BERKELEY, CA (August 6, 2018) —In a milestone moment, over a dozen Berkeley worker-owners gathered Monday to testify before Berkeley City Council members during a Small Business Subcommittee meeting.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, a champion for worker cooperative businesses, presided over the meeting. In 2016, Arreguin sponsored a City Council Resolution to support worker cooperatives, and is now sponsor of a proposed ordinance that would solidify Berkeley’s place as a national leader of grassroots economic development.

“Worker cooperatives present an opportunity for upward mobility at a time when our broader economic model creates broad disparity and inequality,” said Mayor Arreguin. “This is a progressive strategy that represents our values and will make Berkeley a model.”

One worker-owner at the meeting, Chris Taruc-Myers of Alchemy Collective Cafe, described how worker cooperatives empower those who are most marginalized by our dominant economy. “We bring people in from the service industry who have never been invested in before” and get to watch them “come to life.” But he emphasized that these enterprises face a long list of barriers, including financing. “Banks don’t lend money to those without it, so we had to bootstrap with crowdfunding, kiva loans, and hard work.”

The social impact of worker cooperatives was a common theme. “People like to see their values reflected back at them at the businesses they shop at,” said Colleen Johnson of the Cheese Board Collective, a 50 year old Berkeley worker coop and local favorite pizzeria.

Worker-owners and cooperative advocates also stressed that worker cooperatives offer a solution to the increasingly urgent issue of succession planning as baby boomer small business owners retire.  “Our local landscape is about to undergo a dramatic shift,” said Alison Lingane of Project Equity. That shift could take Berkeley in one of several directions: local businesses could close their doors, be sold to absentee owners, or, if coop advocates get their way, be sold to the employees who helped build the business.

Berkeley resident and worker-owner Andrea Hurd also testified to the unique needs of worker cooperatives relative to a conventional business. “I transitioned Mariposa Gardening & Design from a sole proprietorship to cooperative ownership as a way to scale my business. As a sole proprietor, SBDC helped me,” Andrea explained, “but now that the business is a worker cooperative, they no longer not meet our needs. We’re completely unique, and the City can help businesses like mine by providing more specialized business development services.”

Mayor Arreguin’s proposed ordinance would remove many of the barriers these worker cooperatives face. If adopted, the ordinance would provide worker cooperatives with technical and financial assistance and bid preferences for city contracts. It would also support Berkeley business owners with succession planning and coop conversion services.

Addressing the worker-owners who testified, Councilmember Kate Harrison said, “You all are why I live in Berkeley. What can we do to make this [ordinance] happen?”

To receive ordinance updates: RSVP at www.theselc.org/berkeley_votes_worker_coop

Questions? Contact: Yassi Eskandari / yassi@theselc.org / 805-637-2734

We need YOU to show the City of Berkeley that you care about worker cooperatives. Will you submit a letter of support and RSVP below to follow announcements about the introduction of this historic ordinance to support worker cooperatives in Berkeley? 

The hearing date is still unannounced so please RSVP to this page to receive important announcements!
Background:

The Sustainable Economies Law Center, in partnership with other organizations and community members, has crafted an ordinance that will support the creation and success of worker cooperatives in Berkeley.

The Law Center's Worker Coop Policy Brigade has been hard at work with Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, Berkeley City Council Members, and Berkeley City staff to push forward the Ordinance Supporting Worker Cooperatives. Berkeley City Council will vote on the ordinance this summer! The hearing date is still unannounced so please RSVP to this page to receive important announcements!

How you can help:

• SUBMIT A LETTER OF SUPPORT: Click here to download the template letter of support and instructions.

• CALL YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER: Do you live or work in Berkeley? We need you to call your councilmember and tell them why you believe worker cooperatives are important and should be supported by the City of Berkeley. Find your district’s representative here.

• RSVP: RSVP to this page to follow important announcements like the summer hearing date as soon as it is announced. We need you to join us at the city council to celebrate the impact of worker cooperatives and demonstrate widespread support for this ordinance!

RSVP BELOW TO RECEIVE IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT THE VOTE!

By Chris Tittle, Sustainable Economies Law Center Housing Program Co-director

All politics are local. No matter what your feelings on the Presidential race or the state of our national political discourse, there are likely many important decisions on the rest of your ballot this November. As an Oakland-based organization, Sustainable Economies Law Center endorses Oakland Measure JJ, the Renter Protection Act.

Photo: courtesy of Josephine

Sarah Kessler of Fast Company covers the obstacles facing home-cooks and the online platforms they use. She follows the story of the start up Josephine, and what they're doing to change the laws of homemade food regulation so that they can resume operations. Sustainable Economies Law Center and our Resilient Communities Legal Cafe is mentioned briefly. 

If you live in a fairly populous city, or you like to travel off the beaten path, you've probably heard of Airbnb-style short-term rentals (STRs). Residential housing that is rented for short periods of time, STRs were once a niche way to travel, but are now available for rent all over the world. 

The evolution of STRs is a success story for the many STR platforms that broker transactions between STR hosts and guests, but for cities and communities dealing with the adverse social and economic impacts of the activity, STRs pose a unique new challenge. 

Araz Hachadourian of Yes! Magazine covers the passing of a co-op resolution in Berkeley, CA which requires the city to create an ordinance that supports worker owned cooperatives. Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) Policy Director, Yassi Eskandari-Qajar, is quoted extensively about how worker cooperatives benefit cities and communities.

View or download the report here.

If you live in a fairly populous city, or you like to travel off the beaten path, you've probably heard of Airbnb-style short-term rentals (STRs). Residential housing that is rented for short periods of time, STRs were once a niche way to travel, but are now available for rent all over the world. 

The evolution of STRs is a success story for the many STR platforms that broker transactions between STR hosts and guests, but for cities and communities dealing with the adverse social and economic impacts of the activity, STRs pose a unique new challenge. 

On the one hand, STRs have a strong contingent of proponents, including the well-resourced STR platforms themselves, and property owners who benefit from the flexibility and economic opportunity STRs afford them. On the other hand, unbridled STR activity has led renters and tenants rights advocates to argue that profit incentives and lack of regulation have led many property owners to evict tenants and convert long-term residential rentals into STRs – removing bedrooms and entire units from the rental market and displacing and driving up housing costs for local residents. Renters are not the only stakeholders with concerns. Hotel interests argue that unregulated STRs unfairly compete with established hotels, local regulators contend that STRs reduce local business and hotel tax revenues, and neighbors complain that a constant turnover of transient STR guests adversely impacts neighborhood quality and cohesion. 

Now that the peer-to-peer economy has collided with housing, cities are being called upon to find solutions that protect public interests and meet the needs of all residents in a climate where some criticize governments for failing to adequately regulate STRs, while others criticize government for failing to embrace them.

How can cities regulate STRs in ways that generate inclusive opportunities for local wealth-creation, while still balancing the needs of all members of the community? The Sustainable Economies Law Center has some suggestions.  

This guidebook will equip cities to respond to STRs in ways that protect public interests – including housing affordability, health and safety, neighborhood quality, and municipal revenues – while retaining reasonable latitude for city residents to host and earn money from short-term guests. Regulating Short-Term Rentals: A Guidebook for Equitable Policy identifies key issue areas, incorporates references to sample STR ordinances from around the US, and provides the Sustainable Economies Law Center's recommendations for best practices.

Because there is no one-size-fits all ordinance for STRs, we strongly encourage community stakeholder participation in the formation of any STR policy so that it accurately reflects local circumstances. Please share this guidebook widely: with neighbors, with community organizations, with city councilmembers, and with mayors. We created this guidebook for people like you. 

CONTACT: Yassi Eskandari-Qajar (yassi@theselc.org)

Building an economy that is truly just and resilient means putting worker ownership at the forefront of economic development policies. Local governments can play a critical role in cultivating a friendly policy environment for worker cooperative development. The question for cooperative advocates is, where do we start? This page provides some helpful resources for jump starting local campaigns to promote and remove barriers to worker-owned businesses.

Below, you will find:

• The Law Center's sample city policy language;

• An informational packet for local government leaders on why they should support worker cooperative development;

• Highlights from our active worker cooperative policy campaigns in Berkeley and Oakland, California;

• Resources from our partners and allies on their city policy initiatives supporting worker cooperatives; and

• A sign up form to receive important updates and calls to action about our worker coop city policy initiatives!

The free advocacy materials available throughout this page are intended to help you start your own campaign! All of the content created and published by the Law Center is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

If you know of other local and regional policy efforts supporting worker cooperative development and would like those resources to be included here, please contact Ricardo at ricardo@theselc.org.

In 2015, the Sustainable Economies Law Center started building a sample "City Ordinance for the Promotion of Worker Cooperatives" with the support and collaboration of cooperative allies across the country. We used Oakland, California as a case city, and tailored the ordinance to fit Oakland's municipal code. By going through this exercise, we had created an ordinance that would lead to our local campaign, and created a model for others to use in other cities. To discuss the ordinance in more detail, please contact Sara Stephens.  

>> Click here for the sample city ordinance.

>> Click here for the sample city ordinance summary.

In collaboration with our partners, we have compiled an informational packet aimed at educating local legislators about worker cooperatives and their local economic development benefits. We offer this here for cooperative advocates who aim to introduce policies to promote cooperative economies. 

Packet includes: What is worker cooperative, economic and social benefits, how local governments can support business conversions to worker ownership, and more! 

      >> Click here for the informational packet. 

Oakland, CA

The Sustainable Economies Law Center worked with Oakland City council members and a coalition of supporters to introduce a Resolution Supporting the Development of Worker Cooperatives on September 8th, 2015. This resolution was an important step toward adopting a more substantial policy in that it publicly recognized the positive impact of the local worker cooperative ecosystem, and built momentum for the ordinance, which will be introduced in 2017.  

>> Click here for the press release for the resolution's passage.

>> Click here for the text of the Oakland City Council Resolution.

>> Click here to watch the resolution hearing (fast forward to minute 52)!

Berkeley, CA

Following on the heels of the Oakland Resolution Supporting Worker Cooperative Development, the Sustainable Economies Law Center and our allies worked with Berkeley City Council member Jesse Arreguín to develop a Berkeley resolution to promote worker cooperatives.

On February 9th, after months of lobbying Berkeley City Council members, the resolution to was passed by a unanimous vote! Not merely a symbolic gesture, Berkeley's resolution directs City staff to develop a substantive ordinance that supports and incentivizes the growth of local worker cooperatives. The ordinance would add a worker cooperative preference to the existing Buy Local contracting preference, create business tax and land use incentives for worker cooperatives, and develop cooperative-specific educational materials to supplement the City’s business support services.

The Sustainable Economies Law Center is continuing to work with City of Berkeley staff to develop their ordinance, and we will publish relevant resources here as they are developed. 

>> Click here for the Berkeley City Ordinance. Check out our two page summary of the Berkeley ordinance here. 

>> Click here for the Berkeley City Council resolution and informational packet we provided to Berkeley City Council.

>> Click here for the press release for the 8-6-2018 City Council Small Business Subcommittee meeting. 

>> Click here for the press release for the 2-9-2016 passage of the City Council resolution.

>> Click here for a Berkeleyside Op-Ed "Berkeley worker co-op resolution could usher in equitable economic development"

We also hear from our partners and allies across the country about efforts to build municipal level policies for the creation of economic democracy and community empowerment.While we may not actively work with these policy initiatives, we applaud their efforts and want to lift up their work. Find more information about those efforts below. 

Santa Ana, California

On August 1st, 2017, Santa Ana became the first city in Orange County to adopt a resolution supporting worker cooperatives with the "Resolution Supporting Development and Growth of Worker Cooperatives". Santa Ana's median income in 2017 was $54,640 in comparison to Orange County's median income of $81,194. "A burgeoning worker cooperative movement in Santa Ana gained momentum in the form of a resolution" passed unanimously by city council, reported the OC Weekly. Find the adopted resolution here!   

Austin, Texas

"On Thursday March 23rd, 2017 Austin City Council passed a resolution directing the City Manager to come up with a broad range of policies to support Austin's cooperative economy. The city manager will be working on these policies with input from the Economic Prosperity Commission, which passed a similar recommendation that also includes recommendations related to housing and consumer cooperatives. We hope that we can not only find ways to implement the above-listed policies, but convince the City that the Economic Prosperity Commission's recommendations should be included as well."  Find more information about the Austin Cooperative Business Association here.

Other Resources

Another resource for communities working on policy initiatives is the Democracy at Work Institute, a national organization ensuring that the promise of cooperative business ownership reaches those communities most directly affected by social and economic inequality. Follow the links to find their resources on "Community Economic Development" and "Tools for Communities."

Do you want to stay up to date with our city policy work promoting resilient economies and worker cooperatives? Do you want to join the movement of worker coop policy activists pushing for an economy that is truly just? Sign up below to hear important updates and calls to action!

OAKLAND, CA (September 8, 2015) — The day after Labor Day, Oakland City Council made a bold proclamation in support of democratic and equitable workplaces, passing the “Resolution Supporting the Development of Worker Cooperatives In Oakland.” The Sustainable Economies Law Center championed this resolution in partnership with District 4 Councilmember Annie Campbell Washington, Council President and District 3 Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, and many organizational partners and allies.

SELC's City Policies Director, Yassi Eskandari, has helped lead the Oakland Climate Action Coalition (OCAC) to success in an eight-month planning process for Oakland's new Priority Conservation Areas. Read more about PCAs and the Coalition's wins.