Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE)

Overview

Currently, SAJE operates “public education” programs in South Los Angeles that promote left-of-center housing development initiatives and direct tenants to legal resources to challenge urban development policies. SAJE frequently expresses an anti-market message on development, calling landlords “slumlords” and advocating for development projects only if they are accompanied by the creation of union-wage jobs, do not lead to “displacement” of current residents, and guarantee public benefits to community residents. ²

Advocacy

Housing

SAJE has worked directly to advance these left-of-center principles, creating deals with the University of Southern California (USC) and GHP development companies to abide by such policies. Continuing in its anti-development work, SAJE organized and supported a campaign against William Little, a property owner who has been buying and selling foreclosed properties since the early 1970s. The campaign alleged that Little was a “slum lord” for buying foreclosed property and evicting current tenants, attacking his eviction practices despite their legality. ^{1 3}

SAJE has notably advocated against even legal eviction, creating the Eviction Protection Tool alongside left-of-center nonprofit JustFix. The tool provides eligible tenants with advice on dodging evictions. SAJE has also announced plans to conduct an education and outreach campaign specifically regarding eviction prevention training. ⁴

In July of 2020, SAJE joined the left-of-center Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action (ACCE Action) in supporting the City of Los Angeles in Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) v. City of Los Angeles. The federal lawsuit, filed by an association of landlords, aims to roll back regulations that the city imposed to freeze rent and stop all evictions for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⁵

In 2013, SAJE joined 18 other left-of-center organizations for a campaign-planning retreat in support of the Right to the City Alliance’s Homes For All Campaign. The campaign aimed to increase the amount of public housing projects in California while also increasing left-of-center regulations to limit private development. Other organizations involved in the campaign included the Miami Workers Center, Standing Against Foreclosure and Eviction, and the Chainbreaker Collective. ⁶

Other Issues

Aside from housing and development issues, SAJE has also involved itself in left-of-center advocacy more broadly. Focusing on unemployment, SAJE established the the Figueroa Corridor Community Jobs Program to assist community members in finding employment. SAJE has also convened the South Los Angeles Health and Human Rights Conference, a conference of organizations that advocate for left-of-center public health measures. SAJE is also involved in racial politics, focusing on the Latino community and using political rallies to protest issues of racial justice. To further its work in racial politics, SAJE has partnered with United Neighbors in Defense Against Displacement  (UNIDAD), a left-of-center organization which advocates for “responsible development” in low-income communities of color. ⁷

Associations

SAJE is a member of the Alliance for Community Transit-Los Angeles (ACT-LA), a coalition of left-of-center organizations that have worked to expand public transportation in Los Angeles. Other coalition members include the Los Angeles Black Worker Center,  the Willowbrook Inclusion Network, and the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance. ⁸

In 2019, SAJE received donations and other support from several left-of-center organizations, including the Liberty Hill Foundation, the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation, and the California Community Foundation. SAJE has also received public, taxpayer-funded support from the City of Los Angeles Housing and Community Development Department and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. ⁹

People

Gilda Haas is the founding executive director of SAJE. Haas co-founded the left-of-center Right to the City Alliance in 2007 and is a member of its steering committee. ¹⁰