California Apartment Association

It’s now up to election officials to determine whether a rent control initiative has qualified for the November ballot in Mountain View.

On Tuesday, June 14, the Mountain View Tenants Coalition submitted more than 7,100 signatures to the city clerk.

The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters will now count and check the validity of the signatures. The coalition needed 4,671 registered voters to sign their petition to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

The California Apartment Association is closely monitoring this process to ensure it follows procedures outlined in the California Election Code.

The measure would impose rent control on pre-1995 multifamily housing and tie maximum rent increases to inflation.

Tenant advocates also are trying to place rent control on the November ballot in Bay Area cities including San Mateo, Alameda, Richmond and Burlingame.

CAA is firmly opposed to any rent control measure that appears on the November ballot. The Mountain View City Council already has enacted new renter protections and housing policies which provide the right to a long-term lease, a formal hearing process to address rent increases over 7.2 percent, invested in a rental assistance program to help families faced with high housing costs, and has permitted thousands of new housing units to help address the high demand for homes.

For example, the city now provides renters with a right to a long-term lease and has established a dispute-resolution process for renters and property owners. Moreover, the city has invested in a rental-assistance program to help families with high housing costs and has permitted thousands of new housing units to help address the high demand for homes.

“Rather than allowing these real solutions to work, the Mountain View Tenants Coalition wants to enact a failed policy that doesn’t provide any relief to the low income families who need the so-called benefits of rent control most,” said Joshua Howard, senior vice president of local public affairs for CAA. “Rent control policies do not reduce the cost of housing, do not make housing more affordable, and do not do anything to encourage more housing construction.”

Related content:

• New York Times article points to CAA’s fight against rent control in Silicon Valley (New York Times, June 11)
• Mountain View: 7,100 sign to put rent-control measure on ballot (Mercury News, June 16)
• Mountain View rent control headed for November ballot? Initiative proponents submit signatures (Silicon Valley Business Journal, June 14)
• Rent-control measure expected to go to voters in November (Mountain View Voice, June 15