Celia Jiménez here, thinking about the rent stabilization ordinance the Salinas City Council will be voting on tomorrow night, Sept. 24.
Increasingly, people are voicing their concerns at public meetings about how much rent has gone up, or how other services tenants didn’t have to pay in the past are now part of their bills; garbage and recycling is one that comes up.
The concerns triggered a response from city council and last year, City Attorney Chris Callihan began working on a rent stabilization and tenant protection ordinance. According to a city staff report, more than half of tenant households are rent-burdened and pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent.
Some California cities, including San Francisco, Los Gatos and San Jose, have rent control/stabilization ordinances. In San Francisco, the rent increase varies every year; for the current year, it’s 1.7 percent. In Salinas, Oakland-based consultant Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. suggested an annual cap between 2.5 to 2.75 percent.
In August, despite opposition from landlords, the council gave direction to proceed and set the cap at 2.75 percent. (It would apply only to certain multi-unit properties, and historic buildings would be exempt.) The proposed ordinance would also require landlords to provide notice of rent increases, evictions, etc., in English and Spanish.
The ordinance also includes additional tenant protections such as increased relocation assistance (for just-cause evictions, the landlord would pay three months’ rent, for example) and anti-harassment policies to prevent landlord intimidation forcing renters to move out.
If the ordinance is approved, city officials say they will need three to six employees to implement and manage the program. The price tag is between $621,404 and $1,246,976 annually, or they could outsource it.
People for and against the ordinance recognize this measure won’t solve the housing stock issue in Salinas, and recognize the city needs to increase its numbers. “Moderate rent stabilization policies with exemptions for new construction find little to no effect on new housing supply,” EPS’ report stated.
The cost of living and rent in the area makes it unappealing for people from different income levels to move here or make Salinas, or other cities in the county, their home. It’s unaffordable for low-income residents to survive, who get by through living in overcrowding conditions. Cities, hospitals and school districts are having a hard time attracting and retaining engineers, medical professionals and teachers, which affects our everyday lives, from longer times to schedule a doctor appointment to students having several teachers in a school year.
If you want to voice your opinion about this matter, the council will meet in City Hall at 7pm Tuesday to discuss three different ordinances that would impact landlords and tenants.