In an ongoing series, we profile the people who are disrupting the rental housing industry, shaping the housing debate in California, or just interesting people that give a fresh perspective.

Dan Kalb

Oakland has become the latest bastion of tenant protections, and Dan Kalb can take the latest credit as the chief architect behind a measure to extend “just cause” eviction protections to tenants living in owner-occupied duplexes and triplexes throughout the city. To Kalb, it’s about fairness. “People should have the right to stay where they want to stay,” he was quoted as saying in this San Francisco article. “If they’re already living somewhere, they should have the right to continue to live there as long as they’re not breaking any of the rules. The protections and the rules that exist for some renters — most renters in the city — should also exist for renters who live in these smaller buildings.” We took issue and were quoted in the same piece. 

Alexander Chatzieleftheriou

Blueground wants to make it easier to provide smart and hassle-free housing for business travelers and transient individuals. The housing startup landed in San Francisco with Alexander Chatzieleftheriou at the helm and he stands to disrupt corporate housing as we know it.

Hillary Ronen

Housing issues play a strong role in District 9 and for Supervisor Hillary Ronen, a concern has been displacement in the Mission, particularly among the Latino community, and she is intent on intervening. Another vexing problem in her district is the homeless crisis and after about 18 months on the job, the Supervisor says she’s transitioning from crisis management to trying to address the root cause. Read the full interview here.

Michael Weinstein

After nearly a quarter of a century of trying, tenant activists in California could be on the cusp of repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, thanks to Michael Weinstein. The president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation led the charge for expanded rent control statewide and put millions of dollars behind it. His cause has now reached critical mass.

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