Prop. 98: Bane of eminent domain, or rent control-killer?

Probably a little bit of both. The AARP, League of Women Voters and other advocacy groups held a rally Wednesday against Prop. 98, which will be on the ballot on June 3. They claim the proposition, which is being championed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and various landlord groups, uses concerns about eminent domain as camouflage to hide the fact that the measure would eliminate rent control for about a million Californians.

I talked to Howard Jarvis Executive Director Kris Vosburgh, who did not deny the proposition would target rent control practices. But he added that the approach would be a phased one, with rent control being eliminated as tenants moved out on their own.

"Yeah you are going to lose rent control over time but you personally are not going to lose it, Vosburgh said. "It is much less ominous than the campaign people are making it out to be. They are really trying to scare people into thinking they are under imminent threat."

Vosburgh said the real people behind the opposition to Prop. 98 are cities and big developers, who want to keep their eminent domain powers intact. Indeed, the Pasadena City Council has unanimously approved a resolution against Prop. 98 and in favor of a rival measure, Prop. 99.

Vosburgh said Prop. 98 would still allow cities to condemn property for public projects like schools and roads, but would prohibit government to take land away from homeowners and turn it over to private developers for the sole purpose of expanding the city's tax base.

But the end of rent control, even if it is through a slow, phased death, would still be an injustice to folks on fixed incomes, opponents argued. AARP Executive Council member Martin Schachter said seniors depend on rent-controlled mobile homes and apartments -- and those needs are not going away over time. The phased approach will only lead to a dwindling of rent-controlled properties just as the senior population begins to balloon in the coming years.

If it were to pass, Prop. 98 would only give landlords more incentive to kick out rent controlled tenants, said Janelle Longwell, a Los Angeles resident.

"I live in a small apartment protected by rent control," said Longwell at the AARP rally, adding she has suffered from epilepsy all of her life. "Rent control allows me to live close to my daughter and best friend in the event of an emergency. But a lot of these landlords are heartless and would stop at nothing to evict renters like me. We are barely getting by with what little we have."