Protesters march on SR City Hall

Valley residents take to Santa Rosa streets to decry housing crisis|

Following the beat of a drum, the scent of cleansing sage, and a dozen fully-costumed Aztec dancers, about 200 Sonoma County residents marched from Roseland to Santa Rosa City Hall Wednesday evening to protest rising rents and limited affordable housing for working-class families.

Calling the current housing situation “an obvious and blatant injustice,” protestors like Pastor Matthew Pearson of the Sonoma United Methodist Church and a number of his congregation joined other area residents, about equally divided between Anglos and Hispanics, in the two-hour protest planned by the North Bay Organizing Project of Graton.

The marchers gathered at the end of a hot day in Santa Rosa, but the positive and focused group didn’t let the 90-degree heat wilt their enthusiasm. After a series of rousing speeches from area activists, including Rev. Lee Turner of Community Baptist, Rabbi George Gittleman of Congregation Shomrei Torah, and representatives from the SIEU and other unions, the marchers headed down Sebastopol Road toward Santa Rosa at about 6:20 p.m.

The marchers stuck to sidewalks and obeyed crosswalk signals, for the most part, their signs raised high overhead prompting more honks of approval than frustration. Three motorcycle cops and a couple squad cars shadowed the march – along with a slew of local media - but there were no interruptions or confrontations.

The yellow sign reading “Sonoma Valley for Affordable Housing / El Valle de Sonoma Vivienda Justa” heralded the Valley contingent, from United Methodist, the El Verano community and others, numbering more than 30 participants.

The Sonoma Valley group first showed its concern over the housing issue at a June community meeting at El Verano School, organized by the school’s community outreach coordinator Mario Castillo.

“If there had been more focus on housing 20 years ago, we would not be facing this catastrophe today,” Castillo said following the march.

He added that it was “disheartening” to hear opponents of rent control and affordable housing blame the situation on illegal immigrants without bothering to look into the issue at large. “There’s so much work to do around empowering people to become more involved in social and civic issues.”

The march was themed Right to a Roof by its organizers, and protestors carried signs with that message as well as “Housing is a human right!” and its Spanish translation, “El Derecho del Techo.” Other messages like “Our Community is Not Your Commodity,” and even “Legalize Sleep” – a semi-ironic protest against ticketing homelessness – demonstrated the passions surrounding the issue.

Once the marchers reached Santa Rosa City Hall, at E and 1st streets, representatives from each of the county’s communities gave testimonial to the challenges they faced in finding housing. First to speak was Cruz Muñoz of El Verano. “We’re tired of people treating us like animals,” she said. “It’s affecting us, it’s affecting our children – we can’t survive like this.”

Another speaker represented Healdsburg, which has suffered several high-visibility rental issues in the past month, including the eviction of 21 families from an apartment complex that the owner planned to upgrade to attract “a tenant demographic more appropriate to the refined nature of the Healdsburg community.”

A student from SSU said, “We’re hoping that once we get a diploma, all the doors will open. But all we find are low-paying jobs, high rent and people who only want us to work as interns, for free.”

They were followed by a social worker from Petaluma and a frustrated renter from Santa Rosa, who was contesting a number of “illegal evictions” she and her husband faced from a landlord who, she said, had begun stalking her.

“No more!” she said, throwing down a pair of handcuffs that she said represented the oppression she felt.

Not all the protestors were renters – some were homeowners, who recognized the injustice that abrupt rent increases represent. One of these was Aphrodite Bellochio, who displayed an “Affordable Housing is a Human Right” sign to traffic passing on Santa Rosa Avenue. She later posted on the North Bay Organizing Project website, “Not all of the marchers were tenants though. I am a homeowner, these unfair hikes are inhumane.”

A recurring theme of speakers and signage both was that the housing crisis cuts across economic and social lines as well as municipal borders. “Every couple of weeks in our congregation we have someone who’s in transition,” said Rev. Pearson. “They’ve been long-time dedicated residents, but they’re being forced out to make our cities and the county a playground for the rich. It’s time for us to stand up.”

Indeed, the demonstration ended at 8 p.m. with a final chant, “We’ll be back! We’ll be back!”

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