California rent control battle goes to the ballot

Jesse Brooks, a mobilizer with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, protests alongside others against Proposition 34 in Los Angeles on Sept. 5, 2024. Photo by Mark Von Holden, AP Content Services for AIDS Healthcare Foundation From CalMatters politics intern Jenna Peterson :

Amid a Southern California heat wave, about 300 advocates for rent control — with two 10-foot “greedy landlord” puppets — rallied Thursday in downtown Los Angeles, chanting: “The rent is too damn high!”

Many advocates, including representatives from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and UNITE HERE Local 11, held signs in support of Proposition 33 and against Prop. 34 , which will both be decided by California voters in November. Voters shot down similar rent control propositions in 2018 and 2020, but advocates are hoping this year will be different.

Prop. 33 would allow cities to expand rent control, which is currently not allowed for single-family homes or apartments built after 1995. As a result, renters such as Nallely Gomez, an organizer with UNITE HERE Local 11, say they see their rents increase every year. Gomez: “My rent literally went up $149 yesterday. Everyone who works here should be able to live here.”

On the surface, Prop. 34 doesn’t have […]

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