Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Meeting Agenda: 03/16/2023
For links to individual agenda items for this meeting, please see below.
RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
Regular Meeting and Public Hearing
Thursday, March 16, 2023
7:00 p.m.
Berkeley Unified School District Board Room
1231 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94702
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/87985893082?pwd=MC9pZ1ljNmJ0WGt3OHE4aHNncVdOZz09. 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: 879 8589 3082 and Passcode: 917780. 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 12:00 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, 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 (981-RENT). The Rent Board may take action related to any subject listed on the Agenda.
RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
Regular Meeting and Public Hearing
Thursday, March 16, 2023
7:00 p.m.
Berkeley Unified School District Board Room
1231 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94702
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.
- Approval of Agenda – 1 min.*
- Public Comment – 2 min. per speaker for non-agendized items*
- Public Comment – 2 min. per speaker for items on the agenda*
- CONSENT ITEMS – 1 min.*
a. Approval of the February 16th regular meeting minutes
b. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 23-04 authorizing the Executive Director to execute a contract modification with Goldfarb & Lipman LLP through June 30, 2023, in an amount not to exceed $20,000 (General Counsel)
c. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 23-05 authorizing the Executive Director to execute a contract modification with Sloan Sakai Yeung & Wong LLP through June 30, 2023, in an amount not to exceed $80,000 (General Counsel)
d. Proposal to approve staff recommendations on the following requests for waivers of late registration penalties (Executive Director/Registration Unit Manager)
Ministerial Waivers
Property Address
18 THE UPLANDS
2022 VIRGINIA ST
2915 HARPER
2124 PRINCE
1032 CRAGMONT
2614 WARRING
2237 ROOSEVELT
939 ADDISON
2117-2119 ASHBY
3014 COLLEGE
1455 GRIZZLY
Discretionary Waivers
Waiver No. Property Address
W5075 2716 DURANT
W5076 2443 SPAULDING
W5077 1300 DELAWARE
W5078 1951 CHESTNUT
- PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED INCREASE TO THE ANNUAL REGISTRATION FEES FOR FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2023-2024
a. Staff presentation on the proposed increase to the FY 2023-2024 Annual Registration Fees
b. Public Comment
c. Comments from the Board
- 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.
a. Chair Update (Chair Simon-Weisberg) – 5 min.*
b. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 23-06 setting the FY 2023-2024 annual registration fee for fully-covered units (due July 3, 2023) at $290 per unit (Budget & Personnel Committee and Executive Director) – 20 min.*
c. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 23-07 setting the FY 2023-2024 annual registration fee for partially-covered Measure MM units (due July 3, 2023) at $178 per unit (Budget & Personnel Committee and Executive Director) – 15 min.*
d. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 23-08 setting the FY 2023-2024 annual registration fee for partially-covered Measure MM units in affordable housing projects (due July 3, 2023) at $37 per unit (Budget & Personnel Committee and Executive Director) – 15 min.*
e. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 23-09 setting the Summer Rental Period registration fee for fraternities and sororities for FY 2023-2024 (due July 3, 2023) at $70 per unit (Budget & Personnel Committee and Executive Director) – 10 min.*
f. Discussion and possible action to send a letter of support for Senate Bill (SB) 460 (Wahab): Fair Chance Housing (Chair Simon-Weisberg & Commissioner Johnson) – 5 min.*
g. Discussion and possible action to send a letter of support for SB 466 (Wahab): Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act: rental rates (Commissioner Elgstrand, Chair Simon-Weisberg & Commissioner Kelley) – 10 min.*
- 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.
a. Update on Council’s recent action on the City’s Eviction Moratorium – Verbal (General Counsel) – 15 min.*
b. Update on limited post-emergency options for remote participation in Board and Committee meetings (General Counsel) – 15 min.*
c. Owner Move-in Eviction Tracking Report (January 2020 - December 2022) (Eviction/Section 8/Foreclosure Committee) – 3 min.*
d. Date to submit agenda topics/items for April’s regular Rent Board meeting is Monday, April 10th by 5:00 p.m. (Board Secretary) – 1 min.*
- COMMITTEE/BOARD MEETING UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
a. Budget and Personnel Committee (Commissioner Walker, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Thursday, April 6th at 5:30 p.m.
February 22nd agenda
b. Eviction/Section 8/Foreclosure Committee (Commissioner Elgstrand, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Tuesday, April 11th at 6:00 p.m.
March 8th agenda
c. Legislation, IRA/AGA & Registration Committee (LIRA Committee) (Commissioner Kelley, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: TBA
d. Outreach Committee (Vice-Chair Alpert, Chair) – 5 min.*
Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Monday, April 10th at 5:30 p.m.
March 9th agenda
e. 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
f. Ad Hoc Committee on Environmental Sustainability (Chair TBA) – 3 min.*
Next meeting date: TBA
g. 2 x 2 Committee on Housing: Rent Board/Berkeley Unified School District (Chair TBA) – 1 min.*
Regularly-scheduled meeting date: TBA
h. Updates and Announcements – 3 min.*
i. Discussion of items for possible placement on future agenda – 5 min.*
- ADJOURNMENT