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Opponents of Measure E, a rent control initiative in Redwood City, have far outpaced proponents in contributions this year, according to campaign finance reports.
Supporters of Measure E received just over $155,000 in donations, while No on E received more than $360,000 for the calendar year through Oct. 17.
Clara Jaeckel, a Redwood City renter and Faith in Action Bay Area member, the organization that sponsored the measure, said opponents of Measure E are “the big landlords and real estate interests.”
“Low-income, working-class families don’t have the kind of necessary funding in their pockets that it takes to run a campaign,” said Jaeckel, who has donated $2,600 to Yes on E.
Joshua Howard, an executive with the California Apartment Association, which represents rental home and apartment owners and developers and opposes the measure, said he thinks it’s unfortunate the city is spending so much money to fight Measure E instead of making housing more available and affordable.
“Measure E, what it really does, is it builds an $11 million bureaucracy that will require 18 new employees at City Hall to regulate the housing industry without building any new affordable housing,” Howard said, citing a city-commissioned report.
No on E
Six of the seven Redwood City Council members, along with other local politicians, including Assemblymember Diane Papan; San Mateo County Supervisors Ray Mueller and David Canepa; and committees representing real estate developers and landlords, oppose the measure.
The National Association of Realtors nearly doubled all contributions to the committee, donating $160,000 on Oct. 1.
The California Apartment Association Issues Committee was also a major donor against Measure E, giving $95,000 this calendar year, while the California Association of Realtors Issues Mobilization PAC — which represents real estate agents, developers and landlords — has donated $50,000 to defeat Measure E.
Harbor Village Mobile Home Park, the mobile park at 3015 East Bayshore Road, and “Marjal Corp. and affiliates,” Marjal Corporation, a stock corporation registered in Richmond, each donated $10,000 to the committee in the first half of October.
“The response that’s being received is very strong: voters are very concerned about the high price tag of Measure E,” Howard said.
Yes on E
Faith Votes, a coalition of faith and spiritual leaders organized around voting and social and economic justice, contributed $50,000 to Yes on E on Sept. 28. Faith Votes is sponsored by PICO California Action Fund, which organizes Californians around issues like housing rights and affordability, immigrant and restorative justice, and the state budget, and also sponsors Faith in Action Bay Area.
Faith in Action Bay Area also gave $50,000 to Yes on E on Aug. 11, while Bay Rising Ballot Action Committee, sponsored by Center for Empowered Politics, an alliance of community-led organizations focused on racial, economic and environmental justice, was the next highest donor, giving $7,500 on Sept. 27. The fourth highest donor, Tenants and Owners Development Corporation, gave $5,000 on Aug. 4.
Campaign contributors have included housing-related professionals such as a civil rights attorney with the Eviction Defense Collaborative, a researcher with the California Housing Partnership, an affordable housing development consultant and a director at Tenants and Owners Development Corporations. Others have been tech workers at companies like Google and LinkedIn, and leaders in religious and immigrant rights.
Yes on E received 77 individual donations, while No on E received 21, some of whom were repeat donors.
“The main thing that’s important to know about the Yes on E campaign is that it’s always been led by Redwood City residents by low-income, working-class, immigrant families,” said Jaeckel. “What you don’t see in the campaign reports is that people have given hundreds of hours of volunteer time.”
The debate over Measure E
The measure, which will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot after more than 7,000 city residents signed a petition in favor of it, would go beyond the city’s new Tenant Protection Ordinance, which went into effect at the start of 2026 and added rent stabilization, anti-harassment and “just-cause” eviction safeguards and stronger rights to return after renovations.
For “no-fault” evictions, the measure would raise relocation assistance up from one to four times the monthly U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s fair market rent, or $12,000, whichever is greater. A household that includes someone who is a senior, disabled or terminally ill would receive an additional $6,000.
The measure would keep costs stable by allowing predictable rent increases of 60% of inflation or 5%, whichever is lower, according to the measure’s “argument in favor” form submitted to the city. It would also guarantee landlords a “fair” return on their investment and cost increases, enabling them to petition the city to increase rent, the argument added.
Proponents argued that the ordinance would prevent homelessness by providing higher relocation assistance for no-fault evictions and would be funded by a “small fee” on landlords rather than on homeowners, renters or the city’s general fund.
The California Association of Realtors sponsored the website NoOnMeasureE.com, citing in it a city-commissioned analysis that found it could cost the city up to $11.1 million a year and require up to 18 new full-time employees to implement.
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