117 - The case for American land reform (12.22.2020)

In a weepy swan song for outgoing District 4 Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Hansen, Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Breton still cannot seem to wrap his head around why people voted Hansen out and Katie Valenzuela in--despite all of us repeatedly telling him the reason.

Renters living in precarious housing situations simply do not see Hansen as an ally--particularly after he and council tried to kill real rent control this year, with his office famously trying to smear one of rent control's biggest champions, Michelle Pariset (who is now, in a wonderful twist of fate, Valenzuela's chief of staff).
 
Thanks to neolibs like Hansen, Sacramento--along with all of California--faces an eviction tsunami during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
 
First among these fights is Hawthorne Suites, where at least 38 residents received eviction notices from the Calabasas-based Ezralow Company. As friend of the show and longtime housing advocate Alison B mentioned on a viral Twitter thread, Sacramento leaders like Hansen have set us up for a Hooverville future, in which thousands upon thousands of renters will end up unhoused and we'll be forced to plan and scale formal encampments throughout the region.
 
Speaking of which, Monday was the winter solstice. And every year on that day the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness holds a ceremony reading the names of everyone in the county who died in the streets. In 2020, we lost over 90 neighbors. Shannon attended the ceremony, and shares with us some of her reflections.
 

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.