Westminster : Judge Permits Terming Measure ‘Rent Control’

A measure that would regulate rent levels for thousands of residents of 20 mobile home parks in Westminster may be described as “rent control” on the ballot in November, a judge ruled Monday.

Mayor Joy L. Neugebauer, an opponent of the measure, called the decision a victory.

During a court hearing Monday, Neugebauer agreed to change some statements made against the proposal in a pamphlet to be mailed to voters. Proponents had challenged the statements as misleading.

Supporters of the ballot measure had argued that “rent stabilization” is the only accurate description of the proposal.

Superior Court Judge Tully H. Seymour ruled that Neugebauer, along with business leaders and colleagues on the City Council, did nothing wrong in calling the proposal “rent control.”

“I can’t see that they’ve erred,” Seymour told R. Richard Farnell, lawyer for the group challenging Neugebauer’s statement.

“They’ve taken a position that is not misleading,” Seymour said. “It’s correct--even though rent stabilization would also be correct.”

Farnell, who drafted the proposal, said it allows for increases in mobile home park rents to reflect inflation. If passed, the ordinance will guarantee park owners the same net operating income by allowing higher operating expenses to be passed on to tenants, Farnell argued.

The term “rent control” might be misunderstood to mean a rent “freeze,” Farnell claimed.

The changes in the voters pamphlet generally moderate the argument against the rent control proposal.

As originally written, for instance, the argument stated that the ordinance “will create an expensive government bureaucracy in Westminster” and “will make Westminster’s severe financial problems even worse.”

Farnell argued that the statements were false and misleading. He stated that the ordinance would pay for itself in fees and argued that the council’s only involvement in administering it would be to appoint three persons to hear rent disputes.

City Atty. Paul Morgan, after consultation with Neugebauer, agreed to replace “will” with “may” in the disputed statements.