More than 732,000 letters urge Gavin Newsom to support California rent control. Are they ads?

The campaign for a California rent control ballot measure has hundreds of thousands of letters calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s support. But opponents say they represent a form of political advertising.

The Justice for Renters Coalition appeared at the Capitol Wednesday with hundreds of boxes filled with more than 732,000 letters pushing Newsom to back an AIDS Healthcare Foundation initiative that would expand cities’ ability to enact rent control.

The measure would repeal the 1995 Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which prohibits local governments from limiting rent increases on apartments and single-family homes built after that year. It also says landlords cannot be barred from raising rents for new tenants.

The Foundation announced in late July that it had gathered enough signatures to be eligible for the November 2024 ballot. This marks the third time in four elections the Foundation has attempted to repeal Costa Hawkins.

Californians voted down similar initiatives in 2018 and 2020 after opposition campaigns heavily funded by real estate and landlord interest groups.

The California Apartment Association is opposing the latest ballot measure through an organization called Californians for Responsible Housing.

“This measure would make rent even more expensive for those looking to find a place to live and push even more Californians into homelessness,” said Nathan Click, a spokesman for the group.

Click also acts as a spokesman for Newsom’s political campaigns.

Letter signature controversy

On Thursday, demonstrators urging Newsom to back the ballot measure displayed their signed letters on the steps of the Capitol, alongside advocates holding signs that said ‘The rent is still too damn high!’

Susie Shannon, Justice for Renters campaign director, said the letters represent voters imploring the governor not to oppose the ballot measure.

Politico in April reported the letters are the product of a signature-gathering campaign conducted by the Foundation. The story said workers paid by the organization collected signatures for the letters at the same time they solicited voters to sign the ballot measure petition.

It is typical for organizations behind ballot initiatives to pay those who collect petition signatures, sometimes even per name.

However, the letters present a murkier ethical situation. The Politico story suggested the Foundation also paid workers to gather those signatures. This could mean they are a form of political advertising and should contain a disclosure with the Foundation’s name.

But Ged Kenslea, a Foundation spokesman, said workers were paid for petition signatures, but not for those on the letters. He said Foundation gatherers also collected letter signatures at community events around the state, not just during the petition campaign.

Kenslea said he does not think the letters need a disclosure because they are the product of “community mobilizing.”

Shannon called the opposition’s messaging about the letters a “distraction.”

“Why are they trying to diminish the voice of the voters?” she asked.

This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 6:00 AM.