General Election 2022
Measure RC
- Election Date
- Nov 8, 2022
English
Shall the City Charter be amended to require intended owner occupancy of rent-controlled units for two years before tenant eviction; require owner occupancy within 60 days of vacancy; reduce the maximum Annual General Adjustment from 6% to 0.8% from 2/1/23 through 8/31/23, or average not to exceed 3%, with a 3% maximum Annual General Adjustment thereafter; and require elections only if the number of qualified candidates exceeds the number of open Board positions?
Click here to read the staff report for this measure.
- Text of Measure
- Impartial Analysis
- Argument in Favor
- Rebuttal to Argument in Favor
- Argument Against
- Rebuttal to Argument Against
Text of Measure
Section 1806(a)(8)(iv) and (v) of Article XVIII of the City Charter shall be amended to read as follows:
(iv) The landlord or enumerated relative must intend in good faith to move into the unit within thirty (30) sixty (60) days after the tenant vacates and to occupy the unit as a primary residence for at least one year two years, unless extenuating circumstances exist.
(v) If the landlord or relative specified on the notice terminating tenancy fails to occupy the unit within thirty (30) sixty (60) days after the tenant vacates or fails to occupy the unit as a primary residence for at least two years, unless extenuating circumstances exist, the landlord shall: A. Offer the unit to the tenant who vacated it. B. Pay to said tenant all reasonable expenses incurred in moving to and/or from the unit.
Section 1805(a) of Article XVIII of the City Charter shall be amended as follows:
(a) Annual General Adjustment. No later than June 30 each year, the Board shall announce the percentage by which rent ceilings for eligible units will be generally adjusted effective September 1 of that year.
(1) The adjustment shall be equal to seventy-five (75) percent of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (All Urban Consumers, Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange County region, or any successor designation of that index that may later be adopted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) as reported and published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the twelve (12) month period ending as of March of the current year.
(2) In determining the allowable percentage increase, numbers of .04 and below shall be rounded down to the nearest tenth decimal place and numbers of .05 and above shall be rounded up to the nearest tenth decimal place.
(3) Subparagraph 1 of this subsection notwithstanding, in no event shall the general adjustment be less than zero percent or greater than six (6) three (3) percent; and
(4) Commencing February 1, 2023, the general adjustment during the period from February 1, 2023, through August 31, 2023, shall be 0.8% of the maximum allowable rent (MAR) in effect as of August 31, 2022, with a maximum dollar amount limit of nineteen dollars ($19) (“Adjusted GA”). Absent an individual adjustment pursuant to subparagraphs (c) through (h) of this Section, the MAR during this seven month transition period shall be the MAR in effect as of August 31, 2022, plus the Adjusted GA. Notwithstanding the Board’s June 2022 announcement of the 2022 general adjustment, the MAR for any period after August 31, 2023, shall be calculated pursuant to this Section 1805 as if the General Adjustment for the entire period from September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2023, had been three (3) percent, with a maximum dollar amount limit of seventy dollars ($70). The Rent Control Board may by regulation increase the Adjusted GA for landlords who did not increase their rents by the full six (6) percent prior to February 1, 2023, so long as the average rent increase for the period from September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2023, does not exceed the lower of 3% or $70 per month.
(5) If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Section is for any reason held to be invalid, unlawful, or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Section or any portion thereof.
Section 1803(d) of Article XVIII of the City Charter shall be amended to read as follows:
Section 1803(d) ELECTION OF COMMISSIONERS: Commissioners shall be elected at general municipal elections in the same manner as set forth in Article XIV of the Santa Monica Charter, except that the first Commissioners shall be elected at a special municipal election held within ninety (90) days of the adoption of this Article. The elected Commissioners shall take office on the first Tuesday following their election. If, upon the City Clerk’s determination of the qualified candidates, the number of candidates does not exceed the number of vacant positions, no election will be held and the qualified candidates shall be seated upon swearing in by the City Clerk.
Impartial Analysis
Measure RC amends the City’s Rental Control Law, Article XVIII of the Santa Monica City Charter, “RCCA,” by (i) revising requirements for owners to evict tenants; (ii) revising certain election procedures; and (iii) rolling back rent increases for rent-controlled units, as explained below. Measure RC was placed on the ballot by the Santa Monica City Council.
The RCCA prohibits evictions except as provided by law. Owners or qualified relatives who wish to reside in their units permanently may evict current tenants to do so if they meet certain requirements. One requirement is the owner or qualified relative “intend in good faith to move into the unit within thirty (30) days after the tenant vacates and to occupy the unit as a primary residence for at least one year”. Measure RC would require the owner or relative intend occupancy for at least two years unless exigent circumstances warrant a shorter period. This measure would require occupancy within sixty days of tenant vacancy.
The RCCA requires an election to be held even if there are only as many candidates as open Board positions. Measure RC would amend the RCCA to state an election is not necessary when the number of qualified candidates does not exceed the open positions.
The RCCA allows for an Annual General Adjustment to the maximum allowable rent (MAR) for rent-controlled units based upon seventy-five percent of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for a twelve month period, with a maximum increase of 6% of the MAR (the “Cap”) or a maximum dollar cap of $140 per month. Measure RC would reduce the Cap to 3% and reduce the maximum dollar cap to $70 per month, except from February 1, 2023, through August 31, 2023, Measure RC reduces the Cap to 0.8% of the MAR in effect as of August 31, 2022, with a maximum dollar cap of $19 per month (the “Adjusted GA”), providing an approximate 3% average increase over the 12 month period. The MAR during this seven month transition period is the MAR in effect as of August 31, 2022, plus the Adjusted GA. The MAR for any period after August 31, 2023, is calculated as if the General Adjustment for the entire period from September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2023, had been 3%, with a maximum dollar cap of $70. Measure RC allows individual adjustments by the Rent Control Board to increase the rent to the Adjusted GA for landlords who did not increase their rents by the full 6% prior to February 1, 2023, so long as the average rent increase for the period from September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2023, does not exceed the lower of 3% or $70 per month. Measure RC allows an owner of a rent-controlled unit to petition the Rent Control Board for an individual rent increase to enable the owner to obtain a fair and reasonable return.
DOUGLAS T. SLOAN, CITY ATTORNEY
Argument in Favor
SIX PERCENT IS TOO MUCH FOR MANY RENTERS!
Your neighbors, especially fixed-income seniors and low-income working families, need protection. Rent inflation could force thousands of renters out of Santa Monica.
Vote YES on Measure RC to help Santa Monica remain the inclusive, diverse community that rent control has preserved for more than 40 years.
Measure RC provides stability for tenants in rent-controlled units by limiting annual rent increases to a maximum of 3% for 2022 and all future years.
Inflation’s at a 40-year high, due to unusual circumstances caused by the global pandemic. Our current Rent Control Law, voter-approved in 2012, pegs the annual allowed rent increase to inflation, but with a 6% maximum. This is the first time the increase hit that 6% cap.
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO ROLL BACK THE DANGEROUS INFLATIONARY 6% INCREASE.
A YES vote on Measure RC requires landlords to reduce the 6% increase to under 1% in February 2023. That will average out the increase for the current year to 3%. In future years, annual increases will vary with inflation, but will NEVER be more than 3%.
Measure RC also prevents tenants from being evicted for owner-occupancy unless the owner intends to live in the unit for at least two years, instead of just one. If the owner moves out before two years, they must re-offer the unit to the evicted tenant.
Finally, Measure RC is a good-government measure, saving money by not requiring an election if the number of candidates for the Rent Control Board doesn’t exceed the number of seats to be filled.
The Santa Monica Rent Control Board proposed these enhanced protections and the Santa Monica City Council voted UNANIMOUSLY to place them on the ballot.
VOTE YES ON MEASURE RC. Help keep your neighbors in their homes.
/s/ Ben Allen, State Senator
/s/ Kristin McCowan, Mayor Pro Tempore, Santa Monica
/s/ Patricia Hoffman, Executive Committee & Former Co-Chair, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights
/s/ Janet Gollery McKeithen, Co-Founder, Committee for Racial Justice
/s/ Stephen Duron, Chair, Rent Control Board
Rebuttal to Argument in Favor
VOTE NO Measure RC
#1
Under the guise of a lower rent cap the Rent Control advocates have hatched Measure RC, a scheme that will ultimately fracture and destroy Rent Control. This Measure creates an atmosphere for current landlords to sell their buildings to developers. If costs exceeds the ability to recoup those costs, it pays to sell.
Santa Monica has been losing approximately 150 rental units per year because costs have exceeded income on those units. They are selling out to developers. Tenants are losing their homes. This Measure will result in an increase of that loss.
For that past 10 years allowable rent increases have been less than 3%. This year’s increase is an aberration that has not happened in 32 years!
#2
The Santa Monica Rent Control Board and the City Council rejected a proposal that would have eliminated this year’s entire increase for half the tenants in the city. Yes! That’s right! No increase at all! That half are the deserving low income tenants that we all want to protect.
They chose to increase everyone’s rent in a scheme where the rich will pay the lowest percentage increase and the poor will pay the highest percentage increase.
A NO vote on this Measure RC would tell the Rent Control Board to create an equitable policy that actually helps those in need and reflects the City’s often discussed, but rarely enacted, values.
SAVE RENT CONTROL
VOTE NO
/s/ Monica Santana, Pico Neighborhood Renter
/s/ Clara Benrey, Retired School Teacher
/s/ Lori Brown, Parks and Recreation Commissioner
/s/ Jay P. Johnson, Former Rent Control Board Commissioner
/s/ Giacomo Valentini, North of Wilshire Resident
Argument Against
Measure RC fails to address the root problems with Santa Monica rent control and rising rents.
It attempts to tackle a temporary problem with a permanent but inadequate patch.
It postpones the much needed deeper reforms to make rent control work in the context of ever rising rents. Rejecting this proposal will force the city government to confront true reforms.
This measure is a cynical ploy to buy the votes of renters. Under Measure RC, lower income renters will pay more of their hard earned income than upper income renters. This is a regressive policy. In our allegedly progressive city, this is the ultimate irony.
Its negative impacts on mom and pop landlords of rent controlled units will only make such units more scarce as small landlords will sell their properties to developers.
In the July 14, 2022 Rent Control Board meeting, Board members stated that Rent Control is not for "poor people." This demonstrates their unwillingness to tackle the inequalities in the system.
The Rent Control Board and its allies chose to maintain an outdated and therefore highly flawed system, despite it being inequitable. They only pretend to be the champions of renters. Be smart vote NO.
A NO vote on this Measure RC would force the Rent Control Board to actually create an equitable policy that reflects the City’s often discussed, but rarely enacted, values.
VOTE NO
/s/ Monica Santana, Pico Neighborhood Renter
/s/ Clara Benrey, Retired School Teacher
/s/ Jay P. Johnson, Former Rent Control Board Commissioner
/s/ Giacomo Valentini, North of Wilshire Resident
/s/ Lori Brown, Parks and Recreation Commissioner
Rebuttal to Argument Against
YOU SHOULD VOTE YES ON MEASURE RC.
Right now, while you’re studying how to vote, many Santa Monica families are being forced to slash household budgets to cover a sudden inflationary 6% rent increase.
Who’d want rent-burdened Santa Monicans to keep paying unfairly high rent, and keep struggling?
These landlords, who argue against timely rent relief.
If you’re a renter — or you care about your fellow Santa Monicans who are renters — you should VOTE YES ON MEASURE RC!
Your YES vote on Measure RC cuts IN HALF the inflated rent increases for EVERYONE in rent-controlled housing, and does it now.
Measure RC is fair to rent-burdened working families and limited-income seniors.
Meanwhile, landlords continue, by law, to be guaranteed a fair return.
Our City Council has ALREADY voted to conduct a community study of rent control next year.
These landlords want to delay Measure RC’s timely rent reductions, so they can keep their unfair windfall: a 6% unearned rent increase.
The “deeper reforms” these landlords promise won’t lower high rents. What these landlords really want is “means-testing,” the power to examine tenants’ paychecks to see if renters can be made to pay more.
There’s no reason to delay getting rent inflation under control.
SIX PERCENT IS TOO MUCH FOR MANY RENTERS!
Please don’t leave many of your neighbors at risk, including rent-burdened working families and limited-income seniors.
VOTE YES ON MEASURE RC.
/s/ Kristin McCowan, Mayor Pro Tem, Santa Monica City Council
/s/ Patricia Hoffman, Member, Executive Committee Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights
/s/ Steve Duron, Chair, Rent Control Board