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2018-07-10 Special 6pm CC MinutesSpecial Meeting Alameda City Council July 10, 2018 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY- -JULY 10, 2018- -6:00 P.M. Mayor Spencer convened the meeting at 6:14 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL - Present: Councilmembers Ezzy Ashcraft, Matarrese, Oddie, Vella and Mayor Spencer – 5. [Note: Vice Mayor Vella was present via teleconference from the Hilton Minneapolis, 1001 Marquette Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403 ] Absent: None. AGENDA ITEM (18-393) Recommendation to Review and Comment on the City of Alameda Rent Stabilization Ordinance Review (May 2018) Prepared by Management Partners. The Community Development Director gave a presentation. Councilmember Oddie inquired whether the Request for Proposals was approved by Council, to which the Community Development Director responded in the negative; stated staff issued the RFP. In response to Councilmember Oddie’s inquiry regarding the cost, the Community Development Director stated the cost was approximately $30,000. Elain Costello, Management Partners, gave a Power Point presentation. Councilmember Oddie inquired whether the Sunshine Ordinance could be amended, to which the City Attorney responded in the affirmative. Ms. Costello continued the presentation. Mayor Spencer inquired whether the Rent Review Advisory Committee (RRAC) hearing date data would be provided in support of the conclusions. Ms. Costello responded that she can provide the list of meetings she listened to; stated the issue of personal questions often came up in the interviews. Mayor Spencer inquired whether the interview questions and answers would be provided, to which Ms. Costello responded in the affirmative; stated staff has the interviews; the comments were consolidated in order to be confidential. Mayor Spencer inquired whether or not the comments were the same as comments made at RRAC meetings. Special Meeting Alameda City Council July 10, 2018 2 Ms. Costello responded some of the issues were brought up by tenants; stated that she listened to some of the RRAC meetings; given the context, she could see it might make certain people uncomfortable. Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired how information was gathered about tenants not wanting to use the RRAC process. Ms. Costello responded the information came from interviews with tenant representatives; continued the presentation. Mayor Spencer inquired whether tenant s continue to pay rent if they are able to remain after receiving an eviction notice, to which Ms. Costello responded in the affirmative; continued the presentation. In response to Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft’s inquiry regarding government ordered vacations, Ms. Costello provided examples; noted a recommendation is relocation fees be paid within three days of the notice from the landlord. In response to Councilmember Oddie’s inquiry regarding the breakdown of evictions, Ms. Costello stated that she does not have a breakdown of small versus large units. In response to Councilmember Oddie’s further inquiry, Ms. Costello stated the balancing act is tough; noted the City of Los Angeles gives a discount; the impact on small property owners came up in discussions. In response to Mayor Spencer’s inquiry regarding impact of the proposed relocation benefit formula on landlords charging under market, Ms. Costello stated it is a balancing act; there was unanimity between tenants and landlords; if tenants get more money, they will have an easier time relocating. Mayor Spencer stated the money comes from the landlords; inquired what should be done when landlords charge rent that is under market. Ms. Costello responded said situation would be a downside of the proposed change; stated the landlords would pay more; the issues are not easy to balance; based on work in other communities, Management Partners felt helping people who have paid low rent makes a big change in finding alterna tive housing; the market is pretty compelling; most cities are giving more help to people with lower rents who have stayed a longer time. Mayor Spencer inquired whether Ms. Costello reviewed the community input from when the Council drafted the ordinance, to which Ms. Costello responded in the negative; continued the presentation. In response to Mayor Spencer’s inquiry regarding RRAC member interviews, Ms. Costello stated the members felt like they need to be able to refer matters to a hearing officer. Special Meeting Alameda City Council July 10, 2018 Councilmember Oddie inquired whether the fee could cover the cost of the RRAC referring a case to a hearing officer, to which the Assistant City Attorney responded the cost recovery is done based on the ordinance requirements; stated having a provision in the ordinance would possibly be something that could be covered under cost recovery. Ms. Costello finished the presentation. Mayor Spencer stated RRAC training is offered on a regular basis; trained staff and attorneys also attend the meetings to respond to questions raised. In response to Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft’s inquiry regarding possible training sources, Ms. Costello stated that she does not have a specific recommendation; the training could address frustrations; RRAC members indicated they want more information. The Housing Authority Program Analyst gave a Power Point presentation. Stated that he does not support rent stabilization that allows landlords to raise rent 5% per year; he will be driven out of Alameda; urged Council to address the un fairness: Doyle Saylor, Alameda. Thanked Council for providing money for legal representation for tenants; expressed concern over the RRAC; stated more help is needed for tenants : Rob Hayes, Alameda. Expressed concern over renters leaving Alameda and being evicted illegally; stated eviction statistics are needed; discussed homelessness: Tristen Schmidt, Alameda. Expressed concern over statistical information; stated a typical baseline is 65% to 100% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI); 5% has been more than double; the moratorium allowed 8% when inflation was 1.3%; discussed relocation benefits: Catherine Pauling, Alameda. Expressed concern over the definition of small property owners; stated a 5% increase does not stabilize rents: Toni Grimm, Alameda. Stated all of the seven comparison cities have CPI as the rent cap; Alameda is the only City that picked a number out of a hat; expressed support for using a market rate basis for relocation fees; stated the study is a baseline and a conclusion cannot be drawn; expressed concern over mediation; suggested a hearing: Eric Stimling, Alameda Renters Coalition. Stated that he represents landlords and tenants; expressed concern over privacy; suggested someone with full settlement authority be able to attend the RRAC hearings; expressed concern over Municipal Code Section 6-58.140 regarding eviction: Robert Matz, Alameda. Special Meeting Alameda City Council July 10, 2018 4 Expressed concern over the RRAC process; stated full rent control is needed ; discussed the need for housing at all income levels: Victoria Fierce, East Bay for Everyone. Mayor Spencer inquired whether staff is seeking direction. The Community Development Director responded staff would take direction and return to Council in December after the election outcome is known. Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft stated staff should look into not subverting a rule that carves out smaller property owners. Councilmember Oddie stated hopefully, data issue will be solved; tables in the report are estimates; there have only been two government orders, so a solution might be proposed for a problem that does not exist; the beginning has a conclusion that the ordinance is working, but it is not working for 470 Central Avenue tenants; he is not sure the conclusion is fair and adequate; he has been advocating for the fair market rent solution; a discount on relocation benefits should not be given; impacts have been the greatest on tenants paying lower rent; he is okay with adding another 60 or 90 days to the notice period; he appreciates the work the RRAC is doing to implement some of the recommendations; expressed support for requiring attendance at RRAC hearings. Councilmember Matarrese stated the report should be edited to show the basis for the starting conclusion, which seems anecdotal; tables do not show numbers prior to 2016; comparisons are needed; conclusions cannot be drawn without comparison; he found the report confusing; he had trouble resolving the difference in number of units and which are occupied and not occupied; a mechanism is needed to gather informati on; expressed support for looking at the recommendation regarding relocation benefits; stated how many units a landlord owns needs to be identified. Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether the City has a way to track evictions. The Community Development Director responded evictions were not tracked prior to adoption of the ordinance; evictions have been tracked since the ordinance was adopted in March 2016. Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether there is breakdown by age category and children, to which the Community Development Director responded in the affirmative; noted only no fault evictions are being tracked; stated for cause evictions do not go through the system; the Housing Authority publishes monthly and annual reports; outlined data tracked. Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether disability is tracked, to which the Community Development Director responded in the negative. Special Meeting Alameda City Council July 10, 2018 Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether disability could be tracked, to which the Community Development Director responded the information could be tracked if people are willing to provide it. Vice Mayor Vella stated there seems to be a data gap; all information needed is not being tracked; the ordinance has gray areas; tracking can be difficult, like when there is an agreement prior to going to the RRAC; the Council is not getting data in a way to inform policy choices; there is a need to refine data collection and tracking; the data gaps do not provide enough information to say the ordinance is havin g the desired effect; questioned whether fundraising that has been done to help people pay for security deposits is being captured in the report; fundraising shows there is an issue with relocation payments; she is concerned about the efficacy of the RRAC because so few cases go to the Committee; the City needs to rethink the RRAC system; changes to Ordinance 3148 are needed; expressed concern over the ordinance being in the Charter; stated when the matter comes back, she would like to know what the City can do if it happens. Councilmember Oddie stated that he wants staff to address the hearing cost and Sunshine Ordinance change when the matter returns. The Community Development Director stated if a majority of Council would like to direct staff to look into amending the Sunshine Ordinance, the work could begin right away because it is not subject to Ordinance 3148. Councilmembers Ezzy Ashcraft and Matarrese expressed support. In response to Mayor Spencer’s inquiry, the Community Development Director stated staff would be looking at amending the Sunshine Ordinance to no longer require the public record to include the information currently required under the ordinance in order to maintain more privacy; the idea is more people might be willing to come forw ard and participate in the RRAC process if the information could be kept private. Mayor Spencer inquired whether RRAC meetings would still be public, to which the Community Development Director responded in the affirmative. Mayor Spencer stated the Council all agrees. In response to Councilmember’s Oddie’s inquiry regarding the hearing costs, the Community Development Director stated some issues can be addresses by promulgating regulations under the ordinance versus ordinance amendments; having the ability to refer a case to a hearing officer can be picked up by the program as an eligible expense if desired. Mayor Spencer stated that she agrees it would always be nice to have more data; anyone who wants to critique the system should attend RRAC meetings; listening to tapes is not sufficient; the Councilmembers’ discussion of the hearing that took place at Special Meeting Alameda City Council July 10, 2018 6 Kaufman Auditorium helps explain and is critical; therefore, she cannot accept the report; expressed concern over paying an expert to listen to tapes an d not attend meetings; stated information should be gleaned from observing the process, not just interviewing RRAC members and tenants anecdotally; she agrees the definition of small landlords should be reviewed. The Community Development Director stated staff has heard the concern about data collection; one constraint is the City does not have a rent registration program, which the Council might want to review after the November election; the fee forms have been expanded to include more information, such as bedroom size and rent; the Housing Authority continues to expand data collection for issues that come to them. Mayor Spencer noted that she wants to continue to require that landlords have to attend RRAC hearings. Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft stated that she would like information on the number of cases heard by the RRAC; a cost benefit analysis should be done to determine if the money would be better spent elsewhere, such as on more legal representation or mediation. Councilmember Oddie stated that he thought the Council gave clear direction to come back with comprehensive information that can be tracked year after year. The Community Development Director stated staff has heard the message; the challenge is that staff does not have the authority to co mpel a rent registry, so the matter will come back after November. Councilmember Oddie stated that he thought staff was going to come back with options on how to do so, which can be done before the election results come out. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Spencer adjourned the meeting at 7:27 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lara Weisiger City Clerk The agenda for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Sunshine Ordinance.