MICAH St. Paul – CALL TO ACTION at CITY HALL!

This is it! After a year of working on fair housing policies and building renter’s power, St. Paul has the chance to do some good! We need you to call or email your councilmember, and to add a comment to the city’s policy website NOW! The public hearing is scheduled for May 20th!

We are also having a St. Paul Chapter Meeting via Zoom on Thursday, May 21st at 5 PM.

The SAFE (Stable, Accessible, Fair, and Equitable) housing legislation prevents abusive landlords from using ancient criminal records or bogus claims in housing courts against renters. Renters can no longer be evicted or non-renewed unless the landlord gives a legitimate reason, in writing, once these are passed. Triple deposits that make housing inaccessible will be a thing of the past. We will no longer be surprised by sales of huge affordable apartment complexes, slated to be gentrified, with the advanced notice of sale.

These protections are needed even more as thousands have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. People who paid 50% of their income on housing and are now collecting 50% of their income on unemployment will not be able to pay rent. These SAFE housing protections are only one step that needs to be taken, as we see how clearly the balance of power in the for-profit rental marketplace is in favor of landlords.

There are two things we need to do immediately. First, contact your city council member with the message – Renters need the protections of the SAFE housing policies. At the very least we need these passed as soon as possible.

Here are your council member’s phone numbers and emails:

ward1@ci.stpaul.mn.us, Dai Thao, 651-266-8610
ward2@ci.stpaul.mn.us, Rebecca Noecker, 651-266-8620
ward3@ci.stpaul.mn.us, Chris Tolbert, 651-266-8630
ward4@ci.stpaul.mn.us, Mitra Jalali Nelson, 651-266-8640
ward5@ci.stpaul.mn.us, Amy Brendmoen, 651-266-8650
ward6@ci.stpaul.mn.us, Nelsie Yang, 651-266-8660
ward7@ci.stpaul.mn.us, Jane L. Prince, 651-266-8670

Second, take a minute to log into the City’s Legistar website and make a public comment. Look for the small blue ‘add new comment’ link on the left-hand side of the page just under the ‘history’ tab, after you click this link.

This is a critical time. And the big landlords are using smaller landlords to push back against these protections. They claim that these simple things will make it impossible to do business. But a good landlord does not need to use triple deposits, or evict people without a legitimate reason. And our City Council needs to hear this.

Please take a moment to call or email your council member and to comment on the city website. There is a possibility there will be a short delay in getting this passed, but it’s also a possibility that opponents will delay it in an attempt to kill it.

In other news, we will be having a Zoom chapter meeting. MICAH had our first one with the NorthEast Suburban chapter on the 12th and it went very well. We will be sending out an invitation with a link to the meeting that will be held at 5 PM on Thursday May 21st. If you would like to attend but do not receive our newsletter or chapter email, please contact John at slade@micah.org.