Calif. ballot measures address property-right concerns

AP via SFGate ^ | 5/9/8 | SAMANTHA YOUNG, Associated Press Writer

[SmithL]

SACRAMENTO, (AP) -- Barbara Gonzel has lived in a two-bedroom duplex in northwest Los Angeles for 13 years, protected from the region's soaring housing costs by the city's rent-control ordinance.

That could change, and Gonzel could find herself paying hundreds of dollars more in monthly rent, if voters approve one of two property rights initiatives on the June 3 primary election ballot.

One of the measures, Proposition 98, is supported by landlords and business owners and contains a provision that would phase out local rent-control ordinances for apartments, duplexes and mobile home parks.

It also would eliminate tenant-protection rules that could make it easier for landlords to evict renters. The ballot measure is opposed by renters groups, mobile home residents, senior advocates and some of the state's leading politicians.

For Gonzel, voter approval of Proposition 98 would most likely mean her landlord could find ways to evict from her $745-a-month duplex, she says. She said typical rents for two-bedroom units in her Echo Park neighborhood range from $1,800 to $1,900 a month.

"We won't have the protections we have now," said Gonzel, a 49-year-old tenants' organizer who shares her home with her daughter and son-in-law. "If they don't like the music I put on or they don't like that I have visitors, they are going to evict me and I have to rent another place that is three times more expensive than I was living in."

The rent-control and eviction provisions of Proposition 98 have become a flashpoint in the campaign leading to the June 3 primary.

Opponents say the backers of Proposition 98 have downplayed those provisions and created a deceptive campaign.

That initiative and its rival on the June 3 ballot, Proposition 99, address the rights of property owners when governments want to seize their land...

[SmithL]

The AssPress is doing its best to insure that the Peoples Republic of California doesn't have property rights.

[Bernard Marx]

"We think that it is a real Trojan horse. It's pretending to be about eminent domain when it in fact does greater damage," said Jeannine English, president of the California AARP.

One might say the AARP is also a "real Trojan horse." It pretends to be about the concerns of senior citizens when it's really a fund-raising lobby with socialism, especially socialized medicine, as its goal.

[UScbass]

Vote NO on Proposition 98 and YES on Proposition 99.

[calex59]

Prop 98 will not cause rent control to immediately drop. It only applies in cases where the tenant moves out, then the landlord can raise the rent. It restores property rights to all citizens. Prop 99 only affects single family dwellings, it doesn't stop seizure of rentals, businesses or other types of property and turning them over to other private businesses. Prop 98 stops these seizures on all properties. Gives back landlords the right to rent at what ever the market can bear, as a free market should do. Can't believe a conservative would think rent controls are a good thing.

BTW, I don't own rental properties, but if I did I would want the government to keep its face out of my business. I already mailed my absentee ballot in and voted for, wait for it, Prop 98.

[B Knotts]

Nancy Pelosi and a wide variety of liberal special interest groups are against Prop. 98 and for Prop. 99, so I think Yes on 98, No on 99 is the prudent way to go.

This is the new liberal tactic on initiatives; they find out about one, and they put a “innoculation” initiative on to counter it (by paying lip service to the issue at hand while undermining the cause).

[Czar]

Did you post a typo or do you actually believe Prop 99 is better for homeowners than Prop. 98?

The reason I ask is because every conservative in California describes Prop. 99 as a snare and delusion and is recommending a Yes vote on Prop. 98 and a No vote on Prop. 99.

[Amerigomag]

Welcome to FR.

Those who publish unsubstantiated, liberal spam usually are good for about 48 hours.

Wish you well. I'll check back Monday to see if you survived.

[dan1123]

For Gonzel, voter approval of Proposition 98 would most likely mean her landlord could find ways to evict from her $745-a-month duplex, she says. She said typical rents for two-bedroom units in her Echo Park neighborhood range from $1,800 to $1,900 a month.

Maybe SF will realize that the property is overvalued when no one will work in the city for less than $250k.

[Carry_Okie]

Welcome to FR.

UScbass has been here since November 1998.

Either a foolish mistake or another New Mawhority "conservative."

[passionfruit]

You have it wrong. Vote YES on 98 and NO on 99. A yes vote on both will allow for prop 99 to use a provision to nullify 98.

Getting rid of rent control is a good thing. First, rent control has caused people that might build more rental housing to forget about it and not develop rental property. Because of this there is a tremendous shortage of housing there.

Second, MOST of the people who live in rent control housing aren’t poor. They may have been 20 or more years ago when they moved in, but they are now prosperous and are living off of a system that cheats the landlord at their expense.

Finally, wheat right does a city have to tell a private citizen what they can charge for rent? Does the city pay the difference between the rent received and the true value of the rent?

The woman in the article has the ability to poormouth her story, but the truth is that there are three adults in that house who could afford to pay a regular rent if they all work and contribute. She likes living in expensive coastal real estate and wants her landlord to subsidize her lifestyle.

If market forces were allowed to prevail she wouldn’t live there. She would live in a different community in an apartment she could afford, because she found one where the going rate was what she could pay.

[ArmstedFragg]

I get the feeling that AP has never been to Echo Park. It’s located in the center of Los Angeles, halfway between downtown and Hollywood. I guess you could say it’s northwest of the downtown by a couple of miles, but ‘northwest Los Angeles’ would be about 15 miles away, somewhere near Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley.

[calcowgirl]

Vote NO YES on Proposition 98 and YES NO on Proposition 99.

[ElkGroveDan]

Do you work for a city or county government or something? Are you an urban planner? Because that’s who are supporting your positions.