Conversations in Rent Control

Recently, the push to place a rent control ordinance on the November municipal ballot fell short of the number of valid signatures required. According to fervent rent control advocate and recent mayoral candidate, Henry “Henk” Conn, the reasons for a disappointing finish are multiple. To Conn, the major problem was his belief that the movement needed to advance by “baby steps,” somewhat opposite from the sweeping ordinance that was described in the petition.

According to Conn, the petition backers of rent control, Housing Long Beach (HLB), “were looking at reaching the goal of 27,500 signatures by getting about 32,000. They didn’t have enough people to do it,” Conn said. And even if the petition part was successful, “I don’t believe rent control was going to pass.”

“The signature gathering was very grass roots,” said Conn. HLB contracted to several agencies and organizations like Long Beach Residents Empowered and the Gray Panthers. “The Long Beach Tenants Union was training volunteers to get signatures. Along with the Gray Panthers, a lot of the membership was pro-rent control, as some seniors are going homeless.” Conn depicted an apartment complex near the senior center that sold and the rent doubled overnight for those with no vouchers.

As far as Conn knew, there were no paid signature gatherers. Some volunteers were brought in by Facebook advertising. One-hour training sessions were held at St. Paul’s Church, then volunteers were told, “go out and collect” at places like Ralphs on Fourth Street, city parks and farmers markets. “They were told where they were allowed to go or can’t go. They were given talking points, such as fair evictions and not having rent raised too high. Signers had to be registered in the city.”

Conn described the petition as quite exhaustive, calling for a five-person rental board to oversee things. As a landlord could raise rent only once a year, the board would be there to grant exceptions, or if the tenant claimed problems, to lower the rent. It called for a paid rent control board, likely financed by money collected from landlords. With 105,000 rental units in the city, Conn calculated that about $2.5 billion in rent is collected yearly.

Conn described the board as a “powerful position with members hearing complaints all day long. It’s the first time anyone would log all the complaints of tenants, creating a clear picture of how the tenants feel about paying all this money.”

As the petition proposed, the mayor would appoint the five member board with three tenants, however it was unclear as to whether two members would be landlords or property managers. The response was only, “It’s moot at this point.” Similarly, whether the mayor had power to dismiss was also moot.

“Most people didn’t read the petition,” said Conn. “But many people did. They needed a lot more volunteers and a lot more time, but there was not enough money to pay people to get signatures.” Asked if another petition were attempted, would more outside help be sought? “I’m not sure,” said Housing Long Beach’s Josh Butler. “It’s a loaded question. I always remain open to organizations.”

“The Gray Panthers were wonderful,” said Conn. “It was the top of their monthly agenda. Probably 40 or 50 people, all very active, met at the senior center first Saturday of every month. Their priorities were the wetlands and senior citizen evictions.”

Conn, who participated in collecting signatures, said “they just didn’t get the numbers. They probably would need over a month with 20 to 30 people working full time. I collected 20 to 30 an hour at places like Trader Joe’s, Vons and Recreation Park. People were very enthusiastic wherever I went.”

With rent control apparently off the municipal ballot in the near future, the shift turns to California Proposition 10, which would repeal provisions in the Costa-Hawkins Act which limits the use of rent control in California. In effect, Costa-Hawkins disallows rent control on housing first occupied after February 1, 1995, single family homes and condominiums and townhouses.

Under its more aggressive rent control policy, HLB included all of these in its petition in hopes that Costa-Hawkins would be repealed on Nov. 6. According to Conn, “With Costa Hawkins in place, a landlord can buy a unit and immediately evict everybody.”

Butler said the reason for stopping the petition campaign is “not answerable. It was a very complex campaign. If there is a next time, we will use more resources.”

As HLB still has the petitions on hand, Butler was asked if he planned to contact the signees to again sign, were another petition attempted. His response was “This is not information I would share with any member of the media.”

“The ball is in City Hall’s court,” said Butler, who scoffed at the idea the petition campaign was to get City Hall’s attention. “City Hall is now having conversations about affordable housing, conversations about renter protection. They have reached out to me to participate.” Asked about possible progress in housing solutions, Butler said he’s optimistic and believes the city is acting in good faith and that he’s known City Manager Pat West “for many years.”

steve@beachcomber.news