THE
THE DETAILS FOR US. AMANDA CARLO AND BARBARA LEE, WHEN YOU SAY OVERWHELMING ONE MILLION
SIGNATURES WERE COLLECTED
THROUGHOUT THE STATE TODAY,
ADVOCATES HELD THREE SEPARATE
MEDIA CONFERENCE, ONE IN SAN
FRANCISCO, ONE IN L.A. AND ONE
RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO WHERE
THE AVERAGE RENT, BY THE WAY, IS
20 TO HUNDRED A MONTH.
THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR. MANY
RENTERS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT
THE PRICE OF LIVING GOING UP AND
UP. I NEEDED TO FIX MY BILLS TO
BE ABLE TO PAY MY RENT. CHULA
VISTA RESIDENT MARIA REYES SAYS
HER RENT HAS JUMPED AS MUCH AS
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS AT
ONE TIME. ON THURSDAY, SHE
JOINED AFFORDABLE HOUSING
ADVOCATE WITH AN ANNOUNCEMENT
THAT COULD CHANGE THAT FROM
HAPPENING. PEOPLE SHOULD MEAN
MORE THAN PROFIT AND THAT'S WHAT
THIS ACT IS ABOUT. THE RENTAL
AFFORDABILITY ACT WILL BE ON
THE NOVEMBER BALLOT AFTER
SUPPORTERS GATHERED A MILLION
SIGNATURES STATEWIDE WELL OVER
THE SIX HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE
THOUSAND NEEDED TO QUALIFY. WE
STARTED COLLECTING SIGNATURES
PRETTY EARLY ON JUST BECAUSE WE
KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS TO
OUR WORKING CLASS FAMILIES.
THE INITIATIVE WOULD ALLOW
CITIES AND COUNTIES TO IMPOSE
RENT CONTROL LAWS ON RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTIES THAT ARE AT LEAST 15
YEARS OLD. IT WOULD ALSO ALLOW
LIMITS ON RENT INCREASES WHEN A
RENTER MOVES IN SINGLE FAMILY
HOMEOWNERS THAT RENT ON A SMALL
SCALE WOULD BE EXEMPT. AND
ALLOWING PEOPLE TO STAY IN THEIR
HOMES SHOULD BE A TOP PRIORITY.
WHILE KEEN VAZQUEZ IS A
CANDIDATE FOR DISTRICT 53, FOR
HIM, RENT CONTROL HITS CLOSE TO
HOME. IN COLLEGE, HE FOUND
HIMSELF UNABLE TO AFFORD A PLACE
TO LIVE. I WAS A LOT MORE BUSY
AS A COLLEGE STUDENT SO I
COULDN'T PUT IN OVERTIME WORK.
HENCE I, YOU KNOW. AND THEN MY
RENT WENT UP. I END UP LIVING IN
MY CAR. CHRIS VASQUEZ AND OTHERS
ARE SHARING THEIR STORIES IN
HOPES OF CONVINCING CALIFORNIANS
TO VOTE YES IN NOVEMBER. AND
THERE ARE ALREADY SOME BIG REAL
ESTATE COMPANIES THAT SAY THEY
PLAN TO