[courtesy of California Progress Report]

A Million Signatures to be Turned in Next Week

By Nan Brasmer
President
California Alliance for Retired Americans

Rent control provides stability and peace of mind that retired seniors and individuals on fixed incomes will not be forced out of their home due to skyrocketing rents. That’s why CARA is outraged that recently a landlord-backed coalition announced they have submitted more than 1 million signatures to county elections offices to qualify their deceptive anti-senior measure for the June 2008 ballot. The landlords want voters to believe their measure is about eminent domain, but their true goal is to roll back rent control and other important renter protection laws that protect seniors.

These landlords are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the voters and have already spent close to $2 million to qualify this classic bait and switch measure. But they won’t be successful. The California Alliance for Retired Americans will be one of many senior and tenants groups who will wage an aggressive campaign to tell voters what this measure really is: a greedy scheme by landlords to eliminate rent control so they can make millions of dollars off the backs of seniors, veterans, working moms and other Californians.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]