defend "tenants against unlawful informal or formal evictions, including but not limited to retaliatory evictions after a tenant complains about substandard housing conditions; evictions of domestic violence survivors for the acts of the perpetrator of domestic violence, and evictions based on unlawful discrimination based on race, country of origin, disability, legal status." As of August 2021, 19 cities in California have already established Rent Stabilization ordinances preventing renters and residents from being displaced.
I'm not sure what your faith orientation or spiritual practice is, but I'm very sure that no matter your orientation, one of the teachings you believe in is COMPASSION. And as author Susan Sontag said, "Compassion is an unstable emotion; it needs to be translated into action or it withers." I'm asking you to breathe in the pain and suffering of the narratives you've heard today and the thousands of other stories you haven't heard and exhale ACTION that brings these individuals peace, good, will, safe, decent, affordable, and accessible housing.
It's been too long for us to WAIT for Council action on housing. I remember then Mayor Alan Autry used the phrase "A Tale of Two Cities"; our current Mayor has pledged to work to creating One Fresno.
It's been too long for us to WAIT for Council action housing. I remember when we organized a Housing Tour in Fresno in May 2004 with the precursor to Faith in the Valley, Faith in Community to show then Fresno City Council members the depths of the housing crisis in Fresno.
It's been too long for us to WAIT. In the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from a jail cell in Birmingham in 1963. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of [poverty, homelessness, &] segregation. For years now, I have heard the word "Wait!" ... [and] [t]his "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see ... that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."
Please use the power that you have to stand up for those of us who are HERE TO STAY and host a special public meeting on housing. Approve the TOP 10 policy recommendations identified in the Here To Stay Report or explain to the general public what the City's plan is to address both the immediate and long-term housing needs of our residents in support of a safer, more secure, and compassionate Fresno.
MATTHEW JEN DIAN
Fresno, California 93704