San Anselmo approves rent-control referendum for November election

A voter referendum on rent control in San Anselmo has been set for the November ballot.

The Town Council voted unanimously at its meeting on Tuesday to advance the initiative. The council also finalized the ballot language as it will appear to voters.

Also, in a 3-2 vote, the council authorized a written statement in favor of rent control to appear alongside the measure. Mayor Eileen Burke and Councilmember Brian Colbert voted against the measure. Councilmembers Steve Burdo, Alexis Fineman and Tarrell Kullaway voted in support.

Fineman and Kullaway were designated as the authors of the statement, which will be credited to the council as a whole.

San Anselmo’s rent-control ordinance limits annual increases to 5%, or 60% of the consumer price index, whichever is lower. It applies to properties with three or more dwellings on the same parcel, or contiguous parcels under common ownership. It also prohibits property owners from charging tenants for utilities in addition to rent.

The ordinance was adopted in a 3-2 vote of the Town Council on April 9, with the same councilmember split as with the statement vote.

The ballot measure states: “Shall Ordinance No. 2024-1185, establishing a prohibition on residential real property annual rental rate increases (applied only to triplexes and larger) that exceed 60% of the Consumer Price Index or 5%, whichever is lower, and defining a base rent as the rent in effect on June 21, 2023, be adopted?”

“The referendum takes the ordinance out of the council’s hands and puts it in the hands of the voters,” said Town Attorney Megan Acevedo.

The referendum was filed with the town on May 2. Organizers submitted 1,568 signatures in support of the effort. On May 15, the Marin County elections office confirmed the petition had 1,471 valid signatures and that it had qualified for the ballot. The petitioners were required to gather 952 signatures.

Members of the council debated Tuesday whether it should submit ballot arguments for the referendum.

Burke said she preferred the community write the arguments because of the council’s divide on the rent-control issue. Previous votes to pass renter protections were divided along the same lines, with Colbert and Burke opposed.

“I don’t think we should try to tip it one way or the other,” Burke said.

Colbert agreed that a council message might send an incorrect suggestion of consensus.

“I think it would certainly be confusing for the community to suggest that the council in its entirety is making the argument,” Colbert said.

The other members pointed out that despite a close vote, rent control was passed with a majority vote.

“I think the council should come out in support of it if we believe it should go to the ballot instead of simply overturn it, which was the other option we were faced with,” Fineman said.

Burdo added, “I think it would be prudent for the town to stand by the policy that the majority — this is a democracy after all — voted for.”

The Town Council is also developing a potential ballot measure for tenant protections to be voted on alongside the rent-control referendum this fall. The issues discussed for the measure include the right to return and first right of refusal, which protects displaced tenants and their occupancy in dwellings. It could also include provisions on compensation for no-fault evictions and short-term relocation payments.

Fairfax also has scheduled a referendum on its rent-control ordinance for the November election. The Fairfax Town Council approved that ordinance, the first in Marin at the time, in November 2022.

Larkspur’s ordinance caps rent increases at 5% plus inflation or 7%, and the initiative passed during the March election. Another potential initiative proposed in Larkspur would cap annual rent increases at 60% of the consumer price index or 3%, whichever is lower.