Opponents of the Rumford Act put Proposition 14, which would nullify the Act’s fair housing provisions and amend the state constitution to prevent future legislation regulating private property transactions, on the ballot in 1964. CREA led the effort to get Prop 14 on the ballot, gathering over a million signatures, more than double the number needed to qualify for the 1964 ballot. CREA was joined by other organizational supporters, including the California Apartment House Owners Association, the American Nazi Party, the American Council of Churches, the White Citizens Councils local branches, and the National States Rights Party. Most supporters of Prop 14 hid their racism behind arguments about property values; property rights being more important than human rights; local control and state over-reach; and stopping socialism and “forced housing.” 

Prop 14 had wide support in Glendale, and a Glendale resident, Howard L. Byram, the former Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector, was the Statewide Chairman of the “Yes on 14” Committee. Several hundred Glendale Methodists bought a large ad in The Glendale News-Press, protesting their church’s official stance and urging yes votes on Prop 14 to “reverse the trend towards socialism.” Reverend William Steuart McBirnie, founder of Glendale’s United Community Church and conservative radio commentator, also called the Rumford Act socialist, and said, “The impression is given that this entire issue has been created by the real estate people. This is not true. All conservatives are united on this issue—against it.” St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glendale lost parishioners and tithes due to the national Episcopal Church’s stance on the proposition. Prop 14 passed by a margin of almost two to one statewide; in Glendale, the margin was four to one. In 1966, Prop 14 was struck down by the United States Supreme Court.