2014 NEWARK TENANT NEWS BLOG www.newarktenantsunited.org
December 30, 2014: Star Ledger article on Building Boom in Newark
December 16, 2014: Rent Control Board hearing for Pietro Pariselli of 380 Mt. Prospect Avenue is again postponed.
December 15, 2014: The Tenant Associations secured legal representation and filed a motion in Superior Court to intervene in the litigation between the landlords and the City of Newark.
December 13, 2014: Tenant leaders speak at the Newark City Council meeting. Corporate Counsel Karen Brown takes the stand and makes some strong and emotional statements
December 11, 2014: Motion to Intervene
December 10, 2014: Important research is provided by Tenant Leader James Powell to the group via email
December 9, 2014: Maria Hernandez, Director of Rent Control, is placed on Administrative Leave. Mark Smith is then appointed as Interim Director
December 8, 2014: Rent Control Board hearing for Pietro Pariselli is again postponed. Mayor Ras Baraka is unhappy about this.
December 2, 2014: Rent Control Board hearing for Pietro Pariselli is rescheduled
November 25, 2014: support letter on Rent Control matters from La Casa De Don Pedro, one of the largest social service organizations in Newark
November 24, 2014: It is posted in Legistar that the City Council went into a closed session to discuss the Rent Control litigation Resolution for closed session Nov. 24, 2014 November 21, 2014: Major Courtroom Victory for the City of Newark in the litigation between landlords and the City of Newark. Superior Court Judge Garry Furnari denies landlords motion to throw out the CPI-based rent increases.
November 19, 2014: Distribution of flyer urging attendance on Nov. 21. Flyer for Court date 11-21-14
November 14, 2014: Rent Control Board hearing for Pietro Pariselli is canceled.
November 5, 2014: Tenant Leaders are advised that staff attorney for Newark, Mr. Clyde Otis, is again assigned the responsibility to rewrite the Rent Control Ordinance
November 4, 2014: Star Ledger Article. A tenant at The Colonnades, Mr. Naren Thurairatnum, is evicted under very questionable circumstances. File too large to upload, copy this to your browser:
November 2, 2014: Eric Martindale creates and widely distributes a document entitled Nov, 2014 Powers of the Rent Control Board The purpose is to lay out a comprehensive blueprint for reform of the Newark Rent Control Department, which has not been run by the book for decades.
October 30, 2014: Eric Martindale meets with Rent Control Director Maria Hernandez and discusses a variety of matters.
October 20, 2014: Star Ledger article about the eviction of a tenant at The Colonnades. The circumstances surrounding the eviction are troubling to many.
October 15, 2014: Oct 14, 2014 Star Ledger article
October 14, 2014: Rebuttal to Econsult Report Version 2, by Eric Martindale
September 30, 2014: Econsult Report Version 2 (aka EconInsult Report) Landlord-commissioned economic study denouncing the Newark RCO. See tenant rebuttal document, post dated October 14, 2014
September 22, 2014: Tenant Leader Richard Ariza meets with Vonetta Mitchell, property manager for 380 & 402 Mt. Prospect Avenue. Ariza reports that Azure Waterford, LLC has conceded and will comply with the Rent Control Law. This building is run by Kettler Management, but Kettler is still not in compliance at The Pavilion and The Colonnades. early September, 2014: The Newark Rent Control Director mails out hundreds of letters to landlords ordering compliance with the new ordinance. Maria Hernandez letter to landlords
September 4, 2014: Tenant Leaders Janise Reliford-Afolo and Samuel August of The Pavilion are appointed as tenant representatives on the 5-person Newark Rent Control Board. Both on the Executive Board of the Tenants Association there Janise Afolo appointment She replaces Omar Veliz Samuel August appointment He replaces Annie Brown Cheatham. Their terms expire July 9, 2016.
September 3, 2014: This tenants website is relaunched, after being down for over a year. It contains links for 3 tenant associations and the Tenant Resource Directory. (Blog not launched until March 26, 2015)
August 28, 2014: The city issues the 8/28/14 Policy Directive outlining that the Rent Control Director must enforce the Law.
August 27, 2014: Letter of support from La Casa De Don Pedro, one of the largest CDC's (Community Development Organizations) in Newark. This letter was part of the push to secure the August 28, 2014 Policy Directive.
August 6, 2014: The Newark City Council passes a Resolution August 6, 2014 City of Newark Resolution drafted by NJTO with the specific intent of clarifying what the CPI means by adding the words "percentage increase". The Newark Law Department wrote the Resolution for the City Council, and deleted the words "percentage increase" from the draft supplied by NJTO. The Resolution is still a win for tenants, but it could have been better. Corporate Counsel Karen Brown tells Tenant Leader Eric Martindale that she wants the lawsuit to go away, and that the Rent Control Ordinance is going to be revised again in order to achieve a settlement with the landlords.
July 1, 2014: Ras Baraka and the new city council are sworn into office. One of Baraka's first appointees is Karen Brown to replace Anna Pereira as Corporate Counsel.
June 20, 2014: The Plaintiffs lose in court against the City of Newark. Superior Court Judge Garry Furnari rejects the TRO restraining order. The ordinance is now in effect. The Court said the Plaintiff has a low chance to prevail, and battled with the Plaintiff on many of their arguments including the CPI definition. The Court said there is no other way to interpret the CPI other than as an increase over time.
Late May, 2014: Forest Hill Terrace (garden apartments located in the vicinity of Grafton Ave and Branch Brook Park) and the Newark Apartment Owners Association file suit against the City of Newark in an attempt to block implementation of the ordinance. The Plaintiffs seek a TRO Restraining Order to stop it from being implemented, and an Order to Show Cause for a general lawsuit in Superior Court
Late May, 2014: The Landlord's attorneys, the Newark Law Department (at that time under Anna Pereira), and the Newark Rent Control Department all state that the CPI clause of the ordinance is unenforceable as written. The clause reads "...no landlord may request or receive an increase greater than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the previous 12 months...In no case shall the allowable increase exceed 4%". Although the ordinance clearly states "for the previous 12 months", they are all complaining that it doesn't say "...percentage increase of the Consumer Price Index for the previous 12 months". They are all stating that it is unenforceable, and all rents default to the 4% cap. They are also complain that it doesn't specify which CPI, and which metropolitan area. May 22, 2014: Mayor Luis Quintana signs the Rent Control Ordinance into Law. The Law is set to go into effect on June 20, 2014
May 21, 2014: Star Ledger Article on RCO May 21, 2014. Too large to upload, sorry. Copy this to your browser to view
May 20, 2014: Second Reading and public hearing for the revised Rent Control Ordinance. About 65 tenants and 10 landlords or attorneys are present. Testimony is intense and lasts for 2.5 hours, with each speaker getting only 5 minutes. The vote was 6-1, with Councilman Amador ill and absent. Those voting YES were Baraka, Rice, James, Crump, Ramos, and Sharif. Gonzalez voted NO. May 20, 2014 Record of Newark City Council vote on Rent Control Ordinance amendment
May 20, 2014: Darren Sager column on Newark RCO posted during the day prior to the public hearing. This is a pro-landlord piece.
May 17, 2014: Rebuttal to the Landlords objections
May 13, 2014: Newark City election. Councilman Ras Baraka is elected Mayor, and he has a council majority behind him. Current Mayor Luis Quintana wins an At-Large council seat. At- Large Councilmembers Mildred Crump and Carlos Gonzalez are re-elected. Newcomer Eddie Osborne wins an At-large council seat. At-large Council member John Sharpe James wins a seat as South Ward Councilman, the position vacated by Baraka. East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador is re-elected. North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos is re-elected. Joseph McCallum is elected Councilman in the West Ward, replacing Ron Rice who is now a Congressman. Gayle Chaneyfield-Jenkins defeats Darrin Sharif for Central Ward Council. The Council is to take office on July 1st.
May 7, 2014: First reading of the ordinance to amend the City of Newark's Rent Control Ordinance. Despite being fully informed of the objections in writing, and in face-to-face meetings with the landlord's attorneys, the Law Department took no steps to ensure the simple clarifications to the CPI clause of the ordinance would make it into the final ordinance. The sponsor of the ordinance is Councilman and Mayoral Candidate Ras Baraka.
April 23, 2014: A new organization called the Newark Apartment Owners Association, NAOO, is formed. They release an opposition paper, informally called the white paper, entitled "April 23, 2014 Proposed Revisions to Newark Rent Control Ordinance". This is submitted to the Newark City Council as a rebuttal to the proposed ordinance, and it is widely circulated to landlords throughout the City of Newark. On page 2, the NAOO makes statements openly acknowledging what the CPI- based rent increase is. They also point out some technical difficulties in the wording, including the failure of the ordinance to specify which CPI to use, and that the wording does not actually specify the change in the CPI over time. This document is also given to the Newark Law Department.
March 19, 2014: NJ.com article on ballot positions set for May 13, 2014 city election.
March 12, 2014: The first draft of the Rent Control Ordinance amendment is submitted to Central Ward Councilman Darrin Sharif. Thanks to Avi Richardson for formatting them nicely, printing them, and putting them into nice portfolio's.
March 9, 2014: Tenant leaders receive the March 9, 2014 email from Sabur Guy, Chief of Staff for Councilman Anibal Ramos. See also James Powell analysis of Sabur Guy email. These emails were the beginning of the end of any tenant support for the Jeffries/Ramos campaign for Mayor and Council. This solidified our trust in NJTO's advise, and our resolve to push immediately and strongly for adoption of the ordinance prior to the May 13, 2014 city election. It is appropriate to document and post these particular emails, as this was the signature event of a far-reaching shift ultimately resulting in almost all tenant leaders fully behind the Baraka team.
March 8, 2014: Tenant leaders meet at The Pavilion to discuss what would be included in the re-write of the Rent Control Ordinance. Those present were in unanimous agreement to overhaul much of the ordinance, not just the clauses for Capital Improvement Surcharges. Tenant leaders draft it, and email it back-and-forth in astonishing speed to reach a consensus in just a few days.
March 6, 2014: Tenant Leader Eric Martindale appears at a Newark City Council meeting and announces that tenant leaders would be writing a new Rent Control Ordinance for the City of Newark. This was shocking news to the city council.
February, 2014: In response to emails about the Capital Improvement Surcharge battle, the Pavilion Tenants Association contacts the 380-402 Tenants Association, and suggests that the tenant associations, including The Colonnades, combine forces to write an amendment to the Rent Control Ordinance to outlaw or dramatically reduce Capital Improvement Surcharge applications
January, 2014: Governor Chris Christie signs S-2018 Legal Fee Equality Bill which was heavily lobbied for by the New Jersey Tenants Organization. Activists Eric Martindale and Lydia Radin played a key role in originating the drive. NJTO was solely responsible for it's passage, and for securing a sponsor in the State Senate, Brian Stack.
January 7, 2014: Article in Politicker.NJ on Newark election. Ramos' running mates are reported to be Councilman Carlos Gonzalez, Calvin Souder (At-Large), and Brian Logan (South Ward)
December 19, 2013: NJTO flyer regarding S-2018, the Legal Fee Equality Bill
December 21, 2013: 380 & 402 Mt. Prospect sell for $24.25 million. RapAd / Praedium sells to Azure Waterford, LLC. Azure's has selected Kettler Management as it's property manager, which is the same company battling with tenants at The Colonnades, The Pavilion, and The Hallmark House. Upon learning that Kettler is now our management company, tenant leaders make an immediate decision to reactivate the dormant tenant association here, and elect a new Executive Board.
December 20, 2013: RapAd Management submits for $1.8 million in capital improvement rent surcharge requests less than 24 hours prior to the sale of 380 & 402 Mt. Prospect Avenue. Azure Waterford is under the assumption that it will be a done deal to secure a YES vote from the Newark Rent Control Board on the application. Tenants will not receive the notices for several days.