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Executive Director’s Message
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
The Best Defense is a Good Offense
BWy Daniel Yukelson
hile the age-old adage, “The Best Defense is a Good Offense” is typically associated with military combat and sports (and is often attributed to basketball legend, Michael Jordan), it was first said by George
Washington in 1799: “...offensive operations, often times, is the surest, if not the only means of defense.” Since then, the phrase has been applied to many fields of endeavor, including business and politics, in addition to the traditional use in sports and military combat. The phrase is also known as the “strategic offensive principle of war” which implies that proactivity (a strong offensive action) instead of a passive attitude will preoccupy the opposition and ultimately hinder its ability to mount an opposing counterattack, leading to a strategic advantage.
Welcome one and all to 2022! As rental housing providers, each and every one of us are certain to look forward to another year of playing defense. With last year’s fiasco fresh in our minds, we are still licking our wounds given during many, hard fought battles waged over ridiculous regulatory proposals at both the state and local levels of government. By the mere virtue of our state and local ordinance being so onerous, the Federal eviction moratoriums proposed under the CARES Act did not really factor into any material part of our “landlord lives” here in California. We will never forget (and continue to experience in some areas) moratoriums placed on evictions and rent increases, proposals requiring we all take a “20% haircut” on rents in order to get paid, threats of further curtailment of the Ellis Act, proposals to
fund legal services for renters facing eviction, local rent control and just-cause eviction measures proposed and passed, proposed and defeated statewide rental registration, and the resulting erosion of each of our property rights.
Well, I am sad to report on the heels of wishing one and all a “Happy New Year” that I can already see our future, the likely legislation and ordinances, and that future is more of the same for 2022. And, at this point you may be asking, “OMG, so what could ‘they’ [our fearless, elected leaders] be considering now? How much more of ‘this’ [crazy, harmful, more of the same retreaded regulations] must I take?”
Already, our California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, has announced that, rather than going after criminals, he is forming ‘tenant task forces’ [tenant ‘bitch’ sessions] throughout the state to gain insights on ways to solve our state’s affordable housing challenges – we rental housing providers have not been invited, of course – but why should we? Maybe because we own the inventory available to house the communities of California citizens! But wait, there’s more. Attorney General Bonta has set up a website stocked full of information on tenant rights, and his office is soliciting tenant comments so that the state’s Department of Justice can prosecute bad actor housing providers reported on by tenants, whether such tenant made accusations are justified or not. I don’t know about you, but there is definitely something “Gestapo-ish” about telling the populace to start tattling on your neighbors so some uniformed men in brown shirts can investigate and persecute you for being a struggling to get by rental property owner.
Please turn to page 16
“...offensive operations,
often times, is the surest, if not the only means of defense.”
- George Washington, 1799
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