A Majority of Pasadena Voters Said Yes to Prop 10

Old Pasadena on a warm fall day (Photo – Alina, pexels).

Proposition 10, the ballot measure to repeal a law limiting rent control, was rejected by statewide voters on November 6, but Pasadena voters said YES.

By Kate Bartlett

A majority (54.9%) of Pasadena voters said YES to Proposition 10 on November 6.  Statewide, voters rejected Prop 10 by 59.62% after a reported $70+ million in opposition money from the real estate industry.  The purpose of Prop 10 was to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a law that limited rent controls by prohibiting controls on apartments built after 1995, single-family homes and condos, and units vacated by tenants.

If you don’t
have enough money,
you’re just out
of Pasadena

Nicole Hodgson of the Pasadena Tenants Union (PTU) credited the work of PTU members and volunteers who used phone banks and canvassing to educate Pasadena voters on housing policies and the need for just cause evictions.  Michelle White, Director of Housing Services for Pasadena and a PTU member stated, “If you don’t have enough money, you’re just out of Pasadena.”

Ten California municipalities gathered signatures in 2018 to put rent control on the ballot, and more campaigns for local rent control ballot measures are planned; a measure will appear on the ballot in Sacramento in 2020.  In September 2018, Los Angeles County imposed a temporary rent moratorium in unincorporated areas of the county.

Kate Bartlett has a BA (Political Science) and a JD, University of Wisconsin-Madison.  She practiced business and securities law until she graduated to the rest of her life: dabbling in and consuming various art forms.