Pushed housing stability plan for tenants by the sea

Two members of the Oceanside Council said on Monday that they would pressure for what they called “emergency orders” to ensure more housing stability to tenants.

The members of the Council Eric Joyce and Jimmy Figueroa declared during a press conference at the Town Hall that their proposal would limit most of the rent increases to a maximum of 5%, to establish “flawless” expulsion protections, to increase legal services for tenants and more.

“Everyone deserves a stable house,” said Joyce, adding that the proposals would protect the most vulnerable populations in the oceanside such as the elderly and young workers who find it difficult to pay high housing costs in the region.

Figueroa said that as tenants, he and his family include the need for tenants’ protections.

“My wife and I live the pay check check check, just like many of you,” he told around 30 to 40 people under a sky watered in the Civic Center Plaza. “We are concerned about what could happen in the event of a problem.”

The proposal is likely to be opposed by owners, promoters and owners.

The former member of the Oceanside Council Chuck Lowery described him as “weird plan to punish the small rental owners to pay for accommodation”.

“This is a total distraction of the place where the resources must be directed,” said Lowery in an email on Tuesday. “Some residents who work hard choose not to count on a comfortable pension plan to the detriment of others and have rather invested in quality affordable accommodation for the elderly.

“The municipal council does not need to show more punitive rules on residents for the benefit of personal inheritance programs and political campaign strategies,” he said.

The speakers of the press conference supported the proposals, who provisionally appear on the agenda of April 9 of the municipal council and are likely to draw a crowd.

“Many of our followers are struggling with these same situations,” said Jason Coker, pastor of the Oceanside Sanctuary Church. “We see a housing crisis.”

High housing costs, unpredictable rent increases and the always present threat of expulsion make all the tenants vulnerable, he said, and the city has “a moral imperative” to protect its residents.

Todd Walters, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, said that many of the 12,000 members of the union in the counties of San Diego and Imperial occupied two or three jobs just to pay their bills. Many workers must bear long journeys between their jobs and the places they can afford to live.

“It’s not sustainable,” said Walters. “We have to keep the American dream achievable for young people.”

The community is responsible for guaranteeing stable and affordable housing to its residents, he said.

A house should be a foundation and not a source of stress, said Lanae Branch, an Oceanside High School junior.

His grandfather spent his last homeless and sick years because he could not afford rent or health care, she said.

“Housing is not only a policy problem,” said Branch. “It’s a problem of life and death.”

The proposal aims to strengthen and extend the 2019 law on the protection of tenants of the State, also known as AB 1482.

The city of San Diego approved additional tenants in 2023 which included limits on flawless expulsions such as the obligation of an owner to provide aid to the relocation of tenants as well as a two -month rent.

Imperial Beach has adopted similar protections earlier this year. A provision of the new law has prohibited evictions for certain renovation projects such as “substantial renovations”.