Rent Stabilization in Salinas
One of the great things about local government is that it’s open to all, and deliberations happen in public. But too often, the people who attend city council meetings that can run late into the night are people who are paid to be there, representing interest groups that hire local government liaisons. The general public might be busy – with dinner, homework, child care, etc. A remarkable reversal was on display in Salinas City Hall over the past year, with members of that general public, renters specifically, packing meetings to ask for rent control. They elected councilmembers sympathetic to their cause, then kept the heat on over a sustained period. By the time landlords organized, the idea of an ordinance – with enhanced tenant protections and a 2.75-percent cap on annual rent increases – was already moving along, bolstered by recommendations from a third-party economic consulting firm. Whether or not you agree with the ordinance, it is unambiguous proof of a successful grassroots organizing effort that began in quiet conversations by community groups, became a set of talking points in public meetings and then transferred into public policy.
