Salinas is a renter city. According to census data, 53% of residents don’t own their homes.
Back in 2023 and 2024 the Salinas City Council passed four rental ordinances. They created a rental registry, just cause evictions, anti-harassment protections and rent stabilization for units built before 1995.
Then in December 2024, a new mayor and city council took office.
"It was only three to four months after they got elected where they started discussing repealing them," said Jacob Sandoval, a Salinas homeowner and older brother to city council member Andrew Sandoval. Both support the rental protections.
"If we want to create a better community for us to live in, we have to help our neighbors," said Jacob Sandoval, "and part of it is these rental protections and rent stabilization."
Anticipating the council’s repeal vote, in May 2025 a group called Protect Salinas Renters formed.
"Basically, what happened was a meeting was called, and they said, 'hey, they're about to repeal this, there's a process called a referendum,'" said Sandoval.
Within a month, Protect Salinas Renters exceeded their goal of getting signatures from 10% of registered voters. Now Measure H is on Salinas ballots.
It’s confusingly worded. A yes vote is a vote to repeal the rental ordinances. A no vote stays the course, keeping the ordinances in place.
Protect Salinas Renters has raised just under $80,000, according to reporting from Monterey County Now. Yes on H supporters, who want to repeal the ordinances, have raised nine times that—nearly $730,000. Over a third of that money came from a Colorado-based real estate investment firm, UDR Inc., which owns property in Salinas.
Another Salinas homeowner, Ignacio Fregoso, is chair of Protect Salinas Residents—similarly named to Protect Salinas Renters.
"In terms of housing supply, in terms of people coming here and investing and creating more homes, we haven't seen it," said Fregoso.
Fregoso is also a landlord. He owns a single-family home that he rents out and has to maintain.
"I had maybe seven, eight grand repairs this year," said Fregoso, "that’s something renters don’t necessarily think of."
If the city votes to keep rent stabilization, Fregoso worries it will discourage developers from building new housing.
Like most California cities, Salinas is way behind on its housing goals. The state says by 2031 the city needs 6,674 more units than it had in 2023. So far, only 323 have been built, and none are considered low or very low-income.
" I understand that these ordinances aren't the only thing that prevent a lot of people from coming here and investing," said Fregoso, "but it is one thing."
At least 30 cities and counties in California already have rent stabilization of some kind. And how rent stabilization plays into a housing market is hotly debated.
Chris Benner is a sociology professor at UC Santa Cruz who has followed the saga of Salinas' rental ordinances.
"The purpose of these rent control measures is to protect existing renters. That has nothing directly to do with building new housing," said Benner.
Benner authored a new report on building housing in the Monterey Bay area. He says building incentives do not favor rental units.
"If a developer is looking at building and making money from it, then they're gonna go for the middle and upper-income single-home buyer, more typically than rental units," said Benner
Benner says repealing the ordinances won’t necessarily fix those mismatched incentives. His advice for voters? Think about housing like a three legged stool.
"You need to protect existing residents, you need to produce new housing, and you need to preserve housing that might otherwise get destroyed," said Benner
Where everyone agrees: housing costs in Salinas are too high. For many renters, these ordinances have helped them feel less vulnerable.
Jasmin Topete has lived with her parents in the same Salinas rental for 22 years—her whole life.
"From a young age, my parents, have been making our apartment a home," said Topete. "My mom likes to decorate, but in an apartment it's kind of like, 'oh, you have to ask the landlord,' or you kinda have to make renter-friendly adjustments."
She says her landlord isn’t bad, but her family has learned to be self reliant.
"It's always that fear of like, if I ask for repairs, will they raise my rent? Will they kick me out?" said Topete.
Topete supports the ordinances because they offer some stability.
In addition to Salinas, residents in Redwood City and San Pablo will vote on rent stabilization measures this fall.
