#political action
What if we started actively disincentivizing landlords letting real estate stay empty rather than renting at reasonable prices? Like, give them a maximum of three months to get a new tenant in, and then they start accumulating fines for the unused space.
And some similar system to disincentivize the ridiculous airbnb market as well. Make it unprofitable to have homes sitting empty in a city where people with jobs find themselves living in tents. Hell, make it unprofitable to have homes sitting empty anywhere that has a homelessness problem.
The fine? The full rent amount they’re asking for. You think $1700/month for a studio apartment is reasonable? Well, until you get someone into that apartment, you’re going to be fined that same sum every month.
For Airbnb, a lower cost, but still based on how many nights/month the space is unused, and the fine will be based on the asking price per night.
This is… really, really sensible.
literally email this idea to your local city council representative or similar lowest level government person. if there are meetings that are open to the public, go speak your piece there. an idea like this is very sensible, and this is an issue they are thinking about.
there will be traction. I’m not saying you can get it to happen, the owners of large complexes have a lot of control over your local government. but it’s not complete control, and good ideas are powerful.
Vancouver slaps $10,000 a year tax on empty homes. Lie about it and it’s $10,000 a day
Thanks for the link, and fuck yeah! This is exactly the stuff I’m talking about.
MilwaukeeandSan Francisco are also looking into policies like these. These ideas are out there and being explored, and I think that’s pretty neat.
If your city has council meetings open to the public (a lot do!), they’re probably listed on your city’s website. Getting a group of people together can be even more powerful, since officials can see it’s at least more than one person who thinks it’s a good idea.
Lower-level local government people are usually happy to hear from you, too. An email pointing out the other places that have tried it and their results could go a long way. Some local government people will even let constituents schedule a short meeting with them where you could present ideas.
Today is a long one. You should do each of these separately and not in the same letter if you are writing.
–Call/fax your Senators and Congressional representative and tell them you OPPOSE HR 620, which would allow businesses more freedom to not comply with disability access and would put the burden of asking for access on the disabled. (URGENT– this is on the docket for TODAY)
–Call/fax your Senators and Congressional representative and let them know you OPPOSE the Graham/Cassidy/Heller ACA repeal.
Key points to bring up: (choose one or two that matter to you most if you don’t want to write or say too much)
–This repeal is estimated to cause a spike in premiums of up to 20% in one year.
–This repeal is estimated to allow 32 million Americans to lose health insurance.
–This repeal gets rid of the Medicaid Expansion which covers about 11 million low-income Americans.
–This repeal will gut pre-existing condition protections.
–This repeal will gut women’s healthcare and family planning in the guise of “pro life” actions but the blow to women’s health affects care far beyond abortion.
–End by asking them to support Medicare for All or a similar single payer program.
– NEW YORK AND CALIFORNIA 12TH DISTRICT: Call/fax Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi and tell them that you will not accept a border wall as part of a compromise effort with Trump over the DREAM Act. Reiterate that you will only accept a clean DREAM Act that protects ALL immigrants who were brought here as children (not only those who are able to go to prestigious universities or get high-paying jobs in lucrative industries) and that does not tear families apart.
–Demand more transparency on their meetings with Trump and make it clear that while you understand the necessity of private discussions among lawmakers in typical situations, based on Trump’s reputation, you do not feel comfortable with private meetings in this case.
You can do this with other Democratic Senators and Representatives, too, but Schumer and Pelosi need to hear us express concern that they may be compromising on things that are unacceptable to their constituents.
