Austin Castro
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) — In a 5-2 vote on Tuesday night, Salinas councilmembers voted to repeal four ordinances surrounding renter protections and a rental registry program.
The move came despite criticism from a large portion of the community.
Landlords in favor of the move said too much of the burden was being placed on them for the ordinances and also argued it would only lead to another increase in rent.
The city isn’t safe from the ongoing housing crisis. A recent report highlights low income designations for all households skyrocketed since 2016 and even before then.
Renters in Salinas shared their concerns for the ordinances being removed while also providing some perspective on the housing situation in the city.
“One of my students lives with a single mother and 3 younger siblings in a single room,” said one individual during public comment. “It’s a 4 bedroom house and that person pays $1,300 a month. One bedroom and no stove.”
Councilmembers Tony Barrera and Andrew Sandoval remained the lone voices on the council against repealing the ordinances.
Sandoval seemingly indicating the city’s attempts to create a rent assistance program instead of keeping the ordinances in place may not work as well as they hope.
“We’re going to fund the program… but it’ll probably cost us about $200,000 to start it off,” Sandoval said. “It’ll help 30 to 50 residents in Salinas, but repealing the ordinance will affect 80,000 people living in the city of Salinas. I’m just trying to make this make sense.”
The city previously admitted during another meeting that it doesn’t have a budget to sustain a rental assistance program at this time, but were working to find ways to get it funded.
Another solution discussed previously by Councilmember Jose Luis Barajas as potentially bringing in an ordinance that would raise the city’s minimum wage.
That item has not been discussed since.
Councilmember Barrera argued the ordinance wasn’t able to stand on its legs long enough to determine if it was going to have a positive or negative effect on the city.
“What matters is the people in front of us are asking ‘can you listen to us and help us out? Can you give us four more months?'” said Barrera, addressing his fellow councilmembers. “Imagine that. But my colleagues aren’t willing to do that. Not that they’re wrong, none of you are wrong. But we don’t know if we’re right as we.”
The city council members who voted in favor of repealing the ordinances did not respond to Barrera and Sandoval’s comments after the public comment period.
Salinas City Council moves forward with repealing four ordinances surrounding tenants and landlords
After hours of public comment Tuesday night, the Salinas City Council deciding to repeal the four rental ordinances, just one more reading of the ordinance needed to fully repeal the rental ordinances.
Former council members also showing up to show their support for the ordinances, former councilmember Anthony Rocha calling the repeal “shameful”, while thanking councilmembers Barrera and Sandoval for fighting to keep the ordinances in the city.
The vote came along the same lines as the last time the issue was discussed by the council, only council members that helped pass the ordinances on the last council voted no on the repeal. Council now expected to hear the issue again on June 3rd.
Original Article – On Tuesday night, Salinas City Council decided to move forward with repealing four ordinances tackling renter protections in the city. While the those ordinances are set to go away, their motion included a push towards a rental assistance program and monthly housing report to the council.
“We’ve literally outgrown our city, and that’s that’s a big part of the problem, and we all want it fixed tomorrow,” Salinas District 3 Councilmember Margaret D’Arrigo said.
In the same meeting, City Council also received a report surrounding the progress of those ordinances so far.
In September 2024, the previous council adopted a rent stabilization program which also addressed just cause evictions, tenant protections, and tenant anti-harassment.
In April 2023, a residential rental registration program was also adopted. Council chambers were at capacity during the item as countless people spoke on the item.
“I feel the short time frame that this was enacted, it was shoved down all of our throats. We had very few meetings, and none of our feedback was taken into consideration,” said one person during public comment.
A group of Salinas doctors also help a conference outside the council rotunda, prior to the meeting, in support of keeping the ordinances.
“These policies provide immediate relief and long term stability to thousands of residents Salinas residents, including doctors, faith leaders and advocates,” Dr. John Silva said.
The decision to repeal the ordinance coming by a 5-2 vote.
Notably, the five votes supporting the repeal came from the new council members and new Mayor Donohue. Whereas the two votes against a repeal came from Council Members Barrera and Sandoval.
In terms of the potential rental assistance program, no specific details were given, other than the city would explore it.
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