{"body": "CityCouncil", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 1, "text": "MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING\nWEDNESDAY- MAY 15, 2019- -6:30 P.M.\nMayor Ezzy Ashcraft convened the meeting at 6:34 p.m. Councilmember Vella led the\nPledge of Allegiance.\nROLL CALL -\nPresent:\nCouncilmembers Daysog, Knox White, Oddie, Vella,\nand Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft - 5.\nAbsent:\nNone.\nORAL COMMUNICATIONS\n(19-288) Ruth Abbe, Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda (CASA), stated the\nClimate Action and Resiliency Plan is not in the budget because it has not been\nadopted; Council should ask staff to fund the Plan and not wait for next fiscal year,\nincluding creation of a Sustainability Coordinator position; things need to be done in the\nbudget now.\n(19-289) Pat Potter, Alameda, expressed concern over reducing the urban forest budget\nsince the climate action emergency declaration calls for an increase to the urban forest;\nurged funding converting street lights to LEDs.\n(19-290) Kayoung Lee, Alameda High Student, discussed environmental proposals in\nthe Climate Action Plan, such as urban forest, LED street lights, and electric vehicles.\n(19-291) Christy Cannon, Alameda, stated the climate emergency declaration needs to\nbe part of everything.\n(19-292) Kevin Jensen, Fernside Homeowners Association, urged street lights be\nconverted to LED and service conduit be replaced.\n(19-293) Debi Ryan, CASA, stated the Climate Plan needs to be considered and\nincorporated into budget decisions; expressed support for having a sustainability\nposition.\nAGENDA ITEM\n(19-294) Budget Workshop for Fiscal Years 2019-20 and 2020-21 to Provide Direction\non Funding Requests.\nMayor Ezzy Ashcraft provided an overview of how the meeting would run.\nThe City Manager and Finance Director started the Power Point presentation and\nresponded to Council questions.\nSpecial Meeting\nAlameda City Council\n1\nMay 15, 2019", "path": "CityCouncil/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "CityCouncil", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 2, "text": "The Public Information Officer began tracking Council follow-up requests and continued\nto do so throughout the workshop.\nExpressed support for the park maintenance improvement fund, including the\nimprovements to Jackson Park: Jose Navarro, Alameda.\n****\nMayor Ezzy Ashcraft called a recess at 7:17 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 7:32\np.m.\n***\nThe Alameda Municipal Power General Manager continued the Power Point\npresentation and responded to Council questions.\nThe Human Resources Director also responded to questions.\nThe Police Chief continued the Power Point presentation and responded to Council\nquestions.\nThe City Manager made brief comments and also responded to questions.\nThe Fire Chief continued the Power Point presentation and responded to Council\nquestions.\nThe City Manager made brief comments and also responded to questions.\n****\nMayor Ezzy Ashcraft called a recess at 8:33 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 8:44\np.m.\n***\nThe Library Director continued the Power Point presentation and responded to Council\nquestions.\nThe Information Technology Director continued the Power Point presentation and\nresponded to Council questions.\nThe City Manager and Human Resources Director responded to questions.\nThe Human Resources Director continued the Power Point presentation and responded\nto Council questions.\nThe City Manager and Interim Assistant City Manager continued the Power Point\npresentation and responded to Council questions.\n***\nSpecial Meeting\nAlameda City Council\n2\nMay 15, 2019", "path": "CityCouncil/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "CityCouncil", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 3, "text": "Councilmember Vella left the dais at 9:35 p.m. and returned at 9:37 p.m.\nThe Public Works Director continued the Power Point presentation and responded to\nCouncil questions.\nThe Community Development Director continued the Power Point presentation and\nresponded to Council questions.\nThe City Manager responded to Council questions and made brief comments.\nThe Public Works Director continued the Power Point presentation and responded to\nCouncil questions.\nThe City Engineer continued the Power Point presentation.\nADJOURNMENT\nThere being no further business, Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft adjourned the meeting at 10:52\np.m.\nRespectfully submitted,\nLara Weisiger\nCity Clerk\nThe agenda for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Sunshine Ordinance.\nSpecial Meeting\nAlameda City Council\n3\nMay 15, 2019", "path": "CityCouncil/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 1, "text": "Approved Minutes\nMay 15, 2019\nMinutes of a Special Meeting of the\nRent Review Advisory Committee\nWednesday, May 15, 2019\n1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL\nThe meeting was called to order at 6:37 p.m.\nPresent:\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah; Members Chiu and Sidelnikov\nAbsent:\nChair Murray, Member Johnson\nProgram staff:\nGregory Kats, Grant Eshoo, Bill Chapin\nCity Attorney staff:\nMichael Roush\n2. AGENDA CHANGES\nStaff informed the Committee that Agenda Item 7-D would not be heard as the\ntenants had given the landlord notice to vacate.\n3. STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS\nStaff reminded the Committee that their next training was scheduled at 6:30 p.m.\non Friday, June 21, 2019. Staff said we were still waiting on final confirmation from the\ntrainer, but so far he had indicated that the date and time would work.\n4. PUBLIC COMMENT, NON-AGENDA ITEMS, NO.1\nNone.\n5. CONSENT CALENDAR\n5-A. Approval of the minutes of the March 4, 2019 regular meeting\nMotion and second to table approval of the minutes (Vice Chair Sullivan-Cheah and\nMember Chiu). Motion passed 3-0.\n5-B. Approval of the minutes of the April 1, 2019 regular meeting\nMotion and second to approve the minutes (Vice Chair Sullivan-Cheah and Member\nChiu). Motion passed 3-0.\n5-C. Approval of the minutes of the April 17, 2019 special meeting\nMotion and second to approve the minutes (Vice Chair Sullivan-Cheah and Member\nChiu). Motion passed 3-0.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 2, "text": "Approved Minutes\nMay 15, 2019\n6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS\nNone.\n7. NEW BUSINESS\n7-A. Case RI1236 - 1845 Poggi St., Apt. D214\nTenant: Bashir Ahmed Rumy\nLandlords: Andy King and Shahzad Raufi\nProposed rent increase: $198.00 (10.0%), to a total rent of $2,182.00,\neffective March 1, 2019\nMr. King said that the current owner purchased the property in 2017 and inherited\ndeferred maintenance issues that they have addressed and will continue addressing. He\nsaid they have spent $3.5 million on improvements to the common areas and upgrades\nto the property, including seismic retrofitting, and repairing or replacing rotting\nbalconies. He said they have also added amenities at the property and were looking for\nearning a reasonable return. He said there were currently no two bedroom units\navailable, and the last one they rented was at a rate of over $2,700.00 per month. He\nadded that review for the increase at this unit was postponed at a prior RRAC meeting\nso that it could be determined if a prior rent increase was valid and it was valid.\nMr. Rumy said he had no complaints about the landlords or the property, but was\nrequesting the RRAC decide on a lower increase or no increase as the four current\nresidents were all students with tight financial situations. He said that he was working\n20 hours per week while maintaining a 3.9 GPA. He said he and his roommates would\nprobably not be able to continue living at the unit if the increase was imposed. He said\nthat as students they could not work a lot because they had to study, and the school\nprevented them from working more than 20 hours per week, which he was currently\ndoing. He shared that they were already finding it hard to make ends meet, and had\nfinancial aid (scholarships and loans) in addition to working and sometimes having to\nask their parents for help.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah asked if all the occupants worked and Mr. Rumy replied that\ntwo of the four currently worked, and the others did not currently as they were\napproaching finals and were spending all their time studying.\nAs no agreement was reached, the parties took their seats and the Committee began\ndeliberations.\nMember Sidelnikov asked staff to confirm that the issue raised in the last meeting\nregarding the prior rent amount had been resolved and staff confirmed it was resolved.\nMember Sidelnikov noted that two of the four tenants were not currently working but it\nseemed like they could possibly work if they needed to in order to pay an increase.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 3, "text": "Approved Minutes\nMay 15, 2019\nMember Chiu commented that he could appreciate the pressures the tenants were\nfacing, and added that he was not sure if their situation was in the realm of extreme\nhardship the Committee had seen in other cases. He said that he thought an increase of\n10% was significant and was inclined to support an increase between five and 10\npercent.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah said he did not doubt the tenants' hardship, and\nacknowledged Mr. Rumy's ability to work and maintain a 3.9 GPA. He noted that the\nrequested increase would amount to an extra $50.00 per person per month, and said\nthat he himself would struggle to pay that much of an increase. He also noted that the\nrequest to bring the rent to $2,182.00 was still below the market rate the landlord had\nindicated they obtained for similar two-bedroom units.\nMember Chiu said he would support an increase of about $140.00, which would amount\nto $35.00 per tenant per month.\nMotion and second for an increase of $140.00 to a total rent of $2,124.00, effective\nJune 1, 2019, with a $0.00 increase for March, April, and May 2019 (Member Chiu and\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah). Motion passed 3-0.\n7-B. Case RI1252.1 - 1825 Poggi St., Apt. A109\nTenant: Rienzie Espana\nLandlords: Andy King and Shahzad Raufi\nProposed rent increase: $139.00 (11.1%), to a total rent of $1,386.00,\neffective June 1, 2019\nStaff clarified that the current, valid base rent was $1,247.00.\nMr. King said this was the first rent increase the current landlord was requesting at this\none-bedroom unit. He said that the current owner cured deficiencies in increases\nimposed by the prior owner and refunded increase amounts collected under those\nincreases. He said the last three comparable units rented for around $2,300.00 to\n$2,400.00.\nMr. Espana said he worked at an airport and made $13.00 per hour. He said his wife\nworks part-time and they have a baby. He said they could not afford increases of 10%\nper year, but he thought 5% per year or 10% every two or three years would be\nreasonable.\nMr. King responded that he thought it was unreasonable for an employer to expect an\nemployee to be able to live on $13.00 per hour.\nMember Chiu asked Mr. Espana how long he had been at his current job and he said he\nhas had the job for seven years. Member Chiu asked if he received any increase in", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 4, "text": "Approved Minutes\nMay 15, 2019\nwages and Mr. Espana replied that increases were minimal and the last one was two or\nthree years ago.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah clarified that the Committee had the ability to look at cases\nindividually, and could make decisions for an increase only over a one year period. He\nreminded the participants that documents submitted to the Rent Stabilization Program\nand things discussed at RRAC meetings were a matter of public record that the RRAC\ncould use when considering future increases.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. King if most other tenants also received no rent\nincreases since the current ownership acquired the property and Mr. King replied that\nthe new ownership had faced challenges in the management of the property because of\ninadequate record-keeping by the prior owner.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah asked if the owners planned on continuing to ask for 10%\nannual increases going forward and Mr. King replied that the owner had not established\na policy for increases in future years.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. Espana how much his wife worked and how much\nshe made and Mr. Espana replied that she worked six hours on the weekend and\nearned $12 per hour.\nMember Sidelnikov asked and Mr. King confirmed that the total rent amount being\nrequested was unaltered by the change in base rent.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah noted that if the tenants' jobs were their only source of\nincome they would be paying over 50% of their income toward rent. Mr. Espana\nconfirmed that was correct.\nAs no agreement was reached, the parties took their seats and the Committee began\ndeliberations.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah noted that the tenants seemed like they would be considered\nrent burdened. He said he had heard the tenant say he would be able to pay the\nrequested increase this year, and understood the tenant's fear of large future increases.\nMotion and second for an increase of $139.00, effective June 1, 2019 (Members\nSidelnikov and Chiu). Motion passed 3-0.\n7-C. Case RI1254.1 - 1825 Poggi St., Apt. A117\nTenant: Mohammed Eqbal Khan\nLandlords: Andy King and Shahzad Raufi\nProposed rent increase: $184.00 (15.6%), to a total rent of $1,369.00,\neffective June 1, 2019", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 5, "text": "Approved Minutes\nMay 15, 2019\nMr. King noted that this was the first rent increase the current ownership group was\nrequesting for this unit, which is a one-bedroom unit with a patio.\nMr. Khan said he was still paying $1,245.00 instead of the reduced base rent of\n$1,185.00 after staff had found prior increases invalid. Mr. Raufi replied that\nmanagement had informed Mr. Khan that his rent would be reduced to the last valid\nbase rent of $1,185.00, and Mr. King said if Mr. Khan had overpaid, a credit would be\napplied to his account for the overpaid balance.\nMr. Khan said the landlord's construction had caused inconveniences, there were issues\nwith parking at the property, including having cars towed, he had security concerns\nabout the gate, his carpet had not been changed since his tenancy began in 2005, and\nhis screen door was old and allowed a lot of mosquitoes to enter the unit. He requested\nthe screen door be fixed and said he was okay with a rent increase that was 10%\nabove the base rent of $1,185.00.\nMember Sidelnikov asked about how repayment of overpaid rent worked and Mr. Raufi\nsaid management usually deducted the overpaid amount from the next month's rent.\nMember Sidelnikov asked how parking was offered and Mr. Raufi said there was one\nspace assigned per unit. Member Sidelnikov noted there should be no reason to tow a\ncar unless the tenant complained about it.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah ascertained with the landlords that they had a contract with a\ntowing service. Mr. Raufi explained that a resident may contact the towing service\ndirectly if they needed a car towed from their assigned spot.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. Khan what impact the requested increase would\nhave on him and his family and Mr. Khan replied that it would be hard for them, stating\nhe and his wife had three children and his wife was not working.\nAs no agreement was reached, the parties took their seats and the Committee began\ndeliberations.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah noted the landlord seemed to be instituting 10% increases\nacross the board to recoup the costs for the investments they made. He noted the\ntenant indicated he would not be able to pay the total amount requested and said he\nwould not be comfortable giving an increase of more than a $118.50, the amount the\ntenant indicated he could pay.\nMembers Chiu and Sidelnikov concurred that was a reasonable amount.\nMotion and second for an increase of $118.50, to a total rent to $1,303.50, effective\nJune 1, 2019 (Member Chiu and Vice Chair Sullivan-Cheah). Motion passed 3-0.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 6, "text": "Approved Minutes\nMay 15, 2019\n7-D. Case RI1245.1 - 1861 Poggi St., Apt. B115\nNo Committee review. The tenants provided notice they would be vacating the unit.\n7-E. Case RI1255.1 - 1861 Poggi St., Apt. B308\nTenant: Mohamad Manea\nLandlords: Andy King and Shahzad Raufi\nProposed rent increase: $189.60 (10.0%), to a total rent of $2,088.00,\neffective June 1, 2019\nMr. Manea said he was the only working member of his family, which consisted of his\nwife and four children, ages 3-14 years old. He said they found it difficult to make ends\nmeet and the requested 10% increase would be too much for them.\nMember Chiu asked where he worked and how much he made and Mr. Manea replied\nthat he worked at restaurant and made $3,200 per month after taxes and he did not\nreceive regular raises.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah asked if Mr. Manea had any concerns about his apartment\nand Mr. Manea replied he thought the requested rent was fair but it would still pose a\nburden. Vice Chair Sullivan-Cheah asked what financial impact the requested increase\nwould have and Mr. Manea replied that business was slow, and paying more rent would\nmake it harder to pay other bills.\nAs no agreement was reached, the parties took their seats and the Committee began\ndeliberations.\nMember Chiu noted that the tenant was already paying about 60% of his take home\npay in rent and the requested increase would increase that burden.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah noted that many Bay Area residents are rent-burdened and\nclarified that he thought that \"rent burdened\" meant paying more than 30% of take\nhome pay toward rent.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah noted there was a history of rent increases at this unit over\nthe previous two years and said he thought an increase of less than 10% was\nwarranted to ensure the tenants would not be displaced.\nMember Chiu said he agreed and was thinking of an increase between $130 and $140,\nwhich would amount to 6.8% to 7.4 percent.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah opined that he was more comfortable with an increase of\n$100 at this unit given its increase history and the tenants' situation.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 7, "text": "Approved Minutes\nMay 15, 2019\nMember Sidelnikov said he was thinking of an increase between $80 and $100,\nconsidering prior increases.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah noted the rent for the unit, a 2-bedroom, seemed below\naverage for units of comparable size, further noting that improvements had been made\nto the property, which was behavior the Committee wanted to encourage by allowing\nincreases to compensate landlords for making investments.\nMotion and second for an increase of $100.00, effective June 1, 2019 (Vice Chair\nSullivan-Cheah and Member Sidelnikov). Motion passed 3-0.\n8. PUBLIC COMMENT, NON-AGENDA ITEMS, NO.2\nNone.\n9. MATTERS INTIATED\nProgram staff informed the Committee that there was an open house that evening\nat City Hall West to obtain feedback on a number of possible amendments to the Rent\nStabilization Ordinance (Ordinance 3148), including matters related to just cause\nterminations, a maximum rent cap, and changes in the capital improvement plan\nprocess. Staff said the feedback would be presented to City Council on May 21st and\nalso in June. Staff mentioned that in the past when the Council was considering\nchanges, members of the Committee had written letters to Council to make their\nthoughts known, and they were welcome to do that now as well.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah said that previous RRAC Chairs had proposed submitting a\nsingle letter on behalf of all members, and said he did not recommend they do that, so\nit did not seem like the Committee was seen as taking a public position. He said he\nthought if they wrote individually, that perception might be avoided.\nMember Sidelnikov said he thought a single letter on behalf of all members might be\nmore effective.\nCity Attorney staff clarified that there was nothing on the Council's agenda dealing with\nthe RRAC, and they were currently looking at elimination of \"no cause\" as an allowable\nground for termination of tenancy.\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah noted that his term was scheduled to be up in June. City\nAttorney staff clarified that members would serve until they were replaced or resigned,\nrather than their term automatically ceasing if no replacement had been found. Vice\nChair Sullivan-Cheah said he thought that was asking a lot of a volunteer member of\nthe public, especially once they saw how much work the Committee had to do.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-05-15.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-05-15", "page": 8, "text": "Approved Minutes\nMay 15, 2019\nVice Chair Sullivan-Cheah stated he was concerned about attendance, as the Committee\nwas supposed to represent a cross-section of the community that included tenants,\nlandlords, and a homeowner, and requested staff place a discussion item on the next\nagenda regarding member attendance.\n10. ADJOURNMENT\nThe meeting adjourned at 8:33 p.m.\nRespectfully Submitted,\nRRAC Secretary\nGrant Eshoo\nApproved by the Rent Review Advisory Committee on July 1, 2019", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-05-15.pdf"}