Debate On Rent Control Possibly Heading To Richmond Ballots

RICHMOND, CA - The debate on whether Richmond should adopt a rent control ordinance will potentially be brought to voters in November after supporters made early steps toward introducing a ballot measure Tuesday.

Fair and Affordable Richmond, a group of elected officials, renters and homeowners, gathered today to file documents with the city clerk for a ballot measure to create limits on rent increases and protections from certain evictions.

A rent control ordinance was passed by Richmond’s City Council in August, but a petition blocked the ordinance in September, a day before it would have taken effect.

Supporters of the ordinance saw the petition as delaying a policy that supporters were confident would pass as a ballot measure. Fair and Affordable Richmond apparently commissioned a recent poll that indicated that nearly two thirds of voters would vote today to enact rent control and just cause eviction protections.

“The renters of Richmond deserve protection during the current housing crisis, and our coalition believes voters this November should be able to take a stand on (this),” Councilwoman Gayle McLaughlin said in a statement. The proposed ballot measure would establish a board that would set annual limits on rent increases for Richmond and provide a process for tenants to appeal increases.

Under the policy, renters living in units built before 1995 would be have a cap placed on rent increases and would have protection from evictions for reasons that are “without just cause.” Claudia Jimenez, a Richmond landlord and a proponent of the measure, said this initiative is one step voters can take to support the community, particularly the city’s low-income residents.

“Richmond is a city requires a measure that prevents people from being displaced,” Jimenez said.

She later added, “More than 30 percent of (the city’s renters’) income is used for rent.” The California Apartment Association - as well as realtors, homeowners and property management companies - spearheaded the petition that shut down the previous effort to establish rent control in Richmond.

he association’s CEO Tom Bannon at the time called rent control a “failed policy.” Richmond Mayor Tom Butt has voiced similar sentiments.

In an email newsletter from last month Butt said, “Richmond continues to offer some of the lowest rents in the Bay Area, and the lowest rents of any city located along the BART line.” “Strategies like rent control have not worked in neighboring cities,” he added.

--Bay City News