Marin rent control faces pivotal test in November election

With rent-control measures affecting three local municipalities on the ballot, the Nov. 5 election could be a watershed event for Marin County.

Voters in Fairfax will decide whether to keep the rent-control ordinance and rent protections that the Town Council approved in 2022. The ordinance made Fairfax the first municipality in the county to adopt its own rent cap and renter protections.

In San Anselmo, residents will vote on whether to keep their rent-control ordinance, which the Town Council approved by a 3-2 vote in April. A separate but related measure will give San Anselmo voters the option of doubling down on rent control by approving tenant protections.

In Larkspur, residents will vote on a measure that would make the rent-control ordinance they narrowly upheld in March stricter while also adding tenant protections.

“My goal is to win in all three communities and send a resounding message that extra excessive rent control is not needed in Marin County,” said Michael Sexton of Fairfax, director of Marin Residents, a nonprofit composed of homeowners, housing providers and renters.

Opponents of local rent-control ordinances such as Sexton are quick to point out that a state law limits annual rent increases to no more than 5% plus the local inflation rate or 10%, whichever is lower. However, single-family homes, condominiums and dwellings built after Feb. 1, 1995, are exempt.

“Unfortunately, if we lose in all three areas it’s going to leave the door wide open for the Democratic Socialists of America to bring rent control to Mill Valley, Sausalito, Novato and Marin County as a whole,” Sexton said.

Sexton and other critics of Fairfax’s efforts at rent control have asserted that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the Berkeley Rent Board were instrumental in drafting the original Fairfax ordinance and convincing council members to back it.

“They brought it to Fairfax thinking that Fairfax was the low-hanging fruit,” Sexton said. “If they could get a foothold in Fairfax, then they’d be able to bring it to other communities.”

Curt Ries, leader of the Marin Democratic Socialists of America, said in 2022 that the models for Fairfax’s ordinances were supplied by Leah Simon-Weisberg, the legal director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and the chair of the Berkeley Rent Board.

Pat Johnstone, who heads the Democratic Central Committee of Marin, said, “It’s not DSA-driven. DSA is involved. A lot of organizations are involved.”

Johnstone said the Marin Democratic Party has endorsed all of the local rent-control and renter-protection measures on the Nov. 5 ballot.

“We will actively be working on this,” Johnstone said, “with all the usual modalities that we use to promote the things that we endorse.”

As to why rent control is on the ballot in so many Marin municipalities at the moment, Johnstone said, “We’re seeing it around the state, not just in Marin. It’s reached a tipping point. We’re not providing for our workforce. It’s not sustainable.”

Proposition 33 on November’s state ballot would remove the restriction that prevents cities from capping rents on housing built after 1995. It has been endorsed by the California Democratic Party.

If all of the local rent-control ordinances are approved, Larkspur will end up with the most restrictive policy in the county. Its City Council adopted an ordinance last year that capped annual rent increases at 5% plus inflation, or 7%, whichever was lower. Measure K proposes reducing the annual cap to 60% of the consumer price index, or 3%, whichever is lower. The ordinance would also limit the grounds for evicting tenants of some rentals and enact additional housing regulations.

San Anselmo’s Measure N would enact a rent-control ordinance approved by the Town Council by a 3-2 vote in April. The ordinance would limit annual rent increases to 5%, or 60% of the consumer price index, whichever is lower. The ordinance applies to properties with three or more dwellings on the same parcel, or contiguous parcels under common ownership.

San Anselmo’s Measure O would penalize landlords of properties with three or more dwellings who terminate a tenancy due to no fault of the tenant. Offending landlords would be required to pay relocation compensation to tenants who are required to move and provide the right to return to the dwelling on similar terms if the landlord rents again within five years.

If Fairfax residents reject Measure I, the town’s current rent-control ordinance will remain in effect.

After facing pushback, the council amended the ordinance increasing the cap from 60% of the regional consumer price index to 75%. It also adjusted some of the just-cause-for-eviction rules.

Nowhere in Marin has rent control been more contentious than in Fairfax, where the three incumbents seeking re-election in November — Barbara Coler, Bruce Ackerman and Chance Cutrano — support retaining it, while four challengers — Frank Egger, Mike Ghiringhelli, Cindy Swift and Douglas Kelly — all want to scrap it.

“It’s really created a divisiveness in Fairfax, pitting neighbor against neighbor,” Egger, who served seven terms on the council before being ousted in 2005, said during a meeting with the Independent Journal editorial board on Thursday.

Cutrano said, “I’m very supportive of our tenant protections and look forward to maintaining them.”

The two candidates competing to replace Katie Rice as the District 2 representative on the Marin County Board of Supervisors have taken nuanced positions on rent control.

“My thoughts on rental policy are informed by my direct experiences as a renter,” Brian Colbert said. “When looking for a place to live in New York City and San Francisco, the number of rental units available to me and my family was materially curtailed due to the number of apartments under rental control.”

Colbert, who is a San Anselmo council member, voted against adopting his town’s rent-control ordinance.

Heather McPhail Sridharan said, “I support sensible renter protections as a critical tool in a toolbox for an overall housing strategy that includes short term rental subsidies and building affordable housing.”

“Overly aggressive rent control policies disincentivize landlords from maintaining property and discourage housing development,” she said.

Brian Sobel, a Petaluma political analyst, said it is difficult to assess which side has the demographic advantage in Marin when it comes to the issue of rent control.

Sobel said homeowners outnumber renters, and some homeowners are also landlords with a vested interest in maintaining as much control as possible over their property.

“But that is counterbalanced by just how progressive Marin County is politically,” Sobel said. “A lot of folks in Marin have wealth but at the same time they have empathy for people who don’t and therefore rent-control measures may make some sense to them.”

Sobel said that is even more likely in “uber-progressive” communities such as Fairfax, San Anselmo and Larkspur.