INTRODUCTION

The Isla Vista Tenants Union (IVTU) is an organization serving the interests of Isla Vista tenants. It recognizes the diversity of our community, and strives to meet the different needs of its members while uniting their common interests as tenants.

Isla Vista tenants have been working together to demand respect and fair treatment from landlords, the County, and the University as far back as the early 1970s. While the level of tenant organizing has fluctuated in the past, the current Isla Vista Tenants Union was built by a surge of action after 36 Latino families were evicted from the Colonial, Balboa, and Cortez apartment buildings in the summer of 1998. A coalition of students and evicted tenants recognized the need to educate and empower tenants, and a year later formed the Isla Vista Tenants Union under UCSB Associated Students.

IVTU educates tenants on their rights and responsibilities, and actsas a resource when problems occur. The union believes people should live without the suffering that arises from discrimination, retaliation, or neglect. It reaches out to property managers, the University, elected officials, local groups and individuals to realize its vision and addresses pressing tenant issues. In providing a service to the tenants of Isla Vista, IVTU also works to build a united, educated, and proactive community.

SPRING QUARTER COVID 19 RESPONSE

Responding to the totally changed landscape that came at the end of winter quarter, IVTU supported students with new services including Zoom and Skype consultations with IVTU attorneys. They also began a program that provided emergency funds for students. These funds provided up to $300/student for charges related to housing relocation, moving, and storage.

As always, IVTU posted advice for students informing them of their rights, like the right to a pre-move out inspection, so that everyone is clear about what a landlord expects. And to make sure tenants get their deposits fully refunded at move out!

They also reminded students about something that could fall through the cracks in the excitement of moving out for the summer or graduating. Contact your bank!

Petition to Protect IV Houseless People’s Right to Shelter

On the activist front, IVTU urged IV residents to sign a petition to prevent the IV Recreation and Parks District from doing homeless sweep in IV. The petition was circulated People Not Bombs and garnered over 1500 signatures. Here’s the text:

Petition to Protect IV Houseless People’s Right to Shelter

UPDATE: Our petition received 1,518 signatures. Thank you all so much for your support!

The Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District (IVRPD) has declared that they will direct police to remove houseless people from their residences on Tuesday, June 2. Sign below to demand that they rescind the threats to our community members.

The IVRPD Management is doing this against the recommendations of the CDC, the statements of the U.S. Government, and the recommendation of the IVRPD Board.

The houseless community has a right to shelter and personal belongings, always. This right is especially vital now, when California is under a stay at home order. Depriving people of their residences during a pandemic is a danger to public health. The General Manager is prioritizing the appearance of local parks over the safety of the houseless community. The CDC specifically recommended that houseless people’s encampments not be removed, so that people may have the chance to shelter in place.

“If individual housing options are not available, allow people who are living unsheltered or in encampments to remain where they are. Clearing encampments can cause people to disperse throughout the community and break connections with service providers. This increases the potential for infectious disease spread.”

This community is particularly vulnerable to the virus; statistically, a disproportionate number of houseless people are disabled and lack access to healthcare. Additionally, the average age of houseless people in Santa Barbara is 51 years old. It is deplorable that our city wants to take resources away from this community rather than offering them protections.

On March 26th, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development stated that camps should not be swept during the pandemic.

“Do not clear encampments during community spread of COVID-19 unless you have real-time access to individual rooms or units for ALL households in the encampment and a clear plan to safely transport those households. Clearing encampments without these measures in place causes people to disperse throughout the community and break connections with service providers,increasing the potential for infectious disease spread.”

IV Parks and Recreation has been having several board meetings on this topic (Meeting Minutes from March 26th, April 9th, April 23rd), and at every one, there has been large consensus from the public and several Board members that houseless people’s health be prioritized and that they should be granted shelter in any way possible, whether that means not removing their permanent campsites in the parks or providing hotel rooms to those who have tested positive for COVID-19. The IVRPD Management, seeing that their anti-houseless agenda would not be supported by the public, made the private decision to threaten encampment removal.

We are in favor of houseless people’s right to sleep and set up shelter without fear of removal or arrest. The IVRPD is disregarding the health, safety, and basic dignity of our neighbors. We will deliver this petition to the IVRPD to express our disagreement with sweeping camps during COVID-19.

May 23rd Remembrance

In commemoration of the six year anniversary of the May 23, 2014 tragedy in Isla Vista, IVTU invited all IV community members to join it in honoring the lives and memories of the six students who were killed.

In loving memory of:
George Chen (19)
Katherine Breann Cooper (22)
Cheng Yuan “James” Hong (20)
Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez (20)
Weihan “David” Wang (20)
Veronika Elizabeth Weiss (19)

They invited students to please visit the following link provided by UCSB Associated Students where our community can remotely come together to honor the lives that were lost: https://www.as.ucsb.edu/2014-memorial/
UCSB Associated Students and IVTU also invite you to download the photos included in this post to use as a Facebook and/or Zoom background photos between May 21-28 to honor the tragedy.