Rent control opponents continue fight

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Opponents of rent control have one week left to

rally support for a proposed ballot measure that would prevent the city

from setting price and rent caps for residential property.

The Property Rights Protection Measure, a proposal led by businessman

Ed Laird, would amend the city’s charter to prohibit officials from

adopting regulations that impose price or rent restrictions on

residential properties such as apartments, single-family homes and mobile

home parks. Properties with serious health, fire or building violations,

as well as land and structures owned by public agencies, are exempt from

the amendment.

Laird, owner of Coatings Resources Corp. and chairman of a citizen’s

group called Property Owners for Property Rights, first proposed the

resolution in May but refused to comment on the issue to the Independent.

Petitioners for the measure, however, said support for the proposed

charter amendment has been strong, with many residents hoping it makes

the ballot in the near future.

The proposal’s supporters believe rent control impedes an owner’s

right to control their property and could adversely affect affordable

housing, and pressure developer’s to build upscale homes in place of

older ones.

“This is is a pretty popular issue, because people don’t want Big

Brother in their life,” said petitioner Tom Shirer, who has spent the

last few weeks in front of Trader Joe’s at Five Points Plaza soliciting

signatures. “In the last week alone, I’ve collected 1,000 signatures from

supporters, and we need 15% of the city’s registered voters to succeed.”

About 113,000 voters were registered for the city’s last election.

However, this figure will be revised, once the petitions are submitted,

to include voters who have registered since then.

To date, he added, petitioners have collected at least 18,000

signatures by entrenching themselves in front of major supermarkets and

stores or canvassing neighborhoods house by house.

Rent control advocates, such as Huntington Beach Mobile Homeowners

Assn. President Steve Gullage, believe Laird’s measure could open the

gates to higher rents for residents on fixed incomes.

“If this [measure] is allowed to get on the City Charter, it will take

away the city’s ability to govern itself,” Gullage said, adding that many

mobile home owners have been trying since 1996 to get a rent control

ordinance approved by City Council. “[The charter amendment] will affect

everyone, not just mobile homeowners . . . anyone who pays rent.”

City Clerk Connie Brockway said all petitioning for the measure must

be completed by Dec. 14, when she must review the paperwork and send the

signatures to the county Registrar of Voters for validation. If the

signatures are found to be valid, the proposal could be on the ballot for

the November 2002 general election, or voted on before then if council

members deem it necessary.