Update: Sacramento rent control ballot measure rejected by wide margin
Sacramento voters rejected a ballot measure calling for strict rent control in the city.
Returns Tuesday evening showed Measure C trailing 62% to 37%.
The measure’s defeat marks the end of a hard-fought battle by tenant advocates that lasted more than two years.
In 2018, activists collected the more than 44,000 signatures required to get the measure on the ballot. The following year, the City Council adopted a less-strict version of rent control, expecting the ballot measure’s proponents to pull their version. But one of the three proponents of the measure, Michelle Pariset, did not sign a letter directing the city to pull it.
In June, the city sued Pariset, asking a judge to allow the council to leave the measure off the ballot, claiming it was unconstitutional. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steven M. Gevercer granted that request. Then, the Third District Court of Appeal ordered the city to put it on the ballot. A judge has yet to issue a final ruling on the measure’s constitutionality. If a judge rules it’s unconstitutional, then it will not be implemented, even if voters approve it, city spokesman Tim Swanson has said.
The measure would have prohibited landlords from raising annual rents more than the inflation rate for that year. The measure would use the Consumer Price Index inflation figure for March of each year. For March 2020, the inflation rate was 2.5%. The current city ordinance and state law prohibit landlords from raising annual rents more than 5% plus the inflation rate. They use the April inflation figure. For April 2020, the inflation rate was 1%. That means landlords cannot currently raise rents more than 6% from last year.
The measure would have also created an independent rent board, modeled after panels in San Francisco, Berkeley and Santa Monica. The board would set annual rent adjustments, go to court to enforce the measure and have other responsibilities. In its lawsuit, the city said the rent board was “so logistically flawed as to be incapable of effective implementation.”
While the ballot measure would have been permanent, the city’s ordinance will be effective through Dec. 31, 2024 unless the City Council votes to continue it.
The Democratic Party of Sacramento, Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment, the Democratic Socialists of America and Councilwoman-Elect Katie Valenzuela supported the measure.
The measure was opposed by the entire City Council, including Mayor Darrell Steinberg. The National Association of Realtors donated $250,000 to the opposition campaign. The California Association of Realtors donated at least $167,500. Those groups said that the measure would make it more expensive to build affordable housing in Sacramento.
The rent for the average Sacramento apartment increased 45% in the seven years following the Great Recession.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:20 PM.
