Avery Arbaugh (Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board At-large, California, candidate 2024)

Avery Arbaugh

Nonpartisan

Candidate, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board At-large

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Personal

Birthplace

Eureka, Calif.

Profession

Commissioner

Contact

Campaign website

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Avery Arbaugh ran for election to the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board At-large in California. She was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.^[source]

Arbaugh completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Avery Arbaugh provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2024:

• Birth date: June 3, 2003
• Birth place: Eureka, California
• Gender: Female
• Profession: Commissioner
• Incumbent officeholder: No
• Campaign website
• Campaign endorsements
• Campaign Instagram
• Campaign Twitter

Elections

General election

General election for Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board At-large (4 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Xavier Johnson (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Andy Kelley (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Dominique Walker (Nonpartisan)
		Avery Arbaugh (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Carole Marasovic (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Alfred Twu (Nonpartisan)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

To view Arbaugh's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Arbaugh in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Avery Arbaugh completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Arbaugh's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I came to Berkeley to get an affordable public education at UC Berkeley so I could study political science and public policy. Since then I’ve been a community organizer, President of the Cal Berkeley Democrats, and a Labor Commissioner for the City of Berkeley, where I’ve worked closely with labor unions and workers who can’t afford their rents in Berkeley. I’ve fought to help workers get contracts that allow them to afford their rents, and now I want to get to the root of the issue by making rents themselves more affordable. I’m running because Berkeley is in a housing crisis. I believe my experience, as a formerly homeless person and as a student, gives me a unique perspective that will help me advocate for the needs of vulnerable renters, and to build and preserve affordable and rent-controlled housing.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I'm running to improve accessibility for seniors and disabled tenants: Most affordable housing in Berkeley, built before 1995, doesn’t meet modern accessibility standards. We need to upgrade the accessibility of older buildings, and help people stay in housing that meets their needs.
• I'm running to make our housing more sustainable and climate resilient: As climate change makes buildings less livable, we need new livability standards, and to upgrade buildings to be more climate resilient.
• I'm running so that we proactively enforce habilitability standards: We need to enforce tenant relocation provisions when housing is uninhabitable, and push for habitability improvements beforehand.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I'm most passionate about the policy that sits at the intersection of housing and labor issues. Workers should be able to live in the communities that they work within, and so much of our cost of living crisis comes down to extreme rent burdens for tenants. Making rents more affordable is a workers rights issue, as much as fair wages and benefits is, especially when Berkeley's largest employer is also our largest landlord.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Frances Perkins. She served as the Labor Secretary for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and was the first woman and first queer person to ever serve in a presidential cabinet. Despite facing rampant sexism and homophobia, she went on to write many of the most influential policies in FDR's New Deal, including the first ever federal minimum wage, Social Security, and a ban on child labor.

I hope to follow her example by fighting for progressive and innovative public policy, even in the face of adversity.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Accountability.

As a member of the Right to Housing slate, a progressive pro-housing slate made up of myself Dominique Walker, Xavier Johnson, and Alfred Twu, I was selected to run by a vote of hundreds of community members, and through a selection process that included local labor unions, tenant organizations and Democratic clubs. We pledged to only run if we had the support of the progressive community members and organizations that made up the Berkeley Tenant Convention, and I'm proud to be running with their blessing.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Growing up my family experienced homelessness. That experience has guided my political focus and motivated me to fight for housing for all. Nobody should have to live without the stability and comfort of a home.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

The Right to Housing Slate for Rent Board is endorsed by the Alameda Labor Council AFL-CIO, Berkeley Tenants Union, Cal Berkeley Democrats, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, SEIU 1021, the California Working Families Party, Our Revolution East Bay, Courage California, Bay Rising Action, East Bay for Everyone, East Bay DSA, Telegraph for People, California Democratic Renters Council and many more - see the latest list at www.berkeleyrentboard.org

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Financial transparency is essential. I am proud that I and the rest of the Right to Housing slate are participating in Berkeley's public financing and financial transparency program, which was created by Berkeley voters. Because of this program, my campaign is fully financially transparent and grassroots, and I accept no corporate donations or individual donations over $60.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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