Apartment Association Files Petition to Repeal Rent Control in Richmond

With only one day to go before rent control would have been officially implemented in Richmond, opponents of the policy Thursday filed a referendum petition to block the measure, effectively suspending it. Although it had been reticent to acknowledge its involvement in funding the petition while signatures were being gathered, the California Apartment Association came out Thursday as the petition’s backer, according to CEO Tom Bannon.

“We had volunteers and we also did fund some of the signature gathering,” Bannon said, later saying the CAA spearheaded the effort but also received support from realtors, homeowners and property management companies. The Richmond City Council passed a rent control and just cause for eviction policy on Aug. 5.

The policy allows for the establishment of an elected Rent Control Board and annual rent increases of 100 percent of the Consumer Price Index. It was due to go into effect on Sept. 4. Bannon shied away from calling the referendum petition a repudiation of rent control.

“I would say that it’s probably more of a recognition that this issue needs additional study and needs more time for everybody to understand what both the short-term impacts would be and the long-term impacts would be,” Bannon said. “Our position is that rent control is a failed public policy.”

Bannon said he and others on the CAA leadership team were “guardedly optimistic” that they would be able to gather the requisite signatures -- 4,198 to get on the municipal ballot in November, 2016 and 6,297 to hold a special election. They gathered 7,064, according to the Richmond City Clerk’s Office. The county’s Elections Division must verify those signatures, a process that can take up to 30 business days, or roughly six weeks, Assistant County Registrar Scott Konopasek said.

The petition is also expected to face legal challenges, Councilmember Jovanka Beckles said. She called the petition gathering effort illegal and said the association used deceptive practices to get people to sign the petition.

“Folks video-taped these petitioners lying to voters,” Beckles said. “They lied to people and that is a form of voter suppression and this needs to be looked into legally.”

David Sharples, director of the Contra Costa County chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, said his group launched a counter effort by distributing flyers urging residents not to sign the petition.

“We heard widespread reports of the petition gatherers lying and telling people this was in support of rent control,” Sharples said. “I asked one signature gatherer what the petition was about and he said it was to stop unfair evictions in Richmond. That was his exact quote.”

Although people who signed the petition had the opportunity to remove their names from the list before it was filed, Assistant City Clerk Sabrina Lundy said that once it’s filed, they can no longer remove their names. Bannon said he’s confident that the signatures will stand up to legal scrutiny.

“We had a very specific script that both paid signature gatherers and unpaid signature gatherers were provided,” Bannon said. “I’m very confident that people signed the petition knowing why they signed it.”

Ultimately, Konopasek said it would be up to the Richmond City Clerk’s Office to verify whether the signatures were legally obtained. Beckles said she is planning on consulting the City Attorney’s Office to determine a course of legal action. Once the petition is certified, the council can choose to repeal the policy or move forward with a vote. Bannon expects a difficult campaign, but he believes residents will ultimately vote against rent control. Beckles disagreed, but she said maybe that wasn’t the point.

“I think rent control would stand up (in a vote) and the backers of this petition know that but I think that’s not necessarily the end game,” she said.

Even if the referendum fails, Beckles said, “That’s a year and a half that people won’t be protected and they will be able to evict people and double or triple the rent in that time period. So, even if it loses, they still will have gained the money they’re looking for.”

By Bay City News

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