Leonard Powell has his keys! But the fight is not over

Today we can celebrate that Mr. Leonard Powell, a longtime resident of Harmon St., has been able to return to his home of over 40 years.  Today we can celebrate that his neighbors, Friends of Adeline, and other residents of South Berkeley were able to make a difference by standing with him in court and in front of the City of Berkeley and demanding that he get his home back.  Today we can celebrate that The Oakland Post newspaper and Kamau Bell joined with us to get the word out about this story so that people from all over our community as well as around the country donated the dollars that helped Mr. Powell be able to move forward and regain the home that he had already purchased and was being taken away from him.

While we are celebrating we also need to realize that this fight is not over.  There is a growing awareness that the City of Berkeley does not work for us.  Lower income people in our community should be able to look to the city for assistance in keeping their homes, owned or rented, decent and healthy.  Instead we see a city where the building department serves the police in punishing people by forcing them out of their homes unless they are able to pay for major repairs.  We see “receivers” assigned to take over our homes and develop them into unaffordable places.

Derelict properties have remained on Shattuck avenue for almost 40 years with no one assigned to repair or redevelop them without the permission of the owner as happened with Mr. Powell.  Owners of earth-quake unsafe properties continue to collect rents almost 15 years after being required to bring their properties up to code without the City taking the property from them.  

The Berkeley City Council must ask the City Manager and the City Attorney – WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?  Who made the decisions that deny a long-time, well liked South Berkeley resident, his home.  Is there anyone who is willing to admit their role in this misuse of the power of the City?

The integrated group of neighbors and friends who have been supporting Mr. Powell, represent the City of Berkeley that once existed and that we would like to see again.  While the “Official” City of Berkeley has been working hard to eliminate its African-American and other low-income populations from Berkeley, many of the City’s residents are fighting to remake it so that we can all remain living here.  

Mr. Powell has been forced to raise almost $800,000 to keep the home that he purchased years ago.  It is no longer the “affordable” home that he once had.  We need to make sure that this does not happen again.  People throughout our community need to reach out to their neighbors and find out if others are facing similar situations.  We need to build the support for one another to enable our community to remain the place where we all can live and survive.