Voting is open for the Berkeley Tenants Union\u2019s slate of \u201cprogressive, pro-tenant\u201d candidates that will be up for election to the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board in November.<\/p>\n
All Berkeley residents who are 16 years and older are able to vote online until April 28, with physical ballots available by request on the BTU\u2019s website. The last day to request a physical ballot is April 24. Students who are registered to vote in other districts, as well as unhoused residents and non-citizens, can still cast their votes in this primary.<\/p>\n
Seven people applied for the BTU\u2019s nomination, but only five will be selected, as only five of the Rent Board\u2019s nine seats are open for election. As of April 23, 180 ballots had been requested, according to Elizabeth Geno, co-chair of the convention\u2019s planning committee.<\/p>\n
Ida Martinac and Nathan Mizell are the only incumbents seeking reelection for a second term on the Rent Board. Neither responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Attorney and meditation teacher Vylma Ortiz has been living in Berkeley for the past 18 years, where she has raised her two sons. She currently resides in a rent-controlled apartment, and said she wants to get involved in local politics as one reason for running.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope \u2026 to try to see the glass half full, to be grateful for the beautiful city of Berkeley and its beautiful history, and yet still try to make it even better,\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cI want to be a soldier in that too. I want to make things different.\u201d<\/p>\n
UC Berkeley political science student Derek Rodriguez is also running. He describes the affordability crisis as structural, rather than accidental, in his profile statement.<\/p>\n
Another candidate, Whitney Sparks, unionized her building owned by Raj Properties, a large corporate landlord in Berkeley. She claimed she faced \u201cincredible discrimination\u201d from her landlord and became involved in advocating for herself, her son and other tenants. If elected, Sparks hopes to help other tenants unionize their buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of lived experience,\u201d Sparks said. \u201cI have been unhoused before. I have been threatened with eviction illegally by multiple landlords in California, and I have taken my case to the rent board and won.\u201d<\/p>\n