By Kate Talerico : siliconvalley – excerpt (audio)

Tenant organizers accused the California Apartment Association of paying gig workers to show up in support of rent control changes

Facing pressure from tenant advocates, landlords and frustrated residents, the Concord City Council in March approved amendments to a hotly debated rent control ordinance that increased the annual cap on rent increases to 5% from 3% — one of the most restrictive in the Bay Area.

But dozens of the supposed activists who turned up in “Repeal Rent Control” shirts had been paid $250 to attend the council meeting and speak in support of rolling back tenant protections, said Shamelle Salahuddin, CEO of a public relations company that organized the stunt.

“If you’re asking if I pay activists, I do,” Salahuddin said. “That’s the business that I’m in.”

The paid activists were handed signs that read “Concord Rent Control is Unsustainable” and stamped with the contact information for the California Apartment Association, a landlord industry group leading the fight against Concord’s rent control ordinance. Salahuddin said the California Apartment Association did not hire her company, Sunshine State, but she declined to say who did.

When asked if it had hired Salahuddin’s firm, the California Apartment Association did not answer. In a statement, the group said those who supported the amendment had been “victimized” by rent control activists who “behaved in a disturbing and unacceptable manner” during the meeting.… (more)