The St. Petersburg City Council backtracked Thursday on a decision to put rent stabilization before voters in November.
This mirrors a decision made by Tampa city officials last week and comes after a Tuesday decision by Orange County commissioners to greenlight the ballot measure for voters.
In Florida, price controls on rent can be imposed by a city or county government at one-year intervals if the local government finds a housing state of emergency "so grave as to constitute a serious menace" to the public, and if the measure is approved by voters.
Last week, council members agreed to draft a resolution declaring a housing emergency and proposing ballot language, despite warnings from the city's legal team that it was the wrong procedural move. City attorney Jackie Kovilaritch advised the council to pass an ordinance instead, citing that it's better protected under Florida's rent control statute.
Ahead of a vote on Thursday, Deborah Figgs-Sanders heeded the advice and withdrew the resolution for a rent stabilization measure.
"We're going to remove the opportunity for anything that we set forth to be struck down in any court," Figgs-Sanders said.
In its place, she moved to draft an ordinance to put rent stabilization to voters during a primary or special election in 2023.
After more than three hours of public testimony and deliberation by council members, the motion failed in a 3-5 vote.
Council members Figgs-Sanders, Richie Floyd and Lisa Wheeler-Bowman voted in favor, and Chair Gina Driscoll with members Brandi Gabbard, Copley Gerdes, Lisset Hanewicz and Ed Montanari voted against.
Dozens of disappointed renters crowded the room, many of whom had slept outside City Hall for the second week in a row, hoping to draw attention to the rising cost of housing.
One resident and landlord, Rev. Ben Atherton-Zeman, shared his convictions about the ongoing housing crisis and the proposed solution of rent stabilization.
"Even though it might hurt me as a landlord, I'll still vote for rent control because it's the right thing to do," he said.
Now, it appears, he won't get the chance to.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. She's also a Report for America corps member. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
