Daily Inspiration: Meet Steven Rimmer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Rimmer. 

Hi Steven, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am community organizer currently contracted through the University of Michigan’s Urban Praxis Workshop. My specialty is tenant organizing. I encourage renters to be more active and engaged in their own communities and neighborhoods. 

This situation started when our building’s owner, Raymond Debates, and his management team, Golden Management, tried to increase our rent by hundreds of dollars, while our only elevator had been down for several months. We also had had multiple other maintenance issues within our buildings, New Center Plaza and Marlenor. Many of us tenants felt as though the owner just wanted us out of his buildings so he could move in new tenants and drastically increase the rent. This forced us to form The Tenants Association of New Center Plaza and Marlenor. Once formed, we had multiple meetings with the owner, Raymond Debates, and we thought we were taking steps in the right direction. During one of these meetings, he signed our Notice of Requests, where he agreed to things like rolling back the rent increases, fixing multiple longtime maintenance issues, that future rent increases would be no more than 3-5% and that tenants would be able to negotiate the increase as well. One important part of the agreement was that all tenants who had been subjected to the rent increase and rollback, was to be offered a new 12-month lease agreement, once the elevator was repaired. Since then, members of the TANCPM have experienced many instances of retaliation on the part of Debates and his management. The elevator is now repaired, yet we have not received our new 12-month lease agreement. 

The TANCPM also decided to start The Seward Sharing Table (TSST) to help tenants have free access to food without any barriers. TSST and The Love Garden were both discussed with the owner and he gave us his approval and support, with ideas and proposed help. Raymond Debates stated that he would like to help build us a structure for the food pantry, through grant programs or his own personal finances. I also had a conversation with Debates before I actually put up TSST in which he again gave me and the TANCPM his approval. The tent went up and the food started to flow through donations from places like Metro Food Rescue and Food Rescue US Detroit. And every time we get a delivery, the food is nearly gone in the time it takes us to unload it from the trucks. It is truly amazing to see the love and appreciation from the community. So many happy faces walking away from The Seward Sharing Table, with bags full of what is now considered expensive groceries. It really feels special. 

On April 29 Debates was here at 675 and 660 Seward, attempting to withdraw himself and Golden Management from the entire situation here with the TANCPM and TSST. Apparently, we now had new management, Continental Management. I spoke with Debates on this day outside of 675 Seward, and he informed me that he was still the owner and he was bringing in a new management company. He saw the location of the The Seward Sharing Table and The Love Garden and once again assured me that the setup was ok with him and he had no problem with it. But then on May 6 Gabby our new “Community Manager” from Continental Management came out to The Seward Sharing Table to again verify that Raymond Debates was still the owner and that Golden Management was still calling the shots. Gabby proceeded to tell us that Debates wanted The Seward Sharing Table off his property. She suggested that we move it to an unsafe, not shaded, gated, hot blacktop-covered parking lot. This is when I enlighten Gabby about the conversation that me and Debates had in which he said he had no problem with the current setup. Gabby responded that this in fact was not the case, he lied to me, and that the The Seward Sharing Table had to go. So, the TANCPM and our community held a protest to save The Seward Sharing Table on May 9. We posted flyers up and down Seward Ave., and the next day our tables were stolen and our tent vandalized. But we have a lot of support from the neighborhood. People were really upset that the Debates and his management would act this way and put The Seward Sharing Table in jeopardy. Now we had to rush to find a suitable location to move TSST. Luckily, we have a good relationship with our neighbors at Miller Walker Energy Services and they let us move it to their property, only a few feet away. 

This battle isn’t really about TSST. There has been continuous retaliation against the TANCPM from Debates and Golden Management, and the new bullies of our buildings, Continental Management. They do not like the fact that we formed a Tenants Association and that we are standing up for ourselves. Both Golden and Continental Management continuously tell us we are “not a real tenants association” and that we have no rights, which is not true. This has pushed me to inform my neighbors about our rights as tenants and to also become active in my community as a voice for tenants’ rights. I spoke at a press conference at the ACLU with other supporters of the Right to Counsel. I spoke multiple times at City Council meetings in support of Right to Counsel, which did recently pass in the City of Detroit. 

This whole situation has been a very eye-opening experience as to how renters are treated in the city of Detroit. The TANCPM is hosting an event on June 12 in hopes to form the Seward Ave Tenants Association. This struggle is happening all over Detroit. Which is why I feel it’s so important to make people aware of the rights we do have as tenants and to fight for more laws and protection for the tenants in the city of Detroit. All I really want is for my community and myself to be able to live in peace while being treated with dignity and respect. My focus now is to establish a Tenant Bill of Rights. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, but then again history has proved that when fighting for what’s right, the road is often not a smooth one. The main struggle has been attempting to hold Debates and his management companies accountable. 

In the beginning, when this building, New Center Plaza lost its certificate of compliance, due to the broken elevator, City Officials basically offered no help. I called BSEED, I called city counsellors. Nothing. 

There is lack of honest communication between tenants here and Debates and his management companies. Holding this man to his word has been a major struggle. Whether it comes to things like lease renewals, or the location of TSST, I cannot trust a word Debates or management says. 

Another struggle has been trying to enforce our Tenants’ Rights in the city of Detroit. Sure, we have some rights as tenants but we need more laws and protections through legislation. This has been a major challenge; I have witnessed many of my neighbors be evicted in 36th District Court. Both legally and illegally. 

Also, in the beginning, it was a struggle to build the Tenants Association of New Center Plaza and Marlenor because most people were scared and feared retaliation from Debates and management. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Currently, I’m known in my community for forming a tenant’s association at my apartment building in New Center Detroit, the Tenants Association of New Center Plaza, and Marlenor, for which I am the coordinator. Along with other members of the TANCPM, I play a major role in facilitating and running The Seward Sharing Table. I am also known for my participation in a recent push for the Right to Counsel in the city of Detroit. 

Something I am very proud of is that I am standing up to big landlords and management companies, fighting for the rights of tenants in the city of Detroit. I am very proud that our Tenants Association of New Center Plaza and Marlenor was able to get the owner of our buildings, Debates, to sign our Notice of Requests. This included an agreement to roll back all rent increases at New Center Plaza that had been put in place since our elevator broke down, and to give a credit to all tenants who paid the increase. By doing this, we stopped the possible displacement of many of my neighbors. 

I am proud that I had the opportunity to speak at city council and a press conference at the ACLU in support of The Right to Counsel which did pass here in the city of Detroit. I also had a chance to speak on the steps of the Capitol Building in Lansing at the Michigan’s Poor Peoples Campaign about Tenants Rights and working towards a Tenant Bill of Rights. Another thing I am proud of is being able to help to provide food to the people in my neighborhood who need it most through The Seward Sharing Table. 

I think what sets me apart from others is that I my work is literally my life and I have been pushed to a point where I am no longer scared of the outcome when it comes to fighting these big landlords, owners, and management companies. I know what my rights are. My goal is to share this informati0n with my neighbors, my community, and my city so that we, as renters, no longer have to feel scared to stand up for what is right. My hope is that we are able to form a city-wide tenant association and become stronger together, so we can continue to hold my landlord and others like him, accountable. 

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Myself my Tenants Association and other Tenant Associations from around the city will force legislators to pass a Tenant Bill of Rights in Detroit in the near future. Legislation that will define the rights of tenants and bring together a comprehensive set of standards that landlords must maintain. Things like safety and environmental protections, protection from slumlord practices, protection from landlord harassment, protection for disabled tenants, the right to renew a lease agreement, rent control and affordable housing. Legislation that is designed to protect tenants from being exploited by rich landlords. To protect tenants from being forced from their homes by landlords who only care about power and profit. 

Since I see a trend of affordable housing becoming less available every day, I believe there will be a great need over the next five or ten years. I hope to be able to acquire property in the city of Detroit that will be converted to co-op and geared towards low-income residents. 

Food insecurity is getting worst day by day. The need for a free food pantry like TSST is only goin to increase. Because of this, we are already planning to expand with more locations across the city. 

Housing is a human right. Food security is a human right, and I plan to continue to fight for both. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesewardsharingtable/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesewardsharingtable
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThSwrdShrngTbl

Image Credits
Agron Berishaj
Marcus Miller
Joe Vaughn
Ashley Gray