The 2020 Convention Will Take Place July 5 Online

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Berkeley Rent Board Convention will take place on Sunday, July 5 from 4:00PM-6:00PM online instead of in-person. Voting will then take place online (with paper ballots available for those without internet access) through July 12. Confirmed sponsors of this year’s conventioninclude the Berkeley TenantsUnion, Berkeley Citizens Action, Friends of Adeline, the Grey Panthers, the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution East Bay, Young Democrats for Justice in Palestine – East Bay, and UAW 2865 (the UC student-workers union).

This year, there will be FIVE seats up for election. Any Berkeley resident (including students, undocumented residents, and other non-citizens) may vote at the Convention. Additional information about the Convention, including how to vote and the link to watch the Convention, will be released in the coming weeks.

Persons interested in running must be complete the candidate questionnaire – located at bit.ly/2020CandidatePacket – and send it to berkeleytenantsconvention@gmail.com by Monday, June 15 at NOON. Screening by representatives of the organizations sponsoring the Convention will occur in late June (likely the week of June 22), so candidates should keep their schedule clear during this window and also get in touch as soon as possible! Anyone registered to vote in Berkeley (including students) is eligible to run for so long as they are pro-tenant.

Anyone who has questions about the convention – including prospective candidates, voters, or the press – should email berkeleytenantsconvention@gmail.com. We also encourage folks to mark themselves as “going” on the official Facebook event – as well as to share the event and invite their pro-tenant friends who live in Berkeley – which can be found at bit.ly/2020RentBoardConvention.