Meet the Berkeley Rent Board slate! I'm running with:Dominique Walker, Rent Board commissioner & affordable housing activistXavier Johnson, Rent Board commissioner & tenant rights attorneyAvery Arbaugh, Labor Commissioner & community organizerwww.B...
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Meet the Berkeley Rent Board slate! I'm running with:
Dominique Walker, Rent Board commissioner & affordable housing activist
Xavier Johnson, Rent Board commissioner & tenant rights attorney
Avery Arbaugh, Labor Commissioner & community organizer
www.BerkeleyRentBoard.org -
The East Bay is home to Dominique. She attended Castlemont High School before co-founding and graduating from the School of Social Justice & Community Development. Dominique earned a B.A. in Sociology from Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. On moving back, she saw how the housing crisis had impacted her community. Dominique became homeless while working full-time. Together with several other black mothers, she co-founded Moms4Housing to bring attention to the shocking number of homeless families, while hundreds of corporate-owned homes lay empty. They started a movement to claim those homes for the community.
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Xavier currently works on housing policy at the Just Cities Institute and previously worked as a Tenants’ Rights Attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza, focusing on representing tenants in hearings with the Oakland Rent Adjustment Program. Xavier provided assistance to tenants through all stages of the petition process including providing representation on the day of the hearings.
In addition, Xavier coordinates policy advocacy for the tenants’ rights team, engaging with the community through outreach and documenting how tenants are being impacted by the housing crisis and what steps we can take to ensure that our tenant communities are protected.
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Avery Arbaugh is a formerly homeless tenant and corporate-free progressive community organizer with a long history of fighting for workers, tenants, and climate justice. Avery is willing to fight for a future to believe in, even when it conflicts with the wealthy & powerful.
As President of the Cal Berkeley Democrats, she picketed with UAW student workers standing up for a fair contract that took into account the cost of housing in Berkeley, advocated for affordable housing and against the displacement of low-income tenants. Avery has also helped write legislation passed by the Berkeley City Council expanding democratic access to policy-making.
As a Labor Commissioner for the City of Berkeley, Avery has monitored the implementation of pro-worker city policies and fought for workers facing unfair labor practices and bad-faith contract negotiations.