This November, Berkeley residents will vote to fill five open seats on Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board. Six candidates have qualified for the ballot: incumbents Ida Martinac and Nathan Mizell, as well as challengers Derek Rodriguez, Carole Marasovic, Vylma Ortiz and Avery Arbaugh.
The Rent Stabilization Board is responsible for implementing Berkeley’s Rent Ordinance, a policy preserving affordable housing and community diversity. The Rent Board offers services to Berkeley residents, including free housing counseling and mediation.
The Rent Stabilization Board is responsible for implementing Berkeley’s Rent Ordinance, a policy preserving affordable housing and community diversity.
Arbaugh, Martinac, Mizell, Ortiz and Rodriguez are running for the Rent Board on the Right to Housing Slate. These candidates are slated together under a shared platform of stabilizing rent increases, protecting affordable housing and defending tenant protections.
Hundreds of Berkeley tenants voted to select this slate at the Berkeley Tenants Convention. This convention is sponsored by several progressive organizations, including the Berkeley Tenants Union, Friends of Adeline, Healthy Black Families, the NAACP Berkeley and the Gray Panthers of the Berkeley-East Bay Area.
The remaining candidate is Marasovic, who has served as chair of multiple commissions, including the Homeless Services Panel of Experts.
“I know how you work with people who are highly escalated because they’re very upset,” Marasovic said. “At that time, it’s really important to them (that people) understand what their emotional needs are when they come in seeking help.”
Marasovic’s priorities include anti-displacement, disability and anti-discrimination initiatives. She intends to utilize the Rent Board’s budget “in the most efficient manner.” She also seeks to create a more “client-friendly,” approachable office for people who are seeking assistance.
Arbaugh has served as chair of the Berkeley Tenants Union for the past two years. She is running for the Rent Board to be a “champion for tenants, and especially tenant unions.” She will do this by addressing habitability issues, ensuring that seniors, those with disabilities and students all understand their rights by strengthening outreach programs. She is also advocating for climate resiliency, aiming to keep the interiors of all buildings at a safe temperature.
“I’ve spoken with seniors who have to scale flights of stairs because their elevators aren’t working, people with moldy apartments and poor living conditions,” Arbaugh said. “I’m running to make sure that all of them get the justice they deserve”
Rodriguez is a student at UC Berkeley, an Army veteran and tenant organizer running for a position on the Rent Board to expand tenants’ rights to organize against harassment, retaliation and displacement, hoping specifically to reach overlooked populations.
“As a student myself, I understand the difficulty of trying to find affordable housing in Berkeley and navigating a rental market where students are often more transient, less familiar with local tenant protections, and therefore more vulnerable to overcrowding,” Rodriguez said in an email.
Ortiz is running for Rent Stabilization Board to keep rent-controlled apartments safe and functioning. She believes that “we need to treat housing as a necessity and not as a tool for financial exploitation.” She also plans on expanding affordable housing options for those who are struggling, particularly for seniors, people with disabilities, essential workers and students.
Martinac is an incumbent Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner running for reelection to continue her work as the chair of the Climate Resilience and Habitability Committee. Martinac is an advocate for expanding weatherization, renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives for all housing in Berkeley.
Mizell is also an incumbent Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner who is running for reelection to continue his advocacy for equity and justice in Berkeley. He wants to emphasize greater community awareness of tenant rights, stronger enforcement of existing protections and more accountability when landlords do not comply with the law.