By Colorado Homes For All

You say affordable housing, we say housing we can actually afford. As working-class people from across the state who are renters, we are struggling to keep up with our housing costs and we are being forced into impossible choices between rent and groceries, between staying rooted and being pushed out. In your campaigns for governor, when we ask you about unaffordable rents, your answers point to only one part of the equation: building more housing. We need solutions that keep people in their homes today, like rent stabilization. We cannot build our way to affordability while rents keep pushing people out of their homes. If you truly want affordability for Coloradans, you have to confront skyrocketing rents directly. That means committing to be a governor who will stand with renters and support local rent stabilization.

Local elected officials are asking you to stand with renters

Across the state, local elected officials have called for the ability to pass local rent stabilization measures so rents are predictable, and families can plan their lives and stay in their homes. These leaders know what’s happening in their cities and counties. They’ve watched corporate landlords buy up more and more apartments, mobile home parks, and single-family homes in their communities, driving rents up faster than their constituents can afford. County Commissioners and City Councilors need a governor who will stand with the over 30% of Colorado households who are renters in our state, not with the corporate landlords who are destabilizing our communities and pushing families out of their homes.

For too long, corporate landlords and real estate developers have blocked efforts to lift the statewide ban on the local rent stabilization policies that our communities need. Other localities that have passed local rent stabilization measures have proven these measures keep families housed without curbing new construction.

Renters are listening

We’ll be watching and listening at town halls, debates, and campaign events across Colorado. We are paying attention to what you say, what you don’t say and how you talk about housing. We want you to meet this moment. Colorado’s housing crisis is driven by corporations. It’s time to stand with the people and prioritize solutions that keep us in our homes.

As candidates for governor, you have a choice. Will you continue relying on solutions that fail to address the urgency of our housing costs, or will you give communities the power to help renters stay in their homes and protect their neighbors from being priced out?

Signed,

9to5 Colorado, Colorado AFL-CIO, Colorado Education Association, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Colorado Springs Tenants, Colorado WINS, Community Economic Defense Project, Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center, CWA CO/WY State(s) Council, CWA Local 7799, Denver Artists for Rent Control, Denver Democratic Socialists of America, Denver Metro Tenants Union, East Colfax Community Collective, GES Coalition Tierra Colectiva, Justice for the People Legal Center, Lake County Build a Generation, Metro Caring, New Era Colorado Action Fund, The Redress Movement, Resource Generation, SEIU Local 105, Together Colorado, United for a New Economy, Western Colorado Alliance, and Working Families Power.