City of Berkeley
Berkeley Rent Board
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Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Meeting Agenda: 04/17/2025

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

RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
Regular Meeting
Thursday, april 17, 2025 – 7:00 p.m.
School District Board Room – 1231 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA
Teleconference location: 1700 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, CA
Teleconference location: 5 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 

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/86787656370?pwd=nQZeQULpTnmBC14UL3EmO0HxY6pdLm.1. 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 1-669-900-6833 and enter Webinar ID: 867 8765 6370 and Passcode: 332558. 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 address 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, April 17, 2025 
7:00 p.m.
School District Board Room – 1231 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA
Teleconference location: 1700 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, CA
Teleconference location: 5 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA

Video Archive (1:59) 

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. Approval of Agenda – 1 min.*
     
  3. 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.*
     
  4. Public Comment – 2 min.* 
     
  5. Public Comment for Unions representing Rent Board staff – 5 min.*
     
  6. CONSENT ITEMS – 1 min.*
     
    1. Approval of the March 20th regular meeting minutes
       
    2. Proposal to approve staff recommendations on the following requests for waivers of late registration penalties (Registration Unit Manager/Staff)

      Ministerial Waivers
      Property Address

      1926 Alcatraz Ave
      2946 Harper St
      2410 9th St
      2604 Fulton St
      714 Gilman St
      2216 Curtis St
      2118 8th St
      1912 7th St
      3111 College Ave #B
      2226 9th St
      2620 Marin Ave

      Discretionary Waivers
      Waiver No.     Property Address

      W5147           758 Ensenada Ave
      W5148           1410 La Loma Ave
      W5149           1638 8th St
      W5150           2907 Dwight Way
       
  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 Alpert) – 3 min.*

      (1)  Recommendation to adopt Resolution 25-11 endorsing the Recreational Equipment, Inc. Co-op (REI) Community Hearing on April 26, 2025 (Chair Alpert & Vice-Chair Walker) – 10 min.*

      (2)  Demolition Ordinance Update: City of Berkeley Demolition projects status (Senior Planner Lief Bursell) – 5 min.*
       
    2. SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Tolemi Building Blocks demonstration (Executive Director) – 15 min.*

      (1) Recommendation to adopt Resolution 25-12 authorizing the Executive Director to execute a contract with Tolemi through June 30, 2027, in an amount not to exceed $125,000 (Executive Director/Senior Planner) – 5 min.*
       
    3. SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Spring Legislative Update (Brian Augusta, Rent Board Legislative Advocate) – 15 min.*

      (1)  Discussion and possible action for the Board to take a position on state legislative bills discussed at the meeting – 20 min.* Distributed at the meeting
       
  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. Copy of Measure BB informational postcards mailed to Berkeley property owners and tenants (Executive Director) – 3 min.*
    2. Deadline to submit agenda items/topics for the May regular Rent Board meeting: Monday, May 5th by 5:00 p.m. (Board Secretary)
       
  9. COMMITTEE/BOARD MEETING UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
     
    1. Budget & Personnel Committee (Vice-Chair Walker, Chair) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting: To Be Announced (TBA)
       
    2. Climate Resilience & Habitability Committee (Commissioner Martinac, Chair) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting date: Monday, May 5th at 6:00 p.m. 

      April 7th agenda
       
    3. Eviction/Section 8/Foreclosure Committee (Chair TBA) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting: TBA
       
    4. Legislation, IRA/AGA & Registration Committee (LIRA Committee) (Chair Alpert, Chair) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Thursday, May 8th at 6:00 p.m.

      April 10th agenda 
       
    5. Outreach Committee (Commissioner Kelley, Chair) – 5 min.*
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Monday, April 14th at 6:30 p.m.

      April 14th agenda
       
    6. 2 x 2 Committee on Housing: Rent Board/Berkeley Unified School District 
      (Commissioner Marrero, Chair) – 5 min.*
      Next meeting date: TBA 
       
    7. 4 x 4 Joint Task Force Committee on Housing: City Council/Rent Board – 5 min.*
      (Councilmember Lunaparra & Chair Alpert, Co-Chairs)
      Next regularly-scheduled meeting: TBA

      April 7th agenda packet
       
    8. Updates and Announcements – 5 min.*
       
    9. Discussion of items for possible placement on future agenda – 5 min.*
       
  10. ADJOURNMENT
     

News

Aimee Mueller, Board Secretary
Email: AMueller@berkeleyca.gov
Phone: (510) 981-4932