Publication Date: Wednesday Oct 11, 1995
The first law that the East Palo Alto City Council passed after the bitter incorporation election in 1983 was rent control. Landlords have three times tried to have the law overturned at the polls, and failed three times.
Now, however, a key feature of the city's law is on the way out because of recently passed state legislation. After three years, the city won't be able to regulate how much landlords charge new tenants.
On Saturday, the city's Rent Stabilization Board held a town hall meeting to explain the new law last. The meeting included a spirited defense of the city's rent control record, a sharp attack on rent control laws by apartment owner representatives and discussion of what changes will likely result.
While there was a lively discussion, not many tenants showed up to hear it. About 40 people attended the meeting, many of them lawyers, city officials or advocates for or against rent laws. The city had distributed some 2,500 fliers publicizing the meeting, said William Webster, a member of the city's rent board.
Rent control has worked "extremely well" for East Palo Alto, said Susan Davidson, a lawyer and hearing examiner in the city's rent program for the last eight years. Davidson said the law has kept rents stable over a long period of time.
Jeanne Merino, an attorney for the East Palo Alto Community Law Project, agreed that the rent law has helped the city retain its diverse population of blacks, Latinos and Pacific Islanders as one of the few places of truly affordable housing on the Midpeninsula.
"It's been designed to protect tenants from rent increases they can't pay," Merino said.
Like others, Merino is hopeful about the Gateway 101 commercial redevelopment project that may help transform the city economically. But she also warned that successful redevelopment will increase property values, which could lead to gentrification. And the change in the rent control law removes a protection for the city's current mix of lower-income residents.
Renters and landlords really want the same thing, said Ted Kimball, an attorney for the Tri-County Apartment Association. "Responsible owners and manager have the same goals you do: safe, good housing," Kimball said.
The apartment ownership picture has changed because of tax law changes, Kimball added. In the 1980s, many owners bought apartment buildings on speculation because of tax incentives, he said.
"The strength of the investment is now in the cash flow," he said, which means owners need to keep buildings full and in good repair.
The rental housing market in East Palo Alto is depressed, he added. "Market rents are below allowable rents. The fear that there may be a lot of speculators lining up on the city's borders (because of the change in the rent law), that's just not true."
Kimball said the change in the rent law will help East Palo Alto because it might stimulate new construction.
--Don Kazak