Glossary
Here's what RHINO means when talking about the rental housing world.
Activist: An activist is a citizen who is engaged in support of social, economic or political activity.
Activism is one door into an organizational membership.
Activism is a way to keep organizational members busy between victories.
Advocate: An individual or organization that expresses strong opinions about public policy and social issues/needs.
Association: A collectivity of people who interact on a regular basis. An association is more formal than a community.
Bureaucrat: An indidual who is employed by a governmental body or who works for a business that contracts with a governmental body. Bureaucrats are generally constrained by the terms of their employment from expressing political opinions.
Citizen: Persons with a right to vote in the US. Non citizen residents have some of the same rights as citizens, except for the right to participate in electoral politics. Update: NYC grants voting rights in local elections to non-citizen residents.
Civic Engagement: Taking actions in support of civic or social change. See activist (above)
Community: A collectivity of persons who share a common geographic location or common values and associations. Residents of a neighborhood or town can be a community; attendees of a church or denomination can be a faith community. Persons who share a racial or ethnic identify can be a community. Persons with common interests like birdwatching can be a community of interest.
Elected official: A person chosen by voters to hold a position in a government body. Unlike bureaucrats (see above), elected officials are chosen by voters to espouse policies on a range of topics.
FIRED: The Finance, Investor, Real Estate, Developer lobby. FIRED lobbyists work to promote the well being of members of these industries. Goals focus on creating tax or subsidy benefits, deregulation of these industries and promotion of individual homeownership.
Grassroots: A collective term for ordinary citizens. (above). Grassroots may also include non citizen residents.
Group/Organization: An association of individuals. Groups are typically less formal. Organizations are typically larger and more formal.
Coalition: An association of groups and organizations with a formal structure.
Movement: A social phenomenon of people and organizations with a recognizable common goal or interest, but no formal structure. Sometimes described as a social movement. Examples include the Civil Rights Movement, Women's sufferage movement,
Network: A form of social organization without a formal structure but with formal communication channels.
Leader: A person to whom other citizens look for guidance. Leaders may be elected, selected or simply respected by a community (see above) of persons.
Landlord: a person or legal entity which provides housing to a tenant or renter (see below) subject to a rental agreement (see below). Mom and Dad are not landlords except of they have a rental agreement with their children,
Member: A person who self identifies or recognized by others as belonging to a group, organization or community.
Organizer: An individual or team that supports collective action. Organizers work with grassroots groups to promote civic engagement, social, or political change. Organizers generally eschew leadership roles and use their expertise to shape campaigns around goals selected by leaders andmembers of grassroots organizations.
Politico/Politician/Pol: A person who is interested in participating in the electoral process. PPP's can be elected officials, wanna be officials, political consultants, hobbyists, others.
Rental Agreement: In Ohio, "...any agreement or lease, written or oral, which establishes or modifies the terms, conditions, rules, or any other provisions concerning the use and occupancy of residential premises by one of the parties."
Renter: a person or household who's home is subject to a rental agreement. See tenant (below).
Tenant: a person or household who's home is subject to a rental agreement. See renter (above).