After repealing ordinances, Salinas mayor announces alternatives to address the rental crisis.

Two days after Salinas City Council voted 5-2 to repeal four housing-related ordinances, including a rent stabilization cap of 2.75 percent annually, Mayor Dennis Donohue laid out his next steps moving forward.

“The ordinances that were put in place, which were well intended, would have exacerbated the problem,” Donohue said at a press conference in City Hall on Thursday, June 5. “The real solution is to build more housing.”

He laid out a four-step plan. It includes creating a multi-year rental assistance program for renters in need. He called for expanding tenant-mediation services and a tenant rights and resources communication campaign. He also said the city will host a housing summit this fall.

“We heard clearly that people do need help right now, and we want to respond to that need,” Donohue said.

He appointed himself and two colleagues on council to serve on an ad hoc committee to advance the housing plan. All members – Donohue, Gloria De La Rosa and José Luis Barajas – voted to repeal the ordinances.

The ad hoc committee is expected to begin meeting “in a timely fashion,” and Donohue expects at least some of its meetings will be open to the public.

John Silva, from the group Protect Salinas Renters, says there is no need for an ad hoc committee since the city already has a Housing and Land Use Committee. “I worry that it won’t be subject to the Brown Act and other protections that the Housing Committee does have to go through,” he says.

The committee will develop recommendations for a rental assistance program, drawing on landlord resources and potential philanthropic support. It could be designed to help tenants pay a deposit or a few months of rent.

As this process gets underway, a group is working to bring back the overturned ordinances. Protect Salinas Renters launched a referendum initiative June 3, just after the vote, hoping to gather enough signatures to potentially overturn council’s decision.