CA rent control battle goes to the ballot

(CALMATTERS) – Amid a Southern California heat wave, about 300 advocates for rent control — with two 10-foot “greedy landlord” puppets — rallied Thursday in downtown Los Angeles, chanting: “The rent is too damn high!”Many advocates, including representatives from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and UNITE HERE Local 11, held signs in support of& Proposition 33& and against& Prop. 34, which will both be decided by California voters in November. Voters shot down similar rent control propositions in 2018 and 2020, but advocates are hoping this year will be different.& Prop. 33 would allow cities to expand rent control, which is currently not allowed for single-family homes or apartments built after 1995. As a result, renters such as Nallely Gomez, an organizer with UNITE HERE Local 11, say they see their rents increase every year.Gomez: “My rent literally went up $149 yesterday. Everyone who works here should be able to live here.” On the surface, Prop. 34 doesn’t have much to do with rent control, requiring some California health care providers to spend 98% of their revenue from a federal discount prescription program on direct patient care. But the measure, supported by the California Apartment Association, appears to target the AIDS...