San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and 22 other California mayors announced their opposition Thursday to Proposition 33, calling it an anti-housing initiative.
This November, voters will be asked to repeal the Costa-Hawkins law which stops cities from setting rent control on single-family homes or apartments built after 1995. It also allows landlords to set their own rental rates when new tenants move in.
If Prop. 33 passes, cities and counties could control rents for any type of housing and be given the ability to limit how much a landlord can increase rents when a new tenant moves in. The initiative would also add language to California’s Civil Code to prohibit the state from taking future actions to limit local rent control.
The concern voiced by the mayors is that Prop. 33 could undermine state housing laws and make it harder for California to build new affordable housing.
“In San Diego, our housing policies are beginning to yield results, increasing housing supply and we’re starting to see nominal decreases in rents. This measure would undermine our efforts, stall home building, and reverse the progress we’ve worked so hard to achieve,” said
Gloria.
This isn’t the first time state voters have been asked to allow rent control. Proposition 21 in 2020 and Proposition 10 in 2018 were both rejected by near 60% of voters.
Opponents of the latest ballot measure also are concerned over a change in language that could overturn the state’s strongest rent stability law. This law known as the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 sets statewide rent caps and enforces just cause eviction protections for tenants.
State Democratic leaders, including Sen. Toni Atkins and Assembly member Buffy Wicks, have raised their own concerns about Prop. 33, citing the potential to allow wealthy cities to avoid building new affordable housing.
“This initiative is one giant loophole that lets some select local governments off the hook for affordable housing and opens the door to erase every inch of progress we’ve made on housing over the last 20 years. All I can say is don’t be fooled,” said Atkins.
Among the mayors joining Gloria in opposition are Keith Blackburn in Carlsbad, John McCann in Chula Vista, Rebecca Jones in San Marcos and John Franklin in Vista.