Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Meeting Agenda: 04/21/2022

RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
Regular Meeting
Thursday, April 21, 2022
7:00 p.m.
Zoom 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.

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. Introduction of recently-hired Rent Board staff – 5 min.*

4. Approval of Agenda – 1 min.*
    
5. Public Comment – 2 min. per speaker for non-agendized items*

6. Public Comment – 2 min. per speaker for items on the agenda*
    
7. CONSENT ITEMS – 1 min.*
   1. Approval of the March 17, 2022 regular meeting minutes
   2. Approval of the April 11, 2022 special meeting minutes
   3. Proposal to approve staff recommendations on the following requests for waivers of late registration penalties (Executive Director/Registration Unit staff)
      
      Ministerial Waivers
      Waiver No.     Property Address
      --                      2016 9th ST
      --                      3028 DEAKIN ST
      --                      1402/1398 CURTIS ST                     
      --                      1909 9TH ST
      --                      1301 BONITA AVE UNIT 1
      
      Discretionary Waivers
      Waiver No.     Property Address
      None               1513 WOOLSEY ST
      5021                1235 CARRISON ST                      
8. 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. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 22-06 setting the Annual Registration Fee for fully-covered rental units for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023, due on July 1, 2022 (Budget & Personnel Committee) – 10 min.*
   2. Recommendation to adopt Resolutions 22-07 and 22-08 setting the Annual Registration Fee for rental units subject to Measure MM registration requirements for FY 2022-2023, and setting a lower per-unit Annual Registration Fee for Measure MM units in affordable housing projects, both due on July 1, 2022 (Budget & Personnel Committee) – 10 min.*
   3. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 22-09 setting the Summer Rental Registration Fee for qualifying sororities and fraternities (Budget & Personnel Committee) – 5 min.*
   4. Recommendation to adopt Resolution 22-10 authorizing the pass-through of a portion of the FY 2022-2023 Annual Registration Fee for fully-covered rental units to certain tenants (Budget & Personnel Committee) – 5 min.*
9. 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. Update on remote meeting possibilities for future public meetings – Verbal (General Counsel) – 5 min.*
   2. Update on City Manager’s communication regarding more staff returning to onsite work the week of May 9, 2022 – Verbal (Executive Director) – 2 min.*
   3. Update on the City’s Website Reinvention Project timeline and the Rent Board’s content migration – Verbal  (Executive Director/Board Secretary) – 2 min.*
   4. Copy of March 21, 2022 Compliance Notice mailing to owners of selected Measure MM units (Executive Director) – 2 min.*
   5. Copy of April 11, 2022 letter conveying the Board’s position on Assembly Bill 2386 (Bloom) Planning and zoning: tenancy in common subject to an exclusive occupancy agreement  (Chair Simon-Weisberg) – 1 min.*
   6. Copy of April 11, 2022 letter conveying the Board’s position on Assembly Bill 2469 (Wicks) Housing: Statewide Rental Registry (Chair Simon-Weisberg) – 1 min.*
   7. Commissioner attendance at Board and Committee meetings updated through the 1st quarter of 2022 (Board Secretary) – 1 min.*
   8. Date to submit agenda topics/items for May’s regular Rent Board meeting: Monday, May 9th at 5:00 p.m.  NOTE: This is a hard deadline and will be enforced.
10. COMMITTEE/BOARD MEETING UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
    1. Budget and Personnel Committee (Commissioner Chang, Chair) – 5 min.*
       Next regularly-scheduled meeting:  Tuesday, May 10th at 5:00 p.m.
       
       March 29th agenda
    2. Eviction/Section 8/Foreclosure Committee (Commissioner Mendonca, Chair) – 5 min.*
       Next regularly-scheduled meeting: Thursday, April 28th at 5:30 p.m.
       
       March 24th agenda
    3. Legislation, IRA/AGA & Registration Committee (LIRA Committee) (Commissioner Kelley, Chair) – 5 min.*
       Next regularly-scheduled meeting:  TBA
    4. Outreach Committee (Commissioner Laverde, Chair) – 5 min.*
       Next regularly-scheduled meeting:  Wednesday, April 20th at 5:15 p.m.
       
       April 20th agenda
    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 Committee on Housing: City Council/Rent Board – 5 min.*
       (Mayor Arreguín and Chair Simon-Weisberg, Committee Co-Chairs)
       Next regularly-scheduled meeting:  Monday, April 18th at 3:00 p.m.
       
       April 18th agenda packet
    7. Ad Hoc Committee on Rent Board Technology Issues (Commissioner Selawsky, Chair) – 3 min.*
       Next meeting date:  TBA
    8. Ad Hoc Committee on the Status of Virtual Meetings (Chair TBA) – 3 min.*
       Next meeting date:  TBA
    9. Updates and Announcements – 3 min.*
    10. Discussion of items for possible placement on future agenda – 5 min.*
         
11. ADJOURNMENT – Tonight’s meeting will be adjourned in honor of the historic appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.