Rent control campaign builds momentum in Rogers Park

Business, Fall 2018, Public Affairs, Social Justice

Rent control campaign builds momentum in Rogers Park

November 23, 2018

By Becky Dernbach
Medill Reports

Sandra imagined getting older as a peaceful time to retire and travel. She didn’t expect to be fighting to stay in her Rogers Park apartment as the rising rent takes up more and more of her fixed income on Social Security every year.

“I didn’t see my old age like this,” said Sandra, 73. “I’m just amazed they can raise the rent any amount they want.”

Sandra pays more than half her income in rent, and says she has seen it increase exponentially every year. This year her landlord presented her with an increase of more than $100, which Sandra is fighting to reduce.

On election day Nov. 6, the Jane Addams Senior Caucus and the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America made phone calls and talked to voters outside polling places in Rogers Park about lifting the state ban on rent control. The non-binding referendum — “Shall the State of Illinois lift the ban on rent control?” — received over 66 percent of the vote in the 49th Ward, where Rogers Park is located. It was on the ballot in three wards in Chicago that also include Logan Square and Uptown.

With the referendum results in Rogers Park and other wards showing strong support for repealing the statewide ban,the movement for rent control in Chicago is gaining momentum. The coalition hopes to help pass a bill that would repeal the ban and establish rent control boards in every county in Illinois.

“Our lives shouldn’t be driven by profit,” said Heather McLaren, who helped coordinate referendum canvassing for the Chicago Northside DSA in the 49th Ward. “We shouldn’t be forced to be driven out of our homes just because that’s what the market tells us to do. We want to reframe housing as a human right, not as a market commodity.”

“I’m directly affected,” says Reggie Griffin, 75, the chair of the board of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus. “Every time property taxes go up, landlords and property managers pass it on to me.” (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Rent control flyers — Reggie Griffin holds flyers that urge people to vote “yes” on the advisory rent control referendum. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

"I voted yes" — A voter emerges from the polling place and hands Reggie Griffin back his flyer. “I voted yes,” she says. “I just wanted to save paper.” (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Finding the polling place — “Is this the polling place? Oh it is?!” Reggie Griffin served as a guide for some voters who had trouble locating the entrance to the polling place. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Sunset on Election Night — The sun sets outside a Rogers Park polling place on election night. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Multilingual flyers — Organizers to repeal the ban on rent control prepared flyers in multiple languages. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Training volunteers — Molly Kraus-Steinmetz, an organizer with Jane Addams Senior Caucus, prepares volunteers to talk to voters about the rent control referendum. “The polling place is the best possible place to talk to people,” she says. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Rent control 14 — Virginia Iungerich, 25, a member of the Chicago Northside Democratic Socialists of America, prepares her quarter-sheet flyers outside a polling place, the Rogers Park branch of the Chicago Public Library. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

“No electioneering beyond this point!” The Chicago Board of Elections Commission governs rules about where campaign volunteers can talk to voters. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Comparing notes — After a slow start, DSA volunteers Virginia Iungerich, 25, and Colin Hill, 27, compare notes on how many flyers they passed out. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

On the way to vote — DSA volunteer Virginia Iungerich, left, asks a voter to support the rent control referendum as she pays for parking outside the polling place. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL REPORTS)

Making connections — Anwuli Anigbo, 30, approaches DSA volunteers Virginia Iungerich and Colin Hill. Anigbo is volunteering with Maria Hadden’s City Council campaign to unseat incumbent 49th Ward Ald. Joe Moore. She was collecting signatures to qualify Hadden for the February ballot. (Becky Dernbach /MEDILL)

Campaigning for city council candidate — Anwuli Anigbo, 30, spent four or five hours volunteering for Maria Hadden’s City Council campaign on election day. “We’ve got [Alderman] Joe Moore who’s been in office forever and ever,” she says. “The underlying basis of Maria’s decision-making is maybe more respecting the value of all [people] of the city.” (Becky Dernbach /MEDILL)

Calling voters — Lori Clark, the executive director of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, makes election night calls to voters. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Back at headquarters — Colin Hill and Virginia Iungerich bring Anwuli Anigbo back to the rent control referendum headquarters, where she signs in to keep in touch with the campaign. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Staying warm inside — Nancy Kulppi, 75, makes calls to voters from the comfort of the office. “I’ll do anything but be cold,” she says. “I just hate being cold.” (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

Just before polls close — Bernice Walker, a volunteer with the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, makes calls in the last hours before polls close. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)

McLaren said the campaign saw a lot of support in Rogers Park, where many residents said their rents were too high and expressed concern about high-end developments.

“We know this is something Chicagoans want, this is something Chicagoans need, to sustain our communities and keep our communities together and not have them become a luxury playground,” she said.

Illinois governor-elect J. B. Pritzker, a Democrat, has expressed support for repealing the ban. But the bill for repeal that would that establish county rent control boards, SB 3512, has stalled in the Democratic-controlled state Senate.

Real estate industry groups and some property owners are organizing to oppose rent controls. Michael Glasser, president of the Rogers Park Builders Group, told Chicago Tonight that rent control will not solve Chicago’s affordable housing shortage. “Wherever it’s been implemented in the U.S. and elsewhere, it’s proven to diminish the supply of affordable housing available and bring the existing housing into a state of disrepair,” he said.

Allen Smith, a building owner in Rogers Park and a board member of the Rogers Park Builders Group, said rents are going up as more renters are drawn to the neighborhood and property taxes rise. “We’ve seen more people come into the rental market. We’ve seen the North Side of Chicago be a desired place to live. We’ve seen more people who are dependent on or choose to use public transportation,” he said.

Smith manages about 850 apartments across a wide range of price points, and has ownership stake in about 60 percent of them, he said. He said rent control could lead to unintended consequences, including an increased property tax burden for homeowners and decreased incentives for landlords to take care of their properties.

“I think the best solution is to let the market sort that stuff out,” he said. “There is affordable housing to be had, and you just have to find it.”

Rogers Park is the home of Loyola University as well as one of the most diverse and integrated neighborhoods in Chicago. Residents say they prize the neighborhood’s diversity, but they’re already seeing it change due to rising rents.

According to 2016 five-year estimates for the American Community Survey, 43 percent of residents in the 12 census tracts that comprise Rogers Park are white, up from 38 percent in 2010. Data shows 26 percent of Rogers Park residents are black and 22 percent are Hispanic or Latino, down from 28 percent and 25 percent in 2010.

“I’m someone who really loves my neighborhood and really love Rogers Park because of the diversity and I really don’t want to see the neighborhood change the way it’s changing,” says Judith Cooper, a landlord who supports the rent control bill.

Cooper, who rents out one of the units of the two-flat where she lives, says realtors looking to make a quick profit have been increasing their footprint in the neighborhood. Property values and, with them, property taxes, are increasing, she says, which causes more turnover and higher rents. She sees the rent control bill, and its built-in incentives for small landlords to keep rent low and make improvements, as a way to level the playing field.

“Getting some kind of tax credit for doing repairs would be really helpful,” she said.

Sandra, who is still negotiating with her landlord over her proposed rent increase, said it will be a hard battle to pass rent control. But the growing momentum, and the opportunity to work with the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, gives her hope.

“With poverty comes powerlessness,” she said. “It gives a little bit of hope that there could be changes that would protect me somewhat.”

Editor’s note: Sandra’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

Photo at top: Reggie Griffin, a volunteer with the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, asks a voter to support the rent control referendum outside a polling place Nov. 6. (Becky Dernbach / MEDILL)