Sometimes a one-syllable word ca be impossible for an office-seeker to utter in public.
It happened last evening to progressive candidate Meghan Sahli-Wells.
Before a sparse audience at a candidates forum at the Senior Center sponsored by the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, emcee Fred Sutton posed an uncomplicated rudimentary question:
Rent control – yes or no?
Stepping so meticulously that she apparently intentionally avoided declaring her well-known stance, Ms. Sahli-Wells was the only candidate – progressive or otherwise — to mask her answer.
As the lone incumbent in the seven-person field chasing three City Council seats in the April 12 election, she is known for proudly bannering opinions. Not every time, though.
All of her rivals took one step forward and forcefully planted themselves.
Against, said Marcus Tiggs. “It creates a market that is not the market.”
“I have lived in Berkeley, Santa Monica and New York,” said Thomas Small. “I have not seen (rent control) help.”
“I am against rent control,” said Goran Eriksson, unequivocally. Virtually all economists in the world share this view, he said. “I wish we would stop talking about rent control. It just creates anxiety.”
Scott Wyant was strongly clear, too. “Rent control does not work,” he said. “The California Legislative Analyst published a report on Feb. 9 saying that it still does not work. Building housing – that is what works. Even building expensive housing frees up lower housing better than rent control does. We are back to what we have been talking about – we have an affordable housing issue in Culver City.”
Failure of Rent Control
Fellow progressive Daniel Lee, who agrees with 99 percent of Ms. Sahli-Wells’s views, was as clear as she was muddy. A renter, Mr. Lee acknowledged that rent control has not succeeded. “But that does not mean we should stop trying,” he said. “Renters should be protected.”
Jay Garocochea, who manages two buildings owned by his mother, opposes rent control.
Ms. Sahli-Wells’s one-minute response was painted a heavy gray.
Said she:
“Soooooo… So right. I already talked about what we actually did on the City Council. And we voted not to implement rent control in Culver City.
“There are still affordability issues. We are going to take a look at our Landlord Tenant Mediation Board and see how it can be more effective.
“And we have created and will continue to create more affordable housing.
“What I would like sincerely to avoid, and what I think would be a fantastic role for (the apartment owners association) is to develop some Best Practices and make sure we do not have 100 percent rent increases on our residents. That incredibly destabilizes entire aspects of our community. That is like if someone raised your mortgage 100 percent, you would not survive. So please help us.”
Her avoidance was noticeable, even to sympathetic ears.
Mr. Lee opened his response by saying, “I guess she stands alone.”
The final question was to ascertain the candidates’ posture on a $15 minimum wage, which will appear on the statewide ballot in November.
Here Ms. Sahli-Wells twice declared herself.
“I do support raising the minimum wage,” she said in her opening volley.
One reason: “The majority of minimum wage workers are mothers.”
Mostly, her colleagues preferred to see the November results before attempting a move in Culver City.
I am not surprised that Ms. Sahli-Wells completely lacks the political courage to answer this simple question. Let me answer it for her: Ms. Sahli-Wells fervently supports the proven failure of rent control. Ms. Sahli-Wells also voted to continue fleecing taxpayers with red-light cameras. She also helped renew the contract with RedFlex, the most corrupt municipal vendor in the red-light camera scam. She is also a big supporter of the costly and misguided Fight-the-Flight movement, along with countless other radical socialist ideals. Save Culver City. Give our government a fresh start. Please do not re-elect Meghan Sahli-Wells.
hmmm….red light cameras a “radical socialist ideal”…seems more capitalist, but I digress. The article also states she was NOT for rent control, …just a fairer way to implement rent increases. They do so in many major cities… And what do you think will ultimately become of the Culver City property values if the perception of it is that it is noise polluted…pretty costly don’t you think? She’s done a fine job..We don’t need saving. We need someone with strong values. Please Re-elect Meghan Sahli-Wells.
To clarify I’d just like to say that my comment was “the cheese stands alone” and I was referring to myself and my contention that the way rent control has been implemented is bad but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to find a better way.
The idea that candidates should be measured by whether they support or oppose rent control is part of a misinformation campaign run by the Apartment Owners Association, which held this Candidate Forum.
Here’s an article from East Oakland that clears up the facts about the state law, known as Costa Hawkins which impedes cities from adopting effective rent control ordinances.
“Rents, in short, are officially out of control. And the skyrocketing prices are making apartments much too expensive for many longtime residents. Unfortunately, however, the city can’t do much about it. Why? A twenty-year-old state law known as the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act blocks Oakland and other California cities from adopting sensible rent control rules that could help keep rent prices from getting even higher.”
So, when people talk to you about rent control, ask them if they know about Costa Hawkins. Talk to them about whether they think that our Landlord Mediation Panel is doing a good job of mediating tenant disputes, if they’ve heard about tenants being evicted through rent hikes, and then talk to the candidates, and see which ones are actually looking for solutions.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/its-time-to-overturn-the-state-ban-on-rent-control/Content?oid=4229744
“Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, emcee Fred Sutton posed an uncomplicated rudimentary question…, Rent control – yes or no?” Uncomplicated? Perhaps, but it is also misleading and beside the point. The only ones talking about “rent control” are the folks from AAGLA (of which, as apartment owners, my wife and I are members). The AAGLA knows that the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act blocks California cities from adopting sensible rent control rules. The AAGLA also knows that regardless of this fact, it’s a handy tool for them to pull out to frighten apartment owners and divert attention away from meaningful discussions about maintaining some level of affordable housing stock in our community. Meghan answered with the truth, and rather than avoid, she challenged AAGLA to develop some best practices for the ethical treatment of tenants. For that, as well as many other instances when she has been to lone voice on the Council defending ALL the residents of Culver City, I applaud her. Yes, I will be voting for Meghan Sali-Wells, Daniel Lee and Thomas Small for Culver City Council in April.
I am with James Province 100% in his assessment of what actually happened at the AAGLA forum, which I attended as well. I heard Daniel Lee say, “The cheese stands alone,” and immediately understand it to mean himself. I saw no “shades of gray” in what Meghan Sahli-Wells said. She merely told the truth about what had happened in the past with City Council decisions regarding affordable housing and rental protections. I, too, will be voting for Meghan Sahli-Wells, Daniel Lee and Thomas Small for Culver City Council in April. In addition to James Province’s comment, I also greatly appreciate the education Claudia Vizcarra provided about the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
Carlen and James, yes, “She merely told the truth about what had happened in the past with City Council decisions regarding affordable housing and rental protections.”
If it was a Water Conservation Forum, would it be relevant to answer a question about sustaining a water conservation movement in Culver City? Answer, YES it would be relevant because that’s context of forum.
Here forum is an apartment association forum and association members want an answer to the affordable housing and rental protections question since topics directly relate to ownership of their property and income properties generate. Hence, question is within context of forum and relevant to association members.
Meghan Sahli-Wells did not answer, when question was directed at her in particular. What is HER position on rent control? What she gave was a collective answer in differing to the entire Culver City Council body. Its easy to claim question was not relevant, when one does not want to answer the question.