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# Rent control is a communist regime
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/rent-control-is-a-communist-regime-editor/
- Published: 2006-11-10T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T22:04:47.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Pacific Palisades, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Mark Tracey Santa Monica*

Thank you for printing the SM City Council candidate bios (SMDP, Oct. 31-Nov. 1). I couldn’t help noticing that all of the SMRR-backed candidates live in rent-controlled apartments; isn’t that a blatant conflict of interest? It seems strange that they (and the RCB members themselves) are allowed to propagate a system from which they directly benefit. Kind of makes me wonder who is going to end up living in the “affordable housing” units they want to build on Ocean Front Walk, right next to the luxury hotels.

I also could not help noticing that one candidate is decidedly “pro-homeless.” I’m sorry, but when I see people camping directly beneath the “no camping” signs (and defecating in public), I do think they’re breaking the law. I would love to be able to camp on the beach for free. I would also love to be able to use the parks that my tax dollars have paid for — but I gave up that dream 20 years ago, shortly after moving here and being accosted in Palisades Park in front of my date (never saw her again, either).

Then, last night, I had a (really bad) dream: What if all the homeless people banded together, pooled their panhandling resources, and passed a ballot measure that forced citizens to open up a portion of their homes to homeless people? Think that couldn’t happen? Ask any landlord in this city — their property rights were taken away almost 30 years ago. Rent control is communism, plain and simple.

Actually, it’s a bit worse — with communism the government is the entity that subsidizes an individual’s income and standard of living. Here in the People’s Republic, it is the landlords’ responsibility. Take a look at all the German sports and luxury cars parked underneath our city’s apartment buildings — and I did my informal survey back in 1986, long before vacancy decontrol.

The only way to make effective change in this city is to get rid of SMRR.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 10, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111006.pdf?ref=smdp.com)