Santa Rosa Snippets by Elaine B. Holtz — November 2019

Santa Rosa City Council Finalizes Rental Discrimination Ordinance

There is so much questioning and trying to understand what protections are in place for residents of Santa Rosa around rent control that I thought for this month an overview on what has taken place might be helpful for those renting or looking to rent. On September 24, 2019 the Santa Rosa Council voted 5-1 and moved to prevent discrimination against low-income renters who rely on federal housing subsidies. The goal was to create an ordinance to enact protections against obvious cases of discrimination on the basis of source of income, such as “NO SECTION 8” signs and similar policies enforced by property managers. According to Rebecca Lane, Housing and Community Services Manager the Santa Rosa Housing Authority administers the federal housing aid program on the local level and has the authority to issue subsidies to about 1,900 low-income households, including about 400 vouchers dedicated to homeless veterans. On October 1, 2019 the Council did a second reading of the ordinance and according to protocol This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and effect from and after thirty (30) days after its final passage which will be November 1, 2019. To read the Santa Rosa ordinance go to

News from the State: To further regulate rents in California, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1482. The Tenant Protection Act of 2019, written by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco), is the biggest reform of the state's rental-housing industry in decades. More than 2 million tenants statewide who are uncovered by local rent control laws will see a cap placed on the annual increase their landlords may impose. The law goes into effect on January 1; the state will begin to regulate how much Californians’ rent can increase every year, limiting it to 5 percent, plus the local rate of inflation. According to Councilwoman Julie Combs the law bans landlords from evicting people for no reason, meaning they could not kick people out so they can raise the rent for a new tenant. And while the law doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, it would apply to rent increases on or after March 15, 2019, to prevent landlords from raising rents just before the caps go into place. For the complete bill go to https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1482

Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) offers Free Tuition and Online Classes

According to a recent press release, SRJC recently announced that its “SRJC for Free” initiative, which aims to help students pursue the community college degree tuition-free, is now available to second-year students in addition to those enrolling for the first time.

Between Assembly Bill 19 (AB19), the California College Promise, and the SRJC Doyle Scholarship, many students are now eligible for a full two years of tuition reimbursement. Students can use this reimbursement to pursue an associate’s degree, participate in a certificate program or obtain the units necessary to transfer to a four-year institution, tuition-free. https://scholarships.santarosa.edu

In addition, SRJC has been awarded just over $460,000 by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office as part of an effort to expand online pathways for career and technical education. This grant will help SRJC’s Career Education (CE) program create more fully-online CE and Adult Education courses and certificates.

The college's Office of Distance Education will administer the grant and work with faculty to produce engaging online CE courses that will allow more students to take classes and complete certificates in this format. For more information about SRJC's online certificate programs, go to https://de.santarosa.edu/online-degrees-certificates

Women’s Suffrage 100th Anniversary Kick Off Event

Mark your calendars on December 8, the ‎Sonoma County 2020 Women's Suffrage Project Centennial Kick-off will be happening at the Saturday Afternoon Club of Santa Rosa. The kick off is their first event celebrating 100 years since the 19th Amendment (1920) to the Constitution of the United States which provides men and women with equal voting rights and states that the right of citizens to vote "shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex”. There will be a special opening ceremony, guest speakers, music, tea time, photo parlor and a fun trivia contest. According to steering committee member, Leslie Graves, “The kickoff is the beginning of a year-long project celebrating the centennial, 1920 – 2020, and the opportunity to take a look back at 100 years of women's rights to vote and what suffrage means today."* *Seating is limited; RSVP is required by emailing socowomen2020@gmail.com Date and time: Sunday December 8th from 2-4PM at The Saturday Afternoon Club, 430 10th St, Santa Rosa, CA.

A Bit of History: The Saturday Afternoon Club is one of the oldest remaining clubs in Santa Rosa. Founded by women in 1894, they built the club house in 1908 and today the club members are dedicated to community service, charitable giving, educational enrichment and social opportunities. http://santarosahistory.com/wordpress/2012/01/the-saturday-afternoon-club One hundred and eight years ago on October 10, 1911, California voted to become the sixth state where women could vote equally with men, nine years before the 19th Amendment enfranchised women nationally on August 26, 1920. Throughout 2020, many local organizations will be celebrating the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment with a wide variety of programs and exhibits. Learn more by visiting www.socowomen2020.org where a full calendar of events is available.

Last month in collaboration with The National Organization for Women, Sonoma County Chapter and radio station KBBF presented a showing of the film, “Iron Jawed Angels," starring Hillary Swank as Alice Paul which tells the true story of how defiant and brilliant young activists took the women’s suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote. At the film NOW launched their 2020 Calendar with national and local California Heroes honoring Woman Suffrage. **The calendar will be available at the Kickoff.

Honoring their service, women veterans sharing stories

Hear stories from a panel of six women veterans about their service experience and how it affected their lives. Their service included World War II through the present conflicts. The event is happening in partnership with The Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library. The event will be moderated by guest moderator, Commissioner Deborah Doyle and takes place in the Forum Room at the Sonoma County central library 217 E. St., Santa Rosa. The event is from 3-5PM on Sunday, November 3. https://sonomacounty.libcal.com/event/5737795

Happy Thanksgiving – A Day of Remembrance and Gratitude

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays as I see it as a time where family and friends can gather and give thanks for what they have. It is also a time when I remind my family of Unthanksgiving Day (or Un-Thanksgiving Day), also known as The Indigenous Peoples Sunrise Ceremony, an event held on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay to honor the indigenous peoples of the Americas and promote their rights.[1] It coincides with a similar protest, the National Day of Mourning, held in Massachusetts. Held annually since 1975, the Alcatraz ceremony commemorates the protest event of 1969, where the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement (ARPM) occupied the island.[1] Currently the annual ceremony is organized by the International Indian Treaty Council and American Indian Contemporary Arts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unthanksgiving_Day

Something to think about: “Patriotism is love of country. But you can't love your country without loving your countrymen and countrywomen. We don't always have to agree, but we must empower each other, we must find the common ground, we must build bridges across our differences to pursue the common good." Cory Anthony Booker is an American politician serving as the junior United States Senator from New Jersey since 2013 and a member of the Democratic Party. He is currently a candidate for President of the USA.