Abdelnour

Coalition for Fair Rent has petitioned for a writ of mandate to order the clerk of the City of San Diego (City) to qualify the Fair Rent Initiative for placement on the ballot. Already pending here is (1) City’s appeal from a superior court judgment which granted Coalition a writ of mandate, directing the clerk to count the signatures on the initiative petition, but not deciding whether the 1974 or the 1978 gubernatorial election determines the required number of signatures on the petition; and (2) the appeal of the San Diego Apartment Association (Association) and two apartment owners from an order denying Association leave to intervene in the matter, but granting it amicus curiae status. Coalition’s petition here asks us to consolidate these matters; to determine the question unresolved below, which election controls; and, by our exercise of original jurisdiction, to eliminate the delay and the multiplicity of litigation which has impeded Coalition’s efforts to qualify the initiative for the ballot. This being an election matter raising significant questions of statewide importance in the interpretation of laws governing the initiative procedure, our exercise of…