Yuyi He loved serving on Cupertino’s Housing Commission, where she could make a difference representing renters’ and young residents’ voices. Over the past year and a half, she spent her evenings after her high-tech job advocating for landlords to pay some of the moving fees for residents displaced from affordable homes. But when her landlord refused to budge on a rent hike, He and her partner found themselves caught in a similar dilemma and had to move. She also had to resign from the commission after relocating to Mountain View.

“For younger people and lower-income folks, it’s definitely harder for us to serve because when we are just getting our voice heard, now we have to move,” He told San José Spotlight.

Her rent started at $3,252 three years ago and jumped to $3,573 a month. When

See Full Page