Residents discuss affordable housing issues at forum

Young Chang

COSTA MESA -- Residents wanting to tell their stories gathered on

Sunday for a housing forum that resembled, at times, a small pep rally.

More than 200 locals concerned about affordable housing filled a

parish hall at St. Joachim’s Catholic Church for a three-hour session on

tenant rights in Orange County. The Orange County Congregation Community

Organization, a grass-roots faith group made up of 12 congregations and

five denominations, and St. Joachim’s organized the forum.

Mayor Libby Cowan and representatives from the United Tenants of L.A.

also discussed the issue.

“I believe the city needs to show that we care about housing for

everyone,” Cowan said. “And because I care about providing housing for

everyone, community strength is when everyone has an opportunity for

affordable housing.”

In March, Councilman Chris Steel created controversy arguing that

Costa Mesa should cut back its affordable housing and should “get serious

about the people we’re letting live here.”

Many at the forum would disagree as about 40% of the participants had

relocated in the past year.

“Six months ago, we had intensive one-on-one conversations with

people,” said Alma Vergara, community organizer for the Orange County

Congregation Community Organization. “And the message we got was that a

lot of people were getting kicked out ... with no just cause in Costa

Mesa. We have residents who have lived here 20 to 30 years. Basically, it

was as if they never lived there.”

Rose Ceja, whose family of seven moved from their three-bedroom house

three months ago because of a rent hike, attended the forum in hopes that

Cowan and United Tenants would hear her out and help. She has since moved

into a two-bedroom apartment. “We think, that at any moment, they can

raise the rent the sky’s the limit,” Ceja said through several

translators. “We don’t have stability. We are a family that works.”

Maria Arroyo, an organizer with United Tenants, also showed a video of

rat-infested living situations in L.A. and other unsanitary conditions

that had caused health defects in child tenants.

She encouraged her listeners to approach their landlords and report

their problems without being scared of, in some cases, their illegal

immigrant status.

She suggested no one report the problems alone, but with his or her

neighbors. If the landlord doesn’t respond, Arroyo recommended the

tenants call the health department.

She reminded them that anyone who buys products and pays taxes on

those products is a taxpayer -- that landlords who fail to fix a

resident’s problems claiming the resident is not a taxpayer is wrong.

“It’s your right to complain about problems in the building,” Arroyo

said.

Enrique Aranda, executive director of United Tenants, encouraged his

listeners to get angry in the face of injustice.

“We’re here to provide public education and share our experiences

about struggling to win tenant rights,” Aranda said. “It really reflects

... the fact that there is no organization of tenant rights in the county

of Orange. There are people calling us thinking we can come out here and

help them.”

Dora Noran, a Costa Mesa resident who attended the forum to support

her community, said it’s important that everyone has a decent place to

live.

“It’s true that what happens to your neighbors affects you,” she said.

When it comes to being aware of the community’s plight, Cowan agreed.

She said she has heard numerous stories about multiple rent increases in

the last six months, especially for the city’s retail clerks, preschool

teachers, child-care workers, nurses, teachers and those in minimum-wage

jobs.

“I think it’s very important for the City Council to hear the stories

of people who have trouble affording housing,” she said. “With the

strength of our retail business, we should be very concerned about

providing housing for the retail workers.”

So what now, after all the stories and pep talks?

“I think the city needs to look at partnerships with builders of

affordable housing projects,” Cowan said. “And that as we develop new

housing, that we make it possible for developers to build housing that is

less than $500,000.”