WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENTS
READ INTO THE RECORD
From: Pamela Beck <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2022 12:40:35 PM
To: Garin Hussenjian
Cc: Jessica Mueller
Subject: My comments for the city council meeting tomorrow CAUTION: External Sender
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Hi Garin,
Below are my comments to be read aloud tomorrow. As I thought, I unfortunately will not be able to attend. Jessica, my assistant, will also follow up by going through the protocol you mentioned in your email. She will also be on the call in my absence.
Thanks!
Pamela
Pamela Beck’s note:
Hi, this note is from Pamela Beck. I was hoping to join this meeting virtually but I am unfortunately unable to do so.
I would like to add a couple of comments to Chief Stainbrook’s Neighborhood Watch presentation. I’m happy to report that BH Neighborhood Watch continues to grow. We have over 900 members, 96 plus block captains. Our goal is to link and empower the residents of Beverly Hills so that we can communicate about crime and emergencies.
How does our model work? We are a matrix of communication. BH Neighborhood Watch encourages members to volunteer as block captains. Block captains set up block chats where neighbors within their block can post information on suspicious activity or an emergency.
At the top of this matrix is the Block Captain Chat where we inform each other about various incidents related to safety. Block captains can then reach out to their block with any relevant info that should be passed along. Within moments, the entire network is alerted. At the same time, I and a couple of other block captains, check in with our assigned contacts at BHPD, verifying posts and trying to get more details to share. With this vetted update we are able to negate rumors swirling around social media.
We also offer community zooms with BHPD and city officials when anything worrisome is going on, as well as occasional newsletters.
I’m happy to report that our efforts in building BH Neighborhood Watch, which began in the flats, have now expanded. We are also supporting and encouraging leaders and block captains north and south of the flats so that we can all work together.
If anyone present would like to join BH Neighborhood Watch please visit our sign up link at:
www.bhneighborhoodwatch.com
Or email me at [email protected].
We work hand in hand with BHPD, BHFD and of course, Just In Case BH.
Make your voices heard. We’re a team!
Thanks!
Pamela
From: Andrew Kavanagh
To: City Clerk
Subject: Public comment for study session item #2 COVID-19 Related Rent Protections Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 8:51:58 AM
CAUTION: External Sender
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Hello. I would like to make a comment to be read in tonight's Beverly Hills City Council meeting.
Since the pandemic I have lost a network of 6 affiliate clients and 2 other clients that I would do in person work for. I have had to borrow from family and friends to pay my rent and I continue to do so. A rent increase now would make a painful situation even more painful. Please consider the reality of what people are going through. Thank You!
Andrew K
1 Du
From: Mark Elliot <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 2:32 PM
To: City Clerk
Subject: Study session NON agenda comment please
CAUTION: External Sender
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Dear Mayor Wunderlich and members of City Council:
Thank you very much for the time and effort each of you devotes to city business. That is much appreciated.
I want to make a suggestion concerning tenant protections which is not directly related to the residential moratorium but implicated by it.
The aspect of the moratorium that most concerns me personally is the prohibition on no‐fault evictions. As we know there are about a half‐dozen reasons for lawful termination. I believe the most likely reason in the coming years will be termination for redevelopment pursuant to the Ellis Act. I expect some ramping‐up of evictions new construction particularly because we have some projects in the pipeline or about to enter it.
Ellis allows the landlord to exit the rental business. It mandates 120 days notice to tenants and one year notice to tenants who are seniors. Such notices were tolled by the moratorium; other tenants may not have been noticed yet.
I want to propose that our city consider adding a provision in our rent stabilization ordinance to cushion the impact of future tenant displacement under Ellis due to redevelopment. The Act allows localities to impose additional conditions, and our neighbors have. I suggest that all tenants in Beverly Hills be provided one year’s notice prior to eviction. There may well be other opportunities too.
If the city’s objective is to keep tenants housed in a difficult rental market, then one strategy should be to moderate the pace of displacement.
Historic preservation will help too. But we’re still waiting on a survey of historic multifamily resources so that the city can properly reach out to owners about Mills Act advantages. I hope it comes soon.
Thank you very much for your consideration,
Mark Elliot
1 Du
From: Mark Elliot <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 2:22 PM
To: City Clerk
Subject: Comment for study session item #2 COVID-19 Related Rent Protections CAUTION: External Sender
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Dear Mayor Wunderlich and members of City Council:
The staff report makes a valiant effort to try to impose a rational framework on what really is a host of uncertainties.
Please let me offer some observations and a suggestion.
First, we cannot know the extent to which landlords were deprived of a rent increase. Some landlords raised the rent like clockwork every 12 months but some didn’t. Sometimes two or three years would elapse between increases. We can’t say all landlords were denied two increases.
Second, we can’t say that landlords lost a first‐year 3.1% increase due to the moratorium. I refer to the table of percentages on page four: for the period between July of 2019 and June of 2020, only one‐quarter of landlords, at most, were denied the 3.1% increase. Up to three‐quarters probably did raise the rent in that fiscal year before the moratorium.
Second and more important, we know from industry studies that the rental market dipped during the pandemic. Rents dropped. Prospective tenants stopped shopping. Would that market have allowed a landlord a 3% or 3.1% rent increase? I don’t think so. If city carries‐forward that magnitude of increase then the landlord could recapture a percentage increase greater than they could have gained — and they would be demanding it in a hot post‐pandemic market.
Third and as important, landlords costs were very low for most of the pandemic. the table on page 4 shows that CPI for the 2021 fiscal year was only 1.2%. That is much lower than the allowed percentage increase the landlord claims to have lost. Moreover, looked at the year‐over‐year change in CPI across the duration of pandemic and found that CPI averaged only 1.3% through December.
Finally there is coming sticker shock. I expect the percentage increase this July to be about 6%. How much more would council like to add to carry forward prior delayed increases? Given longtime low inflation, I don’t believe a carry‐over is necessary. But if permitted I suggest a one‐time carry over of up to 1.3%. There is too much uncertainty to justify any of the proposed carry‐forward schemes.
Thank you for your time and effort,
Mark Elliot