Parasite Spotlight
39th Place Townhomes, a complex sitting behind the Safeway on SE Powell Blvd & SE 39th Ave in Portland, Oregon is owned by software-engineer Claeton Giordano through JAGMAG LLC. Claeton lives in Menlo California as he collects rent-checks on tenants he has ignored and refuses to engage with. Since buying the property in 2023, Claeton has gone through 5 different property managers, averaging a new property manager every 6 months. Last year, after letting the pool go into disrepair, he got it filled and turned into a patio. During the construction a disabled tenant was unable to leave their home. That summer the residents, with the help of RAN, formed a tenant union to collectively challenge Claeton’s remote decisions and to stand in solidarity with their disabled neighbor. After delivering a demand letter to Claeton through the property manager at the time – Portland Rental Properties – he quickly fired and replaced them with known union-buster – VCS property management – operated by Vinny Smalls.
VCS initially attempted to intimidate and bully the tenants into submission, through Craig Marquardo, who, as we covered in an earlier issue, disrespected, lied to, and made racist remarks to tenants in his short stint as the assigned manager for 39th Townhomes. Claeton decided to paint the property at this time and painters climbed up on tenant’s balconies and in their backyards, without knowledge or consent of the residents. This angered tenants who demanded compensation for unannounced entry into their homes. Craig dismissed these complaints to his own detriment. He also oversaw a slew of rent increases at the complex. After drafting and sending both him, Claeton, and VCS, a new set of demand letters, Craig claimed the tenants were harassing him by sending letters to his home and threatened the tenant union with potential legal action. He then was either terminated at VCS or quit, proving to the tenants that they now demonstrated collective leverage in this relationship with Claeton Giordano.
However, the tenants refused to concede and continued to push for their demands, through a utility strike. The idea was to collectively refuse to pay the utilities through management. The union steering committee went door-to-door, getting signatures as commitments to not pay utilities, essentially leaving VCS with the bill. At first VCS ignored this, and later started threatening eviction. Tenants then escalated by doorknocking and rallying at another VCS managed property: The Edgemont in NE Portland. The night before the rally RAN put up signs saying “VCS BUSTS TENANT UNIONS! FIGHT BACK!” and a wanted poster for Vinny Smalls (CEO of VCS) on the polls across the street from VCS’s headquarters. The rally forced VCS to come to the table, meeting with tenants for a few months, offering pizza. After realizing the resolution of these tenants VCS had no choice but to quit, leaving Claeton with the job of finding another property manager. This shows that tenants who are unafraid to fight, to act collectively and to refuse to accept crumbs can make meaningful change in their housing. We hope this article inspires you to
organize with your neighbors as well.
