On July 10, the City of Salinas announced the four housing-related ordinances the city council rejected last month were reinstated as the referendum to overturn the council’s decision is in process.
More than 200 volunteers gathered more than 10,000 signatures to overturn the 5-2 decision the council took on June 3 to reject the ordinances.
Salinas was the first city in Monterey County to approve a rent stabilization ordinance.
These ordinances are rent stabilization with a 2.75-percent annual rent increase cap, tenant protection and just cause eviction, tenant anti-harassment and rental registration. They were passed by the previous council in recent years.
On July 3, Protect Salinas Renters, a coalition of doctors, teachers and students that launched the referendum, turned in the signatures to the city clerk. The same day, the city clerk turned them over to Monterey County Elections.
MCE has 30 business days, Aug. 15, to review and verify the signatures.
If the signatures are verified, the matter will return to the city council with three options on the table: revoke their previous decision, call for a special election or include the referendum on the 2026 ballot.
According to County Elections, a standalone election would cost the city between $16-$24 per registered voter, about $1.1 to $1.7 million; adding the referendum to the 2026 ballot would cost between $489,895 to $699,850.
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