Unusual setback for Delano rent control battle: Petition signatures stolen from office

by Leslie Santibanez-Molina, Eyewitness News

DELANO, California — The battle over rent control in Delano continues but is now facing a strange setback. The office where organizers gather was broken into Tuesday.

They say the only item that was stolen was part of their rent control petition, which has 22 signatures. These signatures were made in support of getting a rent control ordinance on the November ballot.

The 22 signatures are only a small fraction. In total, advocates have collected over 500 signatures in the past month. This portion was not in the office at the time of the break-in.

"I think we are all scratching our heads and wondering who it could be," said Arturo Rodriguez, of Fair Rents Delano. “Why would they break in just to get that?”