"They’re putting it off a little bit, but it’s no less of an emergency," said Scott McLarty, an organizer for the Emergency Coalition to Save Rent Control (EC). "In the year 2000, the current rent control laws will expire."

Two tenants’ rights groups will hold public events this month in an effort to boost awareness of rent control issues and to recruit members. D.C. Tenants’ Advocacy Coalition (TENAC) is sponsoring a candidates forum at the Charles Sumner School Thursday night and EC is holding a town meeting on the subject June 30 at One Judiciary Square.

Neighborhood activists and tenants’ associations sprang into action when the control board’s consulting firm, Holland and Knight, issued its report recommending the District repeal its rent control laws in January. Councilman Harold Brazil, D-At Large, wrote provisions into his regulatory reform bill that would repeal the current laws but pulled the provisions from the bill when they were met by angry tenants’ associations.

"Mr. Brazil is no friend of rent control," said Jim McGrath, coordinator for TENAC, noting that when the city council voted to renew rent control laws in 1995, Brazil was the only council member who voted against it.

"Harold Brazil wanted to shake his leg to the business community and do what they wanted him to," said David Conn of the Tenant Action Network.

McGrath was also critical of control board Chairman Andrew Brimmer’s opposition to the rent control laws.

"He keeps saying the business of the District is business," McGrath said. "We say the business of the District is survival."

Current laws provide for rent increases equivalent to the Consumer Price Index, which measures the percentage increase of retail prices from one year to the next.

The laws also stipulate that landlords in the District are guaranteed a 12 percent yearly return on their investments, according to McGrath.

"We feel that this is just a case of landlord greed," McGrath said of the efforts to repeal the laws.

"Landlords get a good deal with rent control," agreed Conn.

Activists note that just because the control board chose to put off making a decision does not mean the threat has passed.

"There needs to be a crisis for tenants to show their voice," Conn said. "Sometimes people don’t know there’s a threat because they don’t know what their rights are."

TENAC’s candidate forum on Thursday night has already drawn confirmations from over 20 candidates for office, including eight mayoral candidates. The forum will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Great Hall of Charles Sumner School at 17th and M Streets NW.

"We’re not trying to make this political — we’re trying to get the people involved," said Conn. "We’re trying to teach people what they have and what they could lose."

The EC’s membership includes people from TAN, D.C. Statehood Party, the Green Party, Washington Inner-city Self Help, Stand up for Democracy, Democracy for America’s Capitol and the Ad Hoc Committee to Save Rent Control.

The town meeting sponsored by EC will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. June 30 in Room 1030 of One Judiciary Square, 441 Fourth St. NW.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator