Aug 27, 2008 9:55 pm US/Pacific
Order To Stop Oakland Hotel Evictions Upheld
OAKLAND (BCN) ―
Saying that he thinks "a shell game" has been going on, a judge Wednesday kept in place a temporary restraining order which prevents the owners of the California Hotel in Oakland from shutting down the building or evicting 53 low-income renters who live there.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Keller said he sympathizes with the plight of the tenants of the hotel, which was built in 1929 and is located at 3501 San Pablo Ave., but he declined to grant their request that he appoint a receiver to manage the hotel.
At a 90-minute hearing attended by about 20 hotel tenants, Keller said, "I'm willing to appoint a receiver, but I want to know who will pay for one."
Keller said he doesn't see any point in appointing a receiver if it remains unclear where the funds would come from to pay for a receiver.
By keeping the restraining order in place, Keller assured that the tenants can stay in the hotel at least until Oct. 29, when there will be another hearing in the case.
Stating that he thinks "the property is worth nothing to nobody" and "no one can make money off it," the judge recommended that the tenants and the hotel owners get together to sell the property to raise enough money to move the tenants to other low-income housing.
Keller also said he thinks the parties should get the city of Oakland involved in trying to work out a solution.
Keller said one of the problems is that all the parties who have owned or managed the hotel are claiming they don't have any money.
"This was a shell game from the beginning," Keller said. "Everyone got ungodly tax benefits and credits and then walked away from it."
The judge said a group called Cahon Associates owns the hotel, Oakland Community Housing, a nonprofit housing developer, owns the land, and the hotel was managed by John Stewart Company until last month.
Referring to all three parties, Keller said, "There's no burden they're willing to pay. He added that "Cahon is basically bankrupt."
Attorney John Murcko filed a lawsuit on behalf of the tenants against Oakland Community Housing, Cahon and John Stewart Company on July 3 seeking to prevent the tenants from being evicted and alleging that the conditions at the hotel were substandard.
On July 11, Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch issued a temporary restraining order that bars Cahon and Oakland Community Housing from evicting the tenants or terminating water, gas, electricity and garbage services.
Murcko alleges that Oakland Community Housing abandoned the building on July 15.
He said since then the tenants and their friends have been operating the building themselves and have formed a cooperative.
On Aug. 7, Murcko filed a $53 million claim on behalf of the California Hotel tenants, alleging that the city and Oakland Community Housing violated an agreement to provide low-income housing to the hotel's tenants for 30 years.
Keller told Murcko Wednesday that even though he filed the claim against the city, he should still try to get the city involved in trying to reach a solution about the hotel's future because "the city of Oakland has a vested interest in having a successful low-income housing program."
Jesse Powell, who has lived at the California Hotel for seven years, said after today's hearing that the hotel "is a black historical landmark" because it catered to the black community and legendary performers such as Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Ike and Tina Turner stayed there.
Powell said many black performers stayed there because they weren't allowed to stay at other hotels.
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