Here’s what you can do:
Sign MURC’s petition to help hit the goal of 20,000 signatures by the summer, when the City Council decides to put these amendments on the ballot. Take a few minutes to fill out how you would like to be involved. When you’re done, share it with your friends! Follow MURC on Facebook, Insta and Twitter to get updates.
There was already an affordable housing crisis in Minneapolis. Developers keep building, but prices are not going down. Now with COVID-19 and a new recession, this crisis is an outright emergency. Thousands of renters have simply moved out, and many more are taking on debt to make ends meet, which only delays the crisis. 40% of renters have taken out a predatory “payday” loan to pay rent, and there rental payments with credit cards have increased 43% since last year. Women, immigrants, people of color and the LGBTQ community have been hardest hit.
On Friday, February 26th Minneapolis City Council voted to send two Charter Amendments to the Charter Commission that could open up the legal pathways to achieve a rent control policy in Minneapolis. Read a full explanation of what’s happening here, and share it around to update your friends. Also check out MURC’s response to City Council’s initial study on Rent Control by CURA at the U of M. We need to get organized now! Big developers and corporate landlords have already voiced their opposition to the proposal, and are organizing right now to try to either block rent control altogether, or at least to water down the final proposal to protect their massive profits.
Join one of our committees:
Erin West, Field – erinw@homelinemn.org
Qannani Omar: Comms – qannani.omar@gmail.com
Joe Hesla: Coalition Building – jhesla@juno.com
Southside Door Knocking – 1pm, every Saturday – meet at the Powderhorn Park parking lot. We will door-knock and have people sign the rent control petition with their phones. This petition is an organizing tool and will allow supporters of rent control to stay engaged and connected to events and updates. It’s easy! Join us, FFI Joe Hesla jhesla@juno.com