THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
April 02, 2006
Released March 31, 2006
Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty@greens.org
Statehood Greens to D.C. Council: Defeat the Mayor's bill to weaken rent control
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- D.C. Statehood Green Party leaders urged D.C. City Council to reject Mayor
Anthony Williams' bill to weaken rent control, calling it a serious threat to the District's
tenants.
"Mayor Williams has declared himself the enemy of the nearly two thirds of D.C. residents who rent
their homes," said Ann Wilcox, a member of the party's steering committee. "We call on Council
members to support tenants instead of Mayor Williams, greedy real estate interests, and
powerful landlords and -- many of whom don't even live in the District."
Statehood Greens especially appealed to Council members Kwame Brown (At-Large) and Adrian Fenty
(Ward 4) to vote against the bill.
"The bill is the product of an alliance between the Mayor and the Apartment and Office Building
Association, which represents major landlords," added Ms. Wilcox. "It's not the original
pro-tenant bill introduced by Council member Jim Graham [Ward 1]. It's a replacement that was
introduced in the Consumer & Regulatory Affairs Committee by Sharon Ambrose [Ward
8], who is hardly a friend of renters in D.C."
Rent control supporters warn that the Mayor's proposed legislation will:
-
lead to higher rent increases
-
have fewer protections for tenants from illegal
rent increases
-
give renters less time to challenge rent increases
-
limits renters' right to a rent refund based on
housing code violations, even if those violations are very serious
-
gut the the Sawyer decision, which allows tenants to challenge rent increases if the
landlord did not file on time
-
excuse landlords from filing notice of important information, such as changes in
ownership or building management
-
allows landlords to impose very high rent increases whenever there's a vacancy
Statehood Greens accused Council members who support the bill of doing so to raise campaign
money from wealthy developers and real estate firms. The D.C. Statehood Green Party accepts no
money from corporations.
A 'Public Roundtable on Rent Control' will be held on Friday, March 31, at 5:00 p.m. in the
District Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW on the 5th floor. Empower D.C., Tenant Action
Network, and other tenant activists have urged supporters of rent control to wear red to the
meeting.
MORE INFORMATION
The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
Empower DC
Contact: (202) 234-9119
Tenant Action Network
Contact: 202-747-0345, dctenants@yahoo.com
