By Brian CHERNICK

After months of organizing and collecting over 11,000 signatures, Glendale residents seeking rent stabilization hit their first roadblock after the city clerk found the submitted paperwork to have a number of technical issues and deemed it deficient.

The City Clerk’s Office found sections lacked required titles, summaries and declarations on over 700 pages of the submitted petition and that a number of sections had been whited out or cut off which, according to the office, raised questions about the voter’s intent and the contents of the petition that were presented.

The Glendale Tenant Union, however, is not deterred and has already hired lawyers to assist with the drafting of a new petition.

Union member Mike Van Gorder wrote in an email to other members, assuring them of the positive future of their efforts stating that the initial collection of signatures had been easy.

“It was a ton of work for sure,” Gorder wrote. “But also the easiest signature collection ever. People were snapping it out of our hands.”

Union member Karen Kwan cited efforts in Richmond, California that took several attempts before successfully passing a rent control ordinance.

“We are prepared for multiple attempts, as needed,” Karen said. “Our next steps are to prepare a new petition, which we will have drafted and reviewed by a lawyer before proceeding with [signature collection].”

The original ballot petition had been authored by John Bagdzhyan and Levon Gabrielyan prior to the organization of the Glendale Tenants Union.

Rising rental costs throughout Glendale have been outpacing wages and affordable housing development, with the situation becoming dire for a number of residents who have seen increases in rent as high as 100% or more.

The city has rejected rent control ordinances in favor of specialized housing developments that aim to accommodate low-income residents, senior citizens and veterans.

According to city staff reports, nearly two-thirds of the more than 73,000 renters in Glendale are considered to be “rent burdened,” meaning more than 30% of the household income goes toward rent.

For comparison, less than half of the renters in neighboring Pasadena find themselves in the same position – that is spending over 30% of their gross income on rental costs.

Once a petition is submitted and approved – and free of deficiencies – Glendale City Council will then be tasked with either adopting the ordinances as written or placing the measure on a ballot for residents to vote on in the next election cycle.

  Brian CHERNICK