A landlord-interest group looking to change Hoboken’s rent control law via a referendum was given another lifeline when it was granted an extra week to garner enough valid signatures to place the question on the ballot.
The deadline to “cure” the signatures petition previously submitted by the Mile Square Taxpayers Association (MSTA) to launch the referendum has been extended to June 17, MSTA Executive Director Ron Simoncini told The Jersey Journal Monday, which was the original deadline.
“We appreciate the fact (that) the clerk has provided us with extra time and we’ll be (resubmitting) within the deadline,” Simoncini said.
The city clerk’s office rejected the petition last week, saying only 802 of the 2,162 signatures submitted were valid. The MSTA needs 894 signatures to place the referendum on the election ballot.
The proposed referendum seeks to have voters decide on whether the rent control law should allow landlords the option to raise the rent of a rent-controlled unit as much as they want when a tenant moves out, in exchange for a $2,500 contribution to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The deadline extension comes after the clerk’s office Friday amended the number of signatures required from 1,356 to 894. The MSTA was prepared to submit 900 cured signatures and 520 new signatures Monday, until receiving confirmation the deadline had been pushed back.
Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who is opposed to the proposed referendum, did not respond to a request for comment on the extension.
