Berkeley Rent Board
Berkeley Rent Board
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Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Meeting Agenda: 01/19/2023

For links to individual agenda items for this meeting, please see below.

RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
Regular Meeting
Thursday, January 19, 2023
7:00 p.m.
 

PUBLIC ADVISORY: THIS MEETING WILL BE CONDUCTED EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH VIDEOCONFERENCE AND TELECONFERENCE
Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(e)(3), City Council Resolution 70,030-N.S., and City of Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board (Rent Board) Resolution 21-29, this meeting of the Rent Board will be conducted exclusively through teleconference and Zoom videoconference. Please be advised that pursuant to the Resolutions and the findings contained therein that the spread of COVID-19 continues to be a threat to the public health and that holding meetings of City legislative bodies in person would present imminent risks to the health and safety of the public and members of legislative bodies. Therefore, there will not be a physical meeting location available.

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/89067745635?pwd=T2FMMkdpZG05VC91YXVFRWVZZGxwZz09. 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 1-408-638-0968 and enter Meeting ID: 890 6774 5635 and Passcode: 395740. 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@cityofberkeley.info 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 5:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting in order to be included.

Please be mindful that this meeting will be recorded, and all other rules of procedure and decorum will apply for Rent Board meetings conducted by teleconference or videoconference.

This meeting will be conducted in accordance with Government Code Section 54953, 54956, and all current state and local requirements allowing public participation in meetings of legislative bodies. Any member of the public may attend this meeting. Questions regarding this matter may be addressed to DéSeana Williams, Executive Director, at (510) 981-7368. The Rent Board may take action related to any subject listed on the Agenda.

RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
Regular Meeting
Thursday, January 19, 2023
7:00 p.m.

Zoom Video Archive (0:59)  

AGENDA

*Times allotted for each item are approximate and may be changed at the Board’s discretion during the course of this meeting.

  1. Roll call – 1 min.*
     
  2. 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.
     
  3. Approval of Agenda – 1 min.*
     
  4. Public Comment – 2 min. per speaker for non-agendized items*
     
  5. Public Comment – 2 min. per speaker for items on the agenda*
     
  6. CONSENT ITEMS – 1 min.*
    1. Approval of the December 15, 2022 regular meeting minutes
       
    2. Recommendation to adopt 2023 Committee Assignments and establish a Sustainability Committee (Chair Simon-Weisberg)
       
    3. Proposal to approve staff recommendations on the following requests for waivers of late registration penalties (Executive Director/Registration Unit Manager)

      Ministerial Waivers
      Property Address

      1630 ASHBY
      1609 DERBY
      1426 SPRUCE
      2425 EUNICE
      2437 8TH
      2629 PIEDMONT
      2217 9TH
      2140 WOOLSEY
      1442 6TH ST
      2429 SAN PABLO
      2433 SAN PABLO
      2747 SAN PABLO
      1430 GRIZZLY
      905 CRESTON
      800 EUCLID
      1312 CARELTON
      1354 LINCOLN ST
      2010 10TH STREET

      Discretionary Waivers
      Waiver No.     Property Address

      W5069            2016 A GRANT ST
      W5070            3251 IDAHO
       
  7. 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.
    1. Chair Update (Chair Simon-Weisberg) – 15 min.* 

      (1) Discussion and possible action to send a letter to the University of California regarding its property agreement with Blackstone’s Real Estate Income Trust Inc. Fund (REIT)
      https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/university-california-invest-4-bln-blackstones-reit-2023-01-03/

      https://www.swfinstitute.org/news/95291/university-of-california-endowment-and-pension-money-to-invest-4-billion-in-blackstone-real-estate-income-trust 

      (2) Recommendation to disband the Ad Hoc Committee on Rent Board Technology Issues – Verbal (Chair Simon-Weisberg)
       
    2. Discussion and possible action to adopt Resolution 23-01 to allow the Board to continue to meet exclusively by teleconference throughout the remainder of the state of emergency associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (General Counsel) – 15 min.*
       
  8. 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.
    1. Updated Regulation 1266 [Self Labor] with current Consumer Price Index (CPI) information (General Counsel) – 1 min.*
       
    2. Updated Commissioner attendance at Board and Committee meetings through the 4th quarter of 2022 (Board Secretary) – 1 min.*
       
    3. Date to submit agenda topics/items for February’s regular Rent Board meeting is Monday, February 6th by 5:00 p.m. (Board Secretary) – 1 min.*
       
  9. COMMITTEE/BOARD MEETING UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
    1. Budget and Personnel Committee (Chair TBA) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting:  TBA
       
    2. Eviction/Section 8/Foreclosure Committee (Chair TBA) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting: TBA 
       
    3. Legislation, IRA/AGA & Registration Committee (LIRA Committee) (Commissioner Kelley, Chair) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting:  TBA
       
    4. Outreach Committee (Chair TBA) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting:  TBA
       
    5. 2 x 2 Committee on Housing: Rent Board/Berkeley Unified School District
      (Chair TBA) – 3 min.*
      Regularly-scheduled meeting date:  TBA
       
    6. 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

      December 14, 2022 agenda packet
       
    7. Ad Hoc Committee on Rent Board Technology Issues (Chair TBA) – 3 min.*
      Next meeting date:  TBA
       
    8. Updates and Announcements – 3 min.*
       
    9. Discussion of items for possible placement on future agenda – 5 min.*
       
  10. ADJOURNMENT
     

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