10,000 signatures gathered to revisit Salinas’ rental ordinance referendum
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) -- A major milestone passed July 2 for a rental ordinance referendum in Salinas.
After months, over 10,000 signatures have been gathered to either have Salinas City Council vote to reverse the repeal of the ordinances or allow voters to decide for themselves during the next election.
"The council is going to have another crack at the apple to make the right decision that doesn't hurt the community," said councilman Andrew Sandoval.
Before these options, however, the City Clerk needs to count the signatures and then verified by the county, which could take up to 30 days.
After being verified is when the signatures will be voted on by city council or during the next election by voters.
"I fear [the council is] going to call for a special election that could cost the city of this residents over a million dollars--wasteful tax taxpayer money," commented Sandoval, worries that the council may lean towards the costly third option. "They could just hold the election at the next regularly scheduled election... and I hope my colleagues do the right thing."
During the verification process, the repeal from four previous rental ordinances will remain on pause and the laws will stay in place for the interim.
We reached out to Salinas mayor Dennis Donohue for comment on these developments, to which he replied; "We will continue to focus on rental assistance and making sure our residents know their rights and resources."
The rental ordinances being a hot topic in Salinas for nearly a year.
Protect Salinas Renters hit 8,400 signatures ahead of their deadline
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The looming deadline to gather enough signatures for a petition that would look to send rental ordinances to a public vote is near.
Monday morning, renters, activists, and members of the community joined outside the Salinas City Rotunda. This, just days before having to submit nearly 10 thousand registered voter signatures to the city council.
“The message is clear,” says Nidia Soto, member of Protect Salinas Renters. The general sentiment of the community, she adds, is that they want these protections to be put back in place. Over the last 30 days, these volunteers have canvased at events looking to meet the required number of signatures.
The community organization set an internal deadline of July 1, with the city officially requiring them to submit the signatures by Thursday, July 3, and with only days before that, these volunteers say they have gathered 8,400 signatures.
“Our internal check, which will be done beginning 5 p.m. tomorrow, John Silva, a member of the organization, says they would like to first do an internal verification of the petitioned signatures. He adds they have to make sure all those who signed are, in fact, registered Salinas voters.
Dr. John Silva says they have had many people who are unhoused and were told to sign with a different address. To this, Dr. Silva states they will double-check if this is allowed before submitting signatures. If it is not permitted, “we will discard those. We'll discard illegible ones. You know, we'll be responsible with our list.”
At the beginning of the month, Mayor Donohue made his stance clear. “We weren't stripping away rights. It wasn't going to solve the problem of rental relief that people wanted.”
He added the four ordinances doubled on protections already in place by state law. The city clerk is adding just how hard the process for a referendum is. In a statement, the city clerk's office adds, “If that threshold has been met, the City Clerk will submit the petitions to the County Elections Official, who must determine whether the petition contains the requisite number of valid signatures. The County Elections Official has a thirty-day period to do so.”
If it gets enough signatures, the referendum will be brought to the council to decide whether to hold a special election or wait for next year's primary.
