Fifth Member Named to Rent Control Board
The deadlock over the appointment of the fifth member to the Santa Monica Rent Control Board, which had threatened to indefinitely hamper board business, was broken Thursday night with the selection of Jay P. Johnson, 47, an apartment owner who supports rent control.
Board member Eileen Lipson, who had sided with board member Dolores Press in the deadlock against board Chairwoman Susan Packer Davis and board member Wayne Bauer, said she swung her vote because she thinks Johnson is open-minded and “a person of great integrity.”
The board had been trying since Jan. 22 to agree on a replacement for Julie Lopez Dad, who resigned late last year.
Johnson’s appointment comes at a time when the city’s rent control ordinance, considered among the toughest in the nation, is under attack by landlords.
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