As a long-time Concord resident and now City Councilmember, one of the most challenging human situations I have encountered is when a Concord family loses their home due to eviction. The lives of children are deeply disrupted, particularly if they must change schools, or move farther away from family support and community. I have seen this in the faces of the families I care for in my day job.

The dual crises of housing fairness and affordability, and the harm they inflict on Concord families and the broader Concord economy, is both a long-standing issue and a matter of acute importance to us right now. It was one of the main topics I encountered when I first got really involved in civic affairs in 2016.

The Concord City Council started the formal work of addressing this crisis in January 2023. We committed to including anti-displacement measures in our California state-mandated Housing Element Update. With significant investment of city staff time and resources, we worked throughout the year in a very public process. Finally, 14 months later, in a 4:1 vote, we adopted a strong Rent Stabilization and Just Cause for Eviction ordinance. That work was put at risk by an attempt to use the petition process to maintain a very unequal status quo.

Rapidly rising rents are unsustainable and have had terrible consequences for our neighbors. Between 2011 and 2021 average rents in Concord sky-rocketed 62%. Concord families are having to make difficult choices between paying rent and covering other needed costs like healthcare, childcare, and groceries. With more than 50,000 people in rental housing — roughly 40% of Concord’s population — a huge proportion of our neighbors are uniquely vulnerable.

Studies by both City staff (in 2016) and housing advocates (in 2018) made the plight of many Concord renters clear. Concord tenants and their families have been pleading for help, literally, for years.

To be honest, the anguish I have seen in these circumstances was one of my prompts to run for the City Council in 2022. The voices of those most impacted by the housing crisis were being dismissed. I campaigned with the message that stabilizing families and creating affordable housing were priorities of mine. I also hoped that I could do something, through city government, to foster not just compassion but a greater sense of what it means to work together to care for others in our community.

And so it was with great hope that I was able to lend my support, in early 2023, to make work on tenant protections a priority for the council last year. It was a year full of hard work, outreach, engagement, dialogue, research, and debate. And I was gratified when the City Council passed a new ordinance on March 5th in support of Concord’s tenant families.

While the ordinance does not preclude property owners from removing tenants who violate their leases, it does limit rent increases for multi-family dwellings and makes it harder to evict tenants who are clearly meeting their responsibilities. Residents of Concord on all sides of the rental market were consulted frequently during the drafting of the ordinance, and I feel strongly that it struck a reasonable balance between protecting tenants and providing a guarantee to property owners that they can earn a fair return on their investment. It was a satisfying culmination to years of being a witness to suffering and then doing the work to try and make a difference.

On March 8th, just a few days later, I was deeply saddened when a petition was filed that suspended the new ordinance from taking effect. The petition sought to overturn the new law and restrict the ability of the city’s elected representatives to act with justice on this matter. Petition campaigns like this one will leave our community more divided and less able to support the most vulnerable among us.

The deep needs of thousands of Concord renting families means the ordinance should stand and NOT be repealed.

I believe that decent, affordable housing is a human right, and supporting its availability is a public responsibility. As a landlord myself, I am mindful that property owners not only have rights but also have the responsibility to be good stewards when their property can meet the fundamental needs and rights of families. Families come first. Residential real estate is a complicated investment given that moral duty. It therefore may not be an appropriate investment for everyone.

We are in a moment where an attempt, through city government, to provide our tenant neighbors with the much-needed support of public policy is at risk. I appeal to all Concord residents to think long and hard before they sign the petition to revoke the justice we have created for our neighbors who need it. I hope you can discern, as I have, that the petition is not in the best interests of Concord and thousands of its residents, but only in the interests of a much smaller group of landlords, most of whom do not even reside in Concord.

When it comes to our housing stability and affordability crisis, there is much positive and constructive work that can and should be done: raising awareness about the human costs, advocating for our neighbors, providing services, stewardship, and community building. This is where our energies should go, not into propping up a damaging and unjust status quo.

We have known, for years, the crushing harm experienced by Concord’s renting families. There are many possible ways to respond. But the one thing we cannot do is acknowledge the immoral and unbalanced impact of our housing crisis and then do nothing about it. Or refuse to support our neighbors who rent.

I appealed to people to NOT sign the petition to repeal the rent stabilization and just cause ordinance. Wherever you stand on this topic, I invite you to reach out to me. I would be happy to discuss these matters further, most especially to provide clear and accurate information about the ordinance. My contact information is available on the City of Concord website, CityofConcord.org. This is not a time to perpetuate division, but to come together as a community to support the most vulnerable among us: people who are struggling to stay housed in the face of years of escalating rents.

Thank you for reading.
Laura