Berkeley voters will choose five members of the city's Rent Stabilization Board on Nov. 3, and only six names are on the ballot. That means just one candidate will come up short, according to Berkeleyside's rundown of the race and the city clerk's official list of nominees.
The nine-member board sets rent ceilings for covered units, oversees the city's Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause Ordinance, settles disputes between landlords and tenants and maintains Berkeley's rent registry. Seats are elected in staggered cycles every two years.
A slate and an independent
Five candidates are running together on the "Right to Housing" slate chosen at the Berkeley Tenant Convention: incumbents Ida Martinac and Nathan Mizell, who joined the board in 2022; tenant union organizer Avery Arbaugh, who ran unsuccessfully in 2024; and first-time candidates Vylma Ortiz, an attorney and meditation teacher, and Derek Rodriguez, a UC Berkeley student and National Guard staff sergeant. The Daily Californian reported that the slate shares a platform built around stabilizing rents and defending tenant protections.
The sixth candidate, Carole Marasovic, is an attorney and city commissioner running independently. Berkeleyside noted it is her fourth straight attempt at a rent board seat.
Where they differ
All six describe themselves as tenant advocates, but they disagree on how well Measure BB, the 2024 measure that lowered the maximum annual rent increase and wrote tenant union rights into law, is working. Most slate members pointed to the dozen tenant unions formed since it passed, while Ortiz said it was too early to judge and Marasovic called the changes largely minor.
Asked to grade the current board, candidates gave answers ranging from Martinac's A to Marasovic's C-plus. Ideas raised include more regular housing inspections, climate-related habitability rules such as indoor temperature limits, and ending the "golden duplex" exemption that keeps some owner-occupied duplexes out of rent control.
Open seats and money
Board chair Soli Alpert is term-limited and commissioner Stefan Elgstrand chose not to run again. Commissioner Vanessa Marrero did not qualify for the ballot after falling short on valid nomination signatures, Berkeleyside reported.
Every candidate has applied for Berkeley's public financing program, which caps individual contributions at $60 and matches them six to one. Alameda County's deadline to register to vote online or by mail is Oct. 19.