The Salinas rent stabilization program is still in effect, city officials announced on Thursday.
While the Salinas City Council passed an ordinance to repeal rent stabilization and associated tenant-related policies in June, a successful signature-gathering campaign has delayed the repeal.
“As the four rent-related ordinances are again effective, landlords and tenants of rental units should be aware they are once again subject to those ordinances and must comply with the requirements and restrictions of those ordinances,” city officials said in a press release.
The four ordinances are the Rent Stabilization, Tenant Protection and Just Cause Eviction, Tenant Anti-Harassment and Rental Registration policies.
How we got here
On July 3, grassroots community group, Protect Salinas Renters, delivered boxes of signed petitions to keep the four original tenant ordinances in place to the Salinas City Clerk for a raw count.
After the initial assessment the city clerk determined the campaign collected 9,939 signatures.
Under the Elections Code, the petitioners had to gather signatures from at least 10% or 6,998 of the total number of Salinas registered voters (69,985), per a statement by the city clerk.
After meeting this initial threshold, a delay in the repeal process was triggered.
The signed petitions were then submitted on July 3 to the Monterey County Registrar of Voters who will determine whether the petition contains the requisite number of valid signatures.
The county has 30 calendar days, excluding weekends and holidays, to complete the verification of signatures.
What comes next
If it is determined that the petition has a sufficient number of valid signatures, the city clerk will bring the referendum petitions to the city council at the next regular meeting following receipt of the county elections officials’ determination for certification of results, per the city clerk.
The city council would then consider the referendum petition at that meeting and will consider its options, including putting the referendum up for vote in a special election, or the June 2, 2026, primary election.
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Salinas rent stabilization still in effect amid repeal delay, city officials say
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
