Los Angeles apartment owners and managers, along with their fellow Californians, may see significant changes in future election campaigns and outcomes thanks to the recent June primary victory of Proposition 14, the ballot measure to establish a so-called "open primary." And that could affect who goes to Sacramento and, accordingly, how rental housing issues are decided at the state Capitol.
Proposition 14 was among the many political issues decided, as well as candidates chosen, in California's 2010 primary election, conducted on June 8. Proposition 14 changes California election law so that regardless of political party, the top two vote getters in a primary election will be the candidates to face one another in the fall general election.
Backers of the initiative, which affects primary elections for all federal and state offices except the President, contend that stripping away the old "party" rules means only the most competitive candidates will win. Now, state and federal elective offices match the victor in the Democratic primary against the Republican primary victor to ultimately decide who wins.
Under the new rules, if the two top vote getters are Democrats — which is the case in many congressional and state legislative districts in the Los Angeles area — those are the choices voters will have in November.
The speculation is that Proposition 14's so called open primary will affect who runs for public office and how they run. Supporting that view is this hypothetical situation.
Today, in a heavily Democratic district where Republicans aren't competitive, primary candidates tend to appeal to the far left to win the nomination. The theory behind Proposition 14 suggests conservative leaning or business friendly voters will have more influence on a race since a) they can cross over (party lines) to vote for the more reasonable Democrat; and/or b) support the more reasonable candidate in November.
We won't know how it works for a couple more election cycles as Proposition 14 won't affect a primary until June of 2012 — so the jury will be out for awhile.v
As important as the elections are to sitting lawmakers, the business of moving bills at the state Capitol goes on. AAGLA is pleased to announce two mid-year victories: the defeat of both AB 2727 (Bradford), a measure to prohibit landlords from taking a job applicant's criminal background into consideration, and AB 2492 (Ammiano), a measure to increase property taxes on the sale of commercial property. With those issues behind us, AAGLA's Sacramento advocates work on.
AB 1975 (Fong) — Fong's bill promotes water conservation in new multifamily housing through the installation of submeters. Although AAGLA supports reasonable conservation measures, we are working with allied groups to make sure this mandate is workable and not overly burdensome (AAGLA position: OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED).
SB 1252 (Corbett) — This so called "technical" bill dealing with fair housing amends a statutory concept called "source of income." It may unintentionally result in liability for rental property owners in its present form. Based on our discussions with the bill's sponsor, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, amendments have been taken that confirm the intent of the bill not to make any change in existing law. At press time, AAGLA was reviewing those amendments (AAGLA position: OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED).
SB 782 (Yee) — A well-intentioned bill, aimed at victims of domestic violence in rental housing, SB 782 would limit an owner's ability to evict victims when the perpetrator does not live with them, which may create safety and quiet enjoyment problems (AAGLA position: OPPOSE).
AB 482 (Mendoza) — This bill would prohibit the use of an applicant's credit history for employment qualification (AAGLA position: OPPOSE).
Other News
AAGLA again joined its colleagues of the Apartment Association of California Southern Cities (AACSC) and the California Association of Realtors (CAR) in hosting a lunch with Senate candidate (and likely victor) Kevin De Leon (DLos Angeles) in May. The event was a success.
The same group will be getting together on July 9 to conduct a briefing of rental housing issues for Assembly Member Norma Torres (DPomona), Chair of the Housing Committee. That briefing will be held the day before AAGLA's July 10 Annual Legislator Breakfast Reception, featuring nearly all of L.A.'s state lawmakers and this year's special guest, former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg.
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