It’s been more than 20 years since the seven commissioners on the city’s rent control board have gotten a raise.
While rent control board commissioners toiled away for $75 a meeting, every other elected official in Santa Monica has had their pay increased and been provided health benefits.
Now, some are asking voters to change that on Nov. 5 and approve Measure GG, which would double the commissioners’ pay to $150 a meeting and allow them to be covered by the city’s insurance policy.
“Rent control board members work very hard on behalf of the community,” said Councilman Richard Bloom, a Measure GG supporter. “In Santa Monica, there is a large group of tenants and landlords and commissioners who are in charge of making some very serious decisions.”
The rent control board was created by an initiative approved by Santa Monica voters in 1979. Since then, the board has met roughly twice a month to help regulate apartments that fall under the city’s rent control laws.
Annual “registration fees” are charged to landlords and tenants of the city’s estimated 28,000 rent-controlled units to pay for rent control staff and the commission, which allows them to be financially independent of the city’s general fund.
Supporters say if voters pass Measure GG, there would be no affect on the city’s general fund or the amount that tenants and landlords are charged. The money, supporters say, would come internally from the rent control board’s budget, though estimates of the exact cost of providing health insurance remains vague.
Critics say that’s because the board does-n’t want to tell voters how much their pay raise and health insurance would cost them.
“The insurance benefit is a blank check,” said Rosario Perry, a local attorney who often appears before the rent control board. “The board has to pay for it out of its budget, and I don’t think it can without raising tenant user fees.”
Perry said that since the state passed laws allowing landlords to raise rent-controlled units to market rate once a tenant leaves, the number of rent-controlled units in the city has shrunk from 33,000 in 1979 to the estimated 28,000 units today. As that number shrinks so too does the amount of fees being collected.
“They have had increasing costs and decreasing revenues,” he said. “They have already had to cut costs and not fill vacant staff position to avoid charging higher registration fees. So where’s the money going to come from?”
Supporters say the measure’s critics are making a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to the increased costs. They say at 15 meetings a year, each member will make $2,250 at the higher wage, and that the insurance costs can be supported by the existing fees.
“This is not an open the floodgates kind of change,” Bloom said. “It’s very moderate. It’s still a token amount of money.”
“This is not an open the floodgates kind of change. It’s very moderate. It’s still a token amount of money.” — — RICHARD BLOOM Santa Monica City Councilman
But Perry remains unconvinced. “Forget it. If these board members don’t feel they are being paid enough, then quit,” he said. “Get a real job. You are volunteer personnel. You should be doing it for the love you have of the rent control law, so don’t overburden the tenants.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 4, 2002. Read the original PDF.