Rent Control, Housing Advocates Stage ‘People’s Rose Parade’

Housing and rent control advocates staged their own ‘People’s Rose Parade, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023 trailing the official Parade down Colorado Boulevard. [Photo: Southern California Housing Advocate]

Housing and rent control advocates staged their own ‘People’s Rose Parade’ Monday in an organized march trailing the official 2023 Rose Parade floats and entrants down Colorado Boulevard.

The group — brightly clad in red and white and holding a wide banner that said “Affordable Housing Now!” — said they are fighting for “housing justice.

The marchers described themselves housing advocates, tenants facing issues with housing, people who are unhoused and those facing housing insecurity.

Ryan Bell, a key organizer of the rent control initiative effort which became Measure H on the June ballot and was passed by Pasadena voters, seen at the ‘People’s Rose Parade’ march on Jan. 2, 2023. [Twitter]

They said their purpose was to call attention to the national housing crisis, high rents, affordability, homelessness and lingering mass evictions.

The event was organized by the Southern California Housing Advocate, composed of different advocates and organizers from the Southern California community.

About 40 people from different parts of Southern California joined the advocates at the march, according to Carlos Marroquin, Community Organizer of the ‘People’s Rose Parade.’

Marroquin said the march aimed to bring awareness that the housing crisis is real.

“It’s very hard to keep up with the cost of housing. Housing is out of control. The rent is too high. We have people that are not able to buy a house because it’s unaffordable. We have other people that really have to put most of their wages, most of their earnings towards housing. So people are paying 60, 70% check on housing alone,” said Marroquin.

According to Marroquin, one of the issues that was raised during the march is rent control.

“There’s a lot of cities, particularly here in Southern California, that do not have rent control. That’s very alarming.”

He commended Pasadena voters for setting the example by recently passing Measure H, which provides eviction protections, rent increase limits and rent rollbacks.

Measure H would roll back rents to May 2021 levels at some buildings and establish a rental board made up of a supermajority of tenants.

The law went into effect on Dec. 22 after voters approved it in the November election.

The California Apartment Association (CAA) and several property owners are suing the City and the City Council for declaratory and injunctive relief in an effort to delay or quash Measure H.

Marroquin praised local housing advocates for their efforts.

“That’s huge. That’s big. That’s a big step in the right direction. So we want to commend them. I think that they’re doing a good job. I think that they’re starting to address the housing crisis.”

“But the fact of the matter is that we still have a lot of people that cannot afford rent. The rent is still too high. It’s very unaffordable. We need to have Pasadena lead the way in addressing house affordability. We need affordable housing.”

Marroquin expressed hopes that the event will bring hope to those people facing housing insecurity.

“I think that by connecting with the people, letting them know that we are here, especially in the new year, stepping into a new year, we should have hope.”

“And there’s a lot of people out there that have no hope right now because they’re very scared they may lose their housing. So we offer hope today. We let the people know that we’re standing with them, that there’s people out there that are fighting for them for housing justice.”