New Bedford residents getting 'price gouged': City councilor defends rent stabilization
NEW BEDFORD — Saying residents "can no longer afford to be price gouged," City Councilor Shane Burgo defended the board's call for a non-binding ballot question in November on "rent stabilization."
In a statement issued Monday, Burgo criticized Mayor Jon Mitchell for his opposition. Mitchell called the council vote a "cop-out."
Mitchell said rent stabilization was a euphemism for "rent control," and that rent control has been discredited as a means of providing more housing. It has the opposite effect, he said.
Burgo stated, "Now is a time for listening and disussion, not for lectures on public policy and governance."
He added, "It has been over two weeks since the ballot question regarding rent stabilization was passed. In that time, discussions around rising rents - and our housing crisis in general - have finally been given the heightened attention they deserve."
Burgo's motion, which was passed with one dissenting vote, would ask voters in November whether the city should "adopt an Ordinance stabilizing rents, in order to prevent displacement in the local housing rental market?”
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Mayor Mitchell vetoes council's vote
Mitchell issued a statement in vetoing the vote last week.
He said most economists agree rent control reduces housing supply and quality.
"By limiting the amount of revenue that developers can generate, rent control tends to discourage investment in new housing, and thereby depresses supply," Mitchell stated.
The 11-member council can vote to override his veto with a supermajority of eight.
Burgo claims there's no single solution to housing issues
Burgo said there was no one solution to ending homelessness or to guaranteeing affordable housing for all.
While rent stabilization alone will not solve the housing crisis, "it can bring much needed relief to the severely cost-burdened families in our community," he said.
Burgo said contrary to Mitchell's statement, rent control and rent stabilization have been on the minds of people throughout the state, as well as New Bedford.
He said Boston was "leading the way with its own stabilization initiatives."
Burgo said the council vote had already inspired useful debate. "This is not an issue that should be determined from the top down but rather from the bottom up."
Are developers concerned about rent discussions in New Bedford?
Mitchell, in his statement, said the referendum was already prompting "ominous signals from investors."
He said real estate developers had been calling his office. He said the publicity surrounding the referendum was giving them "pause about investing in New Bedford." He added housing developers should be included in the conversation.
Councilors received a letter March 9 from Realtor Association of Southeastern Massachusetts Chief Executive Officer Paul Chasse urging them to vote against the referendum.
He said rent control "is a simple short-sided answer to a complex issue. Placing it on a local ballot as a non-binding referendum will only cost the city money and not yield the feedback needed to solve a problem that has been building for years."
Burgo stated the board would continue to work with the administration, developers and everyone impacted by a potential rent stabilization ordinance.
He added, "We need to plan for sustainability. New Bedford is a quilt of many communities. Each of those quilted threads are being destroyed by rising rents."
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford rent control referendum spurs more debate
