| YOUNG VOICES
By Isaac González-Diaz and Claudia Meléndez Salinas
After months of lobbying by dozens of low-income residents, Salinas authorities are now considering a rent control ordinance that advocates say is long overdue.
Organizers, led by Building Healthy Communities, want to achieve a 2% cap on annual rent increases. Although there are 23,132 rental apartments in the city of Salinas, only 8,330 of them would be covered by the rent stabilization law, according to state law.
The ordinance will be considered by the Salinas City Council on August 20. If passed, it would be a huge relief for tenants whose rents have skyrocketed in recent years.
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Nidia Soto, an organizer with Building Healthy Communities, struggles every month to pay rent to avoid being evicted like she was two years ago. The experience has left deep emotional scars.
Evictions “don’t make people who pay rent feel like we’re failing, but that we’re not worth the money to landlords. They really don’t mind putting families on the street,” she said.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Salinas is $1,903 per month (or $22,836 per year), according to Zumper Rental Market Trends. websiteThe average salary of a farm worker is $35,110 per year.
“Many people were probably already struggling with extreme rent increases in 2019, just before the pandemic,” said Xago Juarez, neighborhood organizer with Building Healthy Communities.
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Salinas City Attorney Chris Callihan drafted the rent stabilization ordinance with assistance from Public Advocates attorney Suzanne Dershowitz.
“The Rent Stabilization Ordinance is designed to provide much-needed attention to the City of Salinas’ tenant community,” said Juarez. “This attention will bring focus to the issues affecting our residents who are renters. Many of them pay exorbitant amounts each month and face even greater rent increases, as the current cap is 10% of the actual cost of rent.”
A 10% increase is equivalent to $200 or $300 a month, an amount few can afford, Juarez said. Proponents would like to set a cap of 2%. The city council is proposing a cap of 2.5 to 3%.
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Opponents of the ordinance argue that it will do nothing to increase the housing supply, which they say is why housing in the area is already so expensive. During a community meeting on August 1, some landlords expressed concern that a cap would not allow them to recoup the increases in costs they face, such as insurance.
The Rent Regulation Ordinance would also introduce a “just cause eviction” clause to protect tenants, as well as a “no-fault” clause allowing landlords to evict tenants who are taking their apartment off the market for major renovations or who wish to take it off the rental market.
Soto says the rent stabilization ordinance will help her and other families afford fair and adequate housing in the future without having to share with other families as they currently do.
“Right now, many families live together and share the rent, two, three, four families per apartment,” she said. “The rent stabilization ordinance will enable future families to be able to afford fair, adequate housing and one family per apartment.”
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Photo: Claudia Meléndez Salinas
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