Glendale Rent Control Resolution

WHEREAS there is a shortage of affordable, long-term housing in the City of Glendale that is safe and clean for working-class, middle-class, and homeless residents, which has further negatively impacted long-term housing stability and bargaining power for renters; and

WHEREAS the Glendale Tenants Union, a group of concerned renters and fair housing advocates, is seeking to cap rent increases at four percent annually, and to establish an appointed Rent Board, which would serve as a neutral, third party arbiter with final authority to review petitions of rental adjustment; and

WHEREAS the existing “just cause” eviction protections in the City of Glendale, which require that termination of a tenancy be brought for “good cause,” including failure to pay rent, in practice allows rental property owners and managers to raise the rental amounts to often
unreasonable levels for the purpose of evicting tenants; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Democrats for Neighborhood Action (DNA) supports the Glendale Tenant’s Union and the residents of the City of Glendale in seeking the economic relief that comes from long-term housing stability and rent stabilization, which can be accomplished, in part, by promoting the construction of additional safe and affordable,
housing developments, establishing more protections for current tenants, and pursuing new forms of public-private partnerships to assist working-class, middle-class, and homeless residents of the city; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DNA joins the call for a repeal of the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act which limits cities’ abilities to expand rent control.

Prioritizing Gun Violence Prevention

WHEREAS, there is an epidemic of daily gun violence in the United States unparalleled in any other civilized nation, wherein an average of 33,880 people die from gun violence every year while another 81,114 people survive gun injuries, as evidenced by recent tragedies in the following communities: Ranch Tehama, Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, Orlando, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Killeen, San Ysidro, Austin, San Bernardino, Fort Hood, Aurora, Columbine, Seal Beach, and Granada Hills; and

WHEREAS, the firearm homicide rate is twenty times higher in the United States than the combined rates of twenty-two countries that are our peers in wealth and population, American children die as a result of gun violence roughly eleven times more often than children in other high-income countries, millions of guns are sold every year in “no questions asked” transactions, and experts estimate that forty percent of guns now sold in the United States are done so without a Brady background check even though three million attempts to purchase firearms by felons, domestic abusers and fugitives have been blocked due to a background check since the Brady Law was initially passed; and

WHEREAS, a New York Times poll conducted in June 2016 found that large majorities of Americans support actions to strengthen gun laws including: banning sales to known or suspected terrorists (89% support), banning sales to those reported as dangerous by a mental health provider (87%), ensuring universal background checks (86%), licensing of owners (78%), registering guns nationally (70%), banning high capacity magazines (63%), and banning sales and ownership of semi-automatic guns (63%); and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Democrats for Neighborhood Action calls upon state and federal legislators to enact each of these reforms: ban the possession of semi-automatic and fully-automatic guns, ban possession of guns by those identified as dangerous to themselves or others, require background checks for all gun and ammunition sales, license gun owners, track all guns in a national registry linked to owners, ban high capacity magazines or accumulations of large arsenals, and require owners to carry insurance covering all damage caused by the guns they own regardless of who uses the guns; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution will be sent to the President, the Governor, and all state and federal legislators representing the constituent communities of Democrats for Neighborhood Action.

Standing Up Against Sexual Harassment

WHEREAS, Democrats for Neighborhood Action strongly supports the rights of all individuals to work in a safe and professional environment free from all forms of discrimination, harassment, bullying and abuse including sexual harassment and sexual violence; and

WHEREAS, the #MeToo and #WeSaidEnough campaigns have shined a badly needed light on the pervasive sexual harassment which disproportionately impacts women, queer and trans individuals and communities of color every day across all industries and in politics, sparking a long overdue discussion about our party’s obligation to ensure that all women, regardless of whether they are activists, elected officials, party officers, staff or volunteers, are able to contribute their time, energy and activism free from harassment and intimidation; and

WHEREAS, treating every person equally, with dignity and respect, is a core value of our party, and that should be reflected in our operations and policies at every level, from our Democratic clubs and Central Committees to our candidates to our state party; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Democrats for Neighborhood Action stands in solidarity with the victims of sexual harassment and encourages all Democrats to demand policies at the state and national level that eliminate sexual harassment, allow victims of harassment to confidentially report their harassment through a hotline, require transparency, accountability, and input from survivors and victims’ advocates in anti-harassment policy creation, procedural implementation and training, employ whistleblower protections, anti-retaliation provisions and mandatory sexual harassment training at the workplace, thorough harassment investigations conducted by professional and independent investigators, allow victims to sue their harassers, allow victims to have a day in court, end forced agreements which burden victims with silence and shame and prevent future employers from discovering harassment settlements; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Democrats for Neighborhood Action must actively and continually strive to ensure that our party is a place free from harassment and intimidation, where every person is able to contribute their activism towards building the progressive future our state and country deserve.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PROCESS REFORM

WHEREAS, the ballot measure was originally enacted to give the average voter in California a way to band together with like-minded citizens and get action on issues that were not being addressed by the Legislature, but now the ballot measure is increasingly being used by large corporations, big money groups and large lobbying interests as a way to circumvent the Legislature and to mislead the voter into passing their agenda; and

WHEREAS, the average Californian is now being asked to make judgements and vote on measures that are confusing and complicated, that few can understand, that do not state who is funding them, and are supported through ads and mailers with false or misleading information, thus making it difficult to make an informed decision on how to vote, resulting in only 9% of Californians being very satisfied with the process and a majority wanting changes to the process;* and

WHEREAS, Democrats support an open and transparent system of governance giving the voter the means to make informed decisions, and three reforms to the ballot measure process would ensure transparency, properly inform the voter, and make the system accountable by creating a citizens oversight board, improving the funding disclosures and developing a system to mitigate problems; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Democrats for Neighborhood Action (DNA) urges our elected officials to make three reforms to the ballot measure process: 1) create a citizen’s oversight board (based on the Oregon model) where citizens will hold hearings and write the ballot summaries in plain language the voter can understand, 2) expand the funder disclosures to include top funders on the signature gathering sheets and on all voting information material (which includes the citizen’s oversight board description), and require that top funders must be announced out loud in all radio and television ads, and 3) develop a system for hearings to find flaws, potential legal challenges and propose compromise; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be sent to Governor Gavin Newsom, State Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Speaker Anthony Rendon, President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, Assembly Members; Adrin Nazarian, Jesse Gabriel, Luz Rivas, Laura Friedman, Christy Smith, Jacqui Irwin, State Senators; Bob Hertzberg, Anthony Portantino, Henry Stern, and Ben Allen

Written by:

  • Adrienne Burk, Past President, Valley Grassroots for Democracy

  • Cindy Kalman, President, Valley Grassroots for Democracy

Additional Signatories:

  • Carolyn Chriss, Delegate, 46th AD, California Democratic Party

  • Suju Vijayan, Delegate, 46th AD, California Democratic Party

  • Kathy Schaeffer, Delegate, 46th AD, California Democratic Party

  • Lauren Perotti, Delegate, 46th AD, California Democratic Party

  • Colleen Evanson, Delegate, 46th AD, California Democratic Party

  • Felicia Carbajal, Delegate, 46th AD, California Democratic Party

*Public Policy Institute: Reforming California’s Initiative Process

Congress Recognizes Armenian Genocide, Trump Will Not

WHEREAS, between 1915 and 1923 the Armenian Genocide took place, and incalculable

horror, terror and death were perpetrated, including the systematic mass extermination and

expulsion of ethnic Armenians within the Ottoman Empire — an estimated 1,500,000 Armenians

were killed — and ever since, families of victims and survivors have suffered further torment

because of Armenian Genocide deniers whose indifference, political expediency, moral

relativism and hostility have deterred healing and enabled more crimes against humanity (it was

only after closely studying the Armenian Genocide that Hitler and the Nazis embarked upon a

Holocaust of their own making, emboldened by the world’s refusal to recognize the Armenian

Genocide and its monstrous scale); and

WHEREAS, because it will always be urgent that we “never forget” genocide and its victims,

there has been a century of extraordinary effort by the Armenian community and its

organizations and leaders, countless humanitarian groups and clergy, educators and historians,

and the Democratic Party and myriad political activists, all leading a crucial campaign to have

those grim events of 1915-1923 be known by their true name — the Armenian Genocide — but

there has also been opposition and denial, often based on the claim of political expediency and

not wanting to offend Turkey by accurately describing and totaling the evils of that time; and

WHEREAS, there has finally been extraordinary progress in recent months — the U.S. House of

Representatives passed a resolution in October 2019 designating those mass killings of

Armenians to have been a genocide, and two months later, the U.S. Senate further affirmed that

fact through its unanimous consent — but the Trump administration remains a feckless holdout,

scared to use the word “Genocide,” even though the implicit rationale, that it’s in our national

interest to placate Turkey, has proved utterly hollow, given Turkey’s heedless transgressions in

Syria against our allies the Kurds;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, Democrats for Neighborhood Action thanks the U.S.

Senate and House of Representatives for officially designating that what transpired within the

Ottoman Empire a hundred years ago is properly to be known as a genocide, and furthermore

urges the Trump administration to cease being fearful but instead be truthful, by formally

designating that cataclysmically deadly tragedy for what it was — “the Armenian Genocide”; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Democrats for Neighborhood Action send copies of

this resolution to California’s Democratic Congressional delegation, and to the White House.


AUTHORS: Caro Avanessian, Renee Nahum, Paul Neuman all AD43


SPONSORS: State Senator Anthony Portantino, Assemblymember Richard Bloom, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, L.A. City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, L.A. City Councilmember Paul Koretz, L.A. City Councilmember David Ryu, Glendale City Councilmember Vrej Agajanian, Glendale City Councilmember Paula Devine, Glendale City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian, Los Angeles Community College District Trustee Mike Fong, Glendale Unified School District Boardmember Jennifer Freemon, Glendale Unified School District Boardmember Nayiri Nahabedian, Laurie Collins AD43, Carol Fodera AD43, Marilyn Grunwald AD38, Tony Hale, Shanna Ingelsbee AD43, Kathy Kensinger AD43, Luke Klipp AD43, Leonard Manoukian AD43, Susan Mastrodemos AD43, Juilet Minassian AD43, Thomas Patrick O’Shaughnessy AD43, Nicholas B.C. Schultz AD43, Emily K. Westberg AD43