Guest Opinion | Mayor Victor M. Gordo: Vote No on Measure H 

As former Councilman John J. Kennedy used to say: rent control is a “Well intentioned bad  idea!” Simply put: rent control does not work. Let us look no further than the real-world examples in the cities of Santa Monica, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. These three cities have had rent control in place for decades, yet the three represent some of the most expensive rental markets in California and the country.  

A 2019 Stanford University study of San Francisco concluded that rent control “has actually fueled the gentrification of San Francisco, the exact opposite of the policy’s intended goal.”  (Diamond, Rebecca, Tim McQuade, and Franklin Qian. 2019. “The Effects of Rent Control Expansion on  Tenants, Landlords, and Inequality: Evidence from San Francisco.” American Economic Review, 109 (9):  3365-94) Notice how Measure H proponents do not point to rent controlled Los Angeles, Santa  Monica, or San Francisco as examples of rent control success? Why? Because proponents of  Measure H understand that rent control has failed the residents of those cities as it has every other jurisdiction that has adopted it. 

Rent Control has been studied from an economic perspective and is widely recognized as a failed approach that spurs unintended consequences and often, as it has in the cities I have mentioned,  decreases the supply of rental housing and increases rents. A 1992 poll of the American  Economic Association found that 93 percent of its members agreed that “a ceiling on rents  reduces the quality and quantity of housing.” (R.M. Alston, J.R. Kearl, and M.B. Vaughan, “Is There a  Consensus Among Economists in the 1990s?” American Economic Review, May 1992, 82, 203-9) In 2012, a survey of leading academic economists also reached the same conclusion. (“February 7,  2012 Poll on Rent Control” University of Chicago Booth School of Business: The Initiative on Global  Markets) Rent control leads to massive rent hikes when units become available and does not create more affordable options. In the longer term, rent control makes it difficult for smaller housing providers to keep up with necessary building maintenance, eroding quality of life, and encouraging current rental housing owners to either get out of the rental market entirely by turning their units into expensive condominiums or redevelop properties to high end units that are not covered by rent control.  

Already, Pasadena has seen the overdevelopment of massive million-dollar condominium projects—Measure H would only encourage more of these massive expensive and out of reach projects. 

We need solutions that bring us real affordable housing, not approaches that fail tenants and cities in the long term, as we have seen with San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica. In  Pasadena, working together with affordable housing developers, we have led the way by turning nuisance and under-utilized properties into true affordable housing that provides families stability and healthier futures.

Most recently, we collaborated with State Senator Anthony Portantino and our neighboring cities to create a Regional Housing Trust that will deliver affordable housing projects to  Pasadena, Glendale, and Burbank. The Trust is already funded with $23 million new dollars— now let’s press for more funding from the State. Signed into law just two months ago by  Governor Gavin Newsom, the Trust will serve as a model on how to provide much-needed funding to build housing for our most vulnerable populations including seniors and community members experiencing homelessness.  

AB 1482 – the California Tenant Protection Act of 2019 – signed into law by the Governor, went into effect on January 1, 2020. The law created a statewide rent stabilization program that caps  annual rental increases at no more than 5% plus the CPI (inflation rate) or 10%, whichever is lower, and requires landlords to have just cause to evict a tenant. Pasadena residents are currently protected by this statewide rent control and tenant protection law. 

With these two initiatives in effect, Measure H is unnecessary. Furthermore, it will cause more  problems than it solves. In fact, with NO oversight it will affect our city financially. Let us not forget that Measure H will bring us a Housing Board paid more than City Councilmembers and that Board will have no oversight from voters, residents, City Manager, City Attorney or even the  City Council. The Board will require staffing and the birth of a new bureaucracy that will drain resources away from essential services, like fire and police, street maintenance, recreation and parks, and libraries.  

Pasadena is an attractive city for both long-time residents and newcomers and I think we should keep it that way. We need to create more affordable options, not fewer. 

As your mayor, I am committed to continuing this work with the City Council, with experts, with landlords and tenants, and with anyone else with a sincere desire to do find housing solutions for our city.  

However, I cannot support any measures that will harm our city. Therefore, I will not be voting for Measure H and I encourage all Pasadena residents to reject this measure—as well  intentioned as it may be, it is a bad idea.  

Vote NO on Measure H.

Victor  M. Gordo is Mayor of Pasadena