Big money is arguably the most corrosive factor in American politics today. We have seen this nationally, and we are now seeing this in our local city council elections.
Renters rights are civil rights
This month, San Mateo County and a handful of nearby local governments officially recognized what many of us already knew: Large rent increases and no-cause evictions are an urgent civil rights issue on the Peninsula. These practices, which thrive in the brutal rental market on the Peninsula, undermine the housing security of many — but they disproportionately harm African-American, Latino, Filipino and Pacific Islander renters. Left unchecked, the displacement crisis we now face will lead to a new era of housing segregation.
Now that the county has acknowledged the problem, it has a moral — and a legal — obligation to combat it.
Reflection #3: Evicted
The home is the center of life. It is a refuge from the grind of work, the pressure of school, and the menace of the streets. We say that at home, we can “be ourselves.” Everywhere else, we are someone else. At home, we remove our masks.
The Candidates’ Answers [UPDATED]
At our October 1st candidates’ forum (which you can read more about here), on top of asking the candidates 5 of our own prepared questions and 1 question selected from a stack of audience submissions, we pulled out a final audience question to be answered by the candidates electronically. Here is that question (thank you to the question asker, Luis A.!)
It Was a Forum for All
On October 1st, One San Mateo held its candidates’ forum. For us being new as an organization to the San Mateo scene, and for it being, therefore, our first candidates’ forum, we couldn’t be happier with how it went. Attendance was great. The crowd was the most diverse of any you will see at the San Mateo candidates’ forums.
One San Mateo 