Standing Up for Rockville Renters with Solutions

I spoke out against raising the cap on Rockville Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) rent increases to a whopping 13% at the June 5 Mayor and Council meeting and offered a better solution.

As the only renter running for Rockville City Council, where renters make up 45% of the city population and are widely underrepresented in policy making, it’s critical I share my voice.

Rockville is facing an affordable housing crisis. I spoke about seeing an increase in evictions over the past few years.

Although I understand the 13% was generated from a federal programmatic formula, the City makes the final decision. I wanted the Mayor and Council to understand the human impact and consider the harm of what this inevitable rent increase could do, such as:

• Pushing families out of their homes and having to switch their kids’ school.

• Forcing families to make tough decisions between their housing and other necessities.

• Decreasing tenants’ ability to save and purchase a home in Rockville.

Given how quickly the City amended the meeting agenda to provide notice of this increase, I questioned what outreach had been done to engage MPDU renters.

As a solution, I asked the Mayor and Council to consider a 5.8 % cap, based on the City’s Voluntary Rent Guidelines, instead of the proposed 13%. After much deliberation and the leadership of Councilmember Monique Ashton who made the motion, the Mayor and Council voted to cap this year’s rent to 5.8%.

I’m running to serve the people. If elected, I will continue fighting to make Rockville an affordable place to live.

Please support by sharing this message with your network, volunteering or donating to my campaign.