‘Housing is a human right,’ seniors, veterans cry at rally against rent increases

Just getting home at the end of his day last Thursday, Rigo Hall climbed out of his car and said he could not believe what he saw: nearly 50 senior citizens, veterans and other advocates were gathered across the street from his condo complex on Sixth Street carrying signs and chanting a variety of call-and-response cries against rent increases in Long Beach.
Hall lives across the street from the Lexanna Apartments, a 51-unit building for seniors. Many Lexanna tenants recently received notice that their rent would increase by $200 to $450 effective Sept. 1, according to a press release from Long Beach Residents Empowered (LiBRE).
“To me it’s horrible that these people are going through this,” Hall said. “Senior citizens normally don’t have the income […] I mean, my mom is 88 years old, and I mean, she lives with my sister for the same reason: financially, she can’t afford to live on her own. So, this is crazy that they’re having to pay $400 in rent increase.”
LiBRE is a resident-led community organizing group that advocates for affordable housing, renter protections and community economic development. Community organizer for LiBRE Alicia Perez said the organization has participated in several demonstrations concerning issues of displacement, gentrification and rent increases in Long Beach this year.
Perez said the rally was a response to the “lucrative rent increases taking place at the Lexanna Apartments” and a “call to action” for owner Kenneth Voight to address the concerns of his tenants as a result of the rent increase.
“We hope this is one step closer to the discussion with the owner, [Kenneth] Voight,” Perez said. “We will continue to meet and organize with the tenants and build unity among the different buildings and communities facing displacement and unjust rent increases. The goal of the tenants and ours is to meet with Mr. Voight to discuss solutions to this issue [… ] We hope he does the right thing.”
LiBRE has called on Long Beach residents to contact Voight directly or to send him an email through an online petition that the group is circulating called “Save Our Seniors from Being Homeless.” Seven letters had been sent as of Thursday morning. Voight did not attend the rally, and Perez said he has “refused to meet with residents to this date.”
Voight declined to comment on the issue at this time.

At the rally, Housing Long Beach Director of Community Organizing Maria Lopez led the crowd from street corner to street corner, in call and response with questions like: “When seniors and veterans are under attack, what do we do?”
“Stand up, fight back,” the crowd answered.
Housing Long Beach Community Organizer Norberto Lopez also attended the rally in support of LiBRE and the Lexana Apartments seniors.
“I believe that, in order to have a strong movement, we need to come together,” Lopez said. “[We] as Housing Long Beach, some of our residents are going to come out and support the Lexanna Apartment residents.”
Lopez said that even though none of the residents experiencing rent increases at the Lexanna property were receiving services from Housing Long Beach at this time, solidarity amongst housing organizations would be necessary to bring about the kind of change they hope to see related to renters’ rights.
“Until we get something done through policy, we’ll be doing what we have to do out here in the streets,” Lopez added. “And if we have to continue being out here supporting one another, we’ll continue doing that. The more people we are, the stronger we are.”
There is no policy in place for rent control in Long Beach. As previously reported in the Signal Tribune, rent-control advocates and members of the #RentControlNow Coalition ceased their efforts to collect enough signatures by the deadline to put rent control and just-cause eviction on the November ballot, citing harassment and additional obstacles as explanation for the decision to halt the movement.
Betty Pleasant, 85, said she sold her home of 41 years in Detroit, Michigan, to come to Long Beach, and she has lived in the Lexanna Apartments for nearly two years.
“I like it here, you know, it’s a beautiful city […] but people have to live,” Pleasant said at the rally. “It’s not bad, but seniors need that housing for them […] Social Security doesn’t go up like [rent does]. I’m really thinking about going back to Detroit.”
Pleasant said she understands that the landlord has the right to raise the rent on his own property, but she wishes there were a way all parties involved could “meet in the middle.” She and other residents in the building said they worry that the scheduled rent increase will price them out of their homes and leave them with nowhere to go.

“Rent is too damn high,” read one large banner in bright red lettering at the rally.
Hall watched his neighbors carry the sign up and down the side of the Lexanna building, repeating the words, “Housing is a human right. Fight, fight, fight.”
He said he has lived in Long Beach since 1997 and if he were experiencing a rent increase like his neighbors from across the street, he would likely have to move.
“I don’t own the place […] so if [the property owner] decided to go up on the rent, I would have to move,” Hall said. “Which is something I think is unreasonable.”
Perez said LiBRE is encouraging residents to attend an Everyone Home Taskforce meeting conducted by the City of Long Beach Friday. The Everyone Home Taskforce is a citywide effort to address homelessness in Long Beach. Additional information about the initiative is available online at longbeach.gov/everyone-home-long-beach.
“These rent increases are correlated to the issue of homelessness,” Perez said. “If people can’t afford the new rent, they can be in the streets the following day.”