LAGUNA BEACH : $224,000 Spent by Foes of Measure A
Opponents of rent control at mobile home parks here spent $224,000--almost four times as much as their competitors--to defeat Measure A, according to final campaign statement forms filed with the city this week.
Measure A, which failed by just 4 percentage points, would have rolled back rents to the levels of January, 1989, and limited annual rent increases to 7% of a tenant’s current rent or 75% of the annual increase in the consumer price index, whichever was less.
Including $59,299 spent by proponents of the measure, expenditures on the campaign were highest of any political battle in city history.
A total contribution of $147,000 by Treasure Island Associates, owner of the city’s largest mobile home park, easily surpassed all others, City Clerk Verna Rollinger said.
“I would say that’s the biggest contribution in the history of Laguna Beach, by over $100,000,” Rollinger said. “I think we may be seeing some recommendation in the near future about some kind of (campaign spending) limitations.”
The city spent $30,000 on the November special election.
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