We Are Housing Experts for The People
We – the Pro-Rent Control Slate of James Chang, Jesse Townley, Paola Laverde-Levine, John Selawsky, and myself – are running for election because we each enjoy speaking with people one-on-one about how public policy impacts our everyday life and our communities. As Commissioners, we will work passionately to make sure everyone has access to justice.
Our Rent Board must remain a place where all landlords and tenants can find assistance and resolve disputes without need for expensive attorneys. Program staff are trained mediators, and the number of hearings for the department has gone down significantly since mediation has been emphasized. In addition, no one needs an attorney to sit down at the big table and tell their story in plain language to a hearing examiner. Regardless of economic status, everyone is on even ground.
Since Berkeley tenants won the protections of our Rent Ordinance over 30 years ago, new state laws and judicial decisions have taken away some of the rights and protections Berkeley tenants fought so hard to gain: Renters in single-family homes no longer have Rent Control, and when a new tenant moves in, owners can reset the rent at whatever they want, so some landlords are motivated to evict. This is why the Rent Board follows legislation at the state level, and why, as Commissioners, you will find us advocating to keep your Berkeley values our Berkeley laws.
Laws don’t exist in a vacuum, and policies set by other departments must work in concert with Rent Board regulations. As elected officials and in our personal capacities as concerned citizens, we will be Community Leaders on Housing Policy: We will address issues that concern landlords and tenants but fall in the realm of other legislative and advisory bodies. For example, the Rent Board met with the Health Commission to draft laws about smoking in multi-unit buildings and the two groups made a joint recommendation to the City Council.
How Some of Our Priorities Will Involve Work with Other Departments:
▪ Disaster Preparedness for Tenants: Led by Jesse Townley, the Rent Board is working with the Office of Emergency Services on two pilot programs.
Disaster Preparedness & Seismic Safety
▪ Preventing Demolition of Rent Controlled Units: California’s Costa-Hawkins law has made new rent control against the law. Berkeley has a law that imposes strict standards for the few circumstances in which a rent controlled unit could be torn down. But lately a case seems to be before the Zoning Board at least once a month in which a rent controlled building wants a demolition permit. You will find Rent Board staff and Commissioners like Katherine Harr at the Zoning Board every time! We have been working for years with the Planning Commission to come up with modifications to the codes which will protect our rent controlled housing stock and clear up disputes about how the law is interpreted.
Preserve/Expand Rent Control units
▪ Cyclical Housing Inspections: Berkeley has a complaint-driven system to enforce building code and safety violations. That has become a problem for renters, who are afraid to call the Building Inspector on their landlords. The Rent Board’s tenant survey found the main source of disagreement between landlords and tenants is over maintenance and repairs. But the Rent Board is not empowered under the law to order a landlord to fix the toilet – the Rent Board can only lower the rent while the toilet is broken. We plan to work with the City Council and concerned public organizations to move Berkeley toward an active, not passive, Code Enforcement system, in which building inspectors visit each unit once every few years. Many surrounding cities have cyclical inspections in which all multi-unit housing is inspected every 3 to 5 years.
▪ Beg Bugs, Rats and Other Pests: In July, the State passed a new “Vector Control” law. At the same time, complaints regarding beg bugs in Berkeley have reached an all-time high. Commissioners will work with Rent Board staff, Housing and Health to make sure Berkeley Code Enforcement procedures are revised to reflect the new state law and thereby assist folks with severe pest problems. Before the new law, Code Enforcement could not give citations for pests. It is State Law that pest control is always the responsibility of the owner!