On December 5, the vote to enact Measure H as an amendment to the Pasadena, California, city charter was officially certified. This measure enacted a stricter form of rent control than provided by the state, and just cause eviction criteria. The measure also mandates the creation of a rental registry and a majority-tenant rental board to deal with tenant/landlord disputes. Tenant organizers say that this may be the most complete form of rent control in the country.

The Pasadena Tenants Union (PTU) spearheaded a coalition of tenant and student organizers, along with other progressive groups across the city. This grassroots coalition collected twenty thousand physical signatures to place Measure H on the ballot. The coalition then worked to get out the vote and eventually win the rent control initiative by a large margin. Jacobin sat down with three key organizers from the campaign to discuss the measure, the movement that helped it win, and what the measure means for tenant organizing in Pasadena’s future.