In San Pablo, California, tenants and activists have forced the city council to place a rent stabilization measure on the local ballot, aiming to rein in predatory landlords. Located in Northern California, San Pablo joins Salinas and Redwood City that have pro-rent control initiatives coming before voters in November. In all three cities, activists and tenants needed to go to the ballot because local politicians were doing little, if anything, to stop unfair, excessive rents.
“Thousands of San Pablo residents stepped up to protect affordable housing,” Rhea Elina Laughlin, executive director of Rising Juntos, said at a recent city council meeting, “while corporate landlords continued to raise rents, forcing families to choose between rent and putting food on the table. When residents begged for help, this council refused to act.”
It’s an all-too-familiar theme: politicians don’t urgently address the housing affordability crisis, so tenants and activists have to take matters into their own hands — and fight Big Real Estate in the process…