Rent control will not appear on the ballot in Delano after all.
According to the Kern County Elections Division, the campaign to place rent control on the ballot fell short because not enough valid signatures were collected.
Driving the news: The rent control measure would have capped rent increases to 60 percent of the annual change in the federal consumer price index.
- Delano residents would not face increases of over three percent per year, had the measure been passed.
- The initiative also would have added tenant protections and provided legal services to renters.
The big picture: Organizers needed to submit 1,714 valid signatures to the county in order to have the initiative placed on the November ballot.
- While the county received 2,270 signatures, it found that 706 were invalid, leaving the initiative 150 signatures short from going to the voters.
What they’re saying: Delano Mayor Joe Alindajao has been against the proposal and celebrated its failure to gather enough signatures.
- “State rent control is already the law of the state and passing a Delano version is both unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars,” Alindajao told the Bakersfield Califonrian.
- Alindajao continued, “The lack of signatures I think sends a clear message from our constituents that this piece of legislation is not the will of Delano voters.”
