree that the Biden administration is attempting to erase capitalism, the Democratic Socialists of America openly acknowledge our goal of replacing capitalism with a more just and democratic social and economic system. The billionaire class cuts essential social services such as education and social security, demands workers work harder for less pay, pollutes our air and water and drives climate change, promotes racist police violence, and uses a culture of hyper-individualism that puts us against each other and alienates us from the kinds of collective, democratic organizations necessary to challenge those in power and win the rights we all deserve. Reactionaries like Senator Scott have always opposed democratic socialists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who fought for the civil rights and dignity of Black people, poor people, and workers of all races.
Under the authority of elected officials like Senator Scott and Governor DeSantis, Florida has:
- Half of their residents living close to or below the poverty line
- Made it harder for immigrants to provide for their families by criminalizing nearly 5 million people
- Worked to silence teachers and unions advocating for better pay and better working conditions
- Banned people from accessing abortion and related care
- The most disenfranchised citizens in the United States, with 1.5 million disenfranchised voters
- Banned minors from gender affirming care, drag shows, and discussions of LGBTQ+ issues and resources in schools
- One of the highest rates of mass shootings
- Delayed evacuation during hurricane devastation that resulted in deaths and damages
DSA members in Florida and across the country vow to fight against fascism while we still can. We are unapologetically socialist because we share a vision of a society where we have democracy in every aspect of our lives: in our workplaces, in our economy, at the ballot box, and in our communities. Working people in Florida deserve better than Scott and DeSantis’ dangerous threats.
We know that capitalism is inherently opposed to freedom. A society where the vast majority of our lives is spent working for someone else’s profit is not free. A society where a person can only have food, housing, or healthcare if it is profitable for someone else to provide it to them is not free. A society where humans are powerless to fight an ongoing mass extinction and where our movement across land is criminalized is not free.
They fear us because of the future we promise. Join us in the fight for our lives and against the fascism that promises to destroy everything we hold dear. Another world is possible.
The post Freedom Advisory Against Florida Fascism appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Capitalocene Q&A (with Joerg Rieger)
NJ.com: City council ready to introduce Jersey City’s right-to-counsel program legislation after some tweaks
By Mark Koosau
The creation of Jersey City’s right-to-counsel program for tenants and a fee on new developments to fund it has hit a snag as the city council plans to reintroduce the legislation with some changes.
Two related ordinances will be up for re-introduction Wednesday night, but the original purpose remains unchanged: a program to provide free legal representation for tenants facing evictions, and a 1.5-2.5% fee on new developments that would fund its $4 million budget.
“We are doing a better job of making sure the ordinance serves everybody,” said Councilman James Solomon, the sponsor of the legislation, in regard to the changes.
“Ultimately the end goal is keeping tenants in their homes… Read on at NJ.com
The Indypendent: The Long Struggle for Affordable Housing in New Jersey Dates Back to the Civil Rights Movement
“Just as Mount Laurel residents fought back 50 years ago, tenants in Jersey City are currently organizing against rising rents and evictions. The two right to counsel ordinances they are fighting for will give all tenants in Jersey City the right to free legal representation, create a right to counsel office in City Hall and introduce fees on developers to create an affordable housing fund. Part of that fund will be used to cover the costs of tenants’ legal services.”
HCV: Jersey City RTC advocates march to City Hall as council gets ready for vote
“Workers and tenants are fighting back in their unions in their tenancies with their neighbors and at City Hall. We’re not paying for right to counsel through taxpayers. We’re going to tax the rich. We’re funding right to counsel with a fee on development…Including the biggest developer in Jersey City, the LeFrak organization. LeFrak is the chief architect of Newport and the displacement of thousands of Jersey City residents that lived right here.”
Hop Shop Social - Tucson DSA
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