Pasadena’s Measure H Passed, Now What?

For Rent sign on Madison and Del Mar (Photo – Rob G.)

The landmark victory of Measure H in the November 2022 election has relieved hundreds of Pasadena tenants of some of their rent burden.

By Ryan Bell

Both the City of Pasadena and the California Apartment Association confirm that Measure H, which is now Article XVIII of the Pasadena City Charter, is in effect, including a limit on rent increases, just cause eviction protections, and a rent rollback under certain circumstances.

The part of the Article XVIII that is still awaiting full implementation is the Rental Housing Board.  The application process has been open since January 23 of this year. To date 48 individuals have received applications for 11 city council appointed positions and 5 have qualified. Two of the qualified candidates have applied for at-large positions and three have qualified for tenant positions, one each from Council Districts 3, 4, and 5. According to an update provided to City Council by City Clerk Mark Jomsky on Monday, the deadline for applicatants to return their completed applications is Thursday, March 23 by the end of business. The City Council agreed in January to wait for the results of a lawsuit by the California Apartments Association challenging certain aspects of the law before appointing any rent board members. The judge earlier denied the CAA’s motion for a temporary restraining order saying that she did not find any irreparable harm from allowing the measure to proceed until the hearing on the merits of their suit.  The hearing on the case is set for March 28. Under the charter amendment, the City has until mid-April to appoint the rent board.

Requirements

There are several requirements to qualify for a seat on the new rent board. Seven seats will be reserved for tenants, one from each Council District, and 4 will be appointed at-large. At-large members must live in Pasadena but do not need to be tenants. Applicants must fill out an application form, obtain 25 signatures on a nomination form from residents in their Council District, and sign a variety of affidavits under penalty of perjury.

> For more information about how to apply for a seat on the Pasadena Rental Housing Board see this link.

> To learn more about how Article XVIII may apply in your situation, see the tenant toolkit created by the Pasadena Tenants Union.