The Boston Globe du lieu suivant : Boston, Massachusetts • 284

10 City THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE OCTOBER 23, 1994 A A Ci I ON 9 4 The text of Question 9 Rent control referendum affects narrow audience .1 j. I f.j 1 IvU I if S.ini!)htt i-H 1 i i i i rv 1 Mil -U IMih'i'iSi I minium conversion or the removal of properties from such regulation, nor may such regulation apply to any rental unit that is owned by a person or entity owning less than ten rental units or that has a monthly fair market rent exceeding $400; and (c) a municipality adopting such regulation' shall compensate owners of rent-controlled units for each unit in the amount of the difference between the unit's fair-market rent and the unit's below-market, rent-controlled rent, with such compensation coming from the municipality's general funds, so that the cost of any rent control shall be borne by all taxpayers of a municipality and not be the owners of regulated units only. Section 5. Preemption. Because rent control is a matter of statewide concern, this chapter shall preempt, supersede or nullify any inconsistent, contrary or conflicting state or local law.

Section 6. Severability. The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its application is held invalid, the remainder of this chapter shall continue to be valid and in effect SECTION TWO. Effective Date.

This act shall become effective on January 1, 1995. rents for residential properties; and (b) any regulation that is part of a regulatory scheme of rent control as defined in subsection (a), including the regulation of occupancy, services, evictions, condominium conversion and the removal of properties from such a rent control scheme; except that (c) this definition does not include the regulation of, or agreements affecting, publicly owned housing, publicly subsidized housing, federally assisted housing, or mobile homes. Section 4. General Prohibition; Exception. No city or town may enact, maintain or enforce rent control of any kind, except that any city or town that accepts this Chapter may adopt rent control regulation that provides: (a) after six (6) months from the date of the initial adoption of rent control regulation by a particular city or town, compliance on the part of property owners as to the rent control regulation or any subsequently adopted rent control regulation shall be entirely voluntary and uncoerced, and the property of a person or entity declining to have his or its property subjected to such regulation shall be wholly unaffected by any aspect of the rent control regulation or any subsequently adopted rent control regulation; (b) such regulation may not include the regulation of occupancy, services, evictions, condo QUESTION 9: AN ACT TO PROHIBIT REM" CONTROL IN MASSACHUSETTS, EXCEPT WHERE VOLUNTARY, FOLLOW-ING AN INITIAL 6-MONTH PERIOD.

SECTION ONE. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after inserting 40N the following chapter 400: Chapter 400 The Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition Act Section 1. Title. This chapter shall be known as The Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition Act" Section 2. Purpose.

The purpose of this chapter is to establish a uniform statewide policy that broadly prohibits any regulatory scheme based upon or implementing rent control, except where, following an initial 6-tnonth period, compliance with such a scheme is voluntary and uncoerced on the part of property owners. Even when voluntary, rent control should be severely restricted in scope. This policy is based on the belief that the public is best served by free-market rental rates for residential properties and by unrestricted home ownership. The terms of this chapter shall be liberally construed to effect this purpose. Section 3.

Definition of Rent Control. For the purposes of this chapter, the term "rent control" shall mean: (a) any regulation that in any way requires below-market RENT CONTROL Continued from Page 1 But as reports of broken windows, vandalism, harassment and threats reach Cambridge Police and city councilors, in other parts of the state voters are less active. Many have yet to read their ballot information booklets, and many have not even heard of Question 9. Mario Mekinda, a Lenox innkeeper, is typical. As owner of the Garden Gables Inn in the Berkshires, Mekinda says he has been too busy to pay attention to the referendum.

He has not heard of Question 9, but if he had to decide today, he would probably vote to abolish rent control. "Personally, I don't like rent control because in the long run it increases rent prices," he said. "I just remember that from my economics class." It's likely that voters such as Mekinda will have made up their minds by Nov. 8. Figures from the Secretary of State's office show that turnout is usually high for ballot questions.

What is also clear is that the voting dwindles toward the end of the ballot and Question 9 is the last one. In 1986, out of a total 1.78 million votes cast, roughly 130,000 voters left the first ballot question blank. Twice that number left the last ballot question blank, figures show. Similarly, in 1992, out of a total 2.8 million ballot votes, nearly 200,000 voters left the first ballot question blank, while 286,000 left the last question blank. It is difficult to say whether candidates or ballot questions bring people out to vote, says Jack McCarthy, director of communications for UlltTE i si MP1 I warn GLOBE FILE PHOTO Rent control has divided Cambridge tenants and landlords for years.

the Secretary of State's office. On the one hand, a high-profile Senate race may be appealing; on the other hand, an increasingly cynical electorate may feel it can make a greater difference by voting on a specific issue, some analysts say. People generally will vote only on ballot questions that directly affect them, especially if the question is complicated or is a negative ballot question, suggests Patrick Edwards, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government It is unlikely, he says, that many people will cast their Question 9 vote on a matter of principle. For instance, he expects only dedicated liberals outside of Cambridge, Brook-line and Boston will vote to keep rent control. "This kind of a thing is only going to reach the people who are affected by it," he said.

"They have to see that it matters in their lives. You are going to find quite a few people who will skip it" The pocketbook factor is signifi- cant for rent control opponents, who need more "yes" than "no" votes to have their question passed. The tally must be at least 30 percent of the total vote making a blank vote almost as good as a "no" vote, political analysts say. Denise Jillson, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Homeowners Coalition, an anti-rent control group, doesn't think that will be a problem. After driving throughout the state, she says voters everywhere have an interest in rent control.

She says she has also found a high awareness of the issue among small property owner, taxpayer and business groups she has addressed. "They are overwhelmingly supportive," she said. "When you get out beyond 128 and you talk to people in Marlborough, Greenfield, Southbridge, New Bedford, Lynn, where rent control issues have come up in the recent past, people are saying, 'Look, we had to deal with this issue five years ago, and it's always a I City weekly DELIVERS I THE SELLING POWER OF 1 THE SUNDAY GLOBE AT A FRACTION OF THE COST! Paid circulation: 146,000. 378,000 readers. Reaches 66 of all BostonCambridgeBrooklineSoraerville adults.

Generous combination rates with our other Sunday Regionals. Median reader household income: $38,000.00. A local news environment in the great Sunday best of both worlds! price is right! Jillson is counting on people such as William Adams, a machine operator and homeowner in Methuen. "The ones that are having a hard time with their rent will be subsidized," he said. "If somebody told me how much rent I could charge, I wouldn't like it." By contrast, rent control supporters are trying to capitalize not only on support for rent control but on support for the broader issue of home rule, or the autonomy of local communities to decide matters for themselves.

The Cambridge City Council, for example, has discussed the possibility of contesting the passage of Question 9 in court on the grounds that rent control is a local decision. Pat Mikes, communications director for the Massachusetts Municipal Association in Boston, said that is precisely how her organization's membership will vote. The association, which includes representatives from nearly 350 cities and towns statewide, has publicly opposed Question 9. "From our members' perspectives, if this question is successful, it will allow for other narrowly defined interest groups to undermine municipal governments," she said. "All politics is local.

This is really a local issue." The pro-rent control campaign is also playing to people such as Pat Nelson, administrator of an eating disorder clinic, who moved from Cambridge to Concord about eight years ago. Cambridge should keep rent control but pay landlords a subsidy for allowing rent control tenants to live in their buildings, she says, adding the loss of rent control would be a "disaster." "In that way, the city would avoid uprooting people and placing them in public housing," she said. Both sides have little time left to Isway those in the middle ground, the ones who could make or break their victory. They include people such as Gail Vasques, an assistant the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce, who waits until the last minute to read her ballot booklet She does not know about Question 9 "no one has brought it up in conversation." And she hasn't spent any time in Cambridge only driving through "and that's about it" But she plans to vote. "It's my right, and I have to voice my opinion in the way I can." Specialty Finishes Interior Painting JIM FOSTER CUSTOM PAINTING CO.

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