Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Meeting Agenda: 01/18/2024
For links to individual agenda items for this meeting, please see below.
RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
regular Meeting
Thursday, JANUARY 18, 2024 – 7:00 p.m.
School District Board Room – 1231 Addison Street, Berkeley
Teleconference location: 1819 Addison Street, Unit 4, Berkeley
PUBLIC ADVISORY: THIS MEETING WILL BE CONDUCTED IN A HYBRID MODEL WITH BOTH IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE AND VIRTUAL PARTICIPATION.
For in-person attendees, face coverings or masks that cover both the nose and the mouth are encouraged. If you are feeling sick, please do not attend the meeting in person.
To access this meeting remotely: Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android device by clicking on this URL: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86351823870?pwd=6u9aivTslet7SqNRO_IBL3QRcsH57w.WN9X-NdkqPRvYdDc. If you do not wish for your name to appear on the screen, then use the drop-down menu and click on "Rename" to rename yourself to be anonymous. To request to speak, use the “Raise Hand” icon by rolling over the bottom of the screen.
To join by phone: Dial 1-669-444-9171 and enter Webinar ID: 863 5182 3870 and Passcode: 662299. If you wish to comment during the public comment portion of the agenda, Press *9 and wait to be recognized by the Chair.
To submit a written communication for the Board’s consideration and inclusion in the public record, please email amueller@berkeleyca.gov with the Subject line in this format: “RENT BOARD MEETING PUBLIC COMMENT ITEM.” Please observe a 150-word limit. Email comments must be submitted to the email address above by 4:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting in order to be included.
Please be mindful that this will be a public meeting and all rules of procedure and decorum apply for both in-person attendees and those participating by teleconference or videoconference.
This meeting will be conducted in accordance with Government Code Section 54953 and all current state and local requirements allowing public participation in meetings of legislative bodies. Any member of the public may attend this meeting at the posted location(s). Questions regarding this matter may be addressed to DéSeana Williams, Executive Director, at (510) 981-7368 (981-RENT). The Rent Board may take action related to any subject listed on the Agenda.
COMMUNICATION ACCESS INFORMATION:
This meeting is being held in a wheelchair accessible location. To request disability-related accommodation(s) to participate in the meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, please contact the Disability Services Specialist at (510) 981-6418 (voice) or (510) 981-6347 (TDD) at least three (3) business days before the meeting date.
Attendees at public meetings are reminded that other attendees may be sensitive to various scents, whether natural or manufactured, in products and materials. Please help the City respect these needs.
RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
Regular Meeting
Thursday, January 18, 2024
7:00 p.m.
School District Board Room – 1231 Addison Street, Berkeley
Teleconference location: 1819 Addison Street, Unit 4, Berkeley
Video Archive (pending)
AGENDA
*Times allotted for each item are approximate and may be changed at the Board’s discretion during the course of this meeting.
- Roll call – 1 min.*
- Land Acknowledgment Statement: The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board recognizes that the rental housing units we regulate are built on the territory of xučyun (Huchiun-(Hooch-yoon)), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo (Cho-chen-yo)-speaking Ohlone (Oh-low-nee) people, the ancestors and descendants of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. This land was and continues to be of great importance to all of the Ohlone Tribes and descendants of the Verona Band. As we begin our meeting tonight, we acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of Berkeley, the documented 5,000-year history of a vibrant community at the West Berkeley Shellmound, and the Ohlone people who continue to reside in the East Bay. We recognize that Berkeley’s landlords and tenants have and continue to benefit from the use and occupation of this unceded stolen land since the City of Berkeley’s incorporation in 1878 and since the Rent Stabilization Board’s creation in 1980. As stewards of the laws regulating rental housing, it is not only vital that we recognize the history of this land, but also recognize that the Ohlone people are present members of Berkeley and other East Bay communities today. – 2 min.*
- Approval of Agenda – 1 min.*
- Public Comment – 2 min.*
- CONSENT ITEMS – 1 min.*
- Approval of the December 4, 2023 special meeting minutes
- Approval of the December 5, 2023 special meeting minutes
- Approval of the December 21, 2023 regular meeting minutes TO BE DELIVERED
- Proposal to approve staff recommendations on the following requests for waivers of late registration penalties (Executive Director/Registration Unit Manager)
Ministerial Waivers
Property Address
3131 COLLEGE
1426 ADDISON
1192 KAINS
945 HILLDALE
1234 EVELYN
2311 A 7TH
3028 REGENT
1614 63RD
1615 MCGEE
Discretionary Waivers
Waiver No. Property Address
W5109 1525 RUSSELL
- Approval of the December 4, 2023 special meeting minutes
- APPEAL – 7:30 p.m.**
**This appeal will not be heard before 7:30 p.m. but may be heard any time thereafter.
Case No. T-6046 (2218 Durant Avenue, Unit 7)
Tenant appeals the dismissal of Tenant’s Petition for Individual Rent Adjustment (“petition”), seeking a rent ceiling reduction on a number of claims located at 2218 Durant Avenue, Unit 7, Berkeley, CA (“premises”). The hearing examiner dismissed the petition stating that the claims fell outside the purview of the Rent Ordinance.
On appeal, Tenant claims that the hearing examiner erred in his determination to dismiss the petition because the hearing examiner allegedly based the decision to dismiss on a “what-if-scenario” not based in fact. Based on this allegation, Tenant requests that the Board both modify and remand the hearing examiner’s dismissal.
However, a review of the record fails to reveal any “imaginary claims” and/or “what-if-scenarios” relied on by the hearing examiner. Rather, it is quite clear that he appropriately analyzed only the facts and allegations presented within Tenant’s petition. Based on those facts presented, the hearing examiner appropriately determined that the claims fell outside the purview of the Rent Ordinance.
- ACTION ITEMS
from Board Members, Committees, Executive Director or Staff
Public comment will also be heard prior to the Board’s vote on each action item listed below – 1 min. per speaker*- Chair Update (Chair Simon-Weisberg)
(1) Demolition Ordinance Applications update (Be Tran, Associate Planner) – 10 min.*
(2) Update on the Empty Homes Tax Program (Executive Director) – 5 min.* Distributed at the Meeting
(3) Recommendation to adopt 2024 Committee Assignments – 10 min.* TO BE DELIVERED
- Presentation on the proposed California “Utility Tax” provision in Assembly Bill 205 by Igor Tregub, Strategic Partnerships Director and Senior Policy Advisor, Reimagine Power (Commissioner Martinac) – 15 min.* Distributed at the Meeting
- Recommendation to adopt Resolution 24-01 to oppose the proposed “Utility Taxes” that disproportionately harm renters, and transmit the Resolution to Governor Gavin Newsom, State Senator Nancy Skinner, and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks; and to authorize Chair Simon-Weisberg to sign a coalition letter to the California State Legislature urging the repeal of the Public Utilities Code that has allowed these proposals to be considered (Chair Simon-Weisberg and Commissioner Martinac) – 10 min.*
- Recommendation to adopt Resolution 24-02 establishing a maximum expenditure level for the purchase of furniture and fixtures for the new Rent Board office space (Executive Director) – 5 min.* TO BE DELIVERED
- Chair Update (Chair Simon-Weisberg)
- INFORMATION, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ARTICLES/MEDIA
from Board Members, Committees, Executive Director or Staff
NOTE: The Board may vote to move Information Items to the Action calendar.- Eviction Moratorium update – Verbal (Public Information Unit Manager) – 5 min.* Distributed at the Meeting
- Update on the Rent Board office move to 2000 Center Street – Verbal (Executive Director/Board Secretary) – 5 min.*
- Copy of the January 2024 Empty Homes Tax mailing sent to affected Berkeley property owners (Executive Director) – 2 min.*
- Updated Commissioner attendance at Board and Committee meetings through December 2023 (Board Secretary) – 1 min.*
- Deadline to submit agenda items/topics for February’s regular Rent Board meeting: Friday, February 2nd by 5:00 p.m. (Board Secretary)
- Eviction Moratorium update – Verbal (Public Information Unit Manager) – 5 min.* Distributed at the Meeting
- COMMITTEE/BOARD MEETING UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Budget & Personnel Committee (Commissioner Walker, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Thursday, February 8th at 5:30 p.m.
January 11th agenda
- Environmental Sustainability Committee (Commissioner Martinac, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting date: Wednesday, March 6th at 6:00 p.m.
January 10th agenda
- Eviction/Section 8/Foreclosure Committee (Commissioner Elgstrand, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Tuesday, February 13th at 6:00 p.m.
January 9th agenda
- Legislation, IRA/AGA & Registration Committee (LIRA Committee) (Commissioner Kelley, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: To Be Announced (TBA)
- Outreach Committee (Vice-Chair Alpert, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Tuesday, February 20th at 6:00 p.m.
January 8th agenda
- 4 x 4 Joint Task Force Committee on Housing: City Council/Rent Board – 5 min.*
(Mayor Arreguín and Chair Simon-Weisberg, Co-Chairs)
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: TBA
- 2 x 2 Committee on Housing: Rent Board/Berkeley Unified School District
(Commissioner Marrero) – 5 min.*
Next meeting date: Monday, March 11th at 5:30 p.m.
- Ad Hoc Committee to Consider Rent Ordinance Amendments at the 2024 November General Election (Commissioner Johnson, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next meeting date: TBA
- Updates and Announcements – 5 min.*
- Discussion of items for possible placement on future agenda – 5 min.*
- Budget & Personnel Committee (Commissioner Walker, Chair) – 5 min.*
- CLOSED SESSION – Pursuant to California Government Code Section 54957(b)(1), the Board will also convene in closed session for a Public Employee Evaluation of Performance:
Title: General Counsel
- ADJOURNMENT