Orange County Legislative Watch June Primaries, and Local Realities

June Primaries, and Local Realities

By ChiP ahlswede

Businesses — and especially multifamily housing businesses — in California find themselves within the constantly increasing reach of “Big Brother.” Long gone are the days of California’s “Gold Rush” for most businesses that feel more like they are getting “Punk’d” with each legislative session. With a constant stream of “Catfish” candidates that make Sacramento one big season of “Survivor,” it’s hard not to feel “Alone.”

Sadly, today’s legislative realities feel more like a reality TV show, than they do actual reality. Elections are our opportunity to affect that.

There are two key elections this year in which we will have an opportunity to make that change — our June 7th Primary election, and our November 8th General Election. While we will have the opportunity to vote for governor and the other State Constitutional officers, as well as our State Senators and Assembly members, our real chance to make a difference is going to be at the local level.

With a little help, we can feel a little less “Naked and Afraid.”

So, let’s look first at our County Supervisor Races, a.k.a. “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

Riverside County — “Running Wild”

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors recently had a number of very contentious votes related primarily to the governance of the county, that appear to reflect a clear and growing partisan divide among the board members. Normally, in an election like this — with three seats up for election — changing the partisan divide can be a strong driver for a number of organizations. However, only one of these races is contested. Do you have any thoughts on who supports the multifamily Industry best?

Districts Two & Four — “Dual Survival”

Incumbents Karen Spiegel (District Two), and former Assemblymember and appointed Supervisor Manuel “Manny” Perez (District Four) drew no opponents for this year’s election, so…congratulations supervisors! Both will return for their second terms on the board.

District Five — “Summer House”

This election will get interesting, and will most likely jump over from the summer to a runoff in the fall.

Supervisor Jeff Hewitt is also running for re-election. However, in the Fifth District, he will have three challengers, including Riverside Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez and Beaumont Mayor Lloyd White. They are joined by Democratic candidate and attorney Deni Mazingo, out of Hemet, who previously ran in 2018 and 2020 for the 42nd Assembly District.

With so many seasoned candidates in this race, the Primary Election in June will almost certainly lead to a runoff in November. If no candidate is able to secure 50% + 1 of the vote, the top two vote getters will face off in the General Election.

Orange County — “Deadliest Catch”

After considering a number of redistricting proposals, the Orange County Board of Supervisors settled on one that basically jumbles everything up. We will have a newly drawn second district that opens up a race with many candidates from around the county seat of Santa Ana. The fourth district in the north of Orange County brings into further alignment several major cities — Fullerton, Buena Park, and Brea. Down south, however, the fifth district pits several major community leaders against one another, which will make the June election very interesting.

District Two — “Making the Cut”

In what will likely be one of the most challenging elections this June, a crowded field of five candidates are running to represent Orange County’s Second Supervisorial District.

Orange City Councilmember Jon Dumitru, a longtime supporter of small business, property rights, and the rental-housing industry has already received the support of AAOC’s Political Action Committee. Meanwhile, Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento, one of the city’s rent control and just cause eviction architects, is also running for the seat along with former Santa Ana city councilmembers Cecilia Iglesias and Juan Villegas. Rounding out the field is Garden Grove City

Councilmember Kim Nguyen, who is also are seeking to represent the district which extends into Garden Grove, Tustin, Orange and Anaheim.

This race will undoubtedly end up as a run-off election as it is unlikely that any one candidate will receive a majority of the vote in June. The political calculus comes in as to who can make the runoff. Looking at the traditional electorate break down, the vote is going to be split up any number of ways between party, city, demographic, and support bases — none of which line up with any one particular bend — except one.

The public safety unions, development and business communities, and housing industry are rallying against Mayor Sarmiento. Some would say that makes Mayor Sarmiento the likely top target, and it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that with Santa Ana being split among three candidates, his supporters won’t be enough to get him into the runoff.

District Four — “Iron Chef”

Incumbent Supervisor Doug Chaffee is running for re-election, but he will face stiff competition from Buena Park Mayor Sunny Park and Brea City Councilmember Steven Vargas. The Democratic supervisor has a history of pro-housing votes, and Councilmember Vargas — the lone Republican in the race — has also been welcoming and supportive of the multifamily Industry for some time. Mayor Park, while more politically progressive, has also been open to working with the rental-housing industry.

District Five — “Cutthroat Kitchen”

If you’re looking for a battle among experienced and long-entrenched politicians, look no further than the race for the fifth supervisorial district.

Supervisor Lisa Bartlett is termed out, and the fifth district has been redrawn to now include incumbent supervisor and former Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley. A progressive political presence on the board and in Orange County politics, Foley faces formidable opposition from State Senator Pat Bates, former State Assemblymember and Board of Equalization member Diane Harkey, and Newport Beach Mayor Kevin Muldoon.

Bates, Harkey and Muldoon — all Republicans — have all been longtime supporters of the multifamily housing industry, and Foley has been a strong advocate for affordable housing and solutions to Orange County’s homelessness crisis. Regardless of who wins, AAOC will be able to find common ground and work with the victor in the coming four-year term.

Conclusion

High-stakes elections may feel like an episode of “Fear Factor” — but when our rental-housing industry comes together to support the best candidates and those candidates start to gain traction, it can really start feeling more like an “Amazing Race.”

Sacramento — continued from 8

We cannot assure you how long the legislature and local governments intend to continue inserting its unrealistic expectations as viewed respectively, by both the lessor and lessee, as it pertains to rental debt accrued for over two years. As tenant protest continues to increase, the Act’s unintended consequence very well could be that tenants who meet the minimum requirement payback during the Protected Time Period then wait until the protection period ends, then break the lease and find another dwelling unit to rent, thereby avoiding the minimum repayment being sent to collections for the accrued amount, and avoiding the negative credit report impact.

We can assure you that all of the federal stimulus money that was supposed to have been paid by August 31, 2021 (this is not a typo) will not be fully dispursed by June 30, 2022. We can also assure you tenants want local government to take the reins in this field. Tenants do not want the legislature to override local control. Tenants do not want to pay for past due rent. Multiple tenant rights demonstrations that demand “cancel rent” has taken on a whole new meaning. Rent has been cancelled for those that did receive ERAP money. Rent has been cancelled in the eyes of local governments because they have adopted ordinances that do not permit eviction due to nonpayment of rent indefinently.

We should be planning on another eviction extension based on the facts, or should I say, the “science.”

Ron Kingston is President of California Strategic Advisors and Legislative Advocate for the Apartment Association of Orange County. For questions regarding this article, please call AAOC at (714) 245-9500.