Good evening, we're going to begin.
begin.
begin. Good evening, welcome to novato
good evening, welcome to novato city council meeting for
tuesday, august 26, 2025.
Please stand for the pledge of
please stand for the pledge of
please stand for the pledge of allegiance.
allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the united states of
america, and to the republic
for which it stands, one
nation, under god, indivisible
with liberty and justice for
all.
all.
all. >>
all. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Laura, if you would please call
laura, if you would please call
laura, if you would please call roll.
roll.
roll. >>
roll. >> clerk: councilmember jacobs?
>>
>>
>> >>
>> >> k.
>> >> k. Jacobs: here.
>> clerk:
>> k. Jacobs: here. >> clerk: milberg?
>> m. Milberg: present.
>> mayor o'connor:
councilmember farac?
councilmember farac? >>
>>
>> >>
>> >> mayor
>> mayor
>> mayor >>
>>
>> >>
>> >> mayor pro tem farac:
>> >> mayor pro tem farac: present.
>> clerk: mayor o' connor?
>> mayor o'connor: present.
>> clerk: and councilmember
eklund is on zoom.
>> p. Eklund: I'm here, healing
from a fracture.
>> clerk: is there anyone else
in the room over 18?
>> p. Eklund: there is no one
over the age of 18.
I do have an 8-year-old kitty.
>> mayor o'connor: the city
council met I closed session
before the meeting.
City attorney bell?
city attorney bell? >> the particulars are
available upon request if that
action is commenced.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you.
I would like to invite council
to join me at the front of the
room recognizing gosia woodfin
for 17 years at the city of
for 17 years at the city of novato.
novato.
novato. Hi, gosia.
hi, gosia. You can stand here.
you can stand here. We are celebrating the
we are celebrating the retirement of a very special
person
retirement of a very special person today.
person today. Gosia woodfin for hr 17 years
gosia woodfin for hr 17 years of service.
of service. She started working september
she started working september 9, 2008.
9, 2008.
9, 2008. She served as an engineer and
she served as an engineer and project manager in the public
works department, and worked on
project development and
construction management for
almost 60 capital improvement
projects with a total budget of
over $42 million.
Whereas most conconcerned with
whereas most conconcerned with streets, transportation and
drienage, and a bridge, if I'm
not mistaken, very recently and
few involve
not mistaken, very recently and few involve parks and
facilities, made sure
objectives were met and ensured
compatibility with approved
program principles goals and
objectives.
objectives. She has independently delivered
she has independently delivered challenging projects on time
and within budget.
Whereas she has an in-depth
whereas she has an in-depth knowledge of the public bidding
process, outsourcing has a
successful history of
attracting and
successful history of attracting and selecting
reputable consultants, not easy.
Her attention to detail,
her attention to detail, identifying applying for grant
funding and acting as staff
liaison for the bicycle
pedestrian advisory committee
and street improvement
oversight committee just to
name a few things and whereas
over the years gosia has always
maintained a positive can-do
attitude regardless of the
situation and was always
willing to put in the extra
effort required to resolve any
issue.
issue.
issue. And whereas gosia has lived in
and whereas gosia has lived in novato for over 25 years.
Therefore be it resolved the
therefore be it resolved the city council of city of novato,
on behalf of the residents of
novato does here by offer its
heart felt appreciation to
gosia woodfin for her service
to the novato community for the
past 17 years and wish her all
the best in her retirement.
Please join me in
please join me in congratulating and thanking her.
Would you like to say a few
would you like to say a few words?
words?
words? >>
words? >> as stated in the
proclamation, I have lived here
in novato for over 25 years.
I love the city and the
residents.
residents. I always felt grateful that I
was able to serve my community.
Working for over 17 years as an
working for over 17 years as an engineer for the city of
novato, has been a privilege.
Every time I drive, bike, or
every time I drive, bike, or walk, I always bump into one of
those 60 plus projects.
And it just feels so good.
and it just feels so good. I just, it just makes me proud.
But before I go, I would really
but before I go, I would really like to give a loud shout out
to all my co-workers.
It's been a great privilege
it's been a great privilege working with each and every one
of you.
of you.
of you. Thank you.
thank you. >> thank you.
[ applause
>> thank you. [ applause ]
>> congratulations, gosia.
We'll miss
>> congratulations, gosia. We'll miss you.
we'll miss you. >> mayor o'connor: before we
move on to the next item on the
agenda, we have translation
services, on my right side of
the room.
the room.
the room. If you require any assistance,
if you require any assistance, they are here to help.
The next item is approval of
the next item is approval of the final agenda.
>> k. Jacobs: I make a motion
we approve the final agenda.
>> mayor pro tem farac: I
second.
second.
second. >> mayor o'connor: if you would
call the vote.
>> clerk: eklund?
>> p. Eklund: aye.
>> clerk: jacobs?
>> k. Jacobs: aye.
>> clerk: milberg?
>> m. Milberg:
>> clerk: milberg? >> m. Milberg: aye.
>> clerk: mayor pro tem farac?
>>
>>
>> >>
>> >> mayor pro tem farac: aye.
>> cerk: and mayor o' connor.
>> mayor o'connor: aye.
It passes.
it passes. The next is for public comment
the next is for public comment for items that are not on the
agenda and for items listed on
the consent calendar.
Unfortunately due to the large
unfortunately due to the large amount of requests to speak and
expected amount of just cause
ordinance workshop we will have
to limit comments this evening
to one and a half minutes per
speaker.
speaker.
speaker. Please respect the time limit
please respect the time limit and limit any show of
solidarity or support to silent
gestures in order for the next
speaker to have uninterrupted
time to speak.
Our first speaker is alan gump.
our first speaker is alan gump. >> [ off mic ]
>> mayor o'connor: those are
the numbers written in the top
right hand corner, by any
chance?
chance?
chance? >> yes.
>> yes.
>> yes. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Okay, give me a minute.
okay, give me a minute. Jay, you don't have a number.
jay, you don't have a number. You want to go first?
you want to go first? Jay shefer?
jay shefer? >> no.
>> no.
>> no. >>
>> no. >> mayor o'connor: okay.
No problem, guys.
no problem, guys. All right.
all right. So our first speaker this
so our first speaker this evening will be serena fisher.
Does that work?
does that work? Hello, serena, you are already
hello, serena, you are already here.
here.
here. >>
here. >> thank you.
Good evening.
good evening. I just want to remind the
council and the greater
community that no public funds
have ever been used to sustain
marin valley mobile country
club.
club.
club. Residents have paid for
residents have paid for everything since 1997,
including close to $18 million
in loans, bonds and interest
with the understanding the land
would ultimately be ours in
2027.
2027.
2027. The
2027. The $20 million offer the park
the $20 million offer the park acquisition board presented to
the council in june is in a
detail 120-plus page proposal
focused on affordability,
security and sustainability.
Goals supposedly aligned with
goals supposedly aligned with the city's publicly stated
priorities.
priorities. However, the city's response
however, the city's response was an ultimatum for $26
million while
was an ultimatum for $26 million while keeping all our
$7.5 million enterprise
reserves as well as additional
hidden conditions.
hidden conditions. Can you honestly say this is
can you honestly say this is good faith negotiations?
So much work went into putting
so much work went into putting that proposal for you for your
consideration.
consideration. This is certainly not a win-win
this is certainly not a win-win that you have talked about.
We are asking the city to
we are asking the city to change course.
change course. Stop the ultimatums, commit to
stop the ultimatums, commit to fair transparent ad respectful
fair transparent ad respectful negotiations.
negotiations. Residents are ready to forge a
residents are ready to forge a new path as a successful
cooperative senior housing
community.
community. Let's build a solution together
let's build a solution together that protects affordable senior
housing in perpetuity in novato
and honors and respects the
independence this community
deserves.
deserves.
deserves. Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
serena.
serena.
serena. Our next speaker is david gray.
our next speaker is david gray. Welcome, dvid.
welcome, dvid. >> thank you.
Thank you, city council for the
thank you, city council for the opportunity to speak.
And my name is david gray.
and my name is david gray. I'm a resident of some nine
years of the marin valley
mobile country club.
I'm also a member of the marin
valley cooperative.
valley cooperative. I'm here to speak about the
security of our predominantly
low-income residents to not be
priced out of their homes.
The city leadership says that
the city leadership says that affordability, security and
sustainability are priorities,
yet uses an appraiser from a
non-expert in mobilehome parks,
based upon a for profit
valuation model to reach a
price tag of $26 million, plus
other undisclosed terms.
Our $20 million offer is based
our $20 million offer is based upon an appraisal by a
mobilehome park expert using
nonprofit valuation model is
more than fair.
It's financially responsible
it's financially responsible and is crafted with expert
advice to provide
affordability, security,
affordability, security, sustainability in perpetuity
insulated from the changing
priorities of our current title
holder.
holder.
holder. We residents of the mvcc call
we residents of the mvcc call on the city to please
reconsider the merits of our
initial $20 million offer.
Thank you for your time.
thank you for your time. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
david.
david.
david. Our next speaker is janeen
our next speaker is janeen
our next speaker is janeen bradley.
bradley.
bradley. Welcome, janeen.
welcome, janeen. >> hi.
>> hi.
>> hi. Not
>> hi. Not that many pages, just one.
not that many pages, just one. When I looked over the agenda
when I looked over the agenda today and read the public
comments you was taken with the
scope of responsibilities for
the city of novato, resident
homeowners, representers,
homeowners, representers, employees and even squaters
rely on you for their
representation to monitor,
direct and regulate many our
daily activities.
daily activities. Thank you.
thank you. My observation is in the last
my observation is in the last 25 years or so the city of
novato has gone from a doing
business with a handshake, to a
professionally regulated city
with a capital c.
That's a dramatic change and
that's a dramatic change and not without a number of growing
pains.
pains.
pains. Some actions from the past
some actions from the past still impact us today.
Marin valley mobile country
marin valley mobile country club has 313 households which
82% have paid membership to
join our community nonprofit
co-op seeking park
self-ownership.
self-ownership. How often do you find a
how often do you find a community where 82% agree on
anything, much less pay to
agree on it?
We rcognize we need to be
we rcognize we need to be responsible for our own future
and not rely on a handshake
agreement.
agreement. We cannot rely on the city to
we cannot rely on the city to keep our best interest as
priority.
priority.
priority. Public officials
priority. Public officials change.
public officials change. We have done our homework, we
we have done our homework, we enlisted professional guidance
and legal counsel to make sure
we are as successful as a
self-owned community.
self-owned community. I remind the council of the
city's current strategic plan
goal number one, living well
together.
together.
together. Support facilities and design
support facilities and design programs and service that's
create a healthy, caring and
interconnected community that
is safe and secure.
That's our goal too.
that's our goal too. Support our unity and
support our unity and commitments to self-ownership.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, janeen.
Our next speaker is susan hoff.
our next speaker is susan hoff. And after susan will be judy
and after susan will be judy monsom.
monsom.
monsom. Welcome susan.
welcome susan. If you don't mind speaking in
if you don't mind speaking in the microphone.
the microphone. >> first off, thank you so
much, I so appreciate your hard
work, your diligence.
Novato is a great place to
novato is a great place to live, so thank you.
Three small points for you.
three small points for you. Did yu all know that 91% of
did yu all know that 91% of our community qualifies as
acutely low-income, extremely
low income, very low income,
plain vanilla low income.
91%.
91%.
91%. That's before trying to reach
that's before trying to reach for a $26 million dollar loan.
Second point, in our little
second point, in our little hood, in our valley, we have
124 households that cannot
reach the 31% requirement for
only paying their rent, 31%.
They are paying way more of
they are paying way more of their income just to get by,
before a $26 million loan.
Last point, and I'm really
last point, and I'm really proud of this one, since 1997
we have paid $18 million for
the bond, for the loan, the
interest.
interest.
interest. We have paid it like clockwork
we have paid it like clockwork every month.
every month. We never missed a payment.
we never missed a payment. I'm so proud of us.
So my question for you all
so my question for you all tonight, just to consider this
little community, this 91%
low-income community, is it
reasonable to expect us to
afford a $26 million dollar
loan?
loan?
loan? I
loan? I want you all to think on that
one.
one.
one. And
one. And again, thank you for your
and again, thank you for your hard work tonight.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, susan.
Next speaker is judy monsum.
next speaker is judy monsum. Followed by gail atkinson.
followed by gail atkinson. Welcome, julie.
welcome, julie. >> thank
welcome, julie. >> thank you.
Julie manson, 7 club view drive
julie manson, 7 club view drive marin valley mobile country
club.
club.
club. The
club. The determination of the
the determination of the majority of marin valley
residents to take charge of our
own affordable, secure and
sustainable future is so strong
that we are consenting to pay
for the park twice.
Our original $20 million offer
our original $20 million offer ensure that increases in rent
would continue to follow the
historical and minimal
increases in cpi.
Marin valley is poised for
marin valley is poised for success in park ownership with
experience and expertise from
resident-owned communities
resident-owned communities u.s.a. And california community
cooperative development.
cooperative development. Plus our own abundant
plus our own abundant leadership and management
skills and abilities.
The city of novato claims to
the city of novato claims to support affordable housing for
support affordable housing for seniors.
seniors.
seniors. On march 18, 2017, then
seniors. On march 18, 2017, then mayor
on march 18, 2017, then mayor of novato denise athas wrote to
the world health organization
requesting membership for
novato in the global network o
age-friendly cities and
communities.
communities. She wrote the city of novato
she wrote the city of novato recognizes the importance of
encouraging and promoting
age-friendly policies to dress
changing demographics and
enhance independent living for
our older adults we are
committed t a process of
continue wall improvement in
support of active and healthy
aging and sustaining economic
and social
aging and sustaining economic and social vitality.
By contrast, today, city's
by contrast, today, city's counter demand of $26 million
with hidden conditions puts
hundreds of seniors at risk for
housing insecurity.
housing insecurity. We are asking the city to be
we are asking the city to be reasonable and fair so that our
community will remain
affordable.
affordable. It's the right thing to do.
it's the right thing to do. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
julie.
julie.
julie. Our next speaker is gail
our next speaker is gail atkinson, followed by sherry
smith.
smith.
smith. Welcome, gail.
welcome, gail. >> good evening and thank you
for the opportunity to speak to
you in person.
It is conceivable that when you
it is conceivable that when you were first elected to the
novato city council, you did
not know our park's history.
That in 1998 the marin valley
that in 1998 the marin valley mobile country club residents
formed the park acquisition
corporation to purchase the
land through financing through
the novato financing authority.
In 2012 the city became
in 2012 the city became guarantor of our loans when the
novato finance authority was
dissolved and the n.f.a.
Transferred the title to the
transferred the title to the city of novato.
It is not correct to state that
it is not correct to state that the city bought the park
because that implies that the
city paid for the property.
And as you know, mill valley
and as you know, mill valley mobile country club rents have
paid all the bond payments,
upgrades, repairs.
upgrades, repairs. Our park's management company
our park's management company the hell sing group as well as
additional management fees
billed to us by the city of
novato.
novato.
novato. We have been excellent stewards
we have been excellent stewards of the property and we have
saved $4.4 million in the
enterprise fund which is
legally earmarked for future
needs of our park.
Justice will be truly served,
justice will be truly served, in my opinion, when title ii,
mill valley mobile country club
is transferred to our park
acquisition corporation when
the fnal bond payment is made
with no further funds to be
paid to the city of novato.
This is the requisite legal
this is the requisite legal procedure for any bank
guarantor or mortgage company
when its customer loans are
paid in full.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, gail.
Our next speaker sherry smith,
our next speaker sherry smith, followed by greg
our next speaker sherry smith, followed by greg smith.
Welcome,
followed by greg smith. Welcome, sherry.
welcome, sherry. >> I'm sherry smith and I'm
also a resident of the marin
valley country club.
My career was as a risk advisor
my career was as a risk advisor in insurance, where my job was
identifying dangerous large
loss exposures for clients
regarding the property.
I have been quite taken a back
at the extent of repairs and
capital improvements that have
been neglected in our park that
create large potential loss
exposures for the city.
What's even more concerning is
what's even more concerning is the city has allowed these to
emerge while holding over $4.5
million dollars in reserves.
Which was 100% collected from
which was 100% collected from the residents' rents and
designated exclusively to
rectify these types of needs
for the marin valley community.
To date, the city has done
to date, the city has done absolutely nothing to
ameliorate the potential risk
exposures caused by these
much-needed repairs and
infrastructure improvements.
infrastructure improvements. In my opinion, as a risk
in my opinion, as a risk advisor, what we are seeing
here is a blatant disregard for
the possibility of a large loss
to the community whether
structural or human.
What is even more disconcerting
what is even more disconcerting is the city's blatant disregard
for the residents' well-being.
But now we are offering the
but now we are offering the city a simple way to be free
from all these liability
exposures.
exposures. Turn the park over to its
turn the park over to its residents.
residents. We have developed our plans on
we have developed our plans on how to address the various
issues and the city can
facilitate that by agreeing to
hand over those reserve funds
for us to address those various
liability exposures.
liability exposures. And make those much-needed
and make those much-needed capital improvements.
capital improvements. Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
sherry.
sherry.
sherry. Our next speaker is greg smith,
our next speaker is greg smith, followed by bill
our next speaker is greg smith, followed by bill davis.
Welcome, greg.
welcome, greg. >> thank you, thank
welcome, greg. >> thank you, thank you.
My name is greg smith, I'm a
my name is greg smith, I'm a resident of marin valley.
I'm one of those that helped
spend hundreds of hours putting
together short-term and
long-term plans to help us take
ownership and self-manage marin
ownership and self-manage marin valley.
valley.
valley. Incredibly detailed budgets,
incredibly detailed budgets, cash-flow plans, action plans,
schedules for repairs and long
delayed capital improvements.
All driven by expert inputs.
all driven by expert inputs. And once we wre drawn, truly
and once we wre drawn, truly feeling pepared to taking on
our future.
our future. The work wasn't just about
the work wasn't just about budgets or coming up with a
price to quote to the city, we
genuinely sought a win-win
strategy that would benefit the
city of novato, while also
advancing our ability to
protect our low-income senior
protect our low-income senior residents.
residents. Proposal paid off the loan the
proposal paid off the loan the city helped us atain years ago
to eventually gain ownership
and only used a portion of the
millions of dollars held in
reserves and then we said, we
will give the city back the
rest of the balance there.
And then our residents would
and then our residents would give the city $500,000 a year
for 35 years, that the city
could use unrestricted in any
way they sought.
And, unbelievably, we would
and, unbelievably, we would only have to increase resident
rents annually by the cpi,
which is one of our most
critical factors in keeping the
park affordable.
park affordable. I was just so proud we
accomplished all of our goals
in the proposal.
And our total $20 million offer
and our total $20 million offer came within 94% of that
appraised vlue you heard about
by the highly experienced
mobilehome park appraiser.
So I'm respectfully asking you,
so I'm respectfully asking you, please reconsider our oiginal
good-faith offer in all its
good-faith offer in all its detail.
detail.
detail. And demonstrate to our city's
and demonstrate to our city's citizens your commitment to
effectively caring for novato's
low-income senior residents.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, greg.
Our next speaker is bill david,
our next speaker is bill david, followed by alan
our next speaker is bill david, followed by alan gump.
Welcome, bill.
welcome, bill. >> good evening, city council.
I'm bill davis.
I want to draw your attention
to deferred maintenance at
marin valley.
marin valley. The city has received and
the city has received and banked $4.6 million in capital
reserves from the residents for
maintenance and repairs.
For many years the city has
for many years the city has been informed of multiple
situations and done little to
essentially nothing.
essentially nothing. Labor costs are up.
labor costs are up. Materials are much more
materials are much more expensive.
expensive. The net result is the cost of
the net result is the cost of replacement for almost anything
today has doubled.
I think you could have done a
better job, we would have done
a better job.
Funding for the fire safety was
funding for the fire safety was drastically reduced three years
ago.
ago.
ago. We
ago. We are now working very hard to
we are now working very hard to catch up.
catch up.
catch up. This is aserious health and
this is aserious health and safety issue for vulnerable
senior citizens.
senior citizens. You could have done a better
you could have done a better job.
job.
job. We
job. We would have done a better job.
we would have done a better job. Deferred maintenance is no way
deferred maintenance is no way to manage your
deferred maintenance is no way to manage your property, your
automobile or your health.
It's not what a responsible
it's not what a responsible person would do or a
responsible
person would do or a responsible landlord.
responsible landlord. We we will do a better job.
we we will do a better job. So it's simple.
so it's simple. The time has come.
the time has come. You have demonstrated you
you have demonstrated you cannot properly manage marin
valley.
valley.
valley. Let us very competent seniors
let us very competent seniors do it.
do it.
do it. We
do it. We can do a better job today
we can do a better job today and in the future.
I'm talking about a win-win
situation wth the offer in
front of you, at this critical
time.
time.
time. Take the $20 million.
take the $20 million. Everyone
take the $20 million. Everyone wins.
everyone wins. Have the attorneys paper it up.
have the attorneys paper it up. And you can get back to city
and you can get back to city business.
business.
business. Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
bill.
bill.
bill. Our
bill. Our next speaker is alan gump,
our next speaker is alan gump, followed by jay shelfer.
Welcome, alan.
welcome, alan. >> thank
welcome, alan. >> thank you.
Good evening, I'm alan gump and
good evening, I'm alan gump and live in marin
good evening, I'm alan gump and live in marin valley.
We submitted a detailed,
we submitted a detailed, thorough proposal I'm sure you
have seen.
have seen. What we got back from the city
what we got back from the city was a cordial demand for a full
and unconditional sur render.
Meet your price.
meet your price. Forfeit our reserves and then
forfeit our reserves and then you will sit down with us and
give us other conditions that
we will have to pete before you
sell the park to us.
Is this the way you want to
is this the way you want to start a win-win good-faith set
of negotiations?
of negotiations? Because frankly, it felt more
because frankly, it felt more like a shake down.
I hope I'm wrong.
Sincerely, but I'll tell, we're
sincerely, but I'll tell, we're watching.
watching.
watching. Now when it cmes to
now when it cmes to negotiations it's time to move
beyond the post office and sit
down at a real table in real
chairs, eyeball to eyeball, arm
pit to arm pit this and work
this out.
this out.
this out. We are marin valley, this is
we are marin valley, this is not the gaza strip or donbas
region.
region.
region. It can't be that hard for two
it can't be that hard for two party who's want to find a
solution I know we can do it if
the will had is there.
Now let's talk a minute about
now let's talk a minute about status quo.
status quo. Some people in our community
some people in our community think status quo is great.
The city's doing a great job,
the city's doing a great job, you have jst heard from a few
people here where we don't feel
like this has been a happy
dance.
dance.
dance. But the more important issue is
but the more important issue is security.
security.
security. We have no idea what the next
we have no idea what the next city council will do when they
step in here.
They can look at us as the
they can look at us as the fatty calf ready for the market.
Particularly if you are facing
particularly if you are facing a serious fiscal crisis like
you were two years ago.
Now, we have the chops.
now, we have the chops. We demonstrated we have the
we demonstrated we have the skills, the leadership and very
importantly, the mandate of our
community to run ourselves as
an affordable senior housing
community that meets all of
your goals and that is guided
by the strategic partnerships
that we have with rock u.s.a.
And cccd.
and cccd.
and cccd. There has never been a better
there has never been a better time.
time.
time. This is a once in a generation
this is a once in a generation opportunity.
opportunity. Let's seize it.
let's seize it. I will say one thing in closing.
Senior citizens are
senior citizens are enthusiastic and highly
motivated voters.
motivated voters. So.
so.
so. This
so. This is a great opportunity.
this is a great opportunity. Motivate us.
motivate us. Thank you very much.
thank you very much. >> mayor oconnor: thank you
very much,
>> mayor oconnor: thank you very much, alan.
Our next speaker is jay
our next speaker is jay schulfer followed by carol joy
harris.
harris.
harris. Welcome, jay.
welcome, jay. >> hi, thank you for the
opportunity to speak.
I actually signed onto speak on
g91 and I will reserve my
comments until then.
>> mayor o'connor: sorry, one
more time?
more time? >> I want to speak on g-91.
>> mayor o'connor: this is the
consent calendar.
consent calendar. That item is on consent
that item is on consent calendar.
calendar.
calendar. If you comment on the consent
if you comment on the consent calendar items this would be
the time.
the time.
the time. >> okay, my comments are the
pack and helsing group have
been working very diligently
with the architects and
engineering group and we fully
support g9 as it stands.
>> mayor o'connor: perfect.
Thank
>> mayor o'connor: perfect. Thank you.
thank you. Our next speak certify carol
our next speak certify carol joy harris, followed by robert
joy harris, followed by robert belichick.
belichick. Welcome, carol.
welcome, carol. >> thank you, this is about the
clubhouse roof and hvac which
is one of the deferred
maintenance items that have
been referred to.
For years we have begged
for years we have begged because our roof was in such
bad condition.
bad condition. And you will see from the staff
and you will see from the staff report that the original
estimate was $350,000.
Now it's up to almost $1
now it's up to almost $1 million.
million.
million. It was put in the budget years
it was put in the budget years ago.
ago.
ago. But
ago. But public works said, oh,
but public works said, oh, sorry, we are short staffed.
We just don't have time to
we just don't have time to oversee the project so it got
put off and put off and put off.
Now we are facing three times,
now we are facing three times, almost three times the amount.
almost three times the amount. Why?
why?
why? And
why? And I will just add that
and I will just add that there was an architect several
months ago, but no movement on
it until there was a kpix story
the other night that looked
pretty good for marin valley
and not so good for the city
council and the next morning,
somebody from public works came
out.
out.
out. And
out. And said, oh, I didn't even
and said, oh, I didn't even know this was on the list.
Suddenly, miraculously it's on
suddenly, miraculously it's on the agenda for tonight.
the agenda for tonight. Coincidence.
coincidence. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
carol joy.
carol joy. Our next speaker
carol joy. Our next speaker is robert
our next speaker is robert belichick followed by calvin
belichick followed by calvin ouellete.
ouellete.
ouellete. Welcome, robert.
welcome, robert. >> hello, hello, hello.
I know a few people had three
tours of amount homeless
tours of amount homeless encampments.
encampments. Mark, ms. Farac and pat eklund.
mark, ms. Farac and pat eklund. I'm going to comment on what I
have seen over my entire
residency in hamilton, which is
20 years.
20 years.
20 years. Hard to believe, bayside and
hard to believe, bayside and now in sunnycove for the past
14 years.
14 years.
14 years. I've got two dogs, three
sometimes and I've walked the
whole area around ammo hill
skate park, all around.
And I've looked at the
and I've looked at the encampments grow.
encampments grow. And this morning, as I drove by
and this morning, as I drove by on the way to the gym, susan, I
haven't seen for a while, I saw
a white car that is usually
parked in the skate park
parking lot, parked by a huge
tent on the far south side of
the rale road bridge, called
the police right away.
And they're driving across the
and they're driving across the grass to get over there.
But what I want to talk about,
but what I want to talk about, since I've gone with three of
you, in this period that I've
been here about ten years three
bodies have been found.
I fund one myself about seven
years ago laying on the road
behind ammo hill.
This past weekend, the police
this past weekend, the police were down, I walked the downs
along pacheco creek.
The trestle bridge crossing the
the trestle bridge crossing the creek, blocked off and what
happened?
happened?
happened? The next day I walked over and
the next day I walked over and I looked at the trestles and
the spray painted in on the
wood rest in peace.
wood rest in peace. Don.
don.
don. The
don. The other put out
don. The other put out wash stands
the other put out wash stands and port-o-potties and huge
trash containers where people
could put in their trash
throwing it away.
I've seen the fires, I've
walked around the camps, I've
been assaulted a couple of
times.
times.
times. I've had people scream about
the dogs, like you can't be
here, I'm thinking I can't be
here, but you can.
That's personal.
that's personal. The first thing I've seen is
the first thing I've seen is the change in the wildlife.
Because of all those people
because of all those people living in those vegetated areas
all around, what is called the
flat lands and the wetlands and
the city has cleaned those up
over the past 14 years.
They go in and clean all the
they go in and clean all the stuff over.
stuff over. Now are we getting the binford
now are we getting the binford road spill over?
>> mayor o'connor: sorry,
robert, I'm afraid you're at
robert, I'm afraid you're at time.
time.
time. >>
time. >> my partner happens to manage
pet foot express at hamilton
and tierra linda, so h deals
firsthand on what happens with
the abuse of the businesses
here.
here.
here. >>
here. >> mayor o'connor: thanks,
robert.
robert.
robert. Our next speaker is calvin
our next speaker is calvin ouellete followed by brian
skinner.
skinner.
skinner. Welcome,
skinner. Welcome, calvin.
welcome, calvin. >> good evening, mr. Mayor and
>> good evening, mr. Mayor and council.
council.
council. I live about 100
council. I live about 100 yards from the
skate park area in newport
development.
development. My request tonight is very
my request tonight is very simple.
simple.
simple. I
simple. I am requesting that the
council direct the chief of
police to enforce section 1720
of the novato code of
ordinances at the skate park.
Approximately 20 years ago I
approximately 20 years ago I came to one of these meetings.
And we had a problem just to
and we had a problem just to the west of my house on newport
landing.
landing.
landing. Redneck guys in their
redneck guys in their four-wheel drive pickup trucks
were doing doughnuts and side
shows out there.
Of all the councilmembers it
of all the councilmembers it was pat eklund who picked up
the ball.
the ball.
the ball. And she met with the army.
and she met with the army. The army brought in all those
the army brought in all those big boulders and all that
traffic control stuff, as well
as helped with the
traffic control stuff, as well as helped with the gate.
I am eternally indebted to
councilmember eklund for her
councilmember eklund for her actions.
actions.
actions. I ask that tonight, you
councilmembers also pick up
that ball and let's deal with
the problems at the skate park.
And I do ask you have this
and I do ask you have this section 1720.
section 1720. And if you're not going to
and if you're not going to enforce it, why even have it?
So, novato code of ordinances
so, novato code of ordinances is built on all the reasons
that the people will tell you
why this is a bad situation.
I appreciate your attention and
thank you again councilmember
eklund.
eklund.
eklund. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, calvin.
Our next speaker I brian
our next speaker I brian skinner, followed by john
hansen.
hansen.
hansen. Welcome,
hansen. Welcome, brian.
welcome, brian. >> homeless encampments have
long existed in hamilton.
I'm here today to discuss the
recent negative changes in
circumstances.
circumstances. In april a group of tents first
in april a group of tents first appeared near the skate park,
this is separate from the
existing encampment further
back from the road and marsh.
Instead they set up in a new
instead they set up in a new location with a new lne of
sight of the skate park and
only grown ever since.
Only 60 residents have shown
only 60 residents have shown support and shared their
personal experiences which I
have submitted to the council
but I would like to read just a
few.
few.
few. We
few. We decided with all the cd
we decided with all the cd activities seen in the skate
parking lot unfortunately we
won't be allowing te kids to
use that.
use that.
use that. A homeless woman was lifting
a homeless woman was lifting her top and asking the boys to
touch her.
touch her. I called the police and was
told it's not a crime to be
homeless.
homeless.
homeless. I told them indecent exposure
is a crime, they investigated
and removed her but she is back.
Now unlike other sites in
now unlike other sites in novato, like lee garner park,
there's been no action
regarding the situation in the
skate park.
skate park. Instead the opposite.
instead the opposite. People appear to be displaced
people appear to be displaced to this location which is
closer to the homes.
It has more tall, dry
it has more tall, dry vegetation, fire risk.
It's usafe location for people
it's usafe location for people to reside.
to reside. We request immediate action on
we request immediate action on the encampments within the line
of sight of the skate park.
Again these are all new as of
again these are all new as of april.
april.
april. They have the greatest impact
they have the greatest impact on our community.
Those in attendance if you
those in attendance if you support this request, please
raise your hands.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, brian.
Our next speaker is john
our next speaker is john hansen, followed by stan, my
apologies, lapin?
apologies, lapin? Good evening, john.
good evening, john. >> good evening, mayor o'
connor and the council of the
city of novato.
I wanted to speak to item g9.
And I just want to express my
and I just want to express my gratitude for actually getting
around to this, finally.
It's been years in the making.
it's been years in the making. And hopefully, we can get this
and hopefully, we can get this thing done before the winter
storms come in.
I wanted to let you know that
we have some assistance in that
we have some assistance in that respect.
respect.
respect. And that the pacific northern
and that the pacific northern oscillation is working with the
la nina southern oscillation.
And what that means for the bay
and what that means for the bay area weather is that the winter
storms are going to be delayed
this year.
this year. So that gives us plenty of
so that gives us plenty of opportunity, I think, to finish
this job.
this job.
this job. I can't, I don't think you will
allow me to get out there with
my roofing hammer to help on
this, but at least I can let
you know that the weather is on
our side.
our side.
our side. So thank you very much for
so thank you very much for getting along with this project
and hopefully w can get it
done this winter, before the
rains.
rains.
rains. The other part of the forecast
the other part of the forecast for the rains is when they do
come, they are going to be
nasty.
nasty.
nasty. They are going to be nasty,
they are going to be nasty, short, squally kinds of storms,
the kind that the clubhouse
doesn't do very well with.
So let's get this job done.
so let's get this job done. Let's do whatever we can to get
let's do whatever we can to get it done.
it done.
it done. Thank you very much.
thank you very much. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, john.
Our next speaker is stan lapin
our next speaker is stan lapin followed by margaret siegfried.
Welcome, stan.
welcome, stan. >> good evening.
As some you know I've been here
as some you know I've been here over a variety of years talking
about the problem with the
homeless.
homeless.
homeless. We have had the pleasure of
we have had the pleasure of taking pat eklund on a tour,
which I remember wasen light
epping, if you remember, pat.
>> p. Eklund: absolutely.
>> I'm also speaking about the
problem that's now ensued since
lee garner was shut down.
I dn't know whether the city
moved these residents or it was
another effort, it was
controversial, I don't know.
It ended up being about six
it ended up being about six people, six tents and now it's
the entire fringe.
It's united states ping
it's united states ping residents at real risk,
particularly children, because
of the nature of the people and
how they are disregarding our
residents.
residents. In diction to that, there's
in diction to that, there's also clearly fire safety.
We have seen that enough.
we have seen that enough. And I've seen it out my back
and I've seen it out my back
and I've seen it out my back door.
door.
door. And
door. And also impacting
door. And also impacting businesses.
and also impacting businesses. I've talked to gary satin who
is a great guy from tapiyaki.
He said it's been a real
he said it's been a real problem since he's been here.
I'm sure if I went to every
merchant they would all stand
up and come here if they knew
we were organizing.
We are trying to come here in a
we are trying to come here in a very civil way and a
constructive way.
constructive way. Now is the time, we have to
now is the time, we have to take action.
take action. We have been kicking this down
we have been kicking this down way too long and it's just
going to get worse.
The other thing, eric lucan,
the other thing, eric lucan, this isn't just a city problem,
this is a county problem.
The county has to accept
the county has to accept responsibility financially and
not have the situation where
homeless in southern marin find
themselves not there and over
here.
here.
here. I've talked to the police and
they tell me that happens.
We can't allow that to happen.
we can't allow that to happen. This is a county problem that
this is a county problem that has to be solved and novato can
take the lead and we have a
great financial opportunity to
help us in southern novato.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, stan.
Our
very much, stan. Our next speaker is margaret
our next speaker is margaret siegfried followed by joan.
Welcome, margaret.
welcome, margaret. >> thank
welcome, margaret. >> thank you.
[singing] in '97 when the city
got the loan...
We were promised when the loan
we were promised when the loan was paid the park would be our
own.
own.
own. >>
own. >> in marin
own. >> in marin valley.
>> so if your promise you would
keep, we could finally get some
sleep and once again feel safe
and happy in our home.
>> in marin valley.
>> talking about marin valley.
? Talking aout marin valley,
in novato ?
? Talking about marin valley ?
? That's our home ?
? That's our home ?
? That's our home
? That's our home ? ? That's our home ?
? That's our home
? That's our home ? ? That's our home ?
Thank
? That's our home ? Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: very well
sung and you put in a lot of
practice.
practice.
practice. Our next speaker is
practice. Our next speaker is joan.
our next speaker is joan. And joan, I apologize that you
and joan, I apologize that you have to follow margaret tonight.
>> good evening, council.
Like some of my other
like some of my other neighbors, I am here because I
want to express my concerns
about the urgent need for the
city to address homeless
encampments near the skate park
in hamilton.
in hamilton. There's been a long standing
there's been a long standing problem with people camping in
the wooded area behind the
skate park and now in recent
months a new ever growing camp
by the skate park has formed.
These two areas are not set up
these two areas are not set up for camping and put both housed
and unhoused residents at risk
of fire, health and safety.
There's already been several
there's already been several large fires in the area and it
seems illogical that the city
is asking people to move
vegetation five feet away from
their homes for fire risk and
yet at the same time is not
sufficiently addressing serious
fire risks these encampments
pose.
pose.
pose. For
pose. For example, just this morn a
for example, just this morn a car was parked by the camp
having driven about a block
across highly flammable tall
grass.
grass.
grass. This happens on a regular basis.
this happens on a regular basis. The new safe team doesn't
the new safe team doesn't appear to be making any
attributable difference.
attributable difference. We don't have months and years
we don't have months and years to address this dangerous
situation.
situation. If a large fire occurs campers
if a large fire occurs campers could be trapped in their tents
and several hundred adjacent
homes could be engulfed.
The city could be held liable
the city could be held liable for allowing this situation to
continue.
continue.
continue. When residents have contacted
when residents have contacted the city to express concerns
there's ben no communication
other than email saying the
city appreciates hearing from
you and is aware of the
situation.
situation. The city went through a great
the city went through a great deal of effort to pass this new
ordinance against camping on
public property.
public property. So why isn't it being enforced?
so why isn't it being enforced? The city needs t treat the
the city needs t treat the situation as an urgent safety
risk that it is, and put in
place a plan to move the
campers to a safe area before
there is a tragedy.
Thank yu so much.
thank yu so much. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
>> mayor o'connor: thank you, joan.
joan.
joan. Our
joan. Our final speaker is bryce
our final speaker is bryce
our final speaker is bryce armbruster.
armbruster. Welcome,
armbruster. Welcome, bryce.
welcome, bryce. >> sorry, give me a second.
>> mayor o'connor: take your
>> mayor o'connor: take your time.
time.
time. >>
time. >> sorry I don't have a jingle,
I'm here to talk about the
homeless encampment everyone
has
homeless encampment everyone has referenced.
has referenced. I'm in shock and awe some of
the stories that some of my
neighbors had shared earlier.
We moved to hamilton early 2020
we moved to hamilton early 2020 right as the pandemic was
kicking off as a safe place for
our kids.
our kids.
our kids. I'm absolutely appalled what's
happened there over the last
several mnths, really just a
uncontrollable group.
uncontrollable group. It's from the outside.
it's from the outside. I think we've all seen what has
happened in san francisco, I
don't think any of us want that
to happen to our community.
I'm urging the city council and
mayor to take immediate steps
to rectify
mayor to take immediate steps to rectify that.
I've personally seen drunken
people, pursued by police.
I've seen someone at night
running that another runner has
confirmed we have seen multiple
tiements either high on some
sort of meth drug, I don't
know, or schizophrenic.
We have seen cars driving back
we have seen cars driving back there.
there.
there. Unbelievable amounts of trash.
unbelievable amounts of trash. A neighbor who hazardous had
a neighbor who hazardous had their child verbally assaulted
and followed.
and followed. I had no idea that a body was
found back there, I found that
unbelievable that none us know
about this.
about this. I just shocked by what's
happening and here mostly
sadness and regret in addition
to shock.
to shock.
to shock. Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
bryce.
bryce.
bryce. That concludes in-person public
that concludes in-person public comment for this item.
We will go to zoom for public
we will go to zoom for public comment if you would like to
speak.
speak.
speak. >>
speak. >> clerk: there are no raised
hands on zoom.
>> mayor o'connor: okay, that
concludes public comment.
We will move to the consent
we will move to the consent calendar.
calendar.
calendar. >> mayor pro tem farac: I will
make a motion to approve the
consent calendar.
consent calendar. >> p. Eklund: I will second the
motion.
motion.
motion. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
laura.
laura.
laura. Would you call the vote.
would you call the vote. >> clerk: can I clarify that
includes the revised attachment
for item g8, attachment 2?
>> mayor o'connor: yes.
>> clerk: thank you, eklund?
>> p. Eklund: aye.
>> clerk: jacobs?
>> k. Jacobs: aye.
>> clerk: milberg?
>> m. Milberg: aye.
>> clerk: mayor pro tem farac?
>> mayor pro tem farac: aye.
>> clerk: and mayor o' connor.
>> mayor o'connor: aye.
That passes 5-0.
that passes 5-0. We are going to take a brief
we are going to take a brief recess in a moment but for the
translators in the room, if you
wouldn't mind sharing what I'm
about to say, I would
appreciate it.
appreciate it. I'm sorry, folks if you are
leaving the room, if you could
leave silently.
leave silently. That would be great.
that would be great. Laura is going to bring a
laura is going to bring a microphone so you can
laura is going to bring a microphone so you can share.
The next item on the agenda is
the next item on the agenda is to receive a presentation,
conduct a study session and
consider providing direction to
staff to inform the preparation
of a local just cause tenant
protections ordinance as a
follow-up to the direction
already provided by the city
council on may 20th,
already provided by the city council on may 20th, 2025.
>> interpreter: [ translating
in spanish ]
>> mayor o'connor: thank you.
We have translation services
we have translation services available.
available. If you would like to take
if you would like to take advantage of them, please come
and introduce yourself tolt
team outside the room.
We will begin a 10-minute
we will begin a 10-minute recess and begin at 7:00 o'
recess and begin at 7:00 o' clock.
clock.
clock. >>
clock. >> interpreter: [ translating
in spanish ]
>> mayor o'connor: thank you.
And we are in recess until 7:00
and we are in recess until 7:00
and we are in recess until 7:00 p.m.
p.m.
p.m. >>
p.m. >> interpreter: [ translating
in spanish
>> interpreter: [ translating in spanish ]
[ recess until 7:00 p.m.
in spanish ] [ recess until 7:00 p.m. ]
>> mayor o'connor: okay, thank
you.
you.
you. We
you. We are going to reconvene.
we are going to reconvene. The next item on our aenda is
the next item on our aenda is receive a presentation, conduct
a study session and consider
providing direction to staff to
inform the preparation of a
local just cause tenant
protections ordinance as a
follow-up to the direction
already provided by city
council on may 20th, 2025.
Before I hand this oer to
before I hand this oer to staff, I just want to remind
everybody if you need
translation services, they are
available on the right hand
side of the room.
I actually don't see them.
Oh, hi.
oh, hi.
oh, hi. >> [ off mic ]
>> mayor o'connor: oh, no
problem.
problem.
problem. I'll wait for
problem. I'll wait for you.
Thank
I'll wait for you. Thank you.
thank you.
thank you. Ready?
ready?
ready? There's one anouncement I
there's one anouncement I would like you to share,
there's one anouncement I would like you to share, please.
I'll just wait a
would like you to share, please. I'll just wait a moment.
If you don't mind sharing the
if you don't mind sharing the following, please.
following, please. The conversation this evening
the conversation this evening isn't about adopting an
ordinance or making a change.
It's a conversation which is
it's a conversation which is designed to help us shape the
ordinance that we are going to
adopt in
ordinance that we are going to adopt in novato.
Thank you.
thank you. I'm pausing because the
translator in the room is
communicating with people in
spanish.
spanish.
spanish. As a follow-up to the
as a follow-up to the conversation this evening, what
will happen is a draft
ordinance will come back to
council, which will ultimately
have the opportunity for public
input as well.
Today isn't about adopting an
today isn't about adopting an ordinance or making a change.
It's about
ordinance or making a change. It's about helping staff make
it's about helping staff make an informed choice in terms of
drafting the next ordinance to
be considered.
be considered. Thank you very much.
thank you very much. With that I'm going to call on
with that I'm going to call on clare hartman the community
development director to present
the item.
the item.
the item. Welcome, clare.
welcome, clare. >> thank
welcome, clare. >> thank you.
So this slide covers what we
so this slide covers what we are going to talk about tonight.
And thank you for the
and thank you for the introduction this is a study
session, not an action item.
First we will go over the
first we will go over the background of just cause and
tenant protection and how it
relates to city policy and
state law.
state law. We will talk about key
we will talk about key provisions or key elements that
would be in a just cause
ordinance.
ordinance. And then we will also go over
and then we will also go over the public outreach that
related to the key provisions
and that I larned along my
journey in terms of what I
heard from the community in
community workshops.
community workshops. An then lastly, we will wrap up
an then lastly, we will wrap up with the key policy questions
that I would like to ask the
council before we go back and
draft a draft ordinance for
draft a draft ordinance for consideration.
consideration. So, what brought us here
so, what brought us here tonight with this topic is our
city's housing element.
This is a long-range plan, over
this is a long-range plan, over eight years.
eight years. Specific to housing programs in
specific to housing programs in the
specific to housing programs in the city.
the city.
the city. It covers production,
it covers production, preservation and protection of
preservation and protection of housing.
housing.
housing. It was adopted in may of 2024.
it was adopted in may of 2024. But we have actually been
but we have actually been working on it since 2023, we
are in the second year
implementing it's programs.
If you want to follow along our
if you want to follow along our progress, you can go to the
city's website.
city's website.
city's website. Novato.com/housingelement.
novato.com/housingelement. And one of the initiatives in
and one of the initiatives in our program was to do an
educational and engagement
effort that w participated
with the county.
So it was a cunty-wide effort
so it was a cunty-wide effort called "rooted in marin".
And the culmination of that
and the culmination of that effort was presented to the
council on may 13th.
And we followed up that session
and we followed up that session with a study session on anti
displacement and tenant
protections at the cuncil, the
very next meeting.
It was at that meeting on may
it was at that meeting on may 20th that staff received
direction to go ahead and get a
start on the exploration into a
just cause ordinance, a local
ordinance for
just cause ordinance, a local ordinance for novato.
So the city's housing element
so the city's housing element addresses tenant protections in
goal #5.
goal #5.
goal #5. Several goals but goal #5
several goals but goal #5 addresses tenant protections.
Policy 5.4 covers tenant
policy 5.4 covers tenant protections, as it says here,
citis will stay up-to-date on
statewide tenant protections
but also educate tenants and
educate landlords on their
respective
educate landlords on their respective rights.
respective rights. Program 5.I is more specific.
program 5.I is more specific. This is your action item.
this is your action item. And the title is called expand
and the title is called expand just cause eviction protections
to all tenants.
But when you look at the text
but when you look at the text of the housing element it's a
little broader than that title.
It's to consider a local just
it's to consider a local just cause ordinance.
cause ordinance. It does have areas of
it does have areas of exploration in it.
It wants us to explore notice
it wants us to explore notice of termination that would be
provided to the city.
The item wants us t explore
the item wants us t explore outreach and also to evaluate
but to retain grounds for
eviction where it matches
at-fault and state protections.
So te exercise or the action
so te exercise or the action item is exactly what we are
doing.
doing.
doing. We
doing. We are exploring this topic for
we are exploring this topic for consideration of a just cause
local
consideration of a just cause local ordinance.
local ordinance. Doesn't guarantee we will adopt
doesn't guarantee we will adopt one but we are exercising this
action item by even doing what
we are doing tonight.
Doing our outreach, doing our
doing our outreach, doing our understanding of it and
deciding if this is something
we want to
deciding if this is something we want to do.
This slide summarizes what we
this slide summarizes what we learned in rooted in marin in
terms o policy idea that's
came out of that.
One of them was just cause
one of them was just cause evictions.
evictions. We looked at case studies for
we looked at case studies for that.
that.
that. That was already in our housing
that was already in our housing element, as I just mentioned.
But what we also learned is
but what we also learned is some
but what we also learned is some other
some other ideas that the city could
explore, but what rally piqued
the council's interest at the
time was relocation assistance
and right of return.
So they weren't already in our
so they weren't already in our housing element but because of
our experience in the city and
because of what we learned in
marin that became of interest.
So when I embarked on this,
so when I embarked on this, outreach we included those
principles.
principles. This slide summarizes state
this slide summarizes state laws at a very high level that
relate to just cause ordinances.
You may hear speakers reference
you may hear speakers reference this first state law, it's
called the ten apt protect act
of 2019.
of 2019.
of 2019. We've also referred to it as
we've also referred to it as ab1482 and we also sometimes
call it tpa.
So forgive us with the acronyms
so forgive us with the acronyms and multiple names.
But we are talking about the
but we are talking about the same law.
same law.
same law. So this is state law that sets
so this is state law that sets minimum statewide standards for
rent control and for just cause.
So we're looking at state law,
so we're looking at state law, how it relates to the just
cause and local jurisdictions
may adopt their own local just
cause ordinances.
cause ordinances. But there are parameters that
but there are parameters that if you do, there's certain
findings that the council will
have to make.
To be able to do that, and I'll
to be able to do that, and I'll talk about that in a couple of
slides.
slides.
slides. In addition to the tenant
in addition to the tenant protection act is the ellis act
and that one speaks to the
right of landlords to leave the
rental market and gives
procedures and directions for
how somebody can pull out of
the rental market and take full
use of their property again.
So in summary these are the
so in summary these are the considerations we put into this
effort.
effort.
effort. We looked at our own housing
we looked at our own housing element as it was written and
adopted.
adopted.
adopted. We expanded that exploration to
we expanded that exploration to include relocation assistance
and right of rirn.
Return.
return.
return. And we are always mindful of
and we are always mindful of what is in state law and isn't
in state law and what are the
parameters upon which we would
adopt a local ordinance, in
compliance with state law.
We held some public workshops.
we held some public workshops. There wasn't a lot of time
there wasn't a lot of time since our last study session on
anti-displacement, but we have
been very active the last
couple of months putting this
together.
together.
together. So tonight I'm going to bring
so tonight I'm going to bring back the results of
so tonight I'm going to bring back the results of that.
Other considerations to keep in
other considerations to keep in mind we try to land or
benchmark or ceate a
foundation upon which we could
draft some key provisions of an
ordinance and which we would
set sail into the public
workshops to start set up what
this might look like.
We created a foundation that we
we created a foundation that we would set it in context of our
local area.
local area. So we looked to the city of
so we looked to the city of petaluma, the city of san
rafael and county of marin.
But we also looked statewide
but we also looked statewide and we wre looking at best
practices and how we fit in
with those best practices.
We also looked to craft the
we also looked to craft the framework of an ordinance that
doesn't rely on a lot of staff.
In fact, we set this draft
in fact, we set this draft framework up that it would not
require fees or a full program
or a request for staffing.
That I would set the
that I would set the provisions for protections of
all stakeholders, the city,
landlords and renters.
But that enforcement would be
but that enforcement would be through the courts, through
civil action.
civil action. We are here as an educator.
we are here as an educator. We can set up websites and
we can set up websites and faq's and help with
interpretations but not as an
active, staffed enforcement
center.
center.
center. And really we were focusing as
and really we were focusing as the council directed on
no-fault evictions.
no-fault evictions. Specifically, what happens when
specifically, what happens when a building gts so bad that
it's red tagged and deemed
unsafe as the city recently
experienced.
experienced. Or when landlords are updating
or when landlords are updating their property and making
remodels and it's those
circumstances where it's such a
substantial remodel you
actually can't stay in the
building while it's being
actually can't stay in the building while it's being done.
So this is the framework of an
so this is the framework of an ordinance but we don't have a
draft ordinance for you to
review.
review.
review. So I will talk about this
so I will talk about this framework at a high level.
But these are the components
but these are the components that you might see in one.
Purpose and applicability.
purpose and applicability. This is where we talk about
this is where we talk about what is subject to the
ordinance and what isn't.
So it's very clear, a lot of
so it's very clear, a lot of discussion about
so it's very clear, a lot of discussion about exemptions.
Clarity on at-fault
clarity on at-fault justifications, versus no-fault
justifications, versus no-fault justifications.
justifications. Notices, what's required for
notices, what's required for notices.
notices.
notices. And then we want to cover
and then we want to cover relocation assistance.
relocation assistance. We looked at temporary, we
we looked at temporary, we looked at permanent.
And then we understood there
and then we understood there might be some alternatives to
that.
that.
that. And
that. And then another add or
and then another add or provision would be right of
return.
return.
return. And in conclusion, just whether
and in conclusion, just whether the remedies when it doesn't
work out or there's
discrepancies o disagreements,
how are those managed, handled
and
how are those managed, handled and enforced?
and enforced? Okay, so let's talk about
okay, so let's talk about applicability.
applicability. So I talked about how the
so I talked about how the tenant protections act is
really the crux of just cause
state wise but we have the
ability as a jurisdiction, and
not all jurisdictions choose to
do so, but we have the ability
and it's in our housing element
to consider adopting a local
to consider adopting a local ordinance.
ordinance. If you adopt a local ordinance,
if you adopt a local ordinance, it supersedes the tenant
protections
it supersedes the tenant protections act.
protections act. It becomes the provisions that
it becomes the provisions that regulate this relationship
between landlord and tenants.
There are special findings you
there are special findings you have to make.
It does need to be more
it does need to be more protective of
it does need to be more protective of tenants.
But the finding is that of the
but the finding is that of the council, so it's how you define
being more protective of
being more protective of tenants.
tenants.
tenants. So it's
tenants. So it's layered work, because
so it's layered work, because you may have entertained
elements where it increases
applicability and other
elements that provides
exemptions that are
strategically a fit for this
city.
city.
city. And
city. And that's the complexity of
and that's the complexity of these ordinances.
these ordinances. In general, in terms of our
in general, in terms of our proposal that we vetted with
the community, we were tying
to be quite clear on what the
additional protections for
tenants would be.
And the next slides go into
and the next slides go into those details with more
those details with more specificity.
specificity. But the idea is to have these
but the idea is to have these rules apply to more tenants and
more homes than the state law
requires.
requires.
requires. To add language requirements
to add language requirements and noticing requirements that
would be more expansive than
what the state law
would be more expansive than what the state law requires.
To allow provisions like
to allow provisions like relocation assistance and right
of return.
of return. Way more than what the state
way more than what the state law would require.
So those would be clear
so those would be clear
so those would be clear expansions.
expansions. And then in addition, there's a
and then in addition, there's a balancing act.
balancing act. You are trying to thread the
you are trying to thread the needles of incentivizing people
to invest in properties, to
offer up their additional units
for rentals, so providing
provisions in here that support
property owners.
property owners. So in terms of those areas, we
so in terms of those areas, we would like to making sure that
the ordinance supports their
rights to honor rental
agreements.
agreements. Would this have the provisions
would this have the provisions that support property owners to
exercise their rights to
address, particularly at-fault
evictions?
evictions? And so, what we vetted with the
and so, what we vetted with the community was keeping all 11
at-fault causes for eviction.
And ill talk about how that
and ill talk about how that
and ill talk about how that went.
went.
went. Supporting the right to rent
supporting the right to rent their property for temporary
tenancies and supporting their
right to withdraw from the
housing market.
housing market. So we
housing market. So we took this framework to a
so we took this framework to a community and received quite a
lot of feedback.
So I love to see that we have
so I love to see that we have so much participation again
so much participation again tonight.
tonight.
tonight. This is a dense slide and I'm
this is a dense slide and I'm not going to go overall of this.
But the point of this slide,
but the point of this slide, this summarizes all the
exemptions that aren't in the
protected area of the state law
for tenants.
for tenants. And I'll just highlight a
and I'll just highlight a couple that we think are pretty
significant exemptions.
significant exemptions. So one is tenants that have
so one is tenants that have been in place for less than 12
been in place for less than 12 months.
months.
months. In fact, that increases if you
in fact, that increases if you have additional adult tenants
added.
added.
added. Now it's up to 24 months.
now it's up to 24 months. So if you are a tenant less
so if you are a tenant less than that, you are not
protected by the state law.
Another one is with new housing.
another one is with new housing. New housing is exempt from the
new housing is exempt from the tpa.
tpa.
tpa. One
tpa. One of the exemptions is
one of the exemptions is housing that's been issued a
certificate of occupancy in the
last 15 years.
And novato has seen its share
and novato has seen its share of rental
and novato has seen its share of rental housing.
Another exemption is
another exemption is deed-restricted affordable
deed-restricted affordable housing.
housing.
housing. So we looked at areas where,
so we looked at areas where, where could we tighten it up to
make it more protective to ten
ants?
ants?
ants? Because that's the exercise, is
because that's the exercise, is looking for ways to expand
protections and even in
applicability.
applicability. So what we vetted with the
so what we vetted with the community are these.
One is to reduce it so all
one is to reduce it so all tenants, based on, even tenants
that are in leases that are
less than 12 months would
qualify to be protected by a
local
qualify to be protected by a local ordinance.
local ordinance. Include the housing that is
include the housing that is newer, within 15 years.
Include affordable housing and
include affordable housing and include government-owned or
operated units.
operated units. And include units that are
and include units that are illegal.
illegal.
illegal. So have that not be an
so have that not be an exemption from being protected.
And then in balance, again,
and then in balance, again, trying to thread the needle
here, look for exemptions for
your mom and pop small
operators and what we vetted
with the community was an
exemption for owners with three
or fewer units within the city
or fewer units within the city limits.
limits.
limits. This would not include
this would not include commercial operators or
property management company.
Even if it's part of an l.l.c.,
even if it's part of an l.l.c., that's not who we are looking
to exempt.
to exempt. We are looking to exempt
we are looking to exempt essentially individuals and
your mom and pop
essentially individuals and your mom and pop operators.
And that is a exemption that
and that is a exemption that is shared with county of marin,
and san rafael and petaluma.
Some nuances to the secific
some nuances to the secific language around that, but the
three or fewer is common across
the
three or fewer is common across the three.
the three. Another exemption because the
another exemption because the city is really trying to
incentivize accessory dreling
units and junior accessory
dwelling units.
dwelling units. We just spept the last two
we just spept the last two years removing all the
obstacles we could, so in that
spirit, we added that to the
list.
list.
list. And
list. And some jurisdictions have
and some jurisdictions have done this as well for the same
reason.
reason.
reason. This one is not as consistent
this one is not as consistent across the
this one is not as consistent across the platform.
So now geting into the causes
so now geting into the causes and noticing.
and noticing. So no eviction is allowed
so no eviction is allowed without just cause and I would
stay the course, we wll
clarify what at-fault and
no-fault means and also more
about the noticing.
So currently the state law,
so currently the state law, there's 11 reasons that a
landlord can event a tenant.
And these are all the eleven.
and these are all the eleven. I won't go through all of them.
The number one you hear about
the number one you hear about is behind in rent.
That's a justifiable reason.
that's a justifiable reason. It's a common reason.
it's a common reason. There's other ones that have
there's other ones that have nuances to them.
And some communities
nuances to them. And some communities nearby, so
and some communities nearby, so including the county marin, and
city of san rfael have shrunk
that down and that's been their
effort to give more protections
to ten ants.
So by shrinking them down they
so by shrinking them down they are no longer basis for
eviction.
eviction.
eviction. They shrunk the 11 down to
they shrunk the 11 down to these five and then added a
sixth one.
sixth one. And this is the one where
and this is the one where related to, if there is
domestic violence on the
property associated with either
the landlord or the tenant or
the tenant to another tenant.
Keeping in mind we are looking
keeping in mind we are looking to our neighbors and being in
context.
context.
context. Petaluma kept all
context. Petaluma kept all 11.
petaluma kept all 11. And we didn't see direction on
and we didn't see direction on our housing element to reduce
and we didn't receive that yet
from the council, so what we
vetted with the community is to
keep all 11.
In terms of no-fault, there's
in terms of no-fault, there's several categories here.
One, we talked about withdrawal
one, we talked about withdrawal from the rental market.
What happens, what's the
what happens, what's the process?
process?
process? Where are the protections when
where are the protections when that happens?
that happens? Or when the owner or their
or when the owner or their family member wants to move
back in?
back in?
back in? Setting up that
back in? Setting up that scenario.
setting up that scenario. And then there's others that
and then there's others that could be
and then there's others that could be temporary or could
lead into permanent but
vacations due to government
action.
action.
action. So like a red tag, the building
so like a red tag, the building is deemed unsafe, whether the
from natural occurrence or
neglect.
neglect.
neglect. That
neglect. That spectrum.
that spectrum. But being deemed unsafe where
but being deemed unsafe where something needs to be done
before people can stay in the
building.
building.
building. The last category here is
the last category here is vacation due to demolition.
But probably much more commonly
but probably much more commonly is a temporary vacation of the
unit due to a substantial
remodel.
remodel.
remodel. Sometimes there's no water and
sometimes there's no water and they have to redo the etirety
of the plumbing system to make
it safe.
it safe.
it safe. And they just temporarily need
and they just temporarily need to move out of the unit or it
could be very substantial where
it could take several months to
retrofit a building due to
excessive interior or ex tore
-- exterior
excessive interior or ex tore -- exterior damage.
This side is about the
this side is about the noticing around no-fault.
So one of the things we would
so one of the things we would look to add in a local
ordinance would be a notice of
tenant rights.
tenant rights. This would be required at lease
this would be required at lease signing, lease renewal,
increase in rent, any change in
terms o the lease is an
opportunity to notify a tenant
about their rights.
We also think that would be an
we also think that would be an expansion of tenant protection.
One thing that would be new and
one thing that would be new and what I heard a lot about
through our community workshops
is to have these really
important documents to be in
english and spanish, period.
And then if the lease was in a
and then if the lease was in a different language to have this
notice of tenant rights in that
language.
language.
language. But at a minimum english and
but at a minimum english and spanish.
spanish.
spanish. This was a very sought after
this was a very sought after one and we learned a lot about
that.
that.
that. In
that. In terms of notice of
in terms of notice of termination, I wasn't here when
we wrote the housing element,
but that was very specific in
our housing element, action
our housing element, action item.
item.
item. Wanted t add that when there
wanted t add that when there was a notice of termination, a
copy would be provided to the
city.
city.
city. And
city. And I think it was a way to
and I think it was a way to track evictions for the city.
And so that was added into our
and so that was added into our
and so that was added into our framework.
framework. And then, english and spanish,
and then, english and spanish,
and then, english and spanish, always.
always.
always. Okay, this slide shows how we
okay, this slide shows how we would further expand noticing
when it is around substantial
renovation projects.
renovation projects. And this is because there needs
and this is because there needs to be a lot of accountability
when a landlord comes in and
does a renovation.
You
does a renovation. You might have heard the term
you might have heard the term renoviction.
renoviction. We want to be careful that it's
we want to be careful that it's a legitimate renovation that's
needed if you are going to be
evicting or pushing out even
temporarily a tenant.
So we took care to expand the
so we took care to expand the noticing for the situation.
So it can't just be a proposed
so it can't just be a proposed building renovation, it needs
to be a real legit one with a
building permit that's issued
and you're ready to go.
You have a construction
you have a construction schedule.
schedule.
schedule. And you provide that
and you provide that information to the tenant.
And if it's approved as part of
and if it's approved as part of a framework of the ordinance.
If there are relocation
if there are relocation assistance offered to provide
information about that.
And really important if there's
and really important if there's opportunity for right of return.
Again, whether it's a day, two
again, whether it's a day, two weeks, two months or two years,
whatever the information is
about right of
whatever the information is about right of return.
This slide is a comparison what
this slide is a comparison what the state allows for relocation
assistance currently, and where
we would expand it locally.
So where the state law comes in
so where the state law comes in for a current requirement is a
landlord can withdraw from the
market, or can move in or do a
substantial renovation.
substantial renovation. What they have to do is provide
what they have to do is provide one month's rent or they can
waive the final month's rent.
That's state
waive the final month's rent. That's state law.
that's state law. That's for those situations.
that's for those situations. For a government action or a
for a government action or a red tag, deeming the building
unsafe, immediate displacement.
There's a health and safety
there's a health and safety code section that talks about
dangerous buildings and
immediate
dangerous buildings and immediate displacement.
immediate displacement. And that provides two month's
and that provides two month's of hud fair market rent and
utility service departments and
it actually provides a very
specific timeline, within ten
specific timeline, within ten days.
days.
days. So
days. So that is state law for
so that is state law for no-fault.
no-fault.
no-fault. Where we would potentially
where we would potentially expand, and this is probably
the most robust area of
expansion to do a local
ordinance for, is to really
address substantial renovation
and relocation assistance.
So what we vetted with the
so what we vetted with the community is that for a
substantial renovation, the
tenant would have options.
And this is one thing to think
and this is one thing to think about is do you want a menu
that is tenant-oriented where
the tenant has to decide what
options they go in?
Or do you want it to be more
or do you want it to be more prescribed where it's more
objective or runs a certain
predictable way is one way to
do
predictable way is one way to do it.
do it.
do it. The basic options are do they
the basic options are do they continue to pay rent or do they
suspend rent during the
renovation?
renovation? Those are things to think about
those are things to think about and I will talk about scenarios.
Also there could be
also there could be opportunities, especially a
larger property manager.
They may have other units they
they may have other units they need to do a remodel in the
kitchen area and you are out
for, I don't know, a couple
weeks or a month and you can
stay at their comparable unit.
Comparable in our framework
comparable in our framework would be nothing smaller, so if
you had a one bedroom you got a
one bedroom comparable unit.
It could be bigger, it just
it could be bigger, it just can't be smaller.
And there's alternatives out
and there's alternatives out there.
there.
there. You could buy the tenant out.
you could buy the tenant out. You could have some sort of
you could have some sort of alternative agreement.
alternative agreement. And there's stipulations for
and there's stipulations for that.
that.
that. For
that. For a red tag, you would have
for a red tag, you would have all those options and in
addition you would get that
health and safety code two
months of fair market rent plus
utility service deposit.
I will run through these
scenarios, it looks as
complicated as it felt but I
will do my best to explain
complicated as it felt but I will do my best to explain it.
I will go through options a-d
at a high level.
Mostly I will take your
mostly I will take your questions later.
questions later. So option a is you continue to
so option a is you continue to pay rent and you just need a
per diem.
per diem.
per diem. That is probably perfectly
that is probably perfectly normal scenario if it's very
short-term and you can stay at
a local hotel while they do the
renovation so you are getting a
per diem and we vetted these
amounts.
amounts.
amounts. Things we learned in this last
things we learned in this last year about how much it costs to
stay at a hotel in this area.
People have pets so you might
people have pets so you might have to board them.
Not all hotels take them,
not all hotels take them, things like
not all hotels take them, things like that.
Again, for substantial remodel,
again, for substantial remodel, this culd add up if you were
at a hotel for a while.
So, as part of this framework
so, as part of this framework we sggested there be a cap.
Because again we are balancing
because again we are balancing predictability for the landlord
as
predictability for the landlord as well.
as well.
as well. So we proposed a maximum cap of
so we proposed a maximum cap of three times the fair market
three times the fair market rent.
rent.
rent. Option b is really just a
option b is really just a different version of a.
Where you don't pay the rent
where you don't pay the rent while the renovation is going
on and if you pay less than the
fair market rent, you get what
we call a rent differential.
You get the difference.
you get the difference. You would eventually even out
you would eventually even out with both of those scenarios.
If they maxed out they would
if they maxed out they would have the same cap, three months
of fair market rent.
For red tag you would get this
for red tag you would get this and you would get the health
and safety code.
So potentially if you are red
so potentially if you are red tagged, and you maxed out for
your temporary relocation
assistance at three months yu
would get three months fair
market rent and you would get
two months fair market rent
through the health and safety
code.
code.
code. So
code. So that's five months of fair
so that's five months of fair market rent.
market rent. So if it's $3,000 for fair
so if it's $3,000 for fair market rent, that's
so if it's $3,000 for fair market rent, that's $15,000.
And the reason I even do this
and the reason I even do this scenario to that extent is one
of the tings we heard about is
alameda county, they have a
fixed rate.
fixed rate. They just pay you out $15,000.
they just pay you out $15,000. This scenario would get you
this scenario would get you there as well, in terms of its
maxed out,
there as well, in terms of its maxed out, so.
Okay, these other options,
okay, these other options, these are more on the landlord
side.
side.
side. So
side. So again, this framework has
so again, this framework has some options for the tenant
based on whether they want to
continue paying rent or not.
The other options are more, I
the other options are more, I would say in the favor of the
l.a.p.d. Lord.
l.a.p.d. Lord. -- landlord, so again, trying
to provide a menu here.
Again, if a landlord has a
again, if a landlord has a comparable unit, and again,
similar size or at least same
size or bigger, then you could
move your tenant over.
They don't pay any extra, they
they don't pay any extra, they can just move into that other.
And in our framework we would
and in our framework we would suggest there be some moving
costs.
costs.
costs. Depending on how extensive that
depending on how extensive that time
depending on how extensive that time is.
time is.
time is. Option d is buy out options.
option d is buy out options. With these alternative
with these alternative agreements more legal contracts
a lot to decide, it's unique,
it's special.
it's special. So it would be really important
so it would be really important to put in timeframes that give
a tenant time to go get advice.
Most tenants don't come
most tenants don't come equipped with their own lawyer
so they may have to check out
legal aid of marin to get
advice.
advice.
advice. It might take time.
it might take time. So oe provision is to give
so oe provision is to give them the time to make that
decision and even to give them
a cooling-off period.
So after they sign something
so after they sign something and then they get advice that
says you should probably
rethink that, that's a common
rethink that, that's a common provision.
provision. Then we get to permanent
then we get to permanent no-fault evictions.
no-fault evictions. Let's say we know it's just a
let's say we know it's just a substantial remodel or it's
going to take years or they are
demolishing the building or
it's permanent because they are
moving in and withdrawing from
the market.
the market. Again, we set it at three
again, we set it at three month's rent.
month's rent. So that would be an expansion
so that would be an expansion of state law.
And we like the idea of an
and we like the idea of an objective standard for how you
define fair market rent.
And so we would use hud's
and so we would use hud's standard because everybody can
look that up.
That's not something we would
that's not something we would make up in an office.
You go to the state's website,
you go to the state's website, they do the math for our area
and identify and everybody
would know that in advance or
at the time you needed it.
Okay, now moving onto our last
okay, now moving onto our last provision here for tenant
rights.
rights.
rights. That's right of
rights. That's right of return.
that's right of return. So this slide compares what you
so this slide compares what you currently get with state law
and where we could head with a
local ordinance.
local ordinance. With this, the state law only
with this, the state law only provides a right of return if
there's failure of certain
circumstances for the
there's failure of certain circumstances for the landlords.
Where we would head is just by
where we would head is just by right.
right.
right. Just to offer them the first
just to offer them the first right of refusal to come back.
So if it got fixed it could
so if it got fixed it could come back, whether it's after a
day, a week, or maybe even up
to sx months or two years.
So we would put that into the
so we would put that into the policy and that's what we
vetted with the community.
And you have to give some
and you have to give some notice and opportunity for them
to consider that.
Most policies had 30 days to
most policies had 30 days to consider that.
consider that. And then on the flip side of
and then on the flip side of the framework we would look at
prohibitions and enforcement
and remedies.
and remedies. One of the things we heard in
one of the things we heard in the focus groups is where is
the sort of accountability of
landlords, sort of the registry
to know they are legit
landlords and they are aware of
these provisions?
these provisions? So there was mention of
so there was mention of maintaining a business license
if you rent a room.
But I have learned since the
but I have learned since the workshops is that we do require
a business license for people
who rent rooms.
And business licenses out of
and business licenses out of our finance code section, not
the housing section.
So business licenses is to
so business licenses is to track and to collect revenue.
But for landlords, if it's
but for landlords, if it's three or fewer, you do need to
get the license but there's an
exemption you can qualify for
so you are not taxed or not
paying for that
so you are not taxed or not paying for that license.
And then, obviously, the
and then, obviously, the provisions would include lots
of protections you would expect.
No retaliation for complaining
no retaliation for complaining or filing complaints against
the landlord.
the landlord. You have the right to enjoy
you have the right to enjoy quiet use of your property.
Things that protect the
quiet use of your property. Things that protect the use.
things that protect the use. Okay, for enforcement and
okay, for enforcement and remedies, again, we focused on
an ordinance that kept it light
on the city administration side
and really just set the rules
and the foundation and give
everybody teeth.
everybody teeth. So these rules are for all
so these rules are for all stakeholders whether you are a
landlord, this is what we
adhere to, so you have all the
causes for eviction to have
local and state protections on.
If you are a tenant, obviously
if you are a tenant, obviously I just went over quite a few
expanded protections for you.
And then if you are the city,
and then if you are the city, you have the right and
authority but not the duty to
enforce.
enforce.
enforce. So at times we stand up as a
so at times we stand up as a city and we get involved.
But we don't have to, we can do
but we don't have to, we can do that when we think it's the
right time to do that.
And we will use the same
and we will use the same provisions in ordinance and
everybody would have three year
statute of
everybody would have three year statute of limitations.
So I held a series of
so I held a series of workshops, the last, I don't
know, 30-45 days.
They were all public workshops,
they were all public workshops, anybody could come.
I did some zoom and some
I did some zoom and some in-person.
in-person. I did target and promote to
certain representative groups
because I really wanted to dive
deeper into their perspective
so we had a workshop promoted
to landlords, realtors and
property owners.
property owners. Tenant advocacy organizations.
tenant advocacy organizations. We did a special meeting that
we did a special meeting that we wanted to do in person and
in spanish, we have a lot of
spanish monolingual tenants in
our
spanish monolingual tenants in our community.
our community. And the recent romar apartment
and the recent romar apartment residents were interested in
having that meeting, that
conversation.
conversation. So we held it entirely in
so we held it entirely in spanish.
spanish.
spanish. The translator was for me.
the translator was for me. So I could understand
so I could understand everything.
everything. But we workshoped with them.
but we workshoped with them. And not just displace but all
and not just displace but all the tenants of that
the tenants of that neighborhood.
neighborhood. We met with the league of women
we met with the league of women voters.
voters.
voters. We also met with the city's
we also met with the city's housing and homeless committee
to get their feedback.
I tried to integrate the
feedback that we received
through my presentation.
I know we have had a number of
letters that have been
submitted since the agenda
posted.
posted.
posted. I'm happy to go through those
in more detail if you have
questions or comments about
questions or comments about that.
that.
that. But
that. But here is the slide to give
but here is the slide to give us a compass for tonight's
study session.
study session. Key plicy questions.
key plicy questions. The first question, this is
the first question, this is your decision, this is your
discretion to have a local
ordinance or not.
And if you do, there's some
and if you do, there's some findings we have to make.
And then there's a public
and then there's a public process to adopt that.
In terms of provisions, we are
in terms of provisions, we are really looking for direction on
exemptions.
exemptions. We are looking for whether you
we are looking for whether you want us to include all the
at-fault.
at-fault.
at-fault. Or if you want to pull back
or if you want to pull back like county of marin and san
rafael.
rafael.
rafael. And then we are looking for
and then we are looking for feedback on what we are
proposing for temporary
relocation assistance.
relocation assistance. And permanent relocation
and permanent relocation assistance.
assistance. Because that is definitely a
because that is definitely a change locally.
change locally. And then any comments or
and then any comments or direction on right of return,
as we have
direction on right of return, as we have suggested.
So we will hold the study
so we will hold the study session tonight.
session tonight. And we will receive your
and we will receive your direction, we hope.
And if we receive the direction
and if we receive the direction to go draft an ordinance, w
will certainly go do that.
It's a draft.
it's a draft. But we need to get more
but we need to get more specific than these high levels.
Everyone will wnt to know the
everyone will wnt to know the details of every word in this
ordinance so we will go ahead
and vet that with the community
and bring all that back to you
for a decision.
And that's it.
and that's it. That concludes my presentation.
that concludes my presentation. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, clare.
Okay.
okay.
okay. We
okay. We will bring it back to
we will bring it back to council for questions.
So just in terms of format, the
so just in terms of format, the way we will be handling this is
council will ask questions only
at this time.
After cuncil questions we will
after cuncil questions we will move onto public comment and we
will bring it back to council
for further discussion and for
direction.
direction. So if you have any questions in
so if you have any questions in relation to the conversation,
please use the raise-hand
button.
button.
button. First is councilmember jacobs.
first is councilmember jacobs. >> k. Jacobs: thank you.
Thanks for your presentation.
thanks for your presentation. That's quite a bit of work.
that's quite a bit of work. Thank you.
thank you. So one, first question is,
so one, first question is, withdrawal from the market, for
the owner move-in, does that
only include rent and no
utilities or would that include
rent and
utilities or would that include rent and utilities?
>> I might be able to jump in.
Are we talking aout the red
are we talking aout the red tag relocation?
tag relocation? >> k. Jacobs: no, withdrawal
from market for the owner to
move in.
move in.
move in. >> go ahead, clare.
>> on slide 19 we talk about
that.
that.
that. It
that. It only says month's rent, at
it only says month's rent, at least in terms of my slide.
>> the state law provides for a
utility payment for red tag and
your local ordinance can
provide for additional things.
If you were to adopt an
if you were to adopt an ordinance you could include
what you are referring to as a
utility payment or some other
compassion of what was on the
slide.
slide.
slide. >>
slide. >> k. Jacobs:
slide. >> k. Jacobs: okay, expand the
relocation assistance for
permanent no-fault evictions.
We are talking about
we are talking about substantial renovation
substantial renovation exceeding a certain number of
days, talking about options for
that.
that.
that. Option a, pay the rent and
option a, pay the rent and receive temporary assistance
per day, $250 per tenant
household, $50 per occupant for
meals.
meals.
meals. $50 for a cat, $50 for a dog.
Are we thinking about a limit
are we thinking about a limit on number of occupants, number
of dogs, number of cats?
Those are per day,
of dogs, number of cats? Those are per day, correct?
those are per day, correct? >> slide 21 covers option a.
And that's the option where the
and that's the option where the tenant pays rent.
>> k. Jacobs: right.
>>
>> k. Jacobs: right. >> but gets a per diem,
intended really, yes.
Per tenant household.
per tenant household. The $250 per tenant household
the $250 per tenant household is for whose on the lease.
>> k. Jacobs: okay.
So we limit it based on number
so we limit it based on number of people on the lease?
>> well, that's how we vetted
it with the community.
But again, this is where we
but again, this is where we would get feedback if you want
to get to that level.
>> k. Jacobs: right and limited
to number of dogs, number of
cats?
cats?
cats? >>
cats? >> yeah, $50 a dog, $30 a cat.
>> k. Jacobs: per day?
>> yeah, because we are trying
to match local lodging and pet
boarding.
boarding.
boarding. >> k. Jacobs:
boarding. >> k. Jacobs: okay.
Okay, suspend the rent, receive
okay, suspend the rent, receive --
okay, suspend the rent, receive -- sorry.
-- sorry.
-- sorry. Page 12, going bckwards here a
page 12, going bckwards here a little bit,
page 12, going bckwards here a little bit, sorry.
New local exemptions you have
new local exemptions you have temporary tenancies for leases
less than 12 months where the
owner will reoccupy the unit.
So basically you are saying
so basically you are saying they could rent out the unit
for less than 12 months if the
owner's going to reoccupy it,
do we have any time of limit
how long the owner has to stay
in that unit.
Meaning can they rent it out
meaning can they rent it out for 11 months, can they move in
for two months, turn around and
rent it for another 11 months
and get that local exemption?
Something to bring up.
something to bring up. >> that's a good question.
You could see how complicated
you could see how complicated this gets really quickly.
>> k. Jacobs: that's why I
wanted to bring it up.
>> at a high level this
exemption would allow somebody,
you know, they are going to go
over to a different state to
work, when they come back they
want to be able to use their
home.
home.
home. That's what we were thinking
that's what we were thinking with this, but yeah, it could
get complicated.
get complicated. >> k. Jacobs: thanks, that's it
for now.
for now.
for now. Thanks.
thanks.
thanks. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much.
very much. Mayor pro tem farac.
mayor pro tem farac. >> mayor pro tem farac: thank
you for the presentation.
I wanted to clarify, so the
three or more uits, is that
for the local ordinance that we
would, or is that
for the local ordinance that we would, or is that state?
>> yeah, that would be local
only.
only.
only. That exemption shows up in
that exemption shows up in county of marin, san rafael and
petaluma and fits with our
business license threshold and
multi-family inspection program
threshold.
threshold. That's why we picked it.
that's why we picked it. >> mayor pro tem farac: if I
live in a house but I have
three rental units, or would
that count as
three rental units, or would that count as four?
>> I think the intention is,
yeah, your fourth is not
included because you aren't
renting it.
renting it. I believe that's the case.
>> can yu ask that question
one more time just so I make
sure.
sure.
sure. >>
sure. >> mayor pro tem farac: yeah,
so the three or more units, how
is that calculated?
So if I live in a house, and
so if I live in a house, and then my fellow councilmembers
are my rnters, is that a total
of four?
of four?
of four? Or would that be considered
or would that be considered three?
three?
three? >>
three? >> if they are separate
dwelling units, jst the fact
you are all living I one unit
wouldn't be enough.
You have to think about a
you have to think about a duplex or possibly having an
a.d.u. Or one of the other
"dwelling units" allowed under
state law in order to reach the
three.
three.
three. There's two ways of thinking
there's two ways of thinking about this.
about this. There's what state law exempts
there's what state law exempts from this process, that's a
separate question.
separate question. But what you put in your
but what you put in your ordinance could be as you
choose for what the exception
is.
is.
is. So
is. So some local jurisdictions
so some local jurisdictions would say has to be three units
on the same parcel.
Some would say three units
some would say three units anywhere in the jurisdiction.
If you owned three single
if you owned three single family homes you would be
triggered by the ordinance for
all those rentals.
It really depends how you want
it really depends how you want to frame that issue.
>> mayor pro tem farac: and
what's your recommendation
today?
today?
today? >>
today? >> what we vetted with the
community was, if you are
renting three rental units in
the city, in the city limits.
Distinct units, not three
distinct units, not three
distinct units, not three people.
people.
people. But three distinct units in the
but three distinct units in the city.
city.
city. >>
city. >> mayor pro tem farac: so,
someone owns two duplexes that
would be considered four units?
>> correct.
>> correct.
>> correct. Yes.
yes.
yes. >>
yes. >> mayor pro tem farac: and
>> mayor pro tem farac: and then as far as the renovations,
for showing the building
permits and stuff like that, is
the city going to be tracking
that and approving that
process, or overseeing it?
>> the city would do its job in
processing building permits.
But it is per ordinance, the
but it is per ordinance, the landlord's job to provide this
notification to their tenants.
>> mayor pro tem farac: and
then, do you think it would be
beneficial t put in like a
notice, like you need to let
them know 30 days before you
are going to give them the
building permits?
building permits? Or that sort of timeframe?
or that sort of timeframe? I don't know, I know you
mentioned timeframe in here,
just to be more proactive with
the communication?
the communication? >> there should be, I don't
have a proposal here, we didn't
get to that level of detail but
the noticing should have a time
line.
line.
line. >>
line. >> mayor pro tem farac: okay.
And you keep mentioning like
and you keep mentioning like mom and pop operators.
Would you define that as three
would you define that as three or two units and less?
>> that would be our definition
to decide.
to decide. I think what I meant by mom and
pop, it's not a commercial
property manager or company.
>> mayor pro tem farac: okay.
And then as far as just like
and then as far as just like enforcement and things like
that, is that the renter's
responsibility to flag that and
then find resources?
And what are we doing to kind
and what are we doing to kind of support both renters and
landlords in this new process?
>> yeah, that's a great
question.
question.
question. This ordinance would rely on
this ordinance would rely on the resources available to them
outside of the city.
And the tenants do have access
and the tenants do have access to legal aid of marin or other
resources like
to legal aid of marin or other resources like that.
Landlords, the ones that
landlords, the ones that wouldn't be except, the larger
companies often have resources
to represent themselves.
That's another reason why we
that's another reason why we have exempted mom and pop.
But if you included mom and
but if you included mom and pop, I'm not sure where they go
for discounted legal advice.
>> councilmember?
>> councilmember? If I could add a little bit
if I could add a little bit more on that process too.
Under current state law for the
under current state law for the tenant protection act there's a
long statute, we summarized it
here but it includes just cause.
That's the only reason a tenant
that's the only reason a tenant can be evicted and it has to
fall under one of those
specific statutory basis.
So for example, under your
so for example, under your current situation in novato, if
a landlord were to try to evict
and it wasn't based on this it
would be a defense in court for
an unlawful detainer action.
If you were to adopt an
if you were to adopt an ordinance it would be the same
thing, so you would have these
local just cause as you define
them, the same process would
apply.
apply.
apply. Landlords would need to follow
landlords would need to follow them.
them.
them. >>
them. >> mayor pro tem farac: that
would include if I want to move
into the unit or redo it?
>> yes, the ellis act would
continue to apply, the
community development director
referenced.
referenced. But there are other additional
but there are other additional protections you could put into
your ordinance, yes.
>> mayor pro tem farac: and
your ordinance, yes. >> mayor pro tem farac: and do
you think that would deter
landlords not to renovate their
properties at all?
Like if the kitchen is in
like if the kitchen is in really bad shape but then they
have to pay for their renter to
go stay there, I might be like,
oh, well, I don't have that
week's pay, so you are going to
just deal with it.
I just want high living
standards.
standards. >> I think it's certainly true
the ordinance will create some
incentives and some
disincentives, yes.
disincentives, yes. >> mayor pro tem farac:
ultimately I want to hold that
landlord accountable and
protect the people.
But then I also don't want
but then I also don't want people that own a property to,
you know, in trying to offer a
good space, them to be at a
huge disadvantage either.
So I'm trying to think about it
so I'm trying to think about it from both sides.
>> I think as city attorney
mentioned there's going to be
disadvantages, or incentives
and disincentives.
and disincentives. One thing I can think of,
one thing I can think of, because that's a real concern,
disincentivize remodels along
the way.
the way.
the way. But the worst case scenario is
but the worst case scenario is the government takes action and
has red tagged your building.
Now you are talking potentially
now you are talking potentially five month's rent and under
distressing circumstances for
all
distressing circumstances for all involved.
all involved. So the idea is conduct your
so the idea is conduct your inspections, have a program,
noticing and encourage however
we can for them to do the
improvements along the way so
it doesn't get so bad that a
tenant absolutely has to leave
a unit to make a repair.
>> mayor pro tem farac: what if
a tenant like floods the
property or is negligent?
Or maybe they just accidentally
or maybe they just accidentally flood it.
flood it.
flood it. And would the landlord be
and would the landlord be liable to pay because they have
to temporarily, I guess, evict
them to redo the house?
>> yeah, that's a great
question.
question.
question. I have seen a lot of local
ordinances include a provision
if it's the fault of the tenant
they don't have to pay
relocation.
relocation. >> mayor pro tem farac: okay,
thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Councilmember eklund, do you
councilmember eklund, do you have any questions?
>> p. Eklund: yeah, my hand has
been up for a while.
So I have questions almost on
so I have questions almost on every page.
every page. I'm concerned about the process
that we are using tonight.
Because there's a lot more
because there's a lot more issues than what is identified
on the slides.
And the staff has only really
and the staff has only really looked, according to page 5,
really focusing on three of the
issues that are listed in there
as possible areas where we
might want to have some
discussion about.
discussion about. I could go through and ask my
questions on every single page,
plus others.
plus others. But I really think that there
but I really think that there are some larger issues I think
that we really need to talk
about.
about.
about. And I think first and foremost
and I think first and foremost there's some other information
that we should have before we
actually ask any more question,
in my opinion.
And I think we need to hear
and I think we need to hear from the community action
marin, as well as other
speakers as well.
Because a lot of their issues
because a lot of their issues and suggestions there are not
even in the staff report.
So plus also too, abag has
so plus also too, abag has developed a, and was published
in april of 2025, a guidance to
cities on preventing
displacement from sub standard
conditions and associated code
enforcement activitis.
enforcement activitis. Which is also something staff
which is also something staff should also consider too.
So mayor, I'm not sure how you
so mayor, I'm not sure how you want to do it, I can start
going through my questions on
each of the slides.
But I really think that, you
but I really think that, you know, since it's 8:00 and we
haven't even heard from the
public, I'm really concerned
about the way this is being
handled.
handled.
handled. >> mayor o'connor: sure I can
speak to that.
My thought is what we are doing
my thought is what we are doing right now is just a starting
point for high-level questions.
Tonight is just the first of
tonight is just the first of what I expect to be several.
If there are any pressing
if there are any pressing questions right now, if you
have a significant amount I
would encourage you to do
separate because you will get
--
--
-- >>
-- >> p.
-- >> p. Eklund: I'm not going to
do it separately.
>> mayor o'connor: okay, if
there's anything you would like
to ask tonight, ask right now.
Then we will g to public
then we will g to public comment, provide direction as a
council but tts going to come
back to us for further
conversation and review.
>> p. Eklund: I think we need a
working environment, like on a
saturday where some of the
people that don't hve to work,
that do have to work during the
week can actually participate
in that kind of an event.
Especially folks that are
especially folks that are subject to the issues that we
are discussing
subject to the issues that we are discussing here.
And as a preliminary point I
and as a preliminary point I wanted to comment, when I was
drawn into care for my mom, I
had to hire caregivers.
And one of the things that I
and one of the things that I quickly learned in marin county
is that a lot of folks that do
not make a lot of money are
living in apartments, for an
example, two-bedroom apartments
there's at least six adults if
not additional kids because
they can't afford the rent.
So I think there's a lot of
so I think there's a lot of issues I think we need to add
to this list that's not here.
For example, on page 5, I think
for example, on page 5, I think we need to have --
>> mayor o'connor:
councilmember, I apologize.
We will get to direction after
we will get to direction after public comment.
public comment. >> p. Eklund: I know that.
My question to staff, why isn't
my question to staff, why isn't rent stabilization, rental
assistance, tenant's right to
counsel landlord and taent
dispute resolution and
remediation, to me, romar court
just opened up my eyes in
novato and I don't want to see
something like that happening
again.
again.
again. A
again. A rental registry.
a rental registry. There's a lot of situations,
there's a lot of situations, why can't we discuss some of
those issues as
why can't we discuss some of those issues as well?
And I don't know why, well, I
and I don't know why, well, I believe that one of the reasons
that staff didn't highlight
that as something they were
proposing to include in this
was because of the amount of
resources it might take to
implement such an
resources it might take to implement such an ordinance.
Given what we are talking about
given what we are talking about it's important for us to have
this discussion.
this discussion. Can staff just answer why
can staff just answer why aren't we dealing with some of
these other issues like rental
assistance, rent stabilization,
or like with romar court,
expanding, I mean, I could go
down the list here.
Expanding the time when
expanding the time when landlords need to pay for their
tenants for other venues while
their apartment is being
their apartment is being renovated.
renovated. There's a list of issues that I
there's a list of issues that I think are really important for
us to have that discussion.
Why isn't that on the list for
why isn't that on the list for us to discuss?
On the staff
us to discuss? On the staff report?
on the staff report? >> thank you for the question.
Yeah, there's a number of other
yeah, there's a number of other topics that we aren't
discussing tonight, I agree.
But the focus of tonight is as
but the focus of tonight is as council directed on may 20th,
and again the core of what we
are doing tonight is addressing
one of our housing element
action items, which was
specific to just cause.
But the add from may 20th was
but the add from may 20th was to, while we are looking at
just cause to add relocation
and right of return.
We have other housing element
we have other housing element programs.
programs.
programs. They are going to take us much
they are going to take us much longer to get to them.
And some o them aren't on this
and some o them aren't on this list, the city's housing
element doesn't include rent
registry, a look at rent
control or stabilization.
Those would have to be
those would have to be implemented by the council and
set direction for.
But that's not in our current
but that's not in our current work plan or housing element.
>> p. Eklund: right but since
we are discussing this, I think
it's important for us to
include all this and providing
direction to staff so that you
will know that's something we
want to do and where it fits in
is your responsibility.
Because if we don't identify
because if we don't identify them as part of this, it could
get lost very easily.
>> I want to provide a brief
comment to you.
Some recent code enforcement
some recent code enforcement matters are currently going
through the process and b
appealed and some might reach
the council here.
Out of respect for that process
out of respect for that process I would recommend you focus on
this ordinance and not any
specific case.
specific case. >> p. Eklund: gotcha.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Councilmember milberg?
councilmember milberg? >> m. Milberg: thank you, mayor.
Thank you so much, clare.
thank you so much, clare. This is really a lot of work.
this is really a lot of work. And moving in the direction I
and moving in the direction I like to see.
I just have a couple quick
questions, the option d on page
22, the buy-out options.
Can you explain to me better,
can you explain to me better, what that entails and has that
ever actually been done?
>> I will be honest, I don't
know much about that.
I don't think I's the most
regular option that's executed.
But I understand that it's a
but I understand that it's a form of alternative resolution.
Perhaps for example, it's
perhaps for example, it's mutually negotiated that
instead of doing the temporary
that might lead up to the cap
at permanent, just for
predictability, mutually agreed
parting of ways, if you will.
And that would be why you would
and that would be why you would use that.
use that.
use that. But it would only be because
but it would only be because it's mutually agreeable.
>> m. Milberg: okay.
My other question really is
my other question really is around, I guess I'm still a bit
curious, the emails and
feedback we got from certain of
our partners was talking about
stopping or suggesting that we
don't go beyond state, we don't
deviate, to my knowledge, we
don't deviate from state.
When we are deciding to do the
when we are deciding to do the three or under, sorry, three or
more, right?
more, right? >> uh-huh.
>> uh-huh. >> m. Mlberg: I guess I'm
still curious.
still curious. If the state is saying, you
if the state is saying, you know, you don't have to do
that, it's for single residents
and a.d.u.'s, do you think that
your comment about the mom and
pops being a smaller subset of
that, we can still take
advantage of what I believe are
community partners are asking
for us in expanding this
protection?
protection? I guess I'm still confused, it
just seems we are a little off
from what they are recommending
but I'm not 100% clear I'm
understanding that bt maybe we
will hear about it in public
comment.
comment.
comment. >> that is true, you will hear
about it tonight from them.
But in summary, we do need to
but in summary, we do need to make a finding that the local
ordinance is more protective.
So I was trying to show that
so I was trying to show that it's semi complex to do that.
Because you are doing it
because you are doing it comprehensively.
comprehensively. Clearly we have added right of
clearly we have added right of return, relocation assistance.
Those are clear.
those are clear. But in terms of applicability
but in terms of applicability that's where it gets more
nuanced.
nuanced.
nuanced. So some will go u and some
so some will go u and some will go down.
And it's semi-qualitative
and it's semi-qualitative because I don't have the
statistics.
statistics. It's not an exact
statistics. It's not an exact science.
it's not an exact science. But cumulatively and
but cumulatively and qualitatively you are looking
to expand t more tenants and
more units.
more units. And staff feels like this
and staff feels like this framework would.
framework would. But we can have points of
but we can have points of disagreement.
disagreement. >> I would just add to that
too, councilmember, there are
currently a lot of exemptions
in state law.
One of them for example is any
one of them for example is any house that's beenish shooed a
certificate of occupancy in the
last 15 years.
So all new construction the
so all new construction the last 15 years is exempt fom
the state laws currently, not
being proposed or discussed
propoised by staff.
So when you are thinking about
so when you are thinking about finding you would eventually
need to make about something
more protective.
more protective. If you are expanding
if you are expanding protections to all homes
including the ones in the last
15 years would you still need
to make a finding that is more
protective.
protective. Ultimately though would he
ultimately though would he would have to track those
finding and look at the data.
>> m. Milberg: that's what I
understand, in order to be more
protective than state law.
Because I was also think if I
because I was also think if I read what their concerns were,
my question was only seeking
the ab1482 exemptions.
That's what I kind of read from
that's what I kind of read from their work.
their work. So I guess, I'm fine with were
so I guess, I'm fine with were we are at right now.
I know there's going to be a
lot more discussion.
And I really do appreciate the
and I really do appreciate the complexity and all your work on
this.
this.
this. Thank you so
this. Thank you so much.
thank you so much. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
councilmember.
councilmember. Most of my questions were asked
most of my questions were asked already, I just have one that
didn't come up.
Deed restricted affordable
deed restricted affordable units I believe either excepted
or proposed to be exempted.
Is there any reason or logic
is there any reason or logic behind offering the exemption.
In my opinion it looks like
in my opinion it looks like they should have equal
protection under the law.
I'm just wndering if they are
exempted for some reason I'm
not aware of.
>> well
not aware of. >> well state law currently
exempts affordable housing
deed-restricted units so the
proposal locally would be to
remove exemptions.
remove exemptions. >> mayor o'connor: that
concludes councilmember
concludes councilmember
concludes councilmember questions.
questions. We will take a five-minute
we will take a five-minute recess and then when we restart
we will take public comment.
If you do wish t speak, please
if you do wish t speak, please fill ot a yellow card and hand
it to city clerk, laura on my
left.
left.
left. So
left. So we are going to take a brief
so we are going to take a brief recess and we will reconvene at
8:18.
8:18.
8:18. Thank
8:18. Thank you.
thank you. [ recess until 8:18 p.m.
thank you. [ recess until 8:18 p.m. ]
>> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Please be seated.
please be seated. Okay.
okay.
okay. Thank you, we are going to move
thank you, we are going to move onto public comment on this
item.
item.
item. If
item. If you would like to speak
if you would like to speak please fill out a yellow card
and hnd it to our city clerk,
laura.
laura.
laura. All speakers have three minutes.
all speakers have three minutes. Our first speaker this evening
our first speaker this evening is aracelli
our first speaker this evening is aracelli florian.
>> [ speaking spanish
is aracelli florian. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> mayor o'connor: welcome,
>> mayor o'connor: welcome, aracelli.
aracelli.
aracelli. >> [ speaking spanish
aracelli. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>>
>> [ speaking spanish ] >> good afternoon, my name is
aracelli floria.
aracelli floria. I'm here to talk about my
apartment.
apartment. I ask my landlord to fix the
roof, or the ceiling of my
bathroom that is falling off.
I have little kids.
In the day I ask him and he
in the day I ask him and he said that he will come to fix
the roof, or the ceiling, I'm
sorry.
sorry.
sorry. He
sorry. He didn't
sorry. He didn't come.
he didn't come. >> [ speaking spanish
he didn't come. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: I have a
three-year-old girl, two month
old baby and my three-year-old
girl was in the bathroom when
the ceiling started falling off.
>> [ speaking spanish
the ceiling started falling off. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: my husband went
to complain about the repair
that they did prior.
And the owner notified my
and the owner notified my husband that the person that he
hired he had a license for 25
years and they were
professionals.
professionals. But how could that be if the
but how could that be if the ceiling was falling
but how could that be if the ceiling was falling off?
>> [ speaking spanish
ceiling was falling off? >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: also, at the
entrance of our apartment, part
of the wall had a big hole and
they didn't fix
of the wall had a big hole and they didn't fix it.
Also we are infestated of
also we are infestated of cucaraches.
cucaraches. That's all.
that's all. >> thank you very much.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you
very
>> mayor o'connor: thank you very much.
very much. Our next speaker is charlotte
our next speaker is charlotte
our next speaker is charlotte ganela.
ganela.
ganela. Welcome,
ganela. Welcome, charlotte.
welcome, charlotte. >> hello, thank you, and hola,
mi amo charlotte ganela.
I'm the director of case
management and housing at north
marin community services.
I thank the opportunity to
speak today on behalf of romar
and my staff and the community
at large.
at large.
at large. I'm here tonight to ask that
you strengthen not weaken
novato's proposed just cause
ordinance.
ordinance. My team and I were on the front
my team and I were on the front lines of the ramar court
displacement dry sis.
We thank clare for rallying the
we thank clare for rallying the troops and engaging the
community-based organizations.
community-based organizations. All around novato and marin.
all around novato and marin. These tenants were given just
these tenants were given just five days notice to relocate,
they left
five days notice to relocate, they left pets.
Their stuffed animals, their
their stuffed animals, their whole life.
whole life. While we are celebrated for
while we are celebrated for housing 42 of the 44 tenants
cost that my department and
other residents is continuing
to be felt.
We expanded our entire rental
we expanded our entire rental assistance budget for the year,
we burned out our staff and for
those 42, another 100 became
homeless and we are told that's
our job to step up.
And it is our job to help but
and it is our job to help but to shift to one sub population
when we are already full is
something we cannot take on
again as an organization.
We ask you to please protect us
we ask you to please protect us better policies and protections
so we do not need to come in.
And protect these people from
and protect these people from losing their schools, their
house, and a place to sleep.
Where ramar court is not an
where ramar court is not an anomaly, I heard today that
this isn't going to happen
again.
again.
again. There's four other units on
there's four other units on that property that will go down.
We see this every day in our
we see this every day in our offices, these tenants see this
every day, this is not an
anomaly.
anomaly.
anomaly. I implore you to please
consider the goodance and
humanity of our community thank
you.
you.
you. >>
you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very
>> mayor o'connor: thank you very much.
very much. Our next speaker is kira shaner.
our next speaker is kira shaner. Welcome, kira.
welcome, kira. >> thank you.
I was hoping to speak after a
few more tenants had a chance
to speak because their stories
are shocking if you vanlt heard
them before.
them before. -- haven't heard them before.
But iwill take the opportunity
but iwill take the opportunity instead to say my piece and you
can let their stories fill in.
My name is kira.
my name is kira. I work here in novato.
Several of my friends and
several of my friends and co-workers work, obviously they
work in novato but they rent
here.
here.
here. Many more of them do not rent
many more of them do not rent in novato, instead they commute
from petaluma.
from petaluma. Santa rosa, richmond and even
santa rosa, richmond and even hercules due to the high cost
and rents of living in marin.
I myself have the supreme
luxury of living at my parents'
house and that's how I've been
able to stay in this county and
even save some of my own
earnings and build my wealth
here.
here.
here. I
here. I recently had the opportunity
to listen to the stories of all
the latino tenants and families
who have been deeply affected
by the negligent landlord
practices at the romar court
apartments.
apartments. And many more tenants around
and many more tenants around marin.
marin.
marin. Experiences that tey relayed
experiences that tey relayed tell the story a system failure.
I saw photos as well and
understand that these families
and individuals have been
dealing with conditions truly
hazardous to their health.
Such as mold, rats,
such as mold, rats, cockroaches, plumbing issues,
apparently the roof walls
falling apart.
falling apart. Fire safety issues and serious
fire safety issues and serious structural issues for years all
while majority of their wages
in their rent and as pointed
out many are sharing apartments
so not everybody will be
represented on the lease that
needs help.
needs help. I'm grateful to the city for
opening up this study session
for this just cause ordinance.
At the same time I urge all
at the same time I urge all decision makers to make sure
that we construct and enact an
ordinance that offers real
protection and reflects real
life situation that's so many
vulnerable renters find
themselves in.
themselves in. Please ensure this ordinance
please ensure this ordinance includes protections for all
renters, including sub-tenants
in some way.
All tenants should be empower
all tenants should be empower today report health and safety
hazards and landlord negligence
and
hazards and landlord negligence and endangerment.
and endangerment. This could only be truly
this could only be truly achieved by including displaced
tenant right of return in tis
ordinance, that will deter
landlords from using building
neglect and misuse of red tag
situations, renovations for
their financial gain.
All tenants including sub
all tenants including sub letters need significantly
higher relocation payments and
it's very hard to relocate
entire families on short notice
in marin as happens with red
tag, where tenants have just
five days to leave.
These payments should be
these payments should be available until a suitable new
living space is found.
Must also reelect additional
must also reelect additional costs of moving, which include
lost wages, lengthened xha
costs of moving, which include lost wages, lengthened xha*up
commute times, new tolls and
travel fares, long term storage
rent.
rent.
rent. >>
rent. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
>> mayor o'connor: thank you, kira.
kira.
kira. Our
kira. Our next speaker is jason saris.
our next speaker is jason saris. >> thank you.
>> mayor o'connor: welcome,
>> mayor o'connor: welcome, jason.
jason.
jason. >>
jason. >> hi, y'all.
Good evening, mayor and
good evening, mayor and councilmembers.
councilmembers. I'm here as a housing and
homeless advocate, someone who
experienced homeless for 12
years and deeply concerned
about the proposed ordinance.
This proposal to remove just
this proposal to remove just cause protections for tenants
in smaller buildings would
strip hundreds of renters of
basic protections against ash
tari eviction.
tari eviction. That's
tari eviction. That's unacceptable.
that's unacceptable. Your 2023 housing element
your 2023 housing element promised to consider expanding
just cause protections, not
narrowing them.
narrowing them. Walking back on that commitment
walking back on that commitment betrays families who depend on
stable housing to live and work
in this community.
Every renter deserves
every renter deserves protection, stability and
dignity in their
protection, stability and dignity in their homes.
The experience of tenants at
the experience of tenants at romar court shows why this
ordinance fails.
ordinance fails. They were red tagged and given
they were red tagged and given only five days to leave.
Short-term relocation support
short-term relocation support lasted six weeks and they were
forced into couches over
crowded units or out of the
county all together.
Some still lack stable housing
some still lack stable housing today.
today.
today. What does that tell you?
what does that tell you? Tells you that short-term
tells you that short-term capped relocation payments are
not enough.
not enough. It tells you five days notice
it tells you five days notice and one or two months of
support won't cut it in today's
rental market.
rental market. If we want a just system
if we want a just system tenants must be allowed to kep
their tenancy and return to
their homes at the same rent
once repairs are made.
That's the only way to prevent
that's the only way to prevent red tagging from becoming a
back door to permanent
displacement.
displacement. Furthermore high rlocation
furthermore high rlocation payments and right to return
also act as a deterrent.
They discourage landlords from
they discourage landlords from neglecting their properties or
using remodels as a loophole to
raise rents and displace.
Low income tenants at romar the
low income tenants at romar the landlord ignored repair
requests for years while
increasing rents.
increasing rents. That can't become the status
that can't become the status quo for the city of novato.
As someone who was homeless for
as someone who was homeless for 12 years I know wat it's like
to fall through the cracks.
Weakening tenant protections
weakening tenant protections will only feed the growing
number of people on the
streets, remember you have band
camping, it's illegal to camp.
That's the kind of thing I want
that's the kind of thing I want to see as a formerly homeless
person.
person.
person. I
person. I hope it's the last thing you
want to see too.
Don't gut protections, honor
don't gut protections, honor your own housing element
commitments to potect
vulnerable renters, make
relocation assistance real,
extend the time and increase
the support.
the support. Add a strong enforceable right
add a strong enforceable right to return for red tags.
And major renovations.
and major renovations. Hold landlords accountable when
hold landlords accountable when they neglect their properties.
Please do the right thing.
please do the right thing. People's lives, homes and
people's lives, homes and futures are on the line.
Thank you for your time.
thank you for your time. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much,
>> mayor o'connor: thank you very much, jason.
Our next speaker is aaron
our next speaker is aaron
our next speaker is aaron hawken.
hawken.
hawken. Welcome,
hawken. Welcome, erin.
welcome, erin. >> thank you, I'm the vice
president of xhupity action
marin.
marin.
marin. Our aency is the largest
our aency is the largest nonprofit provider of human
services in marin county and we
see firsthand the real life
effects that marin's housing
crisis has on families across
our community.
our community. Community action marin stands
community action marin stands in support for justice for the
ten apt.
ten apt.
ten apt. We apreciate council's
we apreciate council's attention to the case and
efforts city staff have taken
in partnership with many
community agencies as residents.
To address the hardships
to address the hardships created for tenants due to
landlord negligence.
landlord negligence. The bottom line is that
the bottom line is that protection, tenant protections
are about basic fairness.
All novato tenants deserve
all novato tenants deserve safe, habitable and fair
safe, habitable and fair housing.
housing.
housing. Housing stability is
housing stability is foundational for children's
healthy development and
educational success.
educational success. It supports family well-being
it supports family well-being and economic growth and it's
essential for a vibrant
community and we all benefit
from it.
from it.
from it. As you move forward with this
as you move forward with this ordinance we urge your action
on the following.
One, strengthen local
one, strengthen local protections beyond state law.
State law did not protect the
state law did not protect the residents of romar court and
novato residents are face
further displacement risks.
There are five oher buildings
there are five oher buildings on the romar property with same
landlord facing significant
habitability issues.
habitability issues. Without changes to protect
without changes to protect tenants it's just a matter of
time before novato experiences
another
time before novato experiences another displacement.
another displacement. Two, ensure meaningful and
two, ensure meaningful and realistic relocation
realistic relocation
realistic relocation protections.
protections. Given marin's extreme tight
given marin's extreme tight rental market and high cost of
housing, finding a new rental
unit is difficult under the
best of circumstances.
Tenants who are displaced
tenants who are displaced deserve adequate time and
compensation to find new
housing, extending the
timeframes and relocation
reimbursement maybesing it's
more realistic for displaced
familis to find new homes and
resettle their lives.
Three, protect tenants in red
three, protect tenants in red tag displacement in situations
where tenants are displaced due
to red tag, they sould be
given the right to return and
pay the same rent they paid
before the displacement.
And finally ensure protections
and finally ensure protections for all tenants regardless of
what type of unit, all tenants
deserve the basic fairness that
basic protections
deserve the basic fairness that basic protections provide.
Extending exemptions beyond
extending exemptions beyond state law will remove existing
just cause potections for
thousands of novato tenants.
Novato has an opportunity to
novato has an opportunity to take the lessons learned from
the romar court and from the
leadership of these tenants
here that they have shown.
We can prevent this from
we can prevent this from happening to others in our
community
community
community >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Next speaker is lucy
next speaker is lucy hollingsworth.
hollingsworth. Welcome, lucy.
welcome, lucy. >> good
welcome, lucy. >> good evening.
I'm lucy hollingsworth,
director of policy for legal
aid of marin.
We appreciate the city's, is
we appreciate the city's, is this?
this?
this? Echoing?
echoing?
echoing? Should I turn it off?
should I turn it off? >> mayor o'connor: you can turn
it off.
it off.
it off. >>
it off. >> sorry.
>> sorry.
>> sorry. We appreciate the city's
we appreciate the city's initial response to romar
court, your willingness to
consider long term tenant
protections but some policies
before you today would not
strengthen protections, it
would weaken them by rolling
back rights under california
law, violate commitments made
in novato's housing element and
leave tenants in substandard
housing with no real
protections from permanent
displacement.
displacement. There's a lot of information
there's a lot of information missing in the presentation.
One of the most troubling
one of the most troubling provisions is the expanded
exemptions.
exemptions. This would strip protections
this would strip protections from hundreds of novato renters.
Many of them low-income.
many of them low-income. We cannot resolve displacement
we cannot resolve displacement by rolling back
we cannot resolve displacement by rolling back rights.
The city's housing eement
the city's housing eement committed t expand just cause
protections and maintains at
the very least ab1482
exemptions.
exemptions. Passing an ordinance with
passing an ordinance with increased exemptions undermines
that commitment.
that commitment. Enforcement is another problem.
enforcement is another problem. With no database of rental
with no database of rental ownership, tenants and a.d.u.'s
and duplexes and triplexes
cannot know whether their home
is protected until they are
already in eviction court but
by then it's too late to put on
a meaningful defense.
Finally relocation assistance
finally relocation assistance must reflect the reality of our
housing market.
housing market. Families cannot secure safe
families cannot secure safe housing on one or two months on
a capped pay out.
Tenants displaced by red tags
tenants displaced by red tags or sub san shall remodels must
have the right to return once
repairs are complete so
temporary dsplacement doesn't
become a permanent eviction.
I want to quickly respond to
the suggestion that petaluma
and marin county represent best
practices.
practices. First off marin county
first off marin county ordinance was passed in 2018,
the tenant protection act
hadn't even been written yet.
As a attorney that defends
as a attorney that defends evictions,the fact they have a
three unit or less exemption
has been highly problematic for
tenants.
tenants.
tenants. Petaluma I was also involved in
petaluma I was also involved in the passage of their ordinance.
And I have to sy that the
and I have to sy that the three units or less was
inserted at the last minute and
tenants and tenant advocate
felt betrayed because there was
no time to discuss that.
They had
no time to discuss that. They had no opportunity to
they had no opportunity to provide their concerns with
expanding exemptions.
expanding exemptions. If the direction to staff is
if the direction to staff is cap relocation at two to three
months, and/or ending the right
to return, ex papeding the
number of exempted units, then
it would probably be better at
this point to do nothing at all.
The tenants in novato would be
the tenants in novato would be losing way too much.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Our next speaker is regina
our next speaker is regina viannucci-russ.
viannucci-russ. Good evening, regina.
good evening, regina. >> good evening, yeah, lucy is
a little hard act to follow.
I'm going to just keep it light
and say I have two concerns,
the exemption for under three,
I don't know how a tenant knows
that if there's no rental
registry and I'm heartened to
hear maybe council will bring
that up as a pry oater.
Priority.
priority.
priority. I think a rental registry is
important, that will allow
tenants to have access to that
information.
information. And I want to point out
information. And I want to point out that
and I want to point out that the cap on temporary
assistance, being limited to
the permanent amount, you reach
that in under a month.
If you do the math, a two
if you do the math, a two bedroom, the example was $3,200
a month for hud two-bedroom,
three months is $9,600.
And if you divide that by $400
and if you divide that by $400 which is $250 plus three
tenants in that unit.
It's 24 days.
it's 24 days. I don't want temporary vacation
for renovations to become a
permanent eviction.
permanent eviction. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
>> mayor o'connor: thank you, regina.
regina.
regina. Our next speaker is bambi
regina. Our next speaker is bambi kleis.
our next speaker is bambi kleis. >> mayor, good evening, council.
Thank you for the opportunity
thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.
I
to speak tonight. I apologize.
I apologize. I wanted to make sure you all
are listening tonight, I do
appreciate the opportunity to
be
appreciate the opportunity to be heard.
be heard.
be heard. Romar court are 63 years old,
romar court are 63 years old, those apartments there.
Shouldn't we have an every
shouldn't we have an every 25-year checkup in place or
something?
something? As a homeless union
as a homeless union representative I am compelled
to say to the council it is
your duty to take rasonable
measures to ensure the basic
safety of your residents by
making and enforcing and
keeping stringent policies and
fines to the homeowners and
builders, et cetera.
The city has ordinance against
the city has ordinance against homelessness, yet by not taking
serious action on this you are
adding to the number of outdoor
community members.
community members. Lastly, at night when you
lastly, at night when you cannot sleep, count your
blessings instead of sheep.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, bambi.
>> and we should have a
translator for everybody up
here tonight.
here tonight. Just sayin'.
just sayin'. >> mayor
just sayin'. >> mayor o'connor: our next
speaker is ethan
>> mayor o'connor: our next speaker is ethan stroll.
Welcome, ethan.
welcome, ethan. >> good evening, my name is
ethan stroll, I work as a
housing policy advocate at
legal aid of marin.
I'm here to support a strong
just cause law in novato.
What comprises a strong just
what comprises a strong just cause ordinance,number one
everyone currently covered by
just cause ordinance continues
to be covered.
Or nobody should lose
or nobody should lose protections due to your actions
with this ordinance.
If you exempted owners who own
if you exempted owners who own three units or less, this would
happen.
happen.
happen. If you make an exemption based
if you make an exemption based on ownership, I love trying to
figure out who owns what but
this would be incredibly
difficult to determine who is
covered and who is not covered.
It wuld look like our office
it wuld look like our office at legal aid of marin having to
serve extra discovery requests,
trying to understand what this
owner looks like.
Which we do not have the
which we do not have the capacity to do.
Number two, when you are
number two, when you are evicted for no fault of your
open you have the ability to
stay I novato, that's the goal.
This means higher relocation
this means higher relocation payments that cover the real
cost of displacement.
Finding new housing is
finding new housing is incredibly difficult in novato.
And all the tenants wearing
and all the tenants wearing white shirts know this so well.
Daily relocation payments
daily relocation payments should last for a long time,
much longer than romar court
tenants had in their hotel.
They should last until the
they should last until the owner makes repairs and the
tenant can return.
This is predictability, this is
this is predictability, this is the incentive for landlords to
make the repairs rather than
appeal a decision to red tag.
Number three, a right to return.
number three, a right to return. Let's say an owner of romar
let's say an owner of romar court follows through on their
building permits and they
renovate the other buildings,
this is called, under current
law this
this is called, under current law this would be called a
reno-viction.
reno-viction. This has happened across marin.
this has happened across marin. To prevent this tenants deserve
to prevent this tenants deserve a right to return under the
same tenancy with the same or
similar rent hving received
relocation assistance up until
their return.
their return. I know want to incentivize
investment in novato's housing
stock and for repairs to happen
but renovation is not the right
incentive.
incentive. You have heard fom many
you have heard fom many tenants who have been demanding
repairs for years.
Well, you will have heard, I
well, you will have heard, I was also assuming I would go
after.
after.
after. These tenants deeply understand
these tenants deeply understand their owner will only make
repairs if they are forced to
make repairs.
make repairs. And you all understand this
and you all understand this from dealing with the owner at
romar court.
romar court. Please make the incentive
please make the incentive making code enforcement super
easy ad accessible for these
tenants and strongly enforcing
these building codes, not
renoviction.
renoviction. I want to say w as a public
community are beginning to
truly grasp what novato renters
truly face.
truly face. Just afew years ago in the
just afew years ago in the city's housing element it was
written that "generally
property owners are motivated
to keep housing in good
condition." but we have learned
quite clearly this is not the
case for many tenants.
So I look forward to working
so I look forward to working with you to ensure novato
tenants live in safe, dignified
housing.
housing.
housing. Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
>> mayor o'connor: thank you, ethan.
ethan.
ethan. Our next speaker is norma
ethan. Our next speaker is norma laura.
our next speaker is norma laura. >> [ speaking spanish
our next speaker is norma laura. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: good
>> [ speaking spanish ] >> interpreter: good evening,
my name is norma, I'm here to
talk to you and ask you to pass
this act, the new ordinance.
I live in novato.
I am a resident of novato, I'm
here to support all these
people that are here and to let
you know we pay rent.
We pay rent on
you know we pay rent. We pay rent on time.
we pay rent on time. We want to live in a safe
we want to live in a safe environment in a nice place
where if we need renovations,
if we need anything that the
landlords, they will repair our
landlords, they will repair our homes.
homes.
homes. I'm here just to support
everybody who lives in novato
or in my
everybody who lives in novato or in my county.
I come to represent the voices,
the father voices and I'm here
to support everybody.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very
>> mayor o'connor: thank you very much.
very much. Our next speaker is lillian
our next speaker is lillian lazaro?
lazaro?
lazaro? >> interpreter: lillian?
>> mayor o'connor: okay.
Our
>> mayor o'connor: okay. Our next speaker is amarantha
our next speaker is amarantha silva.
silva.
silva. >>
silva. >> the name again?
>> mayor o'connor: she is right
behind you.
behind you. Welcome.
welcome.
welcome. >> can you hear
welcome. >> can you hear me.
My name is amarantha silver,
my name is amarantha silver, I'm going to read it.
I will get
I'm going to read it. I will get emotional.
I'm the community organizer for
-- voices marin.
We believe the people closest
we believe the people closest to the problem are also the
ones closest to the solution.
That's why we joined legal aid
that's why we joined legal aid marin community services and
community action marin to
support the families displaced
from romar court.
We didn't do this work just
we didn't do this work just because we believe housing is a
human right, we did it because
it reflects our values, that's
why we helped them to get
organized and help them to be
here and move this far.
I live in the city.
I'm a resident of novato.
I cannot sleep knowing my
neighbors were forced out of
their homes.
their homes. Living in fear and unsafe
living in fear and unsafe conditions.
conditions. While helping the families from
while helping the families from romar and those still living
there I was honestly surprised
that the city had not taken
stronger actions.
stronger actions. Knowing how bad the conditions
knowing how bad the conditions were there.
were there. Romar is just one example of
romar is just one example of what happens when landlords
don't take care of their
properties and when tenants are
too scared to complain because
they don't want to lose their
homes.
homes.
homes. We
homes. We are glad that the city is
we are glad that the city is looking at tenant protections
but we have to be honest.
The just cause ordinance as
the just cause ordinance as written right now will not
protect the romar court tenants
or others under the same
situations.
situations. That's why we are asking for
that's why we are asking for stronger ordinance with three
key changes.
key changes. Clear right to return, so if
clear right to return, so if tenants are forced to leave for
repairs or red tags they can
come back at the same rent.
Real accountability for the
real accountability for the landlords, tey must be
consequence when landlords are
allowed unsafe and unlivable
conditions of housing.
Higher relocation payments for
higher relocation payments for affected families.
affected families. They need the real support to
they need the real support to move and find new housing, not
just the minimum.
This is a critical
just the minimum. This is a critical moment.
this is a critical moment. Between romar court, the west
between romar court, the west marin affected families, the
fires in san rafael, it's
clear, we need to do more to
protect our community from
displacement and unsafe homes
and yu can be the first ones
to take the step forward.
Not just for novato but for the
not just for novato but for the county and be an example.
So I ask again, will you
so I ask again, will you protect the tenants or protect
the landlords?
the landlords? The choice is
the landlords? The choice is yours.
the choice is yours. We thank the councilmembers who
we thank the councilmembers who took already the time t meet
with me and the tenants and
other organizations.
other organizations. Now we will ask you just to
now we will ask you just to keep working with them and pass
an ordinance that truly depends
novato families.
novato families. We need to work together.
we need to work together. Please reject the current
please reject the current version.
version.
version. We need to do more work on this.
we need to do more work on this. We need to protect the families
we need to protect the families in novato.
in novato. And all the tenants.
and all the tenants. And help us to build real
and help us to build real protections.
protections. Thank
protections. Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
>> mayor o'connor: thank you, amarantha.
amarantha. Our next speaker is darlene
our next speaker is darlene
our next speaker is darlene ruiz.
ruiz.
ruiz. >>
ruiz. >> [ speaking spanish
ruiz. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: good evening to
the council and all of you here
with us.
with us.
with us. My name is darlene ruiz.
my name is darlene ruiz. You live in san rafael at the
you live in san rafael at the el canal.
el canal.
el canal. I'm here to support all the
tenants in roman
I'm here to support all the tenants in roman court.
>> [ speaking spanish
tenants in roman court. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: novato requires
a new act of living in just
cause.
cause.
cause. And to be aligned to the state
and to be aligned to the state law and to cover and to protect
law and to cover and to protect everybody.
everybody. The tenants from romar court
the tenants from romar court could have fair housing, thank
you.
you.
you. >>
you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very
>> mayor o'connor: thank you very much.
very much. Our next speaker is antonio
our next speaker is antonio
our next speaker is antonio gramello.
gramello.
gramello. >> [ speaking spanish
gramello. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: good evening,er
one.
one.
one. Thank you for being with us and
thank you for being with us and supporting us with this problem.
Around 21 years ago I
around 21 years ago I immigrated to the u.s.
And I felt god gave me this
and I felt god gave me this city to live in.
I have already gone through one
recession.
recession. The
recession. The pandemic.
the pandemic. And some people say that it's
and some people say that it's expensive to live here in marin.
But I want to say that it is a
but I want to say that it is a privilege to live here in
but I want to say that it is a privilege to live here in marin.
I don't know how this has been
happening after living in three
different addresses in 21 years.
Green oak, hamilton field is
green oak, hamilton field is the
green oak, hamilton field is the same.
the same.
the same. Ignacio fields
the same. Ignacio fields park.
ignacio fields park. And roman court.
and roman court. And I continue living there to
and I continue living there to this day.
this day.
this day. But I have seen what has
but I have seen what has happened to my friends that
have been living building #12.
Gracias.
gracias.
gracias. I don't know what
gracias. I don't know what happened.
With the authorities that
with the authorities that supposedly should protect these
kinds of
supposedly should protect these kinds of situations.
Because te problem of roman
because te problem of roman court is not of six months ago.
This began five years ago.
this began five years ago. And I can't find the problem of
and I can't find the problem of the tenants.
the tenants. Maybe the problem was not to
maybe the problem was not to raise their voice beforehand,
raise their voice beforehand, maybe.
maybe.
maybe. I
maybe. I believe there are authorities
that see the problems before
they become our problems.
Not to go that far I was seeing
not to go that far I was seeing the ordinances.
the ordinances. I have a red tag for one year
now, before all of them.
And they still have not made
and they still have not made any repairs.
any repairs. So I
any repairs. So I would like t ask you all
so I would like t ask you all if it's possible to check all
of the properties that are
being rented out in the whole
city of novato with people that
are specialized to do these
are specialized to do these inspections.
inspections. Because when the city comes to
because when the city comes to check the problems outside of
the complex buildings but they
don't go inside to check.
If they can do an inspection
if they can do an inspection outside every year, and another
inside the units, I think that
we can resolve these problems.
Because as I said, it's a
because as I said, it's a privilege to live here.
And to have a privilege to live
and to have a privilege to live here, I think we need to be
enough sufficiently strong and
enough sufficiently strong and capable.
capable.
capable. To continue the way we have
to continue the way we have been lving, not as what
happened in roman
been lving, not as what happened in roman court.
The problem cntinues being
the problem cntinues being there, but I don't know who I
need to speak to, or who I need
to go to to resolve these
problems.
problems.
problems. As I said before, this is the
as I said before, this is the city.
city.
city. That god gided me to live here
that god gided me to live here in the u.s.
And I'm happy with
in the u.s. And I'm happy with everything.
and I'm happy with everything. The only thing I feel is
the only thing I feel is sadness because of the people
that were evicted without a
just cause.
just cause. Thank you for your time for
thank you for your time for listening and I appreciate you.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much,
>> mayor o'connor: thank you very much, antonio.
Our next speaker is vilma
very much, antonio. Our next speaker is vilma monzo.
our next speaker is vilma monzo. Welcome, vilma.
welcome, vilma. >> [ speaking spanish
welcome, vilma. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: good afternoon,
my name is vima monson, I'm a
single mother that lives with
my daughter joslyn, she is 10
years old.
years old. I'm a member of the group of
the affected tenants in romar
park and I want to appreciate
and thank you for this space to
share our
and thank you for this space to share our experiences.
>> [ speaking spanish
share our experiences. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: today I am here
to ask you to help us find a
worthy home that is stable and
accessible for me and my
daughter.
daughter.
daughter. We do not deserve to stay
we do not deserve to stay outside of these
we do not deserve to stay outside of these solutions.
>> [ speaking spanish
outside of these solutions. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: we were living
in apartments in romar court
for nine years.
There my daughter was raised
there my daughter was raised and we formed a home there.
I always paid my rent on time
and it almost reached $3,000
every
and it almost reached $3,000 every month.
every month. And I always took care of the
and I always took care of the apartment as if it were my own.
In fact, many times I repaired
in fact, many times I repaired or fixed my home, or my rented
home with my own money because
the building had many problems.
Problems with the filtration of
problems with the filtration of the water, mold, the lack of
maintenance and even so, I did
what was possible to live in a
worthy home that was safe for
us
worthy home that was safe for us both.
us both.
us both. >> [ speaking spanish
us both. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: unfortunately,
after receiving the red tag,
our lives changed completely.
From one day to the other, we
from one day to the other, we had to eict our own safe space.
And even though I was on top of
and even though I was on top of keeping everything safe that
was important, I want to remind
you that was a decision that
you all made and it was not
because I was not paying on
time o because I was not
taking care of the unit.
And I had a home there.
and I had a home there. >> [ speaking spanish
and I had a home there. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> iterpreter: since then, we
have confronted many
difficulties.
difficulties. As a single mother now I do not
as a single mother now I do not qualify for a new apartment now
that the requirements of
income, I cannot meet.
They asked that I demonstrate
they asked that I demonstrate enough income that is way
higher than what one person can
make to prove, even though I
was paying the rent for so many
years on time.
That's
years on time. That's why I feel sad,
that's why I feel sad, frustrated, decepted.
frustrated, decepted. With this process we had a home
with this process we had a home and you took it because of a
decision to take us out because
of security or safety reasons
but now we don't have our own
space.
space.
space. >>
space. >> [ speaking spanish
space. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: while we were
staying at the hotel, it was a
momentary help for us.
But it was not
momentary help for us. But it was not sufficient.
but it was not sufficient. After that I had to g rent a
after that I had to g rent a room that is not an ideal space
to raise my daughter.
We have no privacy.
we have no privacy. We have to send a lot of our
we have to send a lot of our time outside of that house
because we don't want to be a
burden to the person that is
renting a room for us.
And now I have to rent a
and now I have to rent a storage unit to keep all of my
belongings which has generated
emotional chaos and economic
burden in our
emotional chaos and economic burden in our lives.
>> [ speaking spanish
burden in our lives. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: while some our
old neighbors have been able to
relocate, we have not had that
same luck.
same luck. That's why I'm here to ask for
that's why I'm here to ask for your support.
your support. My daughter and I need a new
my daughter and I need a new
my daughter and I need a new home.
home.
home. We
home. We need this process to really
we need this process to really meet with our needs of all the
affected families, especially
single mothers like I
affected families, especially single mothers like I am.
We need to improve the
we need to improve the protections for the tenants I
cases of red tags.
And we also need to be
and we also need to be guaranteed a worthy home that
can support us financially to
cover the expenses generated
and to have flexible
requirements so that we can
move into a stable home.
>> [ speaking spanish
move into a stable home. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: so what will be
the steps that you all will
take to demonstrate to us that
we can restore a new home for
us?
us?
us? What
us? What will work with me to find
what will work with me to find a new solution?
To meet our necessities, our
to meet our necessities, our needs?
needs?
needs? Which will be the processes
which will be the processes that will be implemented so
that in our future, this
situation will not be repeated
for other
situation will not be repeated for other families?
>> [ speaking spanish
for other families? >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: so I don't want
privileges, I only want justice.
I want to return to romar court
or to a worthy home in better
conditions where my daughter
and I can feel secure again.
And to heal and to continue
and to heal and to continue building our happy life.
We are not asking for a
we are not asking for a
we are not asking for a donation.
donation.
donation. We are demanding
donation. We are demanding dignity.
we are demanding dignity. Because no one should lose
because no one should lose their home for doing the right
thing.
thing.
thing. >>
thing. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: thank you so
much for taking the time for
listening to me and we are
waiting for answers.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you,
>> mayor o'connor: thank you, vilna.
vilna.
vilna. Our next speaker is jesus
our next speaker is jesus
our next speaker is jesus portillo.
portillo.
portillo. Welcome,
portillo. Welcome, jesus.
welcome, jesus. >> [ speaking spanish
welcome, jesus. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>>
>> [ speaking spanish ] >> interpreter: my name is
jesus portillo-rivera.
jesus portillo-rivera. I used t live in romar court
for 15
I used t live in romar court for 15 years.
On a wednesday night, early
on a wednesday night, early wednesday they arrived and they
left the red
wednesday they arrived and they left the red tag.
They gave us five days to
they gave us five days to vacate.
vacate.
vacate. I'm talking wednesday, thursday
and friday, working
I'm talking wednesday, thursday and friday, working days.
Saturday to sunday we don't
saturday to sunday we don't work so we have to leave by
sunday
work so we have to leave by sunday midnight.
sunday midnight. Not only me, but my neighbors.
not only me, but my neighbors. You know, all of us we have to
you know, all of us we have to leave only with a couple of
suitcases and we have to leave
all of our belongings
suitcases and we have to leave all of our belongings behind.
So then we went to a hotel for
so then we went to a hotel for three
so then we went to a hotel for three weeks.
three weeks. Only with one suitcase.
only with one suitcase. Our belongings were on the
our belongings were on the
our belongings were on the street.
street.
street. The only thing we want you to
the only thing we want you to do is to help us.
That's all, thank you very much.
that's all, thank you very much. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Our next speaker is joslyn
our next speaker is joslyn
our next speaker is joslyn ordonez.
ordonez.
ordonez. Hi
ordonez. Hi joslyn.
hi joslyn. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: hi, my name is
joslyn, I'm ten years
>> interpreter: hi, my name is joslyn, I'm ten years old.
I'm ten years old and I have my
mom and my mom is a single mom.
My father left us when I was
my father left us when I was five years
my father left us when I was five years old.
I'm very grateful that you are
supporting us and that you are
listening to
supporting us and that you are listening to us.
When I saw the red tag, I
when I saw the red tag, I thought my mom was kidding me
and I didn't really believe
that we have to leave our
and I didn't really believe that we have to leave our home.
We left with a couple of
we left with a couple of suitcases and a few boxes.
The rest we have to store that
the rest we have to store that in the garage.
That's all we
in the garage. That's all we had.
that's all we had. I couldn't take with me
everything that I wanted to.
I couldn't take my toys, my
books, everything that I
I couldn't take my toys, my books, everything that I had.
I planted a little tree, so I
had that little tree for so
many years.
many years. I had to say goodbye to my
many years. I had to say goodbye to my tree.
I believe that tree is going to
grow big and
I believe that tree is going to grow big and strong.
And all those years that the
and all those years that the tree will live with remember
and all those years that the tree will live with remember me.
I want to thank each of you to
be here in hearing us.
I know that sometimes things
happen to us but it's hard to
just leave our
happen to us but it's hard to just leave our home.
To have to leave my how's it
to have to leave my how's it was so
to have to leave my how's it was so sad.
We just don't have so much
we just don't have so much money to pay our rent.
But also, you know, my mom lost
but also, you know, my mom lost her
but also, you know, my mom lost her job.
her job.
her job. And a nice lady gave my mom a
and a nice lady gave my mom a job.
job.
job. She
job. She des house
job. She des house cleaning.
she des house cleaning. So she makes enough money to
so she makes enough money to pay one
so she makes enough money to pay one room.
We are only in one room, small
we are only in one room, small room.
room.
room. We
room. We can only use the kitchen,
we can only use the kitchen, the bathroom and we go back to
our bedroom.
our bedroom. It's
our bedroom. It's small.
it's small. And so I can't play, I can't do
and so I can't play, I can't do whatever I want.
I don't have all my toys.
So I just spend time with my
so I just spend time with my
so I just spend time with my mom.
mom.
mom. And
mom. And have a good evening.
and have a good evening. Thank you very
and have a good evening. Thank you very much.
thank you very much. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Our next speaker is veronica
our next speaker is veronica
our next speaker is veronica hernandez.
hernandez. >> interpreter: duarte?
>> interpreter: duarte? Hernandez.
hernandez. >> [ speaking spanish
hernandez. >> [ speaking spanish ]
I'm just going to read it in
spanish because she couldn't be
spanish because she couldn't be here.
here.
here. I'm
here. I'm just going to start by
saying she couldn't be here
because as some of you know,
she just got diagnosed wth
cancer, stage ii, so she asked
me to read it.
I will try to do my
me to read it. I will try to do my best.
[ reading comment in spanish
I will try to do my best. [ reading comment in spanish ]
>> interpreter: good evening,
my name is veronica hernandez,
I am a member of the group of
the affected tenants in romar
court.
court.
court. I
court. I live there for seven years in
the apartments of romar court
in novato, with my family, two
children and my sister-in-law.
I am here to tell my story but
I am also here to raise my
voice for all of the families
just like mine that have been
displaced unjustly with no home.
What happened to us was no
what happened to us was no accident or a misunderstanding.
It was a result of failing
it was a result of failing system to protect the most
vulnerable.
vulnerable. What happened in romar court
what happened in romar court was
what happened in romar court was devastating.
was devastating. One day without a previous
one day without a previous warning, we received an order
to relocate, to leave our home
and they only gave us five days
to pack up our things, pack up
our lives and leave.
Five days
our lives and leave. Five days to leave behind years
five days to leave behind years of our, of everything we did,
to leave our community, our
roots.
roots.
roots. We
roots. We left having a contract to
we left having a contract to rent a valid home to being
without a home, and what's
worse, without a worthy option
of where to go.
That was a moment in where we
that was a moment in where we came to understand that being
renters in this country many
times is living in constant
insecurity.
insecurity. Even if we pay our rent on time
even if we pay our rent on time and we do every one of the
requirements and our
requirements and our responsibilities.
responsibilities. We lived there for years I
we lived there for years I deplorable conditions,
deplorable conditions, humidity, mold, roaches, rats,
a lack of basic maintenance.
We made the reports.
we made the reports. We asked for help.
we asked for help. And instead of giving us
and instead of giving us solutions, what we received was
a letter to relocate, to leave
our home.
our home.
our home. And so the message was clear
and so the message was clear when the conditions become
impossible, instead of
repairing or fixing, simply get
rid of the people.
As a mother, I felt a mixture
as a mother, I felt a mixture of sadness, frustration, and a
profound disillusion.
profound disillusion. My children were raised there.
my children were raised there. We had our own routines, our
we had our own routines, our schools, our
we had our own routines, our schools, our community.
And having us not live there
and having us not live there any more marked us profoundly.
And it wasn't just us as a
and it wasn't just us as a family.
family.
family. There were so many other
there were so many other families, workers, latinas,
children that lived the same
experience.
experience. I know that there are programs
that can help and organizations
and the city did what they
could to support us but that
was not enough.
What we needed were not just
what we needed were not just temporary patches but strong
ordinances that are permanent
that recognize our dignity and
our humanity.
our humanity. And that is why I am here to
and that is why I am here to ask these three things, these
three concrete things that
should be included in whatever
policy of protection that a
renter needs in
policy of protection that a renter needs in novato.
First indemnization fair and
first indemnization fair and adequate.
adequate.
adequate. What we were offered was not
what we were offered was not dmuf to cover the costs of
moving, the deposits, the new
rent, the trauma of instability.
We know that in the county o
we know that in the county o alameda the renters receive at
least $15,000 to relocate.
In marin where the cost of
in marin where the cost of living is even higher that
quantity should be the minimum
that we would receive.
So w request to know the true
so w request to know the true cost of being displaced in our
community.
community. Second, the right to return.
second, the right to return. If romar court would
if romar court would rehabilitate or be
reconstructed, we should have
the right to return and paying
the same rent.
But not only the physical
but not only the physical space, but a worthy home that
is safe and clean.
Because it's not only about
because it's not only about bricks, it's about our lives.
We want you to include a clause
we want you to include a clause that guarantees that we can
come back to our home without
being discriminated with
financial
being discriminated with financial obstacles.
financial obstacles. Thirdly, responsibility for
thirdly, responsibility for negligent probably
thirdly, responsibility for negligent probably owners.
These property owners ignore
these property owners ignore the reports that allow these
homes to become inhumane
homes to become inhumane conditions.
conditions. And they should confront clear
and they should confront clear
and they should confront clear consequences.
consequences. It's not fair that they are
it's not fair that they are allowed to operate without
supervision, without being
supervision, without being punished.
punished.
punished. While families are suffering
while families are suffering the consequences.
the consequences. We need inspections to be more
we need inspections to be more frequent, sanctions that are
real, and a mechanism of
follow-up with community
follow-up with community participation.
participation. I speak as a mother, as a
worker, as a neighbor.
But also as an organizing woman
but also as an organizing woman with parent voices marin, in a
movement of families that fight
for justice and equity.
We don't want to continue being
we don't want to continue being invisible.
invisible. We don't want empty promises,
we don't want empty promises, we want action.
We want
we want action. We want dignity.
we want dignity. We want justice.
we want justice. What happened to us in romar
what happened to us in romar court was not jst being kicked
out of our homes, it was a lack
of stability, of mental health,
of belonging.
of belonging. And this should not have
and this should not have happened to anyone any more.
Thank you for your time and
thank you for your time and thank you for listening, not
only to my words but also to my
pain and our hopes.
Let's build together a
let's build together a community that does not kick
out people but
community that does not kick out people but embraces people
that they don't just excuse,
but actually protects us.
And that's the end.
and that's the end. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Our next speaker is veronica
our next speaker is veronica
our next speaker is veronica duarte.
duarte.
duarte. Welcome,
duarte. Welcome, veronica.
welcome, veronica. >> [ speaking spanish
welcome, veronica. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: good evening,
my name is veronica duarte, I
reside in novato.
I have five kids.
>> [ speaking spanish
I have five kids. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: I received a
eviction notice, not from the
same apartments they were
talking
same apartments they were talking about.
talking about. But that order was unjustice
but that order was unjustice and they gave me five days, 60,
I'm sorry, 60 days.
But it was unjust.
but it was unjust.
but it was unjust. Why?
why?
why? A
why? A hose of black water,
a hose of black water, wastewater was broken from my
neighbor's
wastewater was broken from my neighbor's house.
neighbor's house. Instead
neighbor's house. Instead of cleaning or
instead of cleaning or repairing the pipe, the sewer,
they just let it go in my
they just let it go in my backyard.
backyard.
backyard. I was not notified.
When I came back from
I was not notified. When I came back from work.
when I came back from work. My son asked, mommy, what is
my son asked, mommy, what is
my son asked, mommy, what is that?
that?
that? You
that? You can't imagine what it
that? You can't imagine what it was.
you can't imagine what it was. So therefore I knocked on the
so therefore I knocked on the door up to the manager's door.
I call him by his name and I
asked what is that?
In my
asked what is that? In my garden?
in my garden? And he responded, I'm sorry, I
and he responded, I'm sorry, I forgot to let you know.
So iasked, how am I going to
so iasked, how am I going to go into my house with my kids?
He said, oh I will clean it
he said, oh I will clean it
he said, oh I will clean it tomorrow.
tomorrow.
tomorrow. So the day went by and he
so the day went by and he didn't clean
so the day went by and he didn't clean it.
So therefore, I wrote an email
so therefore, I wrote an email to the city of novato.
I send the
to the city of novato. I send the pictures.
Including the translator helped
including the translator helped
including the translator helped me.
me.
me. And
me. And he asked are those pictures
and he asked are those pictures real pictures?
real pictures? I told him it's my yard, it's
my
I told him it's my yard, it's my garden.
my garden. He asked for the landlord's
he asked for the landlord's information, the address, the
phone
information, the address, the phone number.
phone number. They call him three days after
they call him three days after I received the eviction notice.
So what happened?
so what happened? So he said I have 60 days to
so he said I have 60 days to move out.
move out.
move out. And I asked, but
move out. And I asked, but why?
and I asked, but why? Your kids, you have a lot of
your kids, you have a lot of kids in this unit.
And I have been living there
and I have been living there for eight
and I have been living there for eight years.
He wanted to give me a new
he wanted to give me a new reason because I reported him
to the
reason because I reported him to the city.
So I called legal aid of
to the city. So I called legal aid of marin.
so I called legal aid of marin. They gave me the support, but
they gave me the support, but my kids they were very anxious.
They were asking, where are we
they were asking, where are we
they were asking, where are we going?
going?
going? We
going? We cannot find a solution, it's
we cannot find a solution, it's not a two-day solution to find
or to move with the renters,
with the landlords.
Legal aid worked very hard.
legal aid worked very hard. We won the case.
we won the case. I'm still living
we won the case. I'm still living there.
So now when I need to fix
so now when I need to fix something at home or something
happens, I think about it.
I think if I should call to
report
I think if I should call to report it.
report it. I know that the city, you guys,
did all the work to call the
landlord.
landlord.
landlord. But he acted against
landlord. But he acted against me.
but he acted against me. So that's why I'm here to
so that's why I'm here to support everybody
so that's why I'm here to support everybody here.
I know they gave me the notice
for 60 days, they didn't have
that
for 60 days, they didn't have that opportunity.
that opportunity. But it was unjust that I was
but it was unjust that I was paying for my rent on time and
they shouldn't have done that.
I'm a resident of
they shouldn't have done that. I'm a resident of novato.
I blong to voices of
I'm a resident of novato. I blong to voices of canal.
But I reside as you in novato.
but I reside as you in novato. And I want to be able to tell
and I want to be able to tell my kids that we have somebody
and somebody who support
my kids that we have somebody and somebody who support us.
Novato needs an ordinance to
novato needs an ordinance to protect the
novato needs an ordinance to protect the tenants.
Because there are causes that
because there are causes that are not just.
Thank you very much.
thank you very much. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very
>> mayor o'connor: thank you very much.
very much. Our next speaker is diego
very much. Our next speaker is diego salis.
our next speaker is diego salis. Welcome, diego.
welcome, diego. >> good
welcome, diego. >> good evening.
[ speaking spanish
>> good evening. [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: my name is
diego.
diego.
diego. I
diego. I also was displaced from my
home from romar court.
I would like to share some
facts with
I would like to share some facts with you.
There is one building, but we
there is one building, but we were displaced like from 12
were displaced like from 12 apartments.
apartments. So the total of 58 in that
so the total of 58 in that
so the total of 58 in that property.
property.
property. We were 50 people displaced
we were 50 people displaced from our
we were 50 people displaced from our homes.
Many of us paid from $2700 to
many of us paid from $2700 to $3000 a month for rent, plus
utilities.
utilities. Before the utilities were
before the utilities were included in the rent.
Now we pay it additional.
now we pay it additional. For years they have increased
for years they have increased our rent each year.
And our income doesn't give us
and our income doesn't give us enough to
and our income doesn't give us enough to rent.
And now we have to stop rent to
and now we have to stop rent to other people.
other people. -- sub-rent to other
other people. -- sub-rent to other people.
I'm going to tell you a little
thing about the proprietorship.
The owner of the property
the owner of the property technically is romar court
apartments,
technically is romar court apartments, l.l.c.
apartments, l.l.c. Nevertheless, romar court
nevertheless, romar court apartments, l.l.c., it's only a
ghost business, shell
apartments, l.l.c., it's only a ghost business, shell company.
For this big business, landmark
for this big business, landmark realty, l.l.c., landmark
realty, ll.c. States that they
have been the owners for more
than 70
have been the owners for more than 70 buildings.
So for the total of 7,600 units
so for the total of 7,600 units in the whole country, landmark
is the owner of 289 units in
marin county.
marin county. If you check the website you
if you check the website you will not find anything under
the name of romar court
apartments.
apartments. Neither in novato or
apartments. Neither in novato or marin.
neither in novato or marin. So they do advertise it on the
so they do advertise it on the website, they do.
They say we are dedicated to
they say we are dedicated to offer the high standard in
quality in all the
offer the high standard in quality in all the aspects.
Our housing multi-family
our housing multi-family housing, we do give priority to
housing, we do give priority to detail.
detail.
detail. With quality materials
detail. With quality materials to
with quality materials to assure to our residents to
enjoy their space, secure,
aesthetic,
enjoy their space, secure, aesthetic, tractive.
aesthetic, tractive.
aesthetic, tractive. -attractive.
-attractive. Our compromise is with quality
our compromise is with quality and we extend the service to
the client with maintaining our
the client with maintaining our properties.
properties. I believe the difference in
between us and what the people
say
between us and what the people say their reality is what we are
in fact the reality is what we
are living right
in fact the reality is what we are living right now.
So finally you are listening to
so finally you are listening to the truth, our own condition.
And please, we beg you to
and please, we beg you to listen to us to protect and to
not let the owners of the
proprietors to do this to
not let the owners of the proprietors to do this to us.
We need to be relocated and we
we need to be relocated and we want to be able to go back to
our homes.
our homes. Thank
our homes. Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Our next speaker is armando
our next speaker is armando
our next speaker is armando ordonez.
ordonez.
ordonez. >> interpreter:
ordonez. >> interpreter: armando?
>> mayor o'connor: welcome,
>> mayor o'connor: welcome, armando.
armando.
armando. >> [ speaking spanish
armando. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: good evening,
I'm armando ordonez, members of
voices of marin.
I'm
voices of marin. I'm here because I'm here to
support the members of romar
court, tat happened to me a
year
court, tat happened to me a year ago.
year ago.
year ago. I was by myself.
I was evicted by myself, so
they threatened me to send me
the police, to seize my bank
account, things like that.
They only gave me ten days to
they only gave me ten days to leave the
they only gave me ten days to leave the home.
I also requested help from the
different organizations but I
didn't have the paperwork to do
didn't have the paperwork to do so.
so.
so. I
so. I have to borrow so much money
from several friends.
So thanks to that I was able to
so thanks to that I was able to
so thanks to that I was able to relocate.
relocate.
relocate. You
relocate. You could
relocate. You could tell, you could say
you could tell, you could say that $7,236 sounds a lot of
that $7,236 sounds a lot of money.
money.
money. But that amount that's only
but that amount that's only what I spent on moving out, to
move my stuff, to pay for the
first and last month, just to
move
first and last month, just to move out.
move out.
move out. Something very important, I'm
something very important, I'm begging you to do and work on
the new ordinance.
Because I know you have the
because I know you have the
because I know you have the power.
power.
power. I
power. I would like to be sitting in
one of those chairs to be able
to help other
one of those chairs to be able to help other people.
I don't want to hear sad
stories, I don't want to see
the kids crying like I have
witnessed, like the kids out
witnessed, like the kids out here.
here.
here. And
here. And even if we had so many
and even if we had so many ordinances, you know, the owner
doesn't appear.
doesn't appear. We are tied, our hands are
doesn't appear. We are tied, our hands are tied.
we are tied, our hands are tied. But if you miss paying one or
but if you miss paying one or two months of your rent, they
come like rats, you know, they
want to take the christ out of
my
want to take the christ out of my house.
my house.
my house. Why can't they do that to us,
why can't they do that to us, and why can't we have our own
rights with
and why can't we have our own rights with dignity?
It is so hard.
it is so hard. Do we have to get up through
do we have to get up through the end of this to be able to
talk in front of
the end of this to be able to talk in front of you?
I also wonder if, or want to
have ordinance for the
landlords of the owners of the
property to be able to pay
landlords of the owners of the property to be able to pay us.
For the damage.
for the damage. To pay for the damage.
to pay for the damage. But not only to pay to the
but not only to pay to the tenants to move out.
Just also a penalty so they can
just also a penalty so they can be punished or they can feel
just also a penalty so they can be punished or they can feel it.
I will go around california to
find the owners and I can't do
that.
that.
that. But
that. But iknow you
that. But iknow you could.
but iknow you could. Because we
but iknow you could. Because we work.
because we work. To pay our rent month by month
to pay our rent month by month and to have a good place for
our
and to have a good place for our kids.
our kids.
our kids. And if we
our kids. And if we pay rent, it's to
and if we pay rent, it's to have a dignity house to be able
to live
have a dignity house to be able to live in.
And if they are going to vacate
and if they are going to vacate people from their homes, have
them build new ones so they can
relocate the people that they
evict without sending us to the
evict without sending us to the streets.
streets.
streets. This property was 12 apartments.
this property was 12 apartments. Nobody was prepared for
this property was 12 apartments. Nobody was prepared for that.
nobody was prepared for that. So we all have to work together.
so we all have to work together. We pay our taxes.
we pay our taxes. We have to work and be able to
we have to work and be able to have
we have to work and be able to have justice.
have justice. I have so much to tell you but
I know we have a short
I have so much to tell you but I know we have a short time.
I'm only asking you to execute
your power because that
property they can
your power because that property they can pay.
And thank you very much.
and thank you very much. Unity makes the force.
unity makes the force. Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you.
Our next speaker is karina
our next speaker is karina
our next speaker is karina velleman.
velleman.
velleman. >> interpreter: who?
I think she left.
>> mayor o'connor: I will keep
>> mayor o'connor: I will keep moving.
moving.
moving. The next speaker is nelson
the next speaker is nelson
the next speaker is nelson solis.
solis.
solis. Welcome,
solis. Welcome, nelson.
welcome, nelson. >> [ speaking spanish
welcome, nelson. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: good evening,
my name is nelson solis.
I am here for the second time.
I have already been here the
first time.
first time. To tell you my story when iwas
to tell you my story when iwas living in romar court.
And I want to tell you that I
and I want to tell you that I continue being affected what
happened in roman
continue being affected what happened in roman court.
And one
happened in roman court. And one of the cases that were
and one of the cases that were more crazy, it's a very
expensive place to live.
When I speak with other people,
when I speak with other people, and that I live in novato, they
ask me oh my god, the rent is
really high, it's very
expensive.
expensive. When I say yes, it's expensive,
when I say yes, it's expensive, but it's safe.
There's no crime, there's none
there's no crime, there's none of that.
of that.
of that. So what I'm trying to say is,
so what I'm trying to say is, when I was living in romar, I
experimented many, no entrance
from the property owners of
romar towards their
from the property owners of romar towards their tenants.
And it's around four or five
and it's around four or five buildings in those areas.
But the most difficult thing
but the most difficult thing was when we found out.
The red tag, about the red tag.
the red tag, about the red tag. Because for me it was like the
because for me it was like the first time that I lived that
experience.
experience. Like for many of the people
like for many of the people that are here, that was our
first
that are here, that was our first time.
first time. And I feel that we didn't do
and I feel that we didn't do anything wrong.
anything wrong. Like stop paying our rent for
like stop paying our rent for
like stop paying our rent for months.
months.
months. For them to kick us out in five
for them to kick us out in five
for them to kick us out in five days.
days.
days. And
days. And also there were
and also there were organizations that came to us.
Trying to help
organizations that came to us. Trying to help us.
trying to help us. But it was little amount of
but it was little amount of families that were
but it was little amount of families that were supported.
My family, with what my mom
my family, with what my mom wrote in that letter that you
heard earlier today, was very
difficult for us because we
were living six people there.
And the place where we were
and the place where we were applying to only three people
can live there.
So we had to separate our
so we had to separate our family.
family.
family. So now we are living in very
so now we are living in very different
so now we are living in very different locations.
different locations. So what I want just like we
so what I want just like we have suffered, or something
that manner,
have suffered, or something that manner, that the owners of
those places, that they be more
fair.
fair.
fair. And
fair. And that they can see the
and that they can see the damage that they have done to
us.
us.
us. Us
us. Us all.
us all.
us all. And I think that we came to you
and I think that we came to you now because if we were to speak
they would not listen to us.
And I think it would be 1,000
and I think it would be 1,000 times better to remind novato
not because we have the best
transportation or because we
have the best parks but because
we have our, our city has the
best place to live in the city
of novato.
of novato. Thank you very much.
thank you very much. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much.
very much. Our next speaker is freddie
our next speaker is freddie
our next speaker is freddie lopez.
lopez.
lopez. Welcome,
lopez. Welcome, freddie.
welcome, freddie. >> [ speaking spanish ]
>> interpreter: good evening,
>> interpreter: good evening, everyone.
everyone.
everyone. To the corporation, to the, I
to the corporation, to the, I think everything has been said
think everything has been said today.
today.
today. It's been more than
today. It's been more than enough.
it's been more than enough. Everything that has been heard.
everything that has been heard. And we know in the position we
and we know in the position we are in and the position to be
able to resolve these problems
is now in your
able to resolve these problems is now in your hands.
We as tenants, we are
we as tenants, we are vulnerable.
vulnerable. Because I'm going to put myself
because I'm going to put myself as an
because I'm going to put myself as an example.
I only count with one job.
And when supposedly the income
and when supposedly the income or the salary went up, also in
my job, they cut off my hours.
So the minimum salary here in
so the minimum salary here in novato is $16.50.
And if I were to work 80 hours,
and if I were to work 80 hours, I would not reach to gain or
earn $3,000 in a
I would not reach to gain or earn $3,000 in a month.
But the rent is very expensive.
but the rent is very expensive. The money is not enough.
the money is not enough. To be able to pay the rent, I
to be able to pay the rent, I don't have enough.
With what I'm earning.
with what I'm earning. So I have to pay for the light,
so I have to pay for the light, the electricity.
the electricity. I need to feed
the electricity. I need to feed myself.
I need to be able to have
clothing.
clothing.
clothing. And it is not possible to cover
and it is not possible to cover all of these expenses.
I believe that the city or the
corporation, or the mayor
should also take into
consideration the regulation of
rent because life is very hard.
Very
rent because life is very hard. Very difficult.
very difficult. I am
very difficult. I am aware that you have the
power and that you will do a
good job.
good job.
good job. Because before us I believe in
because before us I believe in god.
god.
god. And
god. And god will illuminate you and
and god will illuminate you and your heart.
your heart. And you will make a good
and you will make a good
and you will make a good decision.
decision.
decision. I wish yu a good night and
thank you so much to assist us.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much.
very much. And then our final in-person
and then our final in-person speaker this evening is
aracelli
speaker this evening is aracelli zuniga.
aracelli zuniga. Not seeing aracelli, that
not seeing aracelli, that concludes in-person public
comment.
comment.
comment. We will go to zoom and if you
we will go to zoom and if you want to make a public comment
please use the raise-hand
button.
button.
button. >> clerk: yes, we do have
raised hands on
>> clerk: yes, we do have raised hands on zoom.
The first is aaliyah gomez.
the first is aaliyah gomez. >> good evening, mayor o'
connor and councilmembers.
My name is aaliyah and I'm on
my name is aaliyah and I'm on the government affairs of marin
association of realtors.
We urge your concern for
we urge your concern for housing stability but we urge
you recognizing that ab1482
already provides strong
enforceable protections.
enforceable protections. State law sets clear rules just
state law sets clear rules just cause after 12 months
relocation assistance for
no-fault evictions and rent
caps that are keeping increases
predictable.
predictable. These protections are in place
these protections are in place today and they apply across
california with consistency.
The proposed novato ordinance
the proposed novato ordinance goes well beyond state law.
It would extend just cause to
it would extend just cause to every unit including single
family homes and small duplexes
and add entirely new categories
such as rd tagging, repair and
such as rd tagging, repair and rehabilitation.
rehabilitation. That will trigger additional
that will trigger additional relocation
that will trigger additional relocation obligations.
relocation obligations. It will reduce housing stock.
it will reduce housing stock. We were concerned our august
we were concerned our august 18th letter notes that the
draft would apply to properties
with as few as three units.
That change pulled in small
that change pulled in small family landlords who are not
corporate entities, they are
individuals renting a part of
their retirement plan or
supplementing their household
income, burdening them with
complex rules and relocation
liabilities risks driving them
out of the rental market all
together.
together.
together. Finally this proposal
finally this proposal introduces new administrative
costs and enforcement
responsibilities.
responsibilities. That the staff report has not
that the staff report has not yet addressed.
yet addressed. Who will fund relocation
who will fund relocation payments?
payments?
payments? How will the city ensure
how will the city ensure consistent enforcement.
consistent enforcement. These unanswered questions make
these unanswered questions make it clear that novato is not
ready to adopt such sweeping
ordinance.
ordinance. Instead we encourage you to
instead we encourage you to build on what already works,
ab1482.
ab1482.
ab1482. Thank you for considering our
thank you for considering our perspective, thank you and have
a good night.
>> clerk: next is victor gomez.
>> mayor o'connor: welcome,
richard.
richard.
richard. >> clerk: victor.
>> mayor o'connor: sorry,
victor.
victor.
victor. >> wonderful, thank you, mayor
o' connor and councilmembers.
My name is victor gomez and I'm
my name is victor gomez and I'm also with the marin association
of realtors.
of realtors. We are here really to urge you
we are here really to urge you not to advance overreaching
just cause ordinance.
First, state law is already
first, state law is already
first, state law is already working.
working.
working. Ab1482, the tenant protection
ab1482, the tenant protection act strongly supported by
governor gavin newsom requires
just cause after 12 months, it
caps annual increases and
provides relocation assistance
for no-fault terminations
for no-fault terminations already.
already.
already. It sets a balanced uniform
it sets a balanced uniform framework statewide and
exclusively allows enforcement
today.
today.
today. Attempts to expand the tenant
attempts to expand the tenant protection act have failed and
each year since the act was
passed, sb436, ab1248 and
another ambitious bill that
attempted to lower the rent cap
wasn't even given a hearing
this year.
this year. A clear message that our state
a clear message that our state and governor d not believe in
these ideas like yours.
To severely impact rental
to severely impact rental housing, layering separate
local regime risk confusions
and costs without evidence of
any improved outcomes.
Second the staff report
second the staff report contemplates expanding
contemplates expanding protections to essentially all
units by adding new categories
that trigger displacement
obligations, dem nising,
potentially with additional
relocation payments and even
rights of return.
Those are major policy changes
those are major policy changes with real fiscal and
operational impacts that report
has not quantified.
Before you proceed we want to
before you proceed we want to know who will pay for this?
How is the city going to
how is the city going to administer this new program?
Have you asked those questions
have you asked those questions to staff?
to staff?
to staff? No, not once has any member of
no, not once has any member of this council asked for a fiscal
impact and how the city is
actually going to pay for this
and how you are going to pay
for new staff to administer
this new program.
Third, "er our association's
third, "er our association's letter notes that draft concept
deviates from common tresholds
by changing the typical
exemption line used across
california.
california. Moving from a more common
moving from a more common four-unit threshold to three or
more, that shift falls hardest
on small mom and pop housing
providers that are using that
as a way to raise money in
their retirement days.
If the goal is stability,
if the goal is stability, squeezing small providers off
the market will completely do
the opposite and not work.
Fourth, marin already faces an
fourth, marin already faces an extreme supply in housing.
Limited land, high costs,
limited land, high costs, complex regulatory environment
do not
complex regulatory environment do not help.
Fifth, basic implementation
fifth, basic implementation questions remain unanswered.
What resources des the city
what resources des the city have to provide both tenants
and small landlords to navigate
these new rules.
Our ask tonight is simple,
our ask tonight is simple, either pause to conduct a
fiscal analysis of this and how
much you will pay on behalf of
of the taxpayers of novato or
refer any potential proposal to
the voters and let the voters
decide.
decide.
decide. If we really do believe in
if we really do believe in democracy and that's what you
stand for, then that's exactly
what you would do no night.
We stand ready to collaborate
we stand ready to collaborate on targeted data-driven
solutions, education,
solutions, education, mediation, rental assistance
and safety net programs that
protect den tants without
shrinking the rental supply.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much.
very much. Laura any other comments?
laura any other comments? >> clerk: that concludes the
comments on zoom.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you.
I will bring it back to council.
Tonight the goal is to provide
tonight the goal is to provide staff with direction so they
can begin work on refining an
ordinance to bring back to
council for further discussion.
If you would like to comment
if you would like to comment please use the raise hand
button.
button.
button. I
button. I will go to councilmember
eklund
I will go to councilmember eklund first.
eklund first. >> you are
eklund first. >> you are muted.
>> mayor o'connor: sorry,
councilmember, you appear to be
muted.
muted.
muted. >>
muted. >> p. Eklund: sorry, I was
starting to talk already.
>> mayor o'connor: no problem.
>> p. Eklund: so
>> mayor o'connor: no problem. >> p. Eklund: so first of all,
relative to the item, to me
there's, we need to expand what
we are intending to do here, in
my
we are intending to do here, in my opinion.
my opinion. I think that we need to make
sure that the landlords need to
keep up with regular repairs on
their property.
their property. One of the things I tink we
one of the things I tink we should explore is establishing
an ordinance that requires
landlords to, or for the city
to inspect the apartments.
And then cite landlords if they
and then cite landlords if they are not keeping their
apartments in good condition
one that is livable, not with
holes in walls and not with
paint pealing.
paint pealing. Which probably has led in it.
which probably has led in it. And we need to do an inspection
and we need to do an inspection and program.
and program. We need to explore this.
we need to explore this. Landlords must allow the
landlords must allow the tenants back into the rental
unit and I believe and should
not increase the rent before
any of the renovations.
And I think that part of the
and I think that part of the rules should establish what is
the anticipated renovation
period so that it's not going
to be for more than six months
or a year or whatever it is.
And actually, if there's more
and actually, if there's more regular enforcement then we
won't have this situation where
we had in novato earlier.
I think we need to strengthen
the relocation assistance.
So I believe that the
so I believe that the ordinance, or the program
should include that the
landlords or owners of the
property need to pay for the
represent in other apartments
and that the rent is paid until
the work is completed in the
apartment and then they can
allow their residents to go
back into that
allow their residents to go back into that apartment.
I believe
back into that apartment. I believe that there should be
a guaranteed displacement,
either through a red tag or a
substantial remodel.
substantial remodel. And it should have the right to
and it should have the right to return, also the landlord needs
to pay for the rent and the
temporary location for as long
as needed to allow the renter
to be able to go back to the
original location.
original location. I think there should be no
exemption for rental
properties, this should also
include a.d.u.'s, except I
agree single family homes and
owner-occupied duplexes as
promised for in the california
tenant protections act of 2019
would not be included.
There should be just cause
there should be just cause eviction procedures that apply
to all rental units with ab1482
to all rental units with ab1482 exemptions.
exemptions. Tenants should have the
exemptions. Tenants should have the option
tenants should have the option to obviously notify the
landlord when there are
improvements that's needed.
The landlord should respond
the landlord should respond within a certain period of time
to make those repairs.
I think that there are a lot of
other things I would like to
include in
other things I would like to include in this.
The agenda item itself includes
the agenda item itself includes the different, I can't find
that piece of paper.
Where it has the
that piece of paper. Where it has the different
where it has the different sections of wat clare was
talking about earlier.
But I think all the items
but I think all the items listed there should be
included, not just the ones
marked in red.
I think we need to have more
discussion about all of
I think we need to have more discussion about all of this.
I think this is just the
beginning.
beginning. As I mentioned earlier, I don't
as I mentioned earlier, I don't think that we are being given
enough time to really actually
talk about some of these
enough time to really actually talk about some of these issues.
I think that we should have an
opportunity to have an
organized discussion about each
of te issues that were raised.
This red tag issue, substantial
this red tag issue, substantial remodel situation, you know, my
heart just bled every time I
heard one of the residents when
they were told to leave and
without any indication of when
they were going to be coming
back, or if they were coming
back, or if they were coming back.
back.
back. People are just living
people are just living day-to-day, issues, which I
hard enough and then to have to
deal with something like that
on top of it, I think, is
really unacceptable.
really unacceptable. I think that kind of thing
shouldn't happen.
shouldn't happen. But I think the property owner
but I think the property owner needs to pay for the relocation
of the residents.
There's a lot of others in here
there's a lot of others in here that I think we need to have
some discussion about.
I'm nt going to limit my
suggestions to what I've said
tonight due to the lateness of
the hour since it is 10:17.
But I tink we need to have
but I tink we need to have strong anti-displacement
strong anti-displacement policies and protection for
people that are renting.
That's just the beginning.
that's just the beginning. I think hopefully with a
discussion we can have later on.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, councilmember.
Mayor po tem farac?
mayor po tem farac? >> mayor pro tem farac: thank
you.
you.
you. First, I want to thank all the
first, I want to thank all the public comment speakers in
being here at this late hour.
I will be brief because we
still have two more agenda
items.
items.
items. I
items. I think there's two issues here.
I think it's the preventive,
proactiveness of addressing
negligent
proactiveness of addressing negligent landlords.
negligent landlords. So I think developing policies
so I think developing policies that can prevent that so this
situation doesn't happen.
And ten also, I think it's
and ten also, I think it's what we are currently looking
at today and looking about,
tenants rights and right to
return and stuff like that.
So I would love to see a draft
so I would love to see a draft ordinance.
ordinance. And then we can kind of start
and then we can kind of start from there and really look at
the details.
the details. But I think a big element that
but I think a big element that is missing is the preventive
piece of how to address these
issues ahead of time, so then
we're not giving red notices
and people are thrown off.
I think, two quick ideas I had,
one is having something on the
website where tenants can
complain and we go out and then
if landlords don't fix the
issue, they don't get charged
rent.
rent.
rent. So
rent. So just something I was
so just something I was thinking, thanks.
thinking, thanks. >> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much.
very much. Councilmember milberg?
councilmember milberg? >> m. Milberg: thank you, mayor.
Thank you all so much for being
thank you all so much for being here tonight.
here tonight. I have met with some of you
prior and really appreciate all
the honest feelings that you
have, and more so, the reason
why you are wanting to do this
is to prevent it for other
people to have it happen to
them, which I think is really
amazing.
amazing.
amazing. This is not an easy
amazing. This is not an easy issue.
this is not an easy issue. As far as availability for
as far as availability for additional ability for right of
return clause to no-fault
evictions I would definitely
encouraged to try to look into
that further.
that further. It was interesting when you
it was interesting when you were talking, clare, about the
basis for at-fault just cause
terminations.
terminations. And the currently novato has
and the currently novato has all 11 versus the city of san
rafael and the other has less.
And I think for me, I didn't
and I think for me, I didn't hear anybody and maybe it's not
really understood by the people
who spoke tonight, you all that
are afected but I'm curious,
where do we want to go with
that?
that?
that? Because you know, I my
because you know, I my opinion, we have to match the
horrific nature of what you all
are going through with trying
to maintain a healthy business
environment here.
environment here. So I think, for me, number one,
so I think, for me, number one, if we could get a better handle
on what the enormity of the
issue is.
issue is.
issue is. How many more potential romar
how many more potential romar courts are we going to be
facing?
facing?
facing? I
facing? I don't have an answer for that
myself and I don't know if
anybody else on this council
does.
does.
does. But
does. But when I
does. But when I hear about the five
but when I hear about the five days of having to pack up
everything, it's heartbreaking.
But at the same time, at least
but at the same time, at least my opinion was, to do something
immediately given the
circumstances and given the
problems that existed.
Yes, it wasn't adequate time
yes, it wasn't adequate time but it's not a reflection on
the city's desire to do the
right thing or the city's
caring about you as our
residents.
residents. I want to make sure that's
I want to make sure that's understood.
understood. It was done, we dealt with it
it was done, we dealt with it because we felt it was an
emergent situation.
emergent situation. So for me, the rectification of
so for me, the rectification of this is to hold landlords more
accountable, you should never
have to feel you are living in
a place with mold.
What we saw in the pictures of
what we saw in the pictures of the architectural, the building
being held up, it just wasn't
safe for all of you.
Yet, the enormity of how many
yet, the enormity of how many more romar courts are there is
frightening for me personally.
There's a delicate balance in
there's a delicate balance in my mind that we have to fulfill.
We don't want to be totally an
we don't want to be totally an enemy of the real estate market
here.
here.
here. So
here. So for me, it's like doing the
so for me, it's like doing the right thing, but also working
with people that are trying to
make a living that are doing
the right thing and providing
appropriate maintenance for
their apartments that you have
not experienced and for us to
be able to hold landmark and
others similar to landmark
accountable is really, for me,
the way to move forward.
I think as far as, I guess I'm
still a bit confused and maybe
I will spend more time on this,
clare, about relying on state
law oly and I've heard from a
few people, the impact that we
would have as far as adopting a
more stringent local ordinance
and what that would really mean.
Allowing exemptions for small
allowing exemptions for small operations, adu ad jdu's I
think is worth exploring
further, personally.
further, personally. If the residents and te people
if the residents and te people that are supported here tonight
don't feel like there's
anything that should be taken
away, or that's something that
is so onerous that leaves a bad
feeling, I'm probably in
agreement we should leave that.
I think it's a good counter
balance with the real estate,
we aren't touching that because
we believe all of those are
we believe all of those are justified.
justified. As far as the ability, actually
as far as the ability, actually right to return, I think that
has to definitely be part of
what we do here, but as far as
expanding temporary rlocation
assistance, that is a tough one
for me, and for us, I believe,
because, you know, at the time
this happened I felt it was the
right thing to do and we were
able to provide it quickly.
But obviously in talking to all
but obviously in talking to all of you personally, I know it
wasn't enough.
wasn't enough. I'm just curious as to where
that money would or should come
from?
from?
from? I
from? I don't know if it will come
from the city.
I think it perhaps could be
done from doing this more with
the landlords and really
holding them accountable but I
want to point that out, I don't
think it's a full solution
there but it doesn't mean your
situation doesn't require more
attention and more heart felt
understanding what we could do
going forward.
going forward. I respect you so greatly for
coming out tonight and speaking
your heart, it means a lot to
me personally and I quilchena
you didn't have to go through
this and I will do everything
in my power to make sure this
doesn't happen again.
So thank you again for being
so thank you again for being here.
here.
here. >>
here. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
councilmember.
councilmember. I agree practically with
everything my colleagues have
shared so I'm not going to
repeat that.
repeat that. I'm interested in reducing,
sorry, I'm interested -- it's
late.
late.
late. I'm
late. I'm interested in reducing
exemptions, not increasing them.
Good landlords can exempt
good landlords can exempt themselves.
themselves. One topic that came up several
one topic that came up several times that would also tie into
a potential registry concept
that I would be interested in
understanding more is is if
there's possibility for
automatic inspection process to
ensure quality.
ensure quality. We have heard stories about low
we have heard stories about low quality units and I would like
to understand if there's a good
program to develop to help
identify with those.
I agree red tag and renovation
should only result in temporary
displacement.
displacement. Relocation assistance
relocation assistance definitely needs to be improved.
The proposal you mentioned
the proposal you mentioned earlier, five months is a
strong proposal.
strong proposal. I would be in support of
something like that.
One thing I would like to talk
one thing I would like to talk about further is withdrawal
from the market with
appropriate notice and defined
appropriate notice and defined period.
period.
period. I
period. I think there would be
circumstances withdrawing a
property off the market
shouldn't require relocation
assistance, if somebody is
taking something off the market
because they are taking care of
a parent, I don't think they
should have to pay five months
rent.
rent.
rent. Just being mindful of
just being mindful of circumstances like that, not
create unnecessary hardships.
The right of return.
the right of return. I would like it to be stronger
to the current extent legally
permissible.
permissible. And those are just kind of some
and those are just kind of some of my thoughts.
I'm sure everyone else has
additional thoughts.
additional thoughts. I encourage if you have
additional thoughts you can
share with clare when she puts
the draft together please share
them with her in writing.
With that, have you received
with that, have you received enough feedback to get started?
>> yes, I have.
Thank you.
thank you. >> mayor o'connor: okay, with
that we will conclude the item.
It's after 10:00 p.m.
it's after 10:00 p.m. Council practice is to just do
council practice is to just do a post check to see if we have
time to take the remaining two
items?
items?
items? I
items? I checked with staff.
Both will take about five
both will take about five minutes or less.
And one is time sensitive
and one is time sensitive because it wll impact some
pending construction projects
clearing
pending construction projects clearing mvmcc.
clearing mvmcc. >> p. Eklund: I don't think
we've done consent calendar
either or council comments.
>> mayor o'connor: we did the
consent calendar at beginning
of the meeting but council
comments have been pushed to
the end.
the end.
the end. If we could take j1 and j2 and
if we could take j1 and j2 and not do council comments tonight.
Council reports.
council reports. Would that work for
council reports. Would that work for everybody?
would that work for everybody? >> [yes's]
>> [yes's] >> mayor o'connor: I will move
to j1, adopt rsolution
amending limited term retire to
new appointment tim burke as
interim pblic works director
under government code section
2121 adjusting his salary
pursuant to the sit yez's
current salary schedule and
ratifying, with us is greg
canfield.
canfield.
canfield. >> good evening, tonight's
>> good evening, tonight's request adopt resolution
amending and ratifying the
limited term retired annuitant
appointment of tim burke as
interim public works director
under government code section
21221h.
21221h.
21221h. Mr. Burke was first
mr. Burke was first appointmented in december 2024
to provide the recruitment of a
permanent public works
director, his original
appointment anticipated ending
on june 30th, 2025, or sooner
if permanent hire was made,
however to maintain continuity
of operations his service will
extend beyond that date until
the recruitment is completed.
It's important that this must
it's important that this must comply with calpers
requirements.
requirements. The appointment must be limited
the appointment must be limited term to a vacant position.
The retiree must have the
the retiree must have the specialized skills needed to
perform the work.
City must be actively
city must be actively recruiting for a replacement.
The retiree cannot work more
the retiree cannot work more than 960 hours in a fiscal year
across all calpers employers.
The retiree cannot receive
the retiree cannot receive benefits or incentives beyond
the hourly rate that complies
with the adopted salary
with the adopted salary schedule.
schedule.
schedule. His continued appointment meets
his continued appointment meets all these requirements making
his service comply apt with
calpers rules.
calpers rules. Staff recommends adoption of
staff recommends adoption of the resolution amending and
ratifying mr. Burke's
appointment.
appointment. That's it and I'm happy to take
that's it and I'm happy to take any questions might have.
>> mayor o'connor: thank you
very much, greg.
If you have questions please
if you have questions please use the raise hand button.
Not seeing any.
not seeing any. We will go to public comment.
we will go to public comment. Not seeing any.
not seeing any. Zoom, public comment if you
zoom, public comment if you would like to speak.
>> clerk: there's no raised
hands.
hands.
hands. >>
hands. >> mayor o'connor: thank you,
closing pblic comment,
bringing it back to council for
motion and second.
>> p. Eklund: I will move it.
>> mayor pro tem farac: I will
second it.
second it. >> clerk: I will say mark moved
itment
itment
itment >>
itment >> mayor o'connor: laura, if
you would call the vote please.
>> clerk: eklund?
>> p. Eklund: aye.
>> clerk: jacobs?
>> k. Jacobs: aye.
>> milberg?
>> milberg? >> m. Milberg: aye.
>> farac?
>> farac?
>> farac? >> mayor pro tem farac: aye.
>> clerk: and mayor o' connor.
>> mayor o'connor:
>> clerk: and mayor o' connor. >> mayor o'connor: aye.
Final item is j2, considering
final item is j2, considering possibilitily take action to
designate a voting
representative and up to two at
gnat voting representatives for
the league of california cities.
Laura?
laura?
laura? >>
laura? >> clerk: thank you, mayor this
is to select a voting delegate
and alternate for the annual
league of california cities
league of california cities conference.
conference. This year councilmember milberg
this year councilmember milberg and jacobs will be in
attendance.
attendance. With that I will turn it over
with that I will turn it over to council for discussion.
>> p. Eklund: I will move
jacobs be the voting delegate
and milberg is the alternate.
>> mayor pro tem farac: I'll
second
>> mayor pro tem farac: I'll second that.
second that. Do you want to do public
do you want to do public comment?
comment?
comment? >> mayor o'connor: use the
raise hand button if you have
any questions.
any questions. No questions.
no questions. Mr. Jacobs?
mr. Jacobs? >> k. Jacobs: my understanding
is voting will be on friday?
And I will be leaving early on
and I will be leaving early on
and I will be leaving early on friday.
friday.
friday. I
friday. I can be te primary but I will
not be here on friday.
>> mayor o'connor: that's
not be here on friday. >> mayor o'connor: that's fine.
Any other questions?
any other questions? I will go to public comment,
any public comment?
No?
no?
no? Zoom?
zoom?
zoom? >>
zoom? >> clerk: no raised hands.
>> mayor o'connor: bringing it
back to council.
We have a motion and second,
we have a motion and second, jacobs as primary with
councilmember milberg as the
alternate.
alternate. Laura, I you would call the
laura, I you would call the vote?
vote?
vote? >>
vote? >> clerk: councilmember eklund?
>> p. Eklund: aye.
>> clerk: jacobs?
>> k. Jacobs: aye.
>> clerk: milberg?
>> m. Milberg: aye.
>> clerk: farac?
>> mayor pro tem farac: aye.
>> clerk: mayor o' connor?
>> mayor o'connor: aye.
Move to adjournment, the next
move to adjournment, the next meeting is september 9th, 2025,
does council have anyone they
would like to adjourn in memory
of?
of?
of? I
of? I do
of? I do have one person I want to
close in memory of, diane
close in memory of, diane thompson.
thompson.
thompson. Diane moved to the bejia
diane moved to the bejia neighborhood in 1986 and
quickly became a valuable
member of the community.
Over the years built up a large
over the years built up a large group of friends.
She was responsible for the
she was responsible for the newsletter and neighborhood
tefl
newsletter and neighborhood tefl directory.
tefl directory. Diane was a main stain I bahia
diane was a main stain I bahia over the years and she will be
sorely