The purpose of the Renters Council is to act as a driving force in the development of a tenants’ rights and protections agenda within the California Democratic Party for the benefit of the 18 million Californian renters.
The Council shall promote policy and legislation consistent with our principles and support those Democratic Party office holders and officials proposing and carrying out such policies.
Meet our 2025-2027 Board!
Here are the results for our board election.
Chair: Mari Perez-Ruiz
Treasurer: Vinnie Bacon
Secretary: Alfred Twu
Northern Vice Chair: Annie Koruga
Central Vice Chair: Arturo Rodriguez
Southern Vice Chair: Susie Shannon
Members at Large (5):
Shawn Danino
Monica Madrid
Esther Malkin
Yesenia Miranda Meza
Barisha Spriggs
California Democratic Party Executive Board Meeting - August 18-23, Online
The California Democratic Party Executive Board Conference coming up - a tentative schedule of events is now available on the E-board website at https://cadem.org/executive-board/. Since this conference is online, most of the events are in the evening the week of August 18-23, with some events during the day on Saturday 8/23. The party will take positions on resolutions and legislation at this meeting. Caucus and committee meetings are open to all Democrats, no ticket required.
Renters Council Membership Meeting - Sunday, August 10, 7pm
Ahead of the conference, the Renters Council will be meeting online. We will have regional updates, legislation updates, and announcements.
Sunday, August 10, at 7-8:30pm. Register for the Zoom meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/KFxLZMtoQkOKTxu99cbroQ
Legislation Update
We have requested that the California Democratic Party support the following bills as a priority. The CADEM Legislation Committee will be voting on this, we'll let you know when and how to give comment. In the meantime, if you personally know any of the committee members, please reach out to them.
Please also call your Assemblymember to support the SB's, and your Senator to support the AB's.
SB 52 (Perez)
Bans the use of nonpublic data in a pricing algorithm. Landlords could still use public data or their own data, but not that of competitors.
SB 522 (Wahab)
Applies the state tenant protections against eviction without good cause to rebuilt housing after a disaster, if the previous building was covered by the law.
SB 655 (Stern)
Starts the process for establishing regulations for maximum indoor temperature. While California requires rental housing to have heat, there is currently no requirement for cooling.
SB 749 (Allen)
This bill would require a mobile home park owner that wants to close a park to first offer it for sale, at market value, to a nonprofit or government that wants to preserve it as housing.
AB 246 (Bryan)
Protects tenants from eviction if they are unable to pay rent due to an interruption in Social Security payments.
AB 380 (Mark Gonzalez)
Strengthens enforcement of the ban on price gouging after a disaster.
AB 628 (McKinnor)
Requires rental housing (other than group housing such as a dorm room) to have a working stove and fridge.
AB 736 (Wicks)
Affordable Housing Bond.
AB 863 (Kalra)
Requires eviction notices in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean if lease was in that language or if it is the tenant's primary language.
AB 878 (Kalra)
Strengthens rental housing protections for survivors of domestic violence, abuse, and other serious crimes, closing loopholes in the existing laws that provide tenants the right to break a lease or protections from eviction.
#RentersVote
2026 is coming up - voting will start for 2026 primary election in about 9 months, which will feature Congressional, State, and county elections. Make a plan to register renters to vote in your community! For example, in the New York City Democratic primary earlier this year, increased renter voter turnout was decisive in Zohran Mamdani's victory, and was a central part of his campaign strategy.
Central Valley update
Our Central Valley Vice Chair Arturo Rodriguez has written and article in the Porterville Recorder on the impacts of federal legislation on immigrants, many of who are renters in the Central Valley, https://www.recorderonline.com/news/how-immigration-legislation-is-dangerous-to-immigrants/article_593aebec-cbfc-429c-acb8-1fb129f836db.html
Membership Eligibility
Membership is open to all registered Democrats, as well as those who intend to register to vote as Democrats when they become eligible. If you need to re-register to vote as a Democrat, please go to https://registertovote.ca.gov/
Dues Options:
Regular Member, $10
Housing Friend, $25
Housing Patron, $50
Housing Activist, $99
Pay your Dues
We are now accepting dues for membership for 2025, which covers members for all of 2025 and up through the first 2026 CADEM Convention. All members have the same voting rights.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/carent2025
We have a number of generous members that donate more than the amount or set up a monthly additional donation. You can use the same link above to make a additional contribution. There is no contribution limit. This year is an extremely important election year and your donations will be especially helpful in us supporting candidates, rent control ordinances & events to get the renter vote out statewide.
Fee Waiver:
If dues are a financial hardship, please use the Fee Waiver membership form: https://forms.gle/6zBMLdJLRZhrJP2VA
