A group seeking to save renter protections in Salinas nearly reaches its goal of 10,000 signatures.

Celia Jiménez here, thinking I’ve seen Protect Salinas Renters hasta en la sopa, meaning they’re everywhere I’ve looked, including farmers markets, downtown Salinas, press conferences, social media and so on. 

For more than three weeks, volunteers have worked against the clock to get enough signatures for a referendum to overturn the Salinas City Council’s decision to repeal three housing-related ordinances that went into effect Jan. 1. These include: rent stabilization, with an annual 2.75-percent rent increase limit; a tenant protection and just cause eviction policy stricter than the state’s; and an anti-harassment ordinance. It also repealed a rental registry ordinance that took effect in 2023.

“Our response was to launch this petition drive which will end in a ballot referendum next year where the voters can decide the fate of the useful protections, instead of four new city council members and a new mayor,” said John Silva, a member of Protect Salinas Renters, during a press conference today, June 30 outside of city hall; three days before the deadline to turn in the signatures to the city clerk. 

Protect Salinas Renters announced it has more than 8,600 signatures, less than its goal of 10,000 but more than the 6,888 required. Organizers are trying to get as close as possible to their goal to increase the chances of moving the referendum forward (Silva says they expect a 20 percent margin of error). 

Some people feel they weren’t heard by their representatives. 

“They're not listening to them. Thousands of people came to ask them about this, ask them to not repeal it, and they didn't listen,” says former councilmember Orlando Osornio, who voted in favor of the ordinances the current city council repealed. 

Osornio, as well as councilmembers Tony Barrera and Andrew Sandoval, have gathered signatures in favor of the referendum. 

“I believed in it when I voted on it and I still believe in it. That's the reason I got involved,” Osornio adds.

On the other hand, Mayor Dennis Donohue says the council listened to residents' concerns and understood the issue. 

“We understood folks’ point of view and we respectfully disagreed,” Donohue says. “We understood as a council that we were going to have to make some hard choices, and this was one, but we think there's a better way forward on this issue.” 

The council has committed $500,000 from the city’s general fund to launch a rental assistance program in the future. Donohue says they are also looking at ways to accelerate the housing supply in the city.

“We genuinely believe that the best approach to deal with the concerns we heard is the four things we laid out,” Donohue says.

This plan includes a multi-year assistance program, expanding tenant mediation services, a tenant rights and resources communication campaign and hosting a housing summit this fall.

The official signature-gathering will end tomorrow, July 1. Silva says they won’t turn voters away but they want a two-day window to review all the signatures they’ve gathered before delivering them. 

“We just want to make sure that when we turn those in on Thursday morning, remember Friday is a holiday, we want to make sure that they're good, that we're happy with everything we're turning in,” Silva said. 

If the referendum moves forward, the council would have three choices: revoke their previous decision and reinstate the ordinances they repealed, call for a special election or include it in the 2026 election. If it goes to the voters, the ordinances would remain in place until its fate is decided at the polls. 

What do you think is the best approach?