Three members of the City Council recently voted to approve a Rental Stabilization Ordinance in Antioch, to much praise by local media, ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment) and a small group of renters.
Apparently, any single family home and condominium rental (regardless of year built), along with apartment buildings built and given a certificate of occupancy after 1995 are EXEMPT from this ordinance by The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act; a California state law that exempts certain kinds of residential rental units from rent control/stabilization ordinances set by cities.
With these types of exemptions, how is the passing of this ordinance helpful to these folks who live in pre-1995 apartments? How is it helpful to those living in a dilapidated rental exempt by Costa Hawkins? How is it an equitable ordinance if it does not apply to all rentals?
The folks that the new ordinance applies to, that came to the council meetings with ACCE and complained, are living (in their own words) in apartments that need major repairs, are full of vermin/bugs and have broken/inoperable appliances (among other issues) AND the landlords were raising rents above the 5% + inflation (maximum 10%) already set by state law!!
Wouldn’t it have been more helpful to these renters if the Council had passed an ordinance that requires landlords of these buildings to address and repair these major safety/health issues within a specified time period or the city would hire a contractor to make said repairs and put a lien for cost of repair on the taxes of the building owner to recoup the costs?
Wouldn’t it be helpful for the City Manager, along with the City Attorney to intervene on behalf of the tenants whose landlords have ignored the laws already on the books and are raising rents above the 5% plus inflation (maximum 10%) signed in 2019 under AB1482 ?
Wouldn’t it be helpful if it applied to any dilapidated rental?
Many landlords of these rundown apartment buildings are out of state corporations, so they continue to ignore the laws we already have on the books and they surely are not making the repairs!
I do not see how this ordinance is helping these folks. They need rentals that are habitable and free of vermin, bugs, mold, damage etc, are safe and have operable appliances.
I am sure we can all agree, whether we are a homeowner, renter or landlord; that rental homes must be safe and habitable. On the flip side, folks living in a safe and habitable rental must be expected to take good care of the residence and pay their rent on time. Failure on either side affects the surrounding neighbors and the community as a whole!
Seems to me, the council majority passed an ordinance that does nothing to address legitimate concerns and once again, is merely a band-aid solution to make it appear they have helped a group of people: when in fact, the ordinance does not apply to all renters, does not fully address the concerns brought up and is inequitable!!
Was this intentional? Was it to gain grandstanding air time on the news prior to the election? Was it to deliberately mislead a group of renters in the community as a political move in order to gain their approval and vote?
Was it deliberately passed, knowing it only applies to a small portion of the rental market so they can justify hiring another Deputy Attorney at a cost of approximately $294,714. to the tax-payers along with providing another of their buddies with an administrative assistant position?
We have a new City Manager the council majority appointed and hired, bypassing traditional and standard hiring practices. Shouldn’t he be overseeing that this is done properly? Is he experienced enough to know?
Does he even care?
Antioch Residents really need to pay attention to what is happening and decisions being made by the council majority!
It is time to really do your research and take into consideration whether they are sensible and reasonable, necessary and equitable, affordable and enforceable, and/or if they are redundant, targeted or unnecessary!!
Most of all, residents need to take into consideration the cost to the taxpayers of Antioch (financial impact) for some of these programs and ordinances being passed. Pay attention to whether or not they are being passed as a necessity or if being done to financially benefit an elected official and/or their buddies who are being hired to fill the unnecessary positions, provide services to, or provide consulting to the city, or are bypassing required bidding processes!!
Please vote on November 8th!
In saying that, please do your research on who you are voting for and who is funding them!
Sincerely
Michelle Lynn
Antioch Resident