State Assembly 70 Delsenia Glover

Website: www.delseniaglover.com

Social media: @DelseniaTN @delseniaglover

What type of housing do you currently live in?
Regulated Rental Apt
Are you, or have you ever been, a landlord?
No
1. If yes, where & how many apts. do/did you own?
Does your campaign accept contributions from real estate developers (including related individuals), corporate lobbyists, organizations that participate in the carceral system, and/or landlords?
No
Have you ever worked in, or had another affiliation with, the Real Estate industry? Yes
Have any of your campaign or advisory staff held a position as a corporate lobbyist or an executive role with the Real Estate industry?
No
1. If so, how can we be assured you will have tenants’ interests in mind? (250 characters)

Values and Vision

Do you believe housing is a human right?
Yes
- If so, what does that mean to you? (500 characters)
  Every human being has the right to a safe, clean home. It is a universal primary need – food, clothing and shelter. Shelter means an habitable space that supports physical, mental and emotional health, health families, the ability for children to learn, where families gather, eat, sleep and grow. This is an achievable goal, if government commits to it.
What type of action have you taken in the past around issues of housing justice? (500 characters)
I am a founder of the Housing Justice for All Coalition and was a primary spokesperson for the housing movement from 2014 to 2019 when the Housing Stability & Tenant Protection Act became law. Prior to that I was the campaign manager for the Alliance for Tenant Power which preceded the HJ4A coalition. Most recently, I was the Deputy Public Advocate for Housing in the Office of the Public Advocate. Prior to that I was Executive Director of Tenants & Neighbors.
What do you think are the most pressing Housing issues & what action would you take to address them as a state representative? (1000 characters)
The most pressing housing issue right now is eviction and I support Good Cause; Homelessness epidemic can be cured and prevented. It cost more than twice as much to house a person in a shelter as it does to keep them in their homes. I will craft legislation to redirect funds from the institutionalization of homelessness by expanding eviction prevention vouchers.
Have you or anyone close to you (relation, friend, etc) been evicted or been threatened with eviction?
Yes
Have you ever had to fight a landlord for repairs or faced harassment?
Yes
Do you believe that housing should be de-commodified?
Yes
- Please explain your answer (500 characters)
  This may be a long-term goal to preserve and increase affordable housing for all. The extreme profit-motive in real estate is the reason for tenant harassment, an incentive for rent escalation, eviction without good cause. I believe in a regulatory system for rental housing. The Community Land Trust model can be a vehicle for preserving affordability and community control.
- However, we must consider small homeowners, and especially people of color, who rent out spaces in their homes or small rental properties as a source of income. We have to take a look at how that will effect these populations within an economic system that has worked very hard to stifle those and deliberately deny them financial progress. Black financial opportunities have been stolen; racist real estate and banking practices have been at the core of black financial oppression.
Do you believe in publicly owned and controlled housing?
Yes
What is one rent and/or eviction protection you would enact if you had the opportunity? (500 characters)
Change the percentage what is considered “rent-burden.” This can be done on the state levell.
Do you agree that all evictions are bad?
Yes
- If no, why not? (500 characters)
  Yes except with good cause.
Do you support the concept of universal rent control?
Yes

Overview on Housing

Do you support the NYCHA 2.0 Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and other privatization schemes?
No
1. Please explain why or why not (250 characters)
  Privatization means that NYCHA will be taken over by large national and international development and management companies whose business model is solely based on profit, is inconsistent with the public housing model.
NYCHA has suffered from chronic underfunding, neglect, and disrepair. What do you see as the best strategies to rectify these problems? (500 characters)
Federal, state and city funding. Resident management companies.
Do you support setting aside 15% of all units created in new state-subsidized affordable housing projects for homeless families and individuals?
Yes
How would you use your office to put pressure on landlords to make repairs and stop harassing tenants? (500 characters)
Landlord licensing, and pressure on cites and municipalities to significantly increase fines, and strengthen the ability of municipalities to force owners to repair their properties. Bad landlords should not be able to continue to purchase rental properties if they do not take care of the ones they own and municipal agencies in the state and cities must be better funded to follow up on tenant complaints.
Do you support regulating the 300,000 deregulated rent-stabilized apartments?
Yes
Will you support increased funding and oversight hearings of DHCR’s Office of Rent Administration to ensure timely responses?
Yes
How will you ensure people who owe back rent due to COVID are not evicted and do not continue to owe money? (500 characters)
COVID 19 is not good cause for eviction. The budget is already passed, and includes $800 million for ERAP, with additional money for landlords. This is not enough, but the Governor and state legislature mush make sure the money is directed to tenants and landlords without delay, and a moratorium on evictions until it is worked out. Otherwise the tsunami of evictions we all fear will be a reality.
Would you support financial and criminal penalties against landlords and brokers that deny a prospective tenant housing based on using a tenant blacklist?
Yes

Current Bills and Campaigns

Do you support Good Cause Eviction Protections?
Yes
If Good Cause is not passed this session, what will you do to ensure it gets passed in 2023? (500 characters)
I will continue to support candidates for the state legislature will facilitate the passing of the bill; use my bully pulpit, with activist group support to pressure my colleagues in the legislature to get it done.
Will you support ending MCIs?
Yes
Will you commit to fully funding the Housing Access Voucher Program?
Yes
Do you support the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)?
Yes
How will you support tenants in your district opting into TOPA? (500 characters)
As above, we must be intentional about this issue.
Do you support the move to legalize basement apartments and ADUs?
Yes
Do you support tenants’ right to collective bargaining?
Yes
Do you support 421a or Gov Hochul’s proposed 485w?
No
Do you support fully funding the Excluded Workers fund?
Yes
Do you support the “Excluded No More” bill?
Yes
Are you committed to making sure every tenant in the state has free access to counsel in Housing Court?
Yes
Will you commit to fully funding statewide Right to Counsel in 2023’s budget?
Yes