Heated debate over rent control and tenant protection at Santa Cruz City Council meeting

Rent control and tenant protection continue to be a concern for some in Santa Cruz.

At Tuesday nights City Council meeting a new city ordinance was brought to the table, “The ordinance in front of the council has a maximum rent increase of 10 percent in one year or 15.5 percent in two years, except a landlord can increase their rent above that, however if they increase their rent above those thresholds, then if the tenants choose to leave they would be provided with relocation assistance,” says Development Planner for the city Lee Butler.

Butler says the relocation assistance would be two months of the current median fair for that time.

I’m told most of those against this ordinance are in favor of Measure M, the rent control ballot that will be on the November ballot.

One woman at the meeting Tuesday night was even escorted out and arrested for battery.

“I think a lot of the people wanted to not muddy the waters, if the council took a stance on this they felt it might undermine the rent control measure and the council really wanted to maintain neutral on that.”

Renters I spoke with say the want to see action taken one way or another.

Renter and firefighter, Diego Magdelano grew up in Santa Cruz and was renting in Aptos for years. When his landlord sold the property his family had to move out.

They’ve now been searching for a place for six months with no luck.

“Our rent jumped up about a thousand dollars from what we were paying for a three bedroom, from 24 hundred to 34-36 hundred dollars a month. So it’s really hard to find a place for me and my family even earning the wage of a firefighter,” says Magdelano.

And he is not alone, renter Brendan Bane says he wants to see change too, “I’d certainly like to see everyone who wants to be a part of this community and contribute to it, be able to have a place to live and also have rights to have a safe and reliable place to live and somewhere that they can plan and know that they’ll have a stable spot for years to come.”

If Measure M does not pass in November the city council will revisit the ordinance.