Tenants and activists in three California cities are heading into the final stretch of their pro-rent control campaigns, battling Big Real Estate for months. In San Pablo and Redwood City, activists are telling residents to vote “yes” on local ballot measures that will establish rent control. In Salinas, a grassroots movement of tenants and activists are urging a “no” vote on a measure that would repeal rent control and other tenant protections. Voters will make their decisions on November 3.
Housing Is A Human Right previously reported that the California Apartment Association and California Association of Realtors—two major lobbying groups for Big Real Estate—are trying to pass anti-tenant Measure H in Salinas and stop pro-rent control Measure E in Redwood City, respectively. In San Pablo, tenants and activists are fighting to pass pro-rent control Measure S.
Tenants in Salinas, Redwood City, and San Pablo have all struggled with unfair, excessive rents and need immediate relief, especially from the predatory business practices of Big Real Estate. Rent control is the only tool that can effectively protect tenants, who include seniors on fixed incomes, working-class families, students, and others.
If tenants and activists are successful in all three cities, it would galvanize the housing justice movement across the United States. Corporate landlords and their lobbying groups understand that, and fear that they won’t be able to charge exorbitant rents, impacting the outsized profits they’ve made for years off the backs of hard-working tenants. So Big Real Estate is desperate to win on November 3…
Read the full article at the Housing Is A Human Right website.
Patrick Range McDonald is a veteran investigative reporter and an award-winning advocacy journalist for Housing Is A Human Right.
