Sept 9, Direct Action-Phone Blitzkrieg

Diablo Millionaire Stirs Up Oakland Renters

Wealthy Diablo property owner Bruce Millar, has stirred up a rebellion of Oakland renters from 15 of his properties located in Oakland, and Berkeley. The local activists and renters are heading to Diablo to expose the antics of the wealthy landlord to get the attention of his neighbors and community in the Danville/Diablo area during the week of September 9-15, 2002.

During a September 4, 2002 meeting at the Oakland Temescal Library, nearly 40 renters and local anti-eviction activists appeared for a heated discussion to stop the eviction of one of Millars elderly renters who has resided at 35 Monte Vista for more than the past 10 years. Most of the tenants at the meeting were from the local properties of Bruce and Sue Millar of Diablo. The renters vowed to stop the eviction of elderly Doris Stancil in any way they can. Stancil received a 30 Day Notice-no cause eviction after refusing to pay an unlawful rent increase sought by Millar. Oaklands allowable annual rent increase is presently set at 0.6%.

Oakland has been plagued by bad landlords who exploit the weak rent laws and make a profit by evicting to double the rents on long term renters. Bruce Millar is no exception, and has repeatedly bought properties in Oakland only to seek to immediately dump all of the renters upon the streets so that he could double the rents. During the past 2 years Oakland has had a moratorium in place to stop rent increases after evictions in an effort to end the eviction for profit system. Many out of town property owners ignore the local rent laws until they get caught, and Millar has the full attention of renters and local activists for his unlawful actions.

During the week of September 9-15, Oakland renters and activists plan to fan out through the Danville/Diablo area to leaflet the area with flyers to expose Bruce Millar to public scrutiny. A phone blitz is planned for people to call his home to demand an end to the eviction of Doris Stancil, and nearly 80 renters and activists are expected to picket outside the Diablo home of Bruce Millar at 2262 Alameda, Diablo Ca, 94528. Their goal is to bring public pressure on Millar to bring an end to his unlawful "LL" activities. A Jury Trial is set for September 13, 2002.

For more info:Doris Stancil;510/547-7759 Bruce & Sue Millar; 925/837-7055 Eviction Defense Center 510/452-4541 / Ed Nagy & The Evictors 510/839-2074
Campaign for Renters Rights 510/595-5545.

Doris Stancil was the Executive Secretary of the E.Bay/Jesse Jackson-Rainbow Push Coalition-
and was an Executive Board Member of SEIU 616. A mother of 1, and grandmother of 2.