Second of two parts
Re “Rent Control – Time to Make Way for Funeral Arrangements?”
[img]1792|right|Jim Clarke||no_popup[/img]A primary reason rent control is not likely to pass in the last year and a half the present City Council is together, says Councilman Jim Clarke, “is that our rents are lower than other communities on the Westside.”
Mr. Clarke’s second reason may be even more daunting.
“If you institute some sort of rent control,” he said, “immediately some landlords will increase the rent to the maximum before the rent control goes in. Therefore, rent control would have a negative impact.
“Third, with the exception of some apartment buildings in Fox Hills, most of our rental units are owned by individuals. They use this a lot of times as retirement income for themselves. It is not as if it is taking away from corporations.”
If the disputable concept of rent control stubbornly hangs in the skies over Culver City, Mr. Clarke would prefer to adjudicate the disagreements one at a time.
“Case-by-case works better,” said the third-year Councilman. “If something does come up, we do, after all, have the Landlord Tenant Mediation Board. They have been fairly successful, even in cases where there have been rent increases, to have landlords not do the increases all at once. They have gotten the landlords to phase in the increases, which makes it a little easier on people.
“I think,” Mr. Clarke said, “we have a mechanism set up that can help to some degree.”
