Rent control

Four seats are opening up on the Santa Rosa City Council this year, and with two incumbents bowing out, voters soon will have a significant say in the political priorities for the North Coast’s largest city.

Housing, homelessness, roads and cannabis regulation are all on voters’ minds this year, but one issue is dominating the city’s political discourse: rent control.

The controversial policy, passed Aug. 29 and set to go into effect Friday, has not only split the City Council down the middle, but it has sharply divided the six candidates, as well.

Political fervor is boiling over with nearly $1 million being shoveled into fiery campaigns regarding measures Q and R — controversial ballot measures seeking to institute tenant protections.

The debate over the merits of rent control has created a deep divide in San Mateo and Burlingame where opposition groups have a steady stream of campaign financing, while proponents are contrasted by a slower trickle of donations.

The article, “Rent control spreading to Bay Area suburbs, to economists’ dismay,” (Sept. 10, 2016), to our dismay does not quote a single economist who has evaluated the ballot measures in question. In fact, economists have not objectively studied rent control as it exists in California. Decades ago economists weighed in on New York’s “classic” rent control and haven’t taken a serious look at the policy since.

City officials oppose Measure R, the ballot initiative attempting to establish rent control in Burlingame, due to concerns the proposed policy is too far-reaching and rife with potential legislative pitfalls, according to the ballot argument.

With the heated debate over tenant protection measures fueled by the region’s housing crisis now slated to dominate San Mateo’s November election, proponents and opponents of a citizens’ initiative to institute rent control outlined their ballot arguments.

Santa Rosa enacted the strongest protections for renters in Sonoma County Tuesday, imposing a long-term rent control program and requiring that landlords have a good reason to evict tenants.

Long divided on the polarizing issue, the City Council voted 4-2 in favor of the program, which builds on a temporary moratorium on rent increases in place since June.

Mayor John Sawyer, who previously voiced strong opposition to rent control, abstained from the vote because he is a landlord. A decision on whether he has a conflict of interest is pending.

Burlingame residents will decide whether to establish rent control and other tenant protections on the upcoming November ballot, under a decision by the City Council.

The Burlingame City Council unanimously agreed during a meeting Monday, Aug. 1, to float during the fall election an effort to implement policies which advocates have claimed are necessary to safeguard renters from landlords seeking unfair and unsustainable rent hikes.