DLANC Rent Stabilization Meeting Notes - October 2015

Head’s up - My apologies for the poor recording. There was a lot of movement in the small room to make room for folks and to try to hear over chairs scraping and side conversations occurring in the room and all the clapping. I stopped recording a few times when the room was being re-situated to add more chairs for more residents and/or the committee stopped talking for long sessions of time.



These notes are based on my hand written notes and the recording. This is more or less an abridged transcription of the meeting. If you would like a copy of the meeting audio file feel free to message my via tumblr or email me at dtlagirl at westballa dot net.

DLANC Community Impact Committee members in attendance are as follows :

- Eric Garcia

- Patricia Berman

- Michael Eisman

- James Todd

- Robert Newman

Three motions were presented:



15-0728 - Preserving RSO stock in Los Angeles



http://www.dlanc.org/sites/dlancd7.localhost/files/15-0728_mot_06-10-2015.pdf

https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=15-0728

14-0268 S4 & S5 - Addressing the Ellis Act surge in Los Angeles



http://www.dlanc.org/sites/dlancd7.localhost/files/14-0268-S4_mot_06-10-2015.pdf

https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=14-0268





The meeting room was roughly 15x30 feet in size. By 7:04 it was overcrowded with spillover of DTLA residents into the hallway. Inside the room there were roughly 28 people, not including board members. Out in the hallway a resident said there were probably 35-40 people.

7:05pm - Board member Eric Garcia explains motions and how they work and also begins to talk about all the motions and what they cover.

7:07pm - Board member Garcia brings up AirBnB as an example for the reason a motion might be filed via city council and board member Michael Eisman stops Garcia. Their exchange is inaudible but Eisman tries to clarify that that is just an example.

7:08pm - More DTLA residents fill the hallway outside, in attendance.

7:08pm [9:44 on the recording] - Board member Robert Newman asks Eric to clarify to the residents what the Ellis Act is.

7:09pm [10:30 on the recording] - Board member James Todd adds his thoughts on what Ellis Act is and what it means to DTLA residents.

7:14pm [15:20 on the recording] - I ask if the DLANC is aware how many Ellis’s have been claimed for DTLA for any amount of time. Board member Garcia says they have not been monitoring those numbers. Board member Patti Berman says they don’t have that data. Board member Garcia says he wishes they had better networks with outside organizations that do keep track of those numbers.

[An overall summary up till this point]

is board members explain the three motions are asking to monitor the current RSO stock, keep the RSO numbers where they’re at, and they explain that the Ellis Act is also being called the “out-of-business” act and is being used as a tool to close down the very limited amount of RSO’s available left in both DTLA and through the rest of L.A..

The council proceeds into asking for resident comments -

7:19pm [18:04 on the recording] - Van Duke comes to speak his thoughts. He’s sad to see Angelinos being pushed out of their DTLA homes.

7:22pm - A lady named Michelle comes up to share her thoughts. She’s concerned we’re chasing families out of DTLA.

7:23pm - Cynthia shares her thoughts. They are echos of Van’s and Michelle’s. Rent is getting out of control in DTLA. She is in the resident side of the office but I think is assisting with DLANC board.

7:24pm - Marybeth of the SB Tenants Association speaks her concerns. Her building just issued another 10% rent increase.

7:26pm - Megan Costello speaks her concerns. An echo of the previous opinions.

7:28pm - A gentleman who does not mention his name speaks. He doesn’t want DTLA to become a mono culture.

7:30pm - Board member Garcia reads a written comment from a resident named Melissa who had to leave.

7:31pm - Jacob from the Fashion District spoke. He urged everyone that DTLA residents need to meet like this more often and that everyone needs to vote a lot more too.

7:33pm - Resident Jessica is a veteran resident of DTLA and wants the group to remember that they are all the reason DTLA is so great and to not give that up.

[The public comments stop here]

and board member Berman tells people who want to open windows in the hot little room not to. You’ll hear her say “No, no, no” on the recording. The air conditioner crapped out and the room gets hotter. That’s what that’s all about.

7:35pm [34:00 in the recording] - One last public comment, Tyco says emotional appeals aren’t enough to save the rent rates in DTLA.

7:39pm [38:00 in the recording] - Resident Megan Costello (I think) speaks up when the board asks our opinions on the motions. If we agree on the points of each motion. Costello answers and everyone in the room agrees. One interesting point of this discussion I would like to point out is the question of what dates to move the RSO law to. Currently set at 1978 - Megan suggests moving the mandatory year up to 1985 however that still wouldn’t cover all the new development that came online in DTLA.

[At this point]

the board members agree to make their power point slides available to anyone who wants them. From what I can see all the slides are - are copies of the motions, more or less. There are some explanatory slides on how processes work, too.

The board also asks everyone in attendance to attend the DLANC’s larger meetings - every 2nd Tuesday of the month.

7:41pm - The board begins to summarize how they believe they should answer the city’s motions.

7:42pm - Board member Garcia reiterates that it’s time to look at outside professional opinions on city council files that haven’t been made entirely clear, as of yet.

7:45pm - Board member Garcia says he wants more RSO inventory and thinks the law should be modified to more recent dates. He says affordable housing is a human right. He too agrees with the residents concern that no one wants L.A. to become the next San Francisco.

7:48pm Board member James Todd brings up the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act as a barrier in the way of fair rents. He says it needs to be challenged in the courts. He wants to unite against Costa-Hawkins with other cities. And yes, he is for the expansion of more RSO.

7:48pm - Board member Patty Berman chimes in and says she is afraid that the (I think) rest of the DLANC will shoot these ideas down.

7:51pm - Board member Robert Newman says he is against anymore demolition of RSO buildings. He wants to look into what we can do to expand more RSO housing as well. He says affordable housing isn’t just a homeless issue and that it should be for everyone. He thinks maybe a great way to combat the RSO issue is to give incentives to build affordable housing.

7:55pm [54:30 in the recording] - There is a member from the Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council in the audience who chimes in. She wants to know if the DLANC knows what DTLA considers an “average cost” of housing. There’s some confusion in understanding how to answer the question. One board member says everywhere in L.A. is unaffordable and then board member Berman says she prefers no one on the committee to answer that question. Everyone in the committee agrees that if you want to know the answer to that question that you should check the AMI.

7:57pm - Board member Michael Eisman says he wants to speak on the behalf of the stakeholders. Board member Eisman says that perhaps there can be room for a rolling rent stabilization date. Instead of a set date, for example 1978, that the date is a constant 10 or 20-year time per building giving the owners time to make their money back and putting more RSO stock on the market at a constant. Everyone in the room agrees. Residents and board members. Eisman also says residents should get the first right of refusal by law. He knows most can’t afford a condo but he thinks that should still be a part of the future as he says it benefits everyone.

8:00pm - Board member Eric Garcia tells the residents what the next steps are in the process since we have all come to a standard agreement on the motions.

8:01pm - Michael Eisman says Huizar has a 96% rating for siding with DLANC.

8:01pm - Board member Garcia says the next meeting there will be draft statements. October 28th - same time same place. Then the draft statement go to the main board meeting on November 10th. He wants everyone who came tonight to be at that main board meeting. He says we aren’t allowed to talk there but our presence will definitely make a difference. (So if 60-70 people show up there that’s a win for DTLA in this note taker’s opinion.)

8:03pm - Board member James Todd asks everyone to keep in mind that this is not the only process to get these requests considered and moved on. He says to stay hopeful and work together.

[The floor opens for more public comment before ending the meeting]

8:04pm - Resident Remo asks about the clarification of what Ellis means to historical buildings and the council clarifies that even though those buildings cannot be demolished, residents can still be kicked out for renovation.

8:06pm [1:05:00 in the recording] - The Central Hollywood board member asks the DLANC about alliances. DLANC Garcia says more networking between all the councils would be ideal.

8:06pm - Apparently the name of the Housing Impact Committee changed. This was briefly discussed here.

8:07pm - Board member Eric Garcia says the other neighborhood councils are hard to reach out to and get feedback.

8:09pm [1:07:00 in the recording] - Board member Berman talks about going to city council meetings. She says if you really want to be heard then go to the meetings. She says they hold those meetings during hours most people are at work and can’t make the meetings. The only people who do go are business owners, people without jobs, and people who go to every meeting to beat the drum for one issue. She says our voice ( I think she means the DTLA neighborhood voice) is rarely hear.

8:10pm - The board members close out and say they are for all three motions. They want to increase the stock of RSOs, put an end the Ellis Act evictions, and regulate the eviction and housing schemes.

[At this point]

One of the residents suggests anyone left in the hallway should switch out and come in for any questions they may not be clear on.

FOR ADDITIONAL HOUSING GRASSROOTS INITIATIVES AND SUPPORT LOOK AT THESE ORGANIZATIONS: