The Salinas City Council moved forward on repealing the city’s rent stabilization and rental registration policies at its May 13 meeting.
After months of lobbying by tenant advocates and landlords, and hearing public testimony at this and previous meetings, the city council voted 5-2 to repeal, with Councilmembers Tony Barrera and Andrew Sandoval providing the two no votes.
“Good policy has to work over the course of time,” said Mayor Dennis Donohue, who made the winning motion. “In my mind, this was not a sustainable policy, and it was important to be addressed sooner rather than later.”
Donohue, along with councilmembers Margaret D’Arrigo, Gloria De La Rosa, Aurelio Salazar Jr. and José Luis Barajas, was newly elected in November and highly skeptical of the city’s new policies.
A program review was initiated by the new council majority within months of the ordinances taking effect on Jan. 1 and culminated in a first vote to repeal April 22.
Salazar Jr., in comments before Tuesday’s vote, said the city’s action was not taking away tenant protections when the state already provides them, while Barajas argued the city’s rent cap did not allow for landlords rising costs.
“When we discuss this percentage, the 2.75% or the 75% of CPI, whichever is lower—it is simply not viable,” said Barajas on the key rate central to the rent stabilization ordinance, which did include a mechanism for landlords to petition for a greater increase. “It’s not rooted in the economic reality of the conditions that we live in.”
He later added that such policies risked “destabilizing the rental supply” and implored the city to “lean in” on facilitating more housing.
Tony Barrera, who made a failed motion that would have given the program more time said everyone could agree on the need for new housing while acknowledging the dire situation for some renters in Salinas.
“Sixty-five percent of District 2 are renters—you can’t get away from that,” Barrera said. “My neighbor rents the couch for $300, not because she wants to, but because she has to. People aren’t renting rooms anymore. They are renting space.”
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: ‘Not a sustainable policy’: Salinas votes to end rent stabilization
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
