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Dear Editor,

In a recent story in Pasadena Now, Pasadena Chamber of Commerce President, Paul Little, is quoted as saying that Measure H “will not have any of the purported benefits.” Really? So why has the National and California Associations of Realtors put $190,000 into defeating Measure H? Are we expected to believe it’s because they care so much about the plight of low income tenants in Pasadena?

Report after report after report affirms that rent control is successful at keeping rents affordable for tenants. The fact that the real estate lobbyists come along and say “nuh uh!” doesn’t make it so.

Mr. Little complains that “existing rent-controlled units see big increases that adjust rent to above market rates each time they become vacant. We see that happening in Santa Monica today. If Measure H passes in Pasadena, it will happen here, too.”

He no doubt hopes that voters will misunderstand that vacancy decontrol—the fact that rents are not regulated during a vacancy and can be reset to any price between tenancies—is mandated by a state law called Costa Hawkins. Is Mr. Little making an argument for vacancy control? That would be hugely helpful for Pasadena Tenants but we are currently blocked by state law from implementing it. 

Also, landlords are not powerless actors. They choose how high to raise rents between tenancies. Mr. Little also knows that landlords can appeal to the rent board for an upward rent adjustment if they’re not making a fair return on their investment (expenses + profit).

In the Chamber of Commerce thought about Measure H a little longer instead of following the lead of the real estate industry, they would realize that without measure like rent control and evictions protections local business—their actual constituency—won’t have a pool of talent to hire from. It’s already happening.

Local business owners, homeowners, and tenants should not be fooled by the lies coming from he very industry actors who want more of our hard earned income in rent in exchange for largely substandard housing.

Ryan Bell
Pasadena tenant

Got something to say, email Managing Editor André Coleman, at andrec@pasadenanowmagazine.com