By Brian CHERNICK

As the cost of rent in Glendale continues to rise, a group of residents have come together to establish the city’s first tenants union.
The nearly four-month-old organization has hosted meetings with a typical attendance of 30 to 40 residents and hopes to expand further. The group is looking to open up dialogue with other tenants to discuss the ongoing rise in rent in a city that lacks any form of rent control.
City council members have continued to address concerns of residents during council meetings and have debated which methods would be most effective, opting to focus on constructing affordable housing for low-income residents, veterans and artists in lieu of any rent control or stabilization. Glendale Tenants Union members welcome any effort to combat rising costs, but the establishment of a union shows there are some who feel much more needs to be done.
“Any kind of solution, no matter how small it might be, can help,” new Glendale resident and union member Karen Kwak said in reference to the city’s Veteran’s Village and ACE 121’s artist colony.
Kwak recently moved out of New York due to rising costs in rent after living there for 19 years. When she arrived in Glendale she found the current housing crisis all too familiar.
“This might be a small way to get something started so that people don’t feel so helpless and that there is something we can do,” Kwak said.
According to city staff reports, nearly two-thirds of the more than 73,000 renters in Glendale are considered to be rent burdened; that is, more than 30% of the household income goes toward rent.
Numerous stories and personal testimonies, both in writing to councilmembers and in person during open meetings, exhibit a desperation by tenants who find themselves having to deal with 40% to 50% increases in rent.
Former Glendale City Council candidate and Glendale Tenants Union member Michael Von Gorder campaigned on the need for rent stabilization and better representation for renters south of the 134 Freeway.
“Two-thirds of city residents are renters and they don’t have any direct representation elected into office,” Von Gorder said. “While I was going around talking to people, what I heard was people who said my family and I have lived in this unit for eight years and now the landlord has decided rent would be $800 more.”
While residents are protected by laws that require landlords provide just cause for eviction, there is no limit to how much a landlord can increase costs. These dramatic increases oftentimes leave tenants with no other choice but to leave – a situation Von Gorder calls “economic eviction.”
The Glendale Tenants Union has been receiving support and guidance from nearby Los Angeles Tenants Union to help it get up on its feet.
Currently the organization is focused on two aspects – education and politics. The educational track is aimed at disseminating information throughout the community on current standing renters and homeowner laws and protections while also providing support for those who are struggling with rent costs.
The political portion of the union has primarily been how to lobby councilmembers and formulating ballot measures for protections for renters.