San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has spoken out against a November ballot initiative that would vastly expand rent control to cover all housing in California.
For decades, state law has prohibited cities from limiting rent increases on single-family homes and apartments built after 1995. Proposition 33 would repeal that law and also allow cities to control rental prices for new tenants. The idea has Mahan and 22 other mayors from across the state mounting fierce opposition.
As time goes on and new housing is built, tenant advocates warn that rent control will apply to fewer buildings. Opponents argue that repealing the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act would free up cities from building more affordable housing.
“Too many families are struggling due to the high cost of housing,” Mahan said in a statement from the mayors’ coalition. “As mayor, I am focused on ensuring that San Jose builds new housing downtown and near fast, reliable public transportation. Prop 33 would make it harder for San Jose and the state of California to meet our affordable housing goals and help families struggling with rising housing costs.”
Proposition 33 is the latest version of a ballot measure that voters have blocked twice before, in 2018 and 2020. Opponents say it will drive down property values and discourage new housing development, driving up prices for homes that already exist.
Meanwhile, advocates argue that unreasonable rent increases put too many residents on the edge of the streets and that the measure returns legislative reins to local elected leaders.
One of the defenders of the measure is South Bay Community Land Trust Sandy Perry, Vice President of the Board.
“For someone who claims to be so concerned about homelessness, Mayor Mahan opposing Prop 33 is just wrong,” Perry told San José Spotlight. “If you’re not going to do something to raise rents, your promises about homelessness are not going to be effective. You could even call them hypocritical.”
Mahan declined to comment beyond the statement. The only other Santa Clara County official listed is Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Perry said he personally discussed this issue with Mahan.
“The mayor makes this point — certainly the real estate industry makes this point — that we need to unleash the private market, but the private market doesn’t work,” Perry said. “If the only incentive for housing development is to raise rents, that does nothing to address our affordable housing crisis.”
Eight mayors in the coalition hail from Orange County. State Democratic leaders have also opposed the measure.
“This initiative is a massive loophole that allows select local governments to get away with affordable housing and opens the door to erasing every inch of progress we’ve made on housing over the past 20 years,” state Sen. Toni Atkins said in a statement. “All I can say is don’t be fooled.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
