A California ballot fight over rent control is on, supporters say
SACRAMENTO — A renters’ revolt in California could be heading to the November ballot as a campaign to lift decades-old restrictions on rent control reported Friday it had gathered more than enough signatures to qualify.
Organizers are planning rallies in Sacramento, Oakland and Los Angeles on Monday as they hand in the signatures, which must be counted and verified by election officials before the initiative makes it on the ballot.
“People are paying a higher percentage of their income toward housing than they ever have before. That is not normal,” said Amy Schur, campaign director for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, one of the groups behind the initiative. “The current crisis is such that it is absolutely unsustainable.”
Propelled by the pain of sharply rising rents, the initiative, if it qualifies, is sure to set the stage for an expensive clash between renters and the trade association representing landlords, which sponsored the state law that renters are trying to repeal. The law, known as Costa Hawkins, makes it illegal for cities to apply rent caps to any properties built after 1995, when it was passed — or earlier. If a city adopted rent control in 1980, as Oakland and Berkeley did, everything built afterward is exempt from rent control.
Read more: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/20/a-california-ballot-fight-over-rent-control-is-on-supporters-say/
= new reply since forum marked as read
I know the'y've tried and failed in the past, and honestly thought the issue was dead. That being the casehis former California resident is thrilled to see them picking up the gauntlet again....I lived in San Fran back when the rents were actually reasonable, so you khow long ago THAT was! (early 70's) and was saddened & angered at the price gouging that resulted in the total lack of affordable housing that followed -- Middle and Working class people have been shut out for years and it's changed the entire tone and tenor of what was once a welcoming, wonderful state.
No American city should be off limits to average Americans -- It reeks of an elite stratification that's inherently unAmerican in my view and it needs to stop..
I congratulatie the "revolters" and wish them very best of luck. :
