Publisher, Fran Zankowski Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief, Caitlin Rockett News Editor, Will Brendza Food Editor, John Lehndorff Interns, Ben Berman, Rebecca Rommen Contributing Writers: Dave Anderson, Emma Athena, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Shay Castle, Angela K. Evans, Mark Fearer, Jodi Hausen, Karlie Huckels, Dave Kirby, Matt Maenpaa, Sara McCrea, Rico Moore, Adam Perry, Katie Rhodes, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Will Matuska, Tom Winter SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Carter Ferryman Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman CIRCULATION TEAM Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer July 14, 2022 Volume XXIX, number 44 Cover photo: Peter Jamison, featuring athlete Hannah Bergemann As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism, and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper. 690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission
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What rent control could have looked like for Boulder by Mark Fearer
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ince the beginning of this column in March, I’ve focused on rent control—then I pivoted, uncovering the broader history of tenant activism in Boulder. But in the last month there’ve been two public rallies bringing attention to the issue of rent stabilization/control. The first rally happened on June 30 on the State Capitol steps in Denver, with some righteous pushback against Gov. Jared Polis because of his veto threat over a provision to limit rent increases on mobile home lots. And then, Sunday, July 3, Colorado Homes for All coalition had a rally at the State Capitol to get local officials to put pressure on state legislators to reverse the 41-yearold ban on rent control. In record heat, tenants told their stories of crippling and unjustified rent increases and their choice to pay or leave. So, it’s time to return to a deeper look into the most effective approach there is for curbing out-of-control rents
BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
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(notice I didn’t say “solution”). Even rent control proponents acknowledge its limitations in a free market system. Rent control was meant to limit future rent increases—it generally doesn’t have the ability to bring rents back to more reasonable levels. My first five columns (March-May 2022) dealt with some of the background of rent control policies, politics and myths. As I mentioned in those earlier columns, the Renters Rights Project (RRP), in early 1981, started a petition to get “moderate rent control” on the Boulder ballot. It immediately ignited massive and predictable opposition from landlords and their allies, resulting in a statewide ban on rent control a few months later. So, what is moderate rent control? When many people think of rent control, they think of New York City or what was termed “restrictive” rent control. This kind of rent control, developed shortly after WWI, was needed given the acute housing shortage and rent gouging that had developed. Rent strikes throughout NYC led to the Emergency Rent Laws of 1920. Those laws expired after nine years, see UNREPENTANT TENANT Page 8
JULY 14, 2022
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