Rents in many complexes have been raised in light of this mediation program. Landlords have been preparing well in advance.

[Post removed due to being off-topic]

If and when your landlord doubles your rent instead of just evicting you, demand mediation. It is counseling. Mediation will help you understand that the City Council has enacted NOTHING THAT WILL HELP TENANTS.

The outside faith based groups have target the cities that have a majority of renter's and are the ones organizing and funding these campaigns. They also did this in the late 1990's. What is different today is that the media is keeping this quite and are trying to claim that this is solely a grass roots movement within each city.

They have had this twice already on the ballot, in our city, and it was voted down.

If council member Lenny Siegel had been successful with his rent control initiative in 1982, our city today would more resemble East Palo Alto, than the vibrant city we have today.

There is a reason why cities with more homeowners are no longer targeted for rent control, because homeowners knows what happens to property values and issues of blight that happens with the older complexes. They are always defeated by the voters.

Ask yourself if you would live in cities like East Palo Alto, East San Jose, Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward and even San Francisco is rated number one city in all of the U.S for property crime.

I am in support for this mediation program, but no further and no rent control for the city. That effects everyone in the city, not just renter's.

@Mel,
Let me help you Mel, the mediation program is just starting, that is the point of the article. The city also mailed out notification about this new program to all renters.
Also, if you had people wanting to cap your salary increase to CPI, which had been on average of 2.5% for the past 10 years, would you not also try to get your boss to increase your wages before the cap? There is no differences here.
If people had not been screaming for rent control for so long, you would not have had landlords acting to protect themselves from this threat.
Remember, the newer buildings built after 1994 will not have rent control on them per state law. Those are the high priced units in the city, not the older apartment's.

@Worthless,

You side is so funny, you can not tell the truth to save your life. Would you care to provide one person who has had their rent doubled? Would you care to provide one person who had been evicted just to raise the rent on that person? You can not, can you. Council member McAlister has said that people keep claiming that at a council meeting, but then said we can never find them.
Why do you not send these names to the city, now that we have this mediation program set up, the council and the city will know the truth as to what type of issues come before mediation. There will be no more lies and heart breaking stories from your side so as to push rent control. We all will know the truth.

@Let Me Help You

For what it's worth, my apartment rent did not double, but it did increase by 84.4% between August 2015 and April 2016. My neighbors' did too. I believe one of the articles in the Voice actually has a photo of their rent increase notice.

Just a data point for your consideration.

@Private Renter,

Hey, where did you go? You posted that same story about 10 days ago on a different thread here. You where asked to state what the property address was that did this. You never responded. As was stated, you do not have to post the apt. number, just the address.

Will you post that now? We can easily check with the property manager and see what the rents where going for.

FYI, I never seen any rent increase notice here that was posted by the Voice, care to provide a link?

What ever document that you post, it better have the address on it.

So, if "Private Renter" provides the requested jnfo and it checks out, then you will throw your full support behind the rent stabilization initiative?

Oh, you won't, will you? So, why should anyone reveal private information for no reason?

It's a very tired argument that rent stabilization programs CAUSE poverty and slums in cities. Those areas were already there and poverty was rampant, which resulted in the ordinances. It's like blaming Band-Aids(tm) for bleeding!

@Reasonable Citizen,

Will I back rent control if he produced the documents?

It is your side that wants rent control in our city so it is up to you to prove your claims. People already now that rent control does not work and has damaged the cities around the bay area that has it.

It is your side that can not tell the truth, produce the documents that you allege to have or do not make any allegations that you will not back up.

This whole cover up with the Voice in only covering the proponents side of rent control stinks to high heaven. There is a business side to this equation which has been totally ignored. You claim that people are being harmed with high rents, you choose to live here, all you want to do is take away rights from a legal business that will put many of them out of business when the next recession hits and you are O.K with that. I find that reprehensible.

It takes two sides to sign a contract,any contract, if you do not like the terms, do not sign it.
What you are doing is telling the landlord that he no longer has these rights and the new rent board will tell them what they can do and not do.

And the fact that there is not one story by the Voice as to who are all the outside groups involved with this initiative is very telling. What has been reported is a tenants advocacy group out of San Francisco is involved, current and or past writer for the Voice, Mountain View Day Worker Center appears to be the main player, and Church groups, is that where this group is getting the money to pay the signature gathers the $4 per signature?

I lived in the Whisman neighborhood. My rent was doubled and rented to someone that at the time wasn't even living in the area. New tenet never saw the place out of state . Was given 60 day notice to move. Oh and while I'm at it kept my security deposit. I was a good tenent never once late on my rent. Just because one doesn't want to give you a name doesn't mean it isn't so.

@let me help you,
To the above poster.

You guys have to make your case to the public.
This would be like me asking you, when did you stop beating your wife.

One, it is already illegal for a landlord to keep a security deposit for no reason. You have every right to go to small claims court where if this allegation was true you would be entitled to additional compensation for damages.

Two, if you no longer live there, there is no reason to not state the address, is there. No one is asking for your name.
State the address
State move in and out dates
State the start rent and end rent.

Why is that so difficult?

Your side alleges that this is happening all over the city, you should easily have several thousands of people you are claiming that this is happening to.

I had watched the city council meetings when they discussed rent control. People got up to the podium to speak, and I watched several people claim they are being evicted, waving a piece a paper at the council, but when council members asked if they can have that copy they say yea yea, then turn and walk down the aisle and out the door and never let council see it.