Oakland City Council caps rent increase at 3%
The Oakland City Council on Tuesday approved an ordinance that caps possible rent increases to 3%, opposed to the current law that would have allowed a 6.7% increase starting in July, East Bay Times reports.
Local rent increases are adjusted according to inflation and the consumer price index (CPI), with Oakland’s previous formula allowing for the steepest rent hike in decades. The new ordinance allows rents to increase by 60% of the CPI or 3%, whichever is lower.
“Tenants are facing an unprecedented rent hike,” said Councilmember Carroll Fife who proposed the new ordinance, which was approved by six councilmembers during Tuesday’s vote.
However, the cap only applies to current residents and can only be applied to units built before 1983 and isn’t applicable to housing units built after Jan. 1, 1983. In addition, housing units that are regulated or subsidized by the government, units that are owned and occupied by residents within a nonprofit co-op and all single-family homes are not covered by the new ordinance.
Tesla CEO orders workers back to the office or quit
Tesla CEO Elon Musk notified company employees that they can either return to onsite work for a minimum of 40 hours a week or find another job, KRON4 reports.
“Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla… this is less than we ask of factory workers,” adding that Tesla is striving to produce “the most exciting and meaningful products” in the world but “this will not happen by phoning it in,” Musk wrote in an email to employees, according to tech news site Elektrek.
Screenshots of the email were leaked on Twitter with one user asking, “Hey Elon…any additional comment to people who think coming into work is an antiquated concept?” Musk responded by tweeting, “They should pretend to work somewhere else.”
Some larger corporations have tightened remote work allowances following two years of working from home due to the pandemic. However, very few companies the size of Tesla have completely required employees to return to on-site work in order to avoid resignations.
Rock-N-Stroll Fest returns to Oakland’s Rockridge dist. for second year
The Rock-N-Stroll street festival will take place for a second year through Oakland’s Rockridge district after a successful pilot run last fall that lasted three months, East Bay Times reports.
The festival is presented by the Rockridge District Association, which launched this year’s fest on May 14.
The street fest is slated to take place on the second Saturday of every month leading up to December with the next event scheduled for June 11 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and features a slew of musical performers of numerous genres.
Every festival also features food vendors, art, kids crafts and other exhibits.
“It’s walkable and visually stimulating with ground-level boutiques and restaurants offering lovely window displays,” said Rockridge District Association’s marketing manager, Jody Colley.
The next event will feature musical performances from Oakland’s Curt Yagi & the People Standing Behind Me (acoustic rock, reggae, ska), Jr Dreads (reggae), Americana, a six-piece band, Bumford & Son (bluegrass), to name a few.
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