Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition

On Thursday night, the Berkeley Fair Campaign Practices Commission, or BFCPC, voted by a margin of 7-2 to hold a hearing to fine the Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition almost $19,000.

The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board has appointed María Poblet, campus alumna and tenants advocate, to replace Commissioner Katherine Harr, as first reported by Berkeleyside.

Encapsulating a long battle between the interests of property owners and those of the city, the city-backed Measure U1 was approved by about 75 percent of Berkeley voters Tuesday night.

Hanford-based Raj Properties donated $85,000 and Berkeley-based Waterbury Properties donated $18,000, according to a contributions report filed Monday.

A political action committee backed by three unions has raised $24,000 this year for eight candidates in the upcoming Berkeley elections, according to an expenditure report filed Thursday.

The UC Berkeley Progressive Student Association, or PSA, filed a complaint Monday against the Committee for Real Affordable Housing for alleged violations by the “Yes on Measure DD, No on Measure U1” campaign, according to a statement from the ASUC Housing Commission.

If passed, Measures U1 and DD, one of which voters will choose on the Nov. 8 ballot, would each raise the business license tax on Berkeley landlords, but the proponents of each measure — and their spending — differ greatly.

A few dozen Berkeley citizens and property owners attended a candidates’ forum Saturday at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in South Berkeley to hear a group of largely pro-landlord candidates for mayor, City Council and rent board address development, rent control and housing affordability.

The Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition, or BRHC, and the city settled a lawsuit Tuesday, agreeing to modify misleading ballot language from a city-sponsored measure that would increase the business license taxes for certain landlords.

The Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition — the political action committee of the Berkeley Property Owners Association — filed a lawsuit against the city Wednesday over a city-sponsored measure’s deceptive ballot language that allegedly overstates the projected city revenue for the tax increase.