The fight is on to save rent control and defend local environmental protections! All over California, communities are turning out to vote on June 3rd - NO on Prop 98 and YES on Prop 99.

Proposition 98 is a statewide referendum launched by wealthy landowners under the guise of eminent domain reform to rollback policies that help families make ends meet.  But the referendum is not just about eminent domain; 85% of the funding to qualify Prop 98 came from apartment owners and their allies intent on destroying rent control and squeezing more out of tenants.

In short, Prop 98 does much more than restrict eminent domain. By prohibiting any regulation that potentially transfers value from a landowner to another private party, it will significantly curtail local governments’ abilities to pass policies, affecting:  

• Rent Control
• Inclusionary Zoning
• Just Cause eviction protections
• Living Wage Ordinances
• Anti-Big Box ordinances
• Public water projects
• Open Space provisions
• Protection of endangered species
• Pollution mitigation and any public heath regulation
• Height and noise regulations of buildings
• Hours of operations of businesses (like bars and liquor stores)
• Locations of businesses (polluting factories near neighborhoods)

Thankfully, there is an alternative referendum to Prop 98! While Proposition 98 contains eminent domain prohibitions as well as prohibitions against almost any form of economic regulation by local governments (which would destroy many programs that allow local governments to improve quality of life in cities and counties), Proposition 99 contains only a narrow prohibition of eminent domain and will prohibit governments from taking private property and conveying it to another private entity. So, vote NO on Prop 98 and YES on Prop 99.  

Join EBASE as we hit the streets and knock on doors to tell our Oakland neighbors to vote NO on Prop 98 and YES on Prop 99. Precinct walks will take place on the following days:

• Saturday, May 10th from 9 AM – 1 PM (CAMPAIGN KICKOFF, location TBA)
• Saturday, May 24th from 9 AM – 1 PM (1601 Telegraph, Oakland)
• Saturday, May 31st from 9 AM – 1 PM (1601 Telegraph, Oakland)
• Tuesday, June 3rd all day (ELECTION DAY, 1601 Telegraph, Oakland)

If you are unable to participate in the walks, ask us about weeknight phone banking opportunities. To sign up, call Brooke Anderson at EBASE at 510-846-0766 or email brooke[at]workingeastbay.org.

NO on Prop 98 walks are sponsored by Oakland Rising, a new partnership of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, Oakland ACORN, the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Just Cause Oakland, and Urban Habitat.

Additional background on eminent domain:

Eminent domain refers to the powers of local governments to take private property in order to encourage development.  The controversy surrounding eminent domain powers concerns the balancing of individual’s property rights against government’s powers to encourage development.  The controversy came to head in 2005 when the Supreme Court decided local governments’ interests outweigh individual property owners in the Kelo v. City of New London case.

Since the Kelo decision, there have been many efforts to pass legislation to overturn the precedent set by Kelo.  Anti-tax advocates and libertarian groups have launched numerous state initiatives to prohibit governments’ use of eminent domain around the country, and this time, they have their sights set on California.