KINGSTON – Members of the community and local activists urged the Kingston Common Council, Tuesday evening, to pass Good Cause Eviction legislation, following the lead of other municipalities in the state.
The increased property values, leading to increased rents that resulted from the pandemic have put an undue burden on working class renters, according to proponents of the legislation. To that point, many of these working-class residents are from the local immigrant community.
Marjorie Leopold of the Ulster County Coalition for Housing Justice said many of these immigrant renters are paying the highest rents while simultaneously carrying the burden of making up a large portion of what were essential workers during the shutdown.
“When you speak about the immigrant community, you’re also speaking about the people who have been working so hard to keep the rest of us safe and fed throughout the last year and a half,” said Leopold. “They are the essential workers and they are living in the most, in many cases, uninhabitable apartments and they are also paying the highest rents,” she said.
Diana Lopez, a community organizer for Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson, said her work has provided many interactions with immigrant renters who have had to leave their homes because of skyrocketing rents, or have been evicted through the use of legal loopholes. She said it is imperative to pass Good Cause Eviction in Kingston.
“Now, as an organizer, folks reach out to me because they’re being evicted in the most harassed and illegal ways during a pandemic. Even though we have an eviction moratorium in place, landlords do this to our most vulnerable folks using tactics such as calling immigration, or raising their rents almost twice and harassment,” said Lopez. “Tonight, I ask the Common Council to please, please I urge that you pass this legislation as soon as possible,” she said.
The Good Cause Eviction legislation is scheduled for a vote by the common council at its next regular meeting in November.
