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Protect Salinas Renters group says it submitted 10,607 signatures for rent-stabilization referendum
Summary
At the Aug. 6 Salinas Planning Commission meeting, a representative of Building Healthy Communities said activists collected and turned in 10,607 signatures seeking a referendum on the city's rent-stabilization ordinance; the county is verifying the petitions with results expected Aug. 15.
Hi. Good afternoon, commissioners. Luis Chago Juarez for Building Healthy Communities, was here. Wanted to, wanted to just present ourselves, myself and a partner, Nydia So to, with Building Healthy Communities and express our excitement over what our community was able to achieve in the month of June, from June 3 when the, the announcement repeal of the ordinance for the rent stabilization ordinance was announced or was enacted. That was on June 3.
We participated in a referendum effort under the collective Protect Salinas Renters. And in 30 days in less than 30 days, we were able to collect 10,607 signatures.
Luis Chago Juarez, a representative of Building Healthy Communities, told the Salinas Planning Commission during public comment on Aug. 6 that the group and its partners collected 10,607 signatures for a referendum effort organized under the coalition Protect Salinas Renters. Juarez said the petitions were turned in July 3 and that county officials are in the process of verifying the signatures, with verification expected to be complete on Friday, Aug. 15.
Juarez said the campaign engaged residents "1 on 1" and noted the effort aimed to represent the city's renter population; he said rentership in Salinas is about 53 percent. Nydia So, identified at the meeting as a partner with Building Healthy Communities, accompanied Juarez.
The comments were made during the meeting's public-comment period; commissioners did not take formal action on the petition during the session. Juarez and the speakers asked for continued communication with the commission and the broader community as the verification proceeds.
No formal timeline for action by the city or the county was announced at the meeting. The petition-completion date provided by Juarez was July 3; the verification date he cited is Aug. 15. The petition effort and its verification are administrative steps outside the planning commission's authority; any subsequent ballot or council steps would be handled by the county or city according to applicable election and referendum procedures.
The planning commission moved on to its consent agenda after public comment without taking action related to the petition.
