Portside

A conversation with Tony Romano of the Right to the City Alliance. What are the systemic challenges to democratic and equitable control over public space? What kind of popular mobilizations can build towards systemic alternatives guaranteeing the human right to housing? To help answer these questions, we spoke with Tony Romano, Organizing Director for the Right to City Alliance. Our conversation is below.

A new report released October 26 by Health Impact Partners (HIP) assesses the impact of the proposed $775 million Reef project in South Central Los Angeles on existing residents. HIP found that “the Reef Development Project will place thousands of South Central LA residents at high or very high risk of financial strain or displacement.”

Every day the Metropolitan Tenants Organization works with renters who are facing the negative effects of gentrification and economic forces that threaten their housing. Thousands of low-income renters and homeowners are displaced every year by a property law system with misplaced priorities. We all pay when people are involuntarily displaced because of increased crime, skyrocketing medical costs and a failing educational system.

A petition drive has been launched in San Francisco rename Justin Herman Plaza after the renowned poet, Maya Angelou. Presently, the plaza honors Justin Herman, who was head of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency during the period when it displaced thousands of low-income residents from the South of Market and Fillmore districts. This latter displacement, which critics attacked as “Negro Removal,” is one of the most shameful episodes in San Francisco history.