FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2018
Contact:
Kim Camilleri, Metro Chamber
KCamilleri@metrochamber.org
cell: 916-804-5286
Metro Chamber Response to Proposed Sacramento City Rent Control Ballot Measure
A ballot measure would do nothing to address the real problem of housing insecurity for our workforce
This week, rent control activists filed language with the Sacramento City Clerk’s Office to begin collecting petitions to put a rent control measure on the ballot. In response to the Notice of Intent, the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy & Economic Development, Robert Dugan, has issued the following statement:
“As a region, we are far behind the rest of the state when it comes to building sufficient rental and affordable housing options for our young professionals, citizens on fixed incomes and our workforce, and we need to be making every effort to bring stability to the housing marketplace for our fixed income and working-class residents. The key here is increasing supply at a price point that those citizens can afford.
Rent control is an artificial mechanism, a band-aid, that unfortunately will do nothing to address or fix the root cause of the high cost of housing in the Sacramento Region and do nothing to address the real reasons low-income workers and even the middle-class can’t afford housing in our area, the lack of sufficient affordable housing supply. In fact, over time it will hurt the very people it is meant to help, as it will discourage the development and construction of additional new rental housing units. Our housing costs are at a tipping point. For housing costs to stabilize, our focus must be on increasing housing production for our growing population and driving down the costs to produce it.
The Sacramento Metro Chamber is working aggressively to address the root causes that have caused this imbalance, and we urge those who are proposing this ballot initiative to join our coalition in our efforts to ensure that we can build housing for all, at every level, within our region. The Capitol region is more and more becoming an alternative to other areas in the state with our competitive economy, dedication to fostering entrepreneurs, and quality of life. Efforts like these puts as at a real risk of losing that competitive advantage”
Please contact the chamber to join our coalition to address the housing shortage in our region at: MetroChamberPublicPolicy@metrochamb