With five of nine commissioner seats open on the city’s Rent Stabilization Board, all five candidates entering the race were guaranteed a spot.
Incumbents Katherine Harr and Jesse Townley, along with James Chang, Paola Laverde-Levine and John Selawsky, form the rent board’s Affordable Housing slate. All five were elected.
The rent board is a city commission established to regulate rent increases and mediate disputes between landlords and tenants.
Harr plans to alleviate tensions between landlords and tenants, and Laverde-Levine hopes to defend rent-controlled housing stock from demolitions.
Selawsky said running unopposed made it more difficult for the campaign to raise money, although the slate needed contributions to inform the public of its goals.
Townley aims to create a program providing disaster preparedness training for staff and management in large apartment complexes.
Other goals include implementing regular inspections of rental properties, Selawsky said.
Chang is interested in exploring possible cooperation between the board and the ASUC.
“(Students’) ability to access what is rightfully theirs — hot water, plumbing — these are essentials that students don’t know they are entitled to,” Chang said.
