Second in a series
Re “Heartbreaking, Says Meghan, City Has Nothing to Offer Renters”
[img]1307|right|Vice Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells||no_popup[/img]Without making a commitment to supporting the generally understood concept of rent control, that is heating up again, Vice Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells she is looking forward to a public discussion with her fellow City Council members.
“Are we going to go forward with rent control?” she asked. “If so, what will it look like?”
Ms. Sahli-Wells is “confident” that she can gain two votes from the other four members to formally agendize the matter.
“At least we can get this discussed,” she said, “because it is an important issue. I would expect my colleagues would be at least willing to discuss it.”
Given that Mayor Jeff Cooper, Jim Clarke, Andy Weissman and Mehaul O’Leary have squared their shoulders in opposition to rent control, this may not be the bet of the day.
“Discussing,” said Ms. Sahli-Wells, “doesn’t mean you are doing it or not doing it. You just are talking about it. That is reasonable.
“When talking about rent control, it would have to be specific to Culver City. It would have to be our own brand.”
Does the vice mayor have a design in mind?
“Not precisely,” she said. “The basic idea I have been thinking about is to take what the Landlord Tenant Mediation Board does and give it some teeth.
“Right now, all we can do is make people come to the table. But we can’t make them agree to anything.
“Some of the solutions the Landlord Tenant Mediation Board comes up with are good – if they are actually followed.”
Ms. Sahli-Wells reiterated that in the unlikely event Culver City adopts a form of rent control, the accent will be on moderation.
“We will not have draconian rent control, the kind that makes people run away and not invest their money,” she said. “It’s just coming to a place where we are being compassionate, both compassionate to people who live in a community and market savvy.
“I own a home. I am glad home prices are pretty valuable. That is a little selfish,” she said with a laugh. “But I think we can find a balance between compassion and economic vitality.
(To be continued)
