Alameda voters received this mailer over the
weekend opposing Measure M1, the more 
stringent rent control initiative on the fall ballot.

ALAMEDA RENT CONTROL |
ELECTION 2016 |
Thousands of renters in Alameda know the understated storefront on Webster Street belonging to island property management firm, Gallagher & Lindsey. If not, because many of them drop their rent checks through a little slot in the door every month.

But, just two blocks up the street sits the home of a group calling itself “Real Rent Control for Alameda,” a group that opposes Measure M1, which aims to enact strong renters’ protection on the island. The independent expenditure committee’s top backer is Alameda’s so-called “Landlord-In-Chief” Don Lindsey, according to recent campaign finance reports.

Lindsey-backed entities such as property management firm, Gallagher & Lindsey and its real estate arm, G & L Properties, are listed as the Real Rent Control for Alameda’s top donors, according to campaign finance reports. Lindsey’s companies contributed $11,520 to the IE through Sept. 24, according to finance reports. In total, the IE reported raising $50,000, while spending just $15,000 between July 1 and Sept. 24.

Seven other landlord groups, all but one based in San Francisco, also gave significantly to the IE: PCI Sweep, listed in Alameda ($7,800); and San Francisco-based firms Park Central Apartments ($6,826); Driftwood Apartments ($5,632); Villa Apartments ($5,290), Lanai Apartments ($4,437); Wavecrest Apartments ($4,437); and Bay Royal Apartment (4,096).

Over the weekend the IE sent a significant mailer to Alameda voters. A four-page glossy titled, “Two roads to rent control in Alameda” urges voters to back the less stringent Measure L1, placed on the ballot by the Alameda City Council over the grassroots Measure M1 rent control initiative.

Inside, the mailer features two unlikely proponents–Alameda Councilmember Jim Oddie, who wrote the city’s ballot statement in favor of Measure L1 and Alameda Mayor Trish Spencer, who authored a rebuttal to Measure M1. Quotes from both arguments are used by the IE to oppose Measure M1.

Oddie, who has been critical of the mayor on a host of other issues, said he is not affiliated with the group, which prominently displayed head shots of he and Spencer in the mailer.

The mailer, however, is not yet listed on the IEs finance report. The group’s only expenditure is $15,000 to campaign consultant Whitehurst/Mosher Strategy & Media of San Francisco .