{"body": "LibraryBoard", "date": "2019-08-07", "page": 1, "text": "CITY\nOF\nof\n$\nTERRA\nMINUTES OF THE\nALAMEDA FREE LIBRARY BOARD SPECIAL MEETING\nWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019\nThe special meeting of the Alameda Free Library Board was called to order at 6:05 p.m.\nROLL CALL\nPresent:\nCynthia Silva, President\nAmber Bales, Board Member\nKathleen Kearney, Board Member (arrived 6:16)\nJoyce McConeghey Board Member\nAbsent:\nDorothy Wismar, Vice President\nStaff:\nJane Chisaki, Library Director\nLori Amaya, Recording Secretary\nWORKSHOP ON LIBRARY STRATEGIC PLAN PROJECT\nDirector Chisaki introduced Ruth Metz, the consultant for the Library's Strategic Plan. Ruth had five\nquestions for the Board to help sculpt the proposal she is developing for the Board. The Strategic Plan\nCommittee will advise the Board, which advises the Library Director and City Council. There will be\nthree committee meetings: September 7, October 5, and November 2. Each meeting will be 2.5 hours,\nincluding hospitality. The Board is invited to all sessions. Ruth will also meet with Library staff to get\ntheir input on the Library's vision, mission and roles and determine whether the Library is resourced to\nfulfil the roles. The new Strategic Plan will build upon the previous plan. There should be a draft plan by\nthe November Committee meeting. Board Member Kearney asked if there statistics to measure if goals\nwere accomplished. Director Chisaki responded that there are ways to measure and adjustments had been\nmade to which made goals more manageable. Ruth asked the Board to share their hopes and dreams for\nthe Library and the community and the Board shared their responses. Board Member McConeghey will\nbe the Chair of the Committee and Board Member Kearney will be a member of the Committee, and they\nwill report out to the Board.\nPUBLIC COMMENT (Agenda Item Only)\nNone.\nADJOURNMENT\nThe meeting was adjourned at 7:49 p.m.\nRespectfully submitted,\nJane Chisaki, Library Director and\nSecretary to the Alameda Free Library Board", "path": "LibraryBoard/2019-08-07.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-08-07", "page": 1, "text": "Approved Minutes\nAugust 7, 2019\nMinutes of a Special Meeting of the\nRent Review Advisory Committee\nWednesday, August 7, 2019\n1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL\nThe meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.\nPresent:\nChair Sullivan-Cheah; Vice Chair Chiu, Members Murray and\nSidelnikov\nAbsent:\nNone\nProgram Staff:\nGregory Kats, Grant Eshoo and Angel Nguyen\nCity Attorney Staff: Michael Roush\n2. AGENDA CHANGES\nStaff informed the Committee that Agenda Item 7-B had resolved prior to the\nmeeting.\n3. STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS\nNone.\n4. PUBLIC COMMENT, NON-AGENDA ITEMS, NO.1\nNone.\n5. CONSENT CALENDAR\nNone.\n6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS\nNone.\n7. NEW BUSINESS\nStaff announced that the time for this meeting and next week's RRAC meeting starts\nat 6:30 p.m. The website shows 6:00 p.m. but will be changed to the correct time\ntomorrow.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah made an announcement that this was a public meeting and\nanything said or shared during the proceedings would become a public record.\n7-A. RI1307 - 1825 Poggi Street, Unit A206\nLandlord: Andy King\nTenant: Tsegai Tensae", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-08-07.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-08-07", "page": 2, "text": "Approved Minutes\nAugust 7, 2019\nProposed rent increase: $148 (9.8%), to a total rent of $1,658, effective\nSeptember 1, 2019.\nMr. King said the current owner purchased the property a few years ago and invested\nabout $4 million on renovations. They are attempting to earn a return on the\ninvestment made in addition to the base property investment. He said the rent for this\nunit is about $1,000-$1,200 below the rate that current two-bedrooms are renting. At\nlast year's Committee meeting, there was a $40 (2%) increase on this unit, which is\nwhy they are asking for 9.8% increase in an effort to earn a return.\nMr. Tensae said in the last year 5 years, his rent has increased over 23%. New\nownership had made some repairs, like replacing windows inside his unit, but water\ncontinues to leak through his bedroom windows when it rains. He notified maintenance,\nand they said they were going to fix it from the outside, but nothing had been fixed. He\nsaid he's currently working for a freight company and doesn't have a full schedule,\nwhich was creating a financial hardship. He asked for a decrease in rent or keeping the\nsame rent if possible.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Tensae if his hours were cut back and he replied yes. She\nasked about his current work schedule. Mr. Tensae said that his schedule fluctuates\nevery week. Sometimes he works 2 days, 3 days, or 5 days out of the week. He said his\nemployer would call an hour in the morning before the shift started.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Tensae if there was a guaranteed schedule provided at work.\nHe responded no. He said he asked his employer for a set schedule, so that he can look\nfor another job, but his employer was unable to help.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Tensae if anyone else is living in the unit. Mr. Tensae said\nhis son is living with him. He is currently working part-time as an accountant.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Tensae if his son is in school. Mr. Tensae said his son just\ncompleted his bachelor's degree and is planning on going back for his master's to help\nhim get a full-time job.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Tensae if his son is contributing anything towards rent. He\nsaid his son has been making some contributions.\nMember Chiu asked Mr. Tensae if his income had changed in the last year. Mr. Tensae\nresponded that his income had decreased by about 25-30%.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked about the water issues in the unit and if it had been\ncompletely addressed. Mr. Tensae said after complaining to maintenance, they said", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-08-07.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-08-07", "page": 3, "text": "Approved Minutes\nAugust 7, 2019\nthey were going to repair and seal the windows from the outside. However, last winter,\nrain water continued to leak through.\nMr. King said they replaced the windows and Mr. Tensae agreed that they were\nreplaced, but rain water continued to leak through when it rained. Last year, Mr.\nTensae made a complaint to the people in the office and was told that maintenance\nwas going to fix it and seal it from the outside.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah said the Committee did not have any jurisdiction over repairs, but\nit was a good forum to address ongoing maintenance issues.\nMr. King said he was surprised with the ongoing leaks because the windows were\nreplaced and it had been dry over the last couple of months. He said if there was water\nin the unit, he would talk to maintenance to get it resolved.\nMr. Tensae said he's not sure what needs to be done in order to get things resolved\nwhen making a complaint with the office.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked if Mr. Tensae was given a work order number when he put\nin the request at the office. Mr. Tensae responded no.\nMr. King said they would have an internal record of work order and will check on that\nrecord.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah recommended that Mr. Tensae follow up with the office about the\nwork order.\nTo have a better understanding of Mr. Tensae's financial situation, Chair Sullivan-Cheah\nasked Mr. Tensae about his current work schedule and his son's status in school.\nMr. Tensae said that he asked his company for additional hours to make up for the loss\nof income, but his company was unable to help. He said that his son is living with him\nand just completed his bachelor's degree in accounting. His son is planning on\nfurthering his education to be more marketable.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. Tensae that apart from the windows replaced, were\nthere any other repairs made. Mr. Tensae said the carpet and kitchen has been in the\nsame condition for 15 years. He was given the option to have the carpets replaced with\na 10% increase, but declined the offer.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. Tensae what would be a reasonable amount for a rent\nincrease, and he asked for a decrease of $200 instead.\nMember Murray asked Mr. King about the formula that was used to determine the cost\nof replacing the windows. He calculated $3500 for the windows.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-08-07.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-08-07", "page": 4, "text": "Approved Minutes\nAugust 7, 2019\nMember Murray asked Mr. King if they have made any specific improvements to the\nunit. He said not that he's aware of.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Tensae how much his son is contributing to rent and is he\npaying for school. Mr. Tensae replied his son is contributing $300 each month for rent\nand is receiving financial aid for school.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Tensae if his son is going to continue living there while\nworking on his masters. He responded yes.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Tensae if his son gets accepted into grad school, will he have\nthe ability to contribute $300 towards rent. Mr. Tensae responded 60% of his income\nand $300 from his son goes to rent.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. King if he's able to decrease rent by $200, is firm with\nthe original request or open to anything in between. Mr. King offered an increase of $80\nin light of the circumstances.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. Tensae if $80 is acceptable. Mr. Tensae said he would\nlike the rent to stay the same.\nAs no agreement was reached, the parties took their seats and the Committee began\ndeliberations.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah said he was more comfortable with an increase of $80 at this unit\ngiven its rent increase history and tenant's situation.\nMember Sidelnikov noted that there's been over a 20% increase since 2015. A 2%\nincrease was approved last year based on financial hardship and he believes that $80 is\nreasonable.\nVice Chair Chiu acknowledged the tenant's employment issues. He agreed that an $80\nincrease would be reasonable.\nMember Murray noted the $4 million initial investment and $3500 to replace all the\nwindows. She said to recoup those costs would be around $179 per month with no\ninterest, therefore $80 is a small amount. She said she understands the tenant's\nfinancial challenges. However, the owners need to be compensated for their\ninvestment.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked Member Murray about the cost increase for property taxes.\nMember Murray replied 4% each year and insurance and water have increased as well.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah made a motion for $65 rent increase. No second.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-08-07.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-08-07", "page": 5, "text": "Approved Minutes\nAugust 7, 2019\nMotion and second for an increase of $80, effective September 1, 2019 (Chair Sullivan-\nCheah and Member Sidelnikov). Motion passed 4-0.\n7-C. RI1309 - 1825 Poggi Street, Unit A311\nLandlord: Andy King\nTenant: Yoseif Philipos\nProposed rent increase: $127 (9.8%), to a total rent of $1,417, effective\nSeptember 1, 2019.\nMr. Philipos said that in the past two years his rent has increased exponentially. He\nworks as an engineer with the same salary. His wife hasn't been working since last\nyear. He said that he's been taking care of his 2 children and his ill mother and is\nexperiencing financial hardship.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. King if what he heard was different. Mr. King replied\nthat he recalls the case from last year and offered a $40 rent increase.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. Philipos if $40 is acceptable. Mr. Philipos said $25 would\nmake a difference.\nMember Murray asked Mr. Philipos of any changes in work or income since last year. He\nsaid there's been an increase with transportation by bus of $40 a month.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah asked Mr. Philipos if there were any major upgrades to the unit.\nMr. Philipos responded no.\nAs no agreement was reached, the parties took their seats and the Committee began\ndeliberations.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah said the property has a history of regular increases and there was\na larger rent increase last year of 10%, which helped with repairs. Any increase\nbetween $25 and $40 would be reasonable.\nMember Chiu noted a member of the household of working age is currently not working\nand haven't been contributing to rent.\nMember Murray said that $25 would be another 25% increase from 2016. There was\nanother increase the previous year of 8.4%. She said both amounts would be\nreasonable in the framework of the costs. However, she felt that a $25 increase would\nbe more appropriate. Since Bay Area living requires multiple people living in the unit to\nwork and contribute, she agreed to the $40 increase.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-08-07.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-08-07", "page": 6, "text": "Approved Minutes\nAugust 7, 2019\nMotion and second for an increase of $40, effective September 1, 2019 (Vice Chair Chiu\nand Member Sidelnikov). Motion passed 3-1.\n7-D. RI1310 - 1825 Poggi Street, Unit A312\nLandlord: Andy King\nTenant: Mirza Mehic\nProposed rent increase: $136 (9.8%), to a total rent of $1,522, effective\nSeptember 1, 2019\nMr. Mehic said he was there to represent his father, since his father is in another\ncountry taking care of his sick brother. Mr. Mehic is currently living in the unit with his\nmother and father and is working part-time. He asked to share some pictures and\nvideos of damaged items in the unit and of the water leakage when it rains.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah said Mr. Mehic's father submitted a request to have his rent\nincreased to $1,420.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah reminded the public that any information shared will be public\nrecorded. Mr. Mehic continued sharing pictures and videos of the unit to the committee.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah advised Mr. Mehic to send the files to staff.\nChair Sullivan-Cheah said the condition of the unit doesn't warrant a high rent increase\nand asked Mr. Mehic if the property manager is aware of the issues. Mr. Mehic said his\nfather contacted maintenance for assistance.\nMr. King said he's not aware of the maintenance issue and they replaced the roof last\nfall. He asked Mr. Mehic if the water leakage is from the most recent rainy season.\nMr. Mehic said it was leaking when it rained last fall and the sink is damaged as well.\nMr. King said he will have maintenance check and repair the items.\nBased on the current condition of the unit, Mr. King agreed to Mr. Mehic's proposed\nrent increase of $34, to a total rent of $1,420, effective September 1, 2019.\n8. PUBLIC COMMENT, NON-AGENDA ITEMS, NO.2\nNone.\n9. MATTERS INITIATED\nProgram staff confirmed with the committee about their attendance for the\nupcoming meeting. Member Murray said she's not sure if she will be available.", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-08-07.pdf"}
{"body": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee", "date": "2019-08-07", "page": 7, "text": "Approved Minutes\nAugust 7, 2019\n10. ADJOURNMENT\nThe meeting adjourned at 7:38pm.\nRespectfully Submitted,\nRRAC Secretary\nAngel Nguyen\nApproved by the Rent Review Advisory Committee on September 9, 2019", "path": "RentReviewAdvisoryCommittee/2019-08-07.pdf"}