Ad watch: Sacramento council candidate criticizes opponent’s donations from landlords
Sacramento City Council candidate Karina Talamantes sent mailers to voters criticizing her opponent Michael Lynch for accepting campaign donations from the California Apartment Association, an industry organization that has lobbied against rent control measures.
Here’s our analysis of the mailers.
TEXT:
“One candidate stands for housing for Sacramento families. The other candidate is with the LA/SF investors. You can’t be with the greedy housing speculators AND be for quality housing local families can afford to rent or own. That’s why Karina Talamantes stands with you. Her opponent’s campaign: funded by SF & LA investors, mega-housing corporations, and the developers. They’re attacking Karina. They know she’s with Sacramento’s working families. Don’t let them win. Karina Talamantes for City Council.
ANALYSIS:
The mailer is referencing a $6,000 campaign donation Lynch received from the California Apartment Association PAC in April, Talamantes said.
The association receives donations from apartment companies across the state, including from San Francisco and Los Angeles. It spent heavily to defeat a 2020 statewide rent control initiative, Proposition 21, as well as a local measure that would have strengthened the city’s tenant protection program.
Talamantes wants to strengthen a city program that helps tenants, and wants to add more staff to it, she said. She joins Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela and Council Candidate Caity Maple in that view.
Lynch wants to let the program sunset at the end of 2024, and then re-evaluate whether to amend it, talking to apartment owners and realtors, in addition to tenant advocates, he said. He does not want to strengthen it in the meantime because it could cause developers to build fewer units, he said.
“When you have really strict rent control in place it is not proven to help to build more housing we need,” Lynch said. “It is a disencentive for the private industry to build ... We need to be able to create a climate for the private industry to build at a rapid pace and that rapid pace needs to make sure we include affordable housing.”
The local election will be held Tuesday. If no candidate receives at least 50.01% of the vote, there will be a runoff in November. District 3 includes South Natomas, Northgate/Gardenland and part of North Natomas.
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 11:52 AM.
