By David J. Terrazas

City of Santa Cruz

I do not support the proposed ballot measure for rent control in the City of Santa Cruz because it’s the wrong solution to a critical problem. Here’s why:

Past generations of Santa Cruzans built a beautiful downtown, created neighborhoods, constructed roads and parks, and of course the homes where countless families have thrived over the years. They did this with the goal of strengthening neighborhoods, protecting our environment, and making Santa Cruz a place where working families could call home.

Today, the escalation of living costs has made it unaffordable for families to live here. Although it’s called a housing crisis, our situation is better described as an affordable housing shortage.

While Santa Cruz has more than 1,800 deed-restricted affordable housing units, and another 1,300 Section 8 housing units, there remains a significant number of people squeezed out by high rents. Those rents are driven upward by high incomes from the tech economy, nearly 20,000 UC Santa Cruz students, and a soaring demand for a housing supply that’s grown very little in 40 years.

This situation has led to dwindling housing opportunities as well as a reduced quality of life for many renters and prospective homeowners.

We need thoughtful, fair and data-driven action to address our housing shortage. Unfortunately, the rent-control proposal that will appear on our November ballot is not thoughtful or fair, and if approved will make this tough situation even worse.

For instance:

• The initiative’s rules favor students over families, making it difficult for parents, older renters and the disabled to find rentals.

• The initiative will hurt neighborhoods by protecting nuisance rentals and removing incentives for new housing construction.

• The initiative’s severe limits on rents and owner control will cause — and in fact is already causing — the removal of numerous single-family homes from the rental market.

• The initiative will increase costs and diminish incentives to repair and maintain rental properties.

I cannot support legislation that will eliminate rentals, discourage construction of new rentals, protect problem rentals, reduce housing options for families and make housing more scarce and expensive for the majority of renters.

Instead, I support taking immediate action to support working families and provide incentives for new housing construction because it is in the long-term interest of Santa Cruz to do so.

We should:

• Identify areas of the city that would benefit from redevelopment, and zone for homes that are affordable and can meet the needs of students and our workforce.

• Encourage development of purpose-built, off-campus student housing.

• Help fund innovative workforce housing projects like the one being considered by Santa Cruz City Schools for employees.

• Immediately consider the extension of the downtown plan to the South of Laurel and other areas to increase housing opportunities with the least impact to neighborhoods and to reorient planning priorities away from the corridors.

Planning — investigating the benefits and impacts of proposed policy — is a process requiring thoughtful deliberation. We should not be flying blind into our housing future.

Before we approve sweeping housing laws, we deserve an objective analysis of the financial and social impacts, and information about how many will benefit versus how many will be harmed. We need to look at other cities’ experiences with rent control and evaluate the consequences.

This proposed ballot measure is a bad deal for renters, a bad deal for homeowners and a bad deal for Santa Cruz. We can find solutions, and do better a better job, to provide opportunity for today’s residents and future generations who will make Santa Cruz their home.

David J. Terrazas is the mayor of Santa Cruz.