HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/28/2025 Item 5a, Wahouske
cole <cwahouske@gmail.com>
Sent:Friday,
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:October 28 Study Session on Tenant Protections: Agenda Item 5a
Dear Mayor, Councilmembers, and Staff:
Thank you for making renter protections a part of our Major City Goals, and for your commitment to
ensuring safe and stable housing for every resident of our City. I sincerely appreciate the time and effort
staff have put into engaging with stakeholders and preparing the comprehensive report accompanying
the agenda for this Tuesday's study session.
SLOs charm lies within its unique geography and smaller big-city feel. As it has been, and is becoming
moreso, a very desirable place to live, which unfortunately displaces members of the community to
those with the largest checkbook. Without any regulation in place, this will slowly strip the community of
the vibrancy and diversity which makes it such a special place, and transform into a sleepy retirement
community. Downtown businesses are already suffering because of this, as high rental costs leaves less
room for spending money that will go back into the community. We are all in the position now to decide
what kind of city we want. Choosing to allow less tenant protections and more income for landlords will
slowly be a death sentence for community and a vibrant downtown. We can choose now if we want more
money to go into the pockets of landlords (most of which don't even live here) or into our community and
local businesses.
I can understand why some interests would circulate misinformation about the effectiveness and
impacts of such programs and the City’s prior efforts to meet these goals. When the City prematurely
abandoned prior efforts, it came with a promise that new policies would be implemented to meet those
goals. Now is the time to keep that promise.
We all want a livable community with healthy and vibrant neighborhoods, where everyone has safe and
stable housing, no matter what. Please continue to move forward to achieve those goals without delay.
Respectfully,
Cole Wahouske
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