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To the Editor, Asbury Park Sun:

I write to strongly encourage the voters of Asbury Park to stand up on April 20 and vote YES on the referendum in support of the proposed rent stabilization ordinance.

The proposed ordinance is a thoughtful law to protect our friends and neighbors from being forced out of the City, and contrary to the claims of the landlords and their buddies, it will help improve quality of life.  

Let me explain why.

First, the claim that the rent stabilization ordinance will somehow increase property taxes is, simply put, baseless.

Those making this claim have not provided one reputable publication that correlates property taxes with rent stabilization.

Instead, they are trying to scare the voters of this City, and they should be ashamed. 

Second, the rent stabilization ordinance on the ballot is tailored to allow for flexibility:  it allows the rent leveling board to make adjustments to rent for increased taxes, water and sewer cost increases, hardship increases, and capital improvement costs.

It is designed to be fair to landlords while also protecting tenants.  Unfortunately, some of the City’s landlords want to maximize profit and power without any real protections for tenants.

Third, the Council’s ordinance is flawed and does not offer sufficient protection for the City’s renters. Among the notable examples:

• The Council’s ordinance offers no protection to tenants in buildings with 4 or fewer units, which is about 30% of the City’s tenants.
• The Council’s ordinance allows landlords to raise rent as much as they want when a tenant moves out or is forced out, which will not slow down the fierce climb in rents that has displaced many longtime Asbury residents.
• The Council’s ordinance would potentially allow the rent stabilization board, which governs the process, to be composed of 5 landlords and only 2 tenants, which is obviously unfair.

Fourth, effective rent stabilization is essential to protecting Asbury’s tenants. 

Reports given to the Council in 2015, by the former code director, who was fired and then sued by the city, discussed how dysfunctional the code department was with respect to residents in the City. 

If you want to see what he said in his suit go to apwantsrentcontol.com. Also, read the Renters’ Hell series in the Asbury Park Press. 

Indeed, just last week, the Asbury Park Press published an article that detailed that, between 2011 and 2017, the Black population decreased by about 12%.  This was due largely to the rapid rise in rents over that same period.  The number of apartments renting for more than $1,500 increased by about 10%, and the number of apartments renting for less than $1,000 decreased by about 10%.

Rent stabilization will protect longtime residents of color who are being forcefully displaced from our City.

Fifth, and finally, those supporting the Council’s ordinance have a lot to say, but I have not heard one word about entire buildings where working families were displaced 6 months to year after purchase. 

I have not heard one thing about going after bad actors where families are living in inhabitable conditions, improving the code department to protect our residents, and stopping the high escalating rent increases. 

The Asbury Park Affordable Housing Coalition proposed its ordinance to protect the most vulnerable among us while ensuring a thoughtful approach that permitted landlords to continue to profit.

Sadly, rather than engage on substance, the property owners have decided to pursue a campaign of lies and fears, calling those of us who care about others “extremists.” This is what the firm hired by property owners in Asbury did in Neptune. http://asburyparksun.com/fraud-alleged-on-anti-rent-control-petition/

We know that Asbury Park is too smart for their lies.

I strongly encourage you to vote YES to ensure our City’s renters are protected.

–Tracy Rogers, Asbury Park Affordable Housing Coalition

Asbury Park

[This letter represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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