Rent Control for Santa Barbara?

As a local real estate agent who grew up in Santa Barbara I must comment on the article in the Independent dated 3/18/2022; which points to increased rents in SB as
“Price Gouging”.

As if property owners have not also suffered severely from all things impacting the world to include the increased costs to operate a rental property. Santa Barbara real estate has always been expensive compared to other areas just as most CA coastal communities are and I think the old adage “you get what you pay for” certainly applies.

Santa Barbara is a special and unique place, but there is no free lunch, and the cost of living is also among the highest, higher than LA. There are much less expensive places to live in the country than Santa Barbara and the question we all need to consider is why should landlords take the brunt of increasing costs of living due to emergency conditions or even just the normal cost of doing business in an affluent town like ours or they are seen as corrupt or the enemy of society? Certainly the retail blight in Santa Barbara should be showing us all that the consumer matters too and aim to be less
punitive to business and commerce.