Eric Friedman called for a citywide vote on an advisory measure about rent control Thursday night, as chief mayor’s race rival Kristen Sneddon said she would oppose such a move because the contentious matter is too complex to put on the ballot.
Former school board president Wendy Sims-Moten, who joined the two incumbent City Council members at the first mayoral debate of the campaign season, also said she would favor putting the question to voters — but only if City Hall first carried out an extensive “education campaign” in the community.
“Put it on the ballot,” declared Friedman, drawing the sharpest contrast that emerged between the three major candidates for mayor at the debate, which drew a pre-Labor Day crowd of more than 200 people to the New Vic Theatre.
The long-debated rent stabilization ordinance is expected to gain final council passage on a sharply divided 4-to-3 vote as early as this month, with Sneddon in favor and Friedman opposed.
Putting a rent control advisory question on the ballot was one of several major distinctions over key policy issues that surfaced at the spirited but civil debate, marking the informal kickoff of the fall campaign, two months before the Nov. 3 election.
The trio of contenders also expressed clear differences on the future of State Street, downtown development and the city’s tangled finances, while fielding questions about their public records and how they have dealt with mistakes they have made in office.
Newsmakers co-founder Hap Freund was on the scene on Thursday night, and captured the key exchange over the rent control issue. Watch it on YouTube below, or by clicking this link.
The debate will be Topic A on this week’s episode of Newsmakers TV, to be recorded and published Friday, featuring a panel of journalists who witnessed the event: SB Independent staff writer Ryan P. Cruz, News-Press reporter Amanda Velasco and her editor Josh Molina, who co-moderated the affair with the genial host.
The debate was co-sponsored by the News-Press, Newsmakers and TVSB, which recorded the 70-minute event and will release a full production next week, when we’ll also post the complete video.
Image: The scene at Thursday night’s mayoral debate, which kicked off the fall campaign season before a crowd of more than 200 at the New Vic Theatre. L-R: Moderators Josh Molina and Jerry Roberts; candidates Eric Friedman, Wendy Sims-Moten, Kristen Sneddon (Kate Ford photo).