AAGLA Board President Message: Elect Someone that Knows and Appreciates Your Issues
Elect Someone that Knows and Appreciates Your Issues: Cheryl Turner for State Senate
California’s 28th Senate District includes portions of Santa Monica to the West, Century City to the north and it drops down from Santa Monica Boulevard to 3rd Street, and to Olympic and South on Pico. It continues to the East, through downtown Los Angeles, all the way to Alameda Street. The district goes South right near a Los Angeles International Airport and continues along Manchester Boulevard near the 105 Freeway. It is a very diverse district that includes people who are of varying means, from affluent to working and low income individuals and families.
The 28th Senate District seat was previously held by Senator Sydney Kamlager-Dove who stayed in the senate for a little over one year before she decided to leave and run for a different public office. The senate seat is a vacant seat for the upcoming November election.
With me and only one other candidate in the race for the runoff in November, here is your opportunity to support a candidate who understands the issues of rental housing providers and one that will definitely will bring a great deal of balance to a seriously left leaning legislature. In fact, I fear that if we do not act soon, the government will continue moving closer and closer to taking away all of rights to our properties.
One of my very first priorities will be to address the moratoria. In my opinion, it should be called a “rent” moratorium and not an “eviction” moratorium, because it prevents the collection of the rent that we are legally owed and entitled to receive. As I and Executive Director, Dan Yukelson, have repeatedly said, our member owners are not in the business of evictions, they are in the business of providing housing and we are entitled to receive payment for our housing services just like everyone else. So, in my view, it is a moratorium on rent.
I intend to protect the right to receive our rental income. If we are still impacted by COVID-19 and people still cannot pay their rent, then I will work to extend Emergency Rental Assistance Programs to help with the payment of rent and mortgages to keep everyone housed, and also fix the problems we have experienced administering the state’s rent assistance program, Housing is Key. Even though we were promised that we will eventually have the right to proceed collecting past due rent owed in small claims court, there is a movement underfoot in Sacramento to limit our ability to collect that rent. We must address this issue immediately, and I plan to do so by making this a priority.
Another priority is to limit the regulations that interfere with our ability to operate our rental housing businesses and limit the excessive taxation. The State of California still maintains a surplus budget and an adequate rainy day fund. The surplus is so large that it has created programs to give more of those funds away. So, I will always scrutinize and be sensitive to efforts to impose additional regulations and taxes when they are not needed, especially those being imposed on property owners.
We also must address the homelessness crisis. Our current conditions with the homeless living wherever they want on our streets make it unsafe for them and unsafe for all of us. In my opinion, we should not treat them as criminals just because they are experiencing unfortunate circumstances, but we must impose rules and some order so that everyone remains safe and healthy. To me that means that we should establish designated locations to place tents, create and provide temporary housing until we can provide permanent housing, and once permanent housing is offered it should be accepted. Where a homeless person is suffering from mental health issues, there is new legislation designed to create a system that will evaluate whether the person is mentally capable of making his or her own decisions, and if not, then they will have to accept the housing that is offered, and they will be provided with the mental health therapy and other “wrap-around” services they need.
Another priority for me is public safety. It does not make any sense that people have to be fearful about the possibility of being gunnned-down while attending their church, synagogue, temple, or local supermarket. We must take stronger enforcement measures to fight against Hate Crimes directed towards people based on their race and ethnicity, smash and grab robberies against store owners, follow-home robberies and other serious crimes that have been growing within our communities.
There are so many issues that we need to address including reproductive rights, education, healthcare, and climate change. So, I hope that you will vote for me if you live in the 28th Senate District, or encourage your family and friends who live in the district to vote for me in the upcoming election. Please support me and my campaign by going to www.cherylturnerforsenate.com.