Agenda Item A.5
CPMS CONSENT CALENDAR
Meeting Date: August 15, 2023
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: Jaime A. Valdez, Neighborhood Services Director
CONTACT: Chuck Flacks, Homelessness Services Coordinator SUBJECT: Revision to Award of Contract for Rental Housing Mediation Services RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the City Manager to execute a Professional Services Agreement between the City of Goleta and the City of Santa Barbara’s Rental Housing Mediation Program for one year, beginning July 1, 2023, in an amount not to exceed $60,000 with a termination date of June 30, 2024.
BACKGROUND:
On June 27, 2023, the City Council approved a Professional Services Agreement between the City of Goleta and the City of Santa Barbara’s Rental Housing Mediation Program .
However, the City of Santa Barbara expressed the need to make some changes to the contracting language. While the terms of the agreement have not changed, the language that was changed was sufficient to require a second approval by City Council (Attachment 1).
The City of Santa Barbara’s Rental Housing Median Program (“RHMP”) has provided a wide range of rental housing mediation services to the City for the benefit of its residents since incorporation, except for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010-11. These services include, but are not limited to, the following:
RHMP staff consultations (specifically and expressly excluding legal advice) regarding California tenant/landlord rights and responsibilities and fair housing; and
Information, sample letters, printed materials on tenant/landlord rights and responsibilities and other materials relating to rental housing disputes and mediation; and
Collaborative interaction and referrals to soci al service agencies as needed for rapid re-housing and prevention of homelessness; and
1 Meeting Date: August 15, 2023
RHMP staff conducted mediations by telephone or in -person, with consenting parties to resolve rental-housing disputes.
.
Typically, the RHMP program serves approximately 30 Goleta residents per quarter or 120 per fiscal year. Because of the confidentiality of the proceedings, the results of the mediations are not publicly available. However, without these services, Goleta tenants and landlords may not have readily available alternative information about their rights and responsibilities. Such services provide significant advantages in preventing homelessness whereas mediation may result in alternatives to eviction.
The RHMP program provides its services to those who request such services for as long as necessary to reach resolution. Some cases take over 14 hours, according to the RHMP staff.
DISCUSSION:
On April 20, 2023, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Fair Housing Services due May 5, 2023. The request specified that the City was seeking both fair housing services and rental housing mediation.
The City received proposals from The Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County for fair housing, and from Conflict Solutions Center for mediation services. Neither proposal adequately addressed the City’s need. Legal Aid Foundation’s proposal provided fair housing services, but not mediation. Conversely, Conflict Solutions’ proposal offered mediation services, but not fair housing services. At that time the City of Santa Barbara’s Rental Housing Mediation Program did not submit a bid in response to the RFP, citing the need to wait for the City of Santa Barbara’s budget to pass.
Upon passage of the City of Santa Barbara’s budget, on June 14th, 2023, the City received a formal bid for the same scope of services that RHMP had provided for the past 19 years. Given that the City has been generally satisfied with the services provided by RHMP, Neighborhood Services staff determined that the RHMP proposal was the most comprehensive and served the greatest number of people based on the cost.
Fair housing education and community awareness are important requirements of the City’s Housing Element Section HE 3.1 which requires that the City collaborate with the RHMP or similar organizations “ in support of efforts to eliminate discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, disability, age, sex, family (including gender identity or sexual orientation), familial status (due to pregnancy or the presence of children), national origin, or other arbitrary factors consistent with state and federal fair housing law, and will continue to require nondiscrimination provisions in rental agreements and deed restrictions for housing, including Below Market Rate (BMR) housing units subject to City-required affordability agreements.”
In addition, this service helps to advance one of the four goals of the City’s Homelessness Strategic Plan whic h is “Prevent At -Risk Individuals from Becoming Homeless (Homelessness Prevention).”
2 Meeting Date: August 15, 2023
FISCAL IMPACTS:
The Goleta portion of the RHMP budget is 13% according to the City of Santa Barbara.
They have requested a 33% increase in cost for this Fiscal Year. There are sufficient funds in 101 -60-6200-51300 and 423 -60-6200-54013 to cover this program for FY 2023/24.
ALTERNATIVES:
Based on the results from the RFP, there is no feasible alternative to the Rental Housing Mediation Program in the region. The Cit y of Santa Barbara would not commit to more than another year of service, and they requested a 33% increase for the coming fiscal year. Thus, there is concern about the program’s sustainability.
City of Goleta staff did not research the possibility of re cruiting an agency outside of the County of Santa Barbara to provide these services. Such a larger RFP might be an alternative.
Reviewed By: Legal Review By: Approved By:
___________________ ___________________ _________________ Kristine Schmidt Megan Garibaldi Robert Nisbet
Assistant City Manager City Attorney City Manager
ATTACHMENT:
1. Agreement For Rental Housing Mediation Program Services Between the City of Goleta and the City of Santa Barbara for FY 2023/24
3 Attachment 1
Agreement for Rental Housing Mediation Program Services Between The City of Goleta and The City of Santa Barbara
4 Project Name: Rental Housing Mediation Program
AN AGREEMENT FOR RENTAL HOUSING MEDIATION PROGRAM SERVICES
BETWEEN THE CITY OF GOLETA
AND
CITY OF SANTA BARBARA
THIS AGREEMENT FOR RENTAL HOUSING MEDIATION PROGRAM
SERVICES, made and entered into this day of 2023, by and between
the CITY OF GOLETA, a municipal corporation (hereinafter referred to as “CITY”), and CITY OF SANTA BARBARA (hereinafter referred to as “SANTA BARBARA”).
WHEREAS, as part of the requirements of the Community Development Block Grant program, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that the CITY , as a grantee, affirmatively further fair housing by providing fair housing related services to its residents; and
WHEREAS, the CITY desires to provide those fair housing services by:
a. Providing information on landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities to residents living in rental housing in the City of Goleta;
b. Providing telephone, virtual, and in -person / “face -to-face” (when safe due to Covid) mediations to parties in rental housing disputes residing in the City of Goleta; and
c. Informing City of Goleta residents of the services available to them.
WHEREAS, SANTA BARBARA provides fair housing services through its Rental Housing Mediation Program by offering information on California Rules and Regulations pertaining to landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities to parties in a residential rental housing situation, and providing mediation services to landlords, tenants, roommates and neighbors regarding disputes pertaining to residential rental housing; and
WHEREAS, the CITY desires to provide fa ir housing services to Goleta residents through contract with SANTA BARBARA for rental housing dispute information and mediation services to be provided by Santa Barbara’s Rental Housing Mediation Program; and
WHEREAS, the City Council, on this
day of
2023, approved this
AGREEMENT and authorized the City Manager to execute the AGREEMENT per Section 3.05.240 of the Goleta Municipal Code.
NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the CITY and SANTA BARBARA agree as follows:
DocuSign Envelope ID: CF48A24E-7D71-4310-9759-6D7A6B2F4AA7 5 City of Goleta Agreement with City of Santa Barbara
Rental Housing Mediation Program Service Agreement
1. TERM, PROGRESS, AND COMPLETION
The term of this Agreement for Rental Housing Mediation Program Services is from the date first written above to June 30, 2 024, unless the Agreement is terminated as provided for herein.
SANTA BARBARA shall not commence work on the services to be performed until July 1, 2023. All services shall be completed quarterly and SANTA BARBARA shall provide quarterly and an annual statistical report of services to CITY.
2. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
SANTA BARBARA offers fair housing services through its Community Development Department, Housing and Human Services Division which operates the Rental Housing Mediation Program (RHMP). SANTA BAR BARA, through its RHMP program offers information on landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities.
SANTA BARBARA through its RHMP program also provides mediation services pursuant to the Dispute Resolution Programs Act Statutes and Regulations as set forth in the California Business and Professions Code Section 465 et seq , and in Title 16, Division 36 of the California Code of Regulations. RHMP mediates disputes between any combination of parties: landlord -tenant, roommate -roommate, property manager -tenant and sublessor-sublessee. Rental housing disputes generally concern security deposits, termination of tenancies, habitability and repair, invasion of privacy, rent increases, forcible evictions and general information, including but not limited to: lease te rmination, retaliatory eviction, rent withholding, repair and deduct, abandonment, last month’s rent, change in terms of tenancy, late fees, co-tenants, sub-tenants, and guests.
3. DELIVERY OF SERVICE
SANTA BARBARA agrees to provide the following specific types of dispute resolution services to CITY:
a. Staff consultation (specifically and expressly excluding legal advice) regarding California Tenant/Landlord Rights and Responsibilities and Fair Housing;
b. Information, sample letters, printed materials on Tenant/Landlord Rights and Responsibilities and other materials relating to rental housing disputes and mediation. Available for distribution in person, email and fax;
c. Collaborative interaction and referrals to social service agencies as needed for rapid re-housing and prevention of homelessness;
d. Staff-conducted mediations by telephone, virtual, and in-person / “face-to-face” (when safe due to Covid) with consenting parties to resolve rental -housing disputes. Parties’ terms of agreement can be memorialized in mutually agreed- upon binding settlement agreements written by staff and signed by the parties.
DocuSign Envelope ID: CF48A24E-7D71-4310-9759-6D7A6B2F4AA7 6 City of Goleta Agreement with City of Santa Barbara
Rental Housing Mediation Program Service Agreement
These agreements can be admissible and enforceable in a court of law.
Mediations, can take up to 14 hours of staff time depending on various factors, including the special needs of persons with disabilities, and whether or not translation is required;
e. Public speaking, outreach and education on mediation as an alternative to costly legal resolutions to rental housing disputes; and
f. Administrative tasks associated with the above.
4. TARGETED POPULATION AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA
SANTA BARBARA shall provide residential rental housing dispute resolution, information and mediation services to residents in the City of Goleta through its Rental Housing Mediation Program. This agreement does not include services for residents of mobile homes, trailer parks, hotels , motels or commercial businesses. All other City of Goleta residents are eligible for services under this Agreement.
5. HOURS OF OPERATION
SANTA BARBARA shall provide staff through its Rental Housing Mediation Program to answer the telephone at (805) 564 -5420, Monday through Thursday and alternating Fridays from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Voice mail service is available when staff is on the phone or meeting with a client. The fax number is (805) 564 -5477. The website address is: www.santabarbaraca.gov/services/home/rhm/default.asp.
6. CHARGES FOR SERVICE
Staff-conducted mediations, staff consultation and informational services of the RHMP as provided in this Agreement are available free of charge for the residents of rental properties located within the City of Goleta.
7. FEES
CITY agrees to pay SANTA BARBARA a flat fee of $ 60,000 for the term of this agreement payable at the rate of $ 15,000 per quarter. This fee is a flat fee, not hourly, and provides for an unlimited provision of information on tenant/landlord rights and responsibilities and mediations to parties in rental housing disputes to residents residing in the City of Goleta as furt her described in Section 3 of this Agreement. CITY shall pay the quarterly fee on or before the following dates: November 1, 2023; February 1, 2024; May 1, 2024; July 31, 2024.
8. QUARTERLY STATUS REPORT CONTENT
Each quarterly report shall include:
a. A detailed itemized accounting of the services provided; DocuSign Envelope ID: CF48A24E-7D71-4310-9759-6D7A6B2F4AA7 7 City of Goleta Agreement with City of Santa Barbara
Rental Housing Mediation Program Service Agreement
b. A monthly summary of the workload, including number of Goleta residents assisted and the type of services provided;
c. A quarterly summary of the workload, including number of Goleta residents assisted and the type of services provided; and
d. A year-to-date summary of the number of Goleta residents assisted and the type of services provided.
9. HOLD HARMLESS AND INDEMNITY
SANTA BARBARA shall defend, indemnify, and hold CITY, its officers, employees, and agents, harmless from and against any and all liability, loss, expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), or claims for injury or damages arising out of the performance of this Agreement but only in proportion to and to the extent that such liability, loss, expense, attorneys’ fees, or claims for injury or damages are caused by or result from the negligent or intentional acts or omissions of Santa Barbara, its officers, employees, or agents.
CITY shall defend, indemnify, and hold SANTA BARBARA, its officers, employees, and agents, harmless from and against any and all liability, loss, expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), or claims for injury or damages arising out of the performance of this Agreement but only in proportion to and to the extent that such liability, loss, expense, attorneys’ fees, or claims for injury or damages are caused by or result from the negligent or intentional acts or omissions of CITY, its officers, employees, or agents.
10. INSURANCE
Upon request, SANTA BARBARA shall provide evidence of self -insurance pursuant to State Law adequate to address any claims which may arise as under this Agreement and equivalent to the following limits:
a. GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE: General liability insurance including contractual liability for the agreement between CITY and SANTA BARBARA.
CITY its officers, employees and agents shall be named as “Additional Insured” on any policy. The limit of liability of said policy for general liability insurance shall not be less th an $2,000,000 per occurrence combined single limit for bodily injury and property damage. Personal injury coverage should also be in the amount of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and aggregate. Said policy or policies shall contain a provision that such insurance as is afforded by this policy shall be primary and contributory to the full limits stated in the declarations, and if the SANTA BARBARA or CITY has other valid and collectible insurance for a loss covered by this policy, that other insurance shall be excess only.
b. WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE: Statutory Workers’ Compensation and Employer’s Liability Insurance shall cover all SANTA BARBARA’s staff while performing any work incidental to the performance of this AGREEMENT. The policy shall provide that no cancellation, major change in coverage, or expiration DocuSign Envelope ID: CF48A24E-7D71-4310-9759-6D7A6B2F4AA7 8 City of Goleta Agreement with City of Santa Barbara
Rental Housing Mediation Program Service Agreement
shall be effective or occur until at least (30) calendar days after receipt of such notice by CITY.
11. RELATIONSHIP OF PARTIES
The relationship of the parties to this AGREEMENT shall be that of independent contractors and that in no event shall RHMP staff be considered officers, agents, servants or employees of CITY. SANTA BARBARA shall be solely responsible for any workers compensation insurance, withholding taxes, une mployment insurance, and any other employer obligations associated with the described work.
12. TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT
CITY or SANTA BARBARA, by notifying other party in writing, may upon 30 calendar days’ notice, terminate without cause any portion or all of the services agreed to be performed under this AGREEMENT. In the event of termination, SANTA BARBARA shall have the right and obligation to immediately complete work in progress for the purpose of closing out services. All compensation shall be pro-rated based on the annual fee at the time of termination and shall be payable by CITY to SANTA BARBARA within 30 days following submission of a final statement by SANTA BARBARA.
13. ACCEPTANCE OF FINAL PAYMENT CONSTITUTES RELEASE
The acceptance by SANTA BARBARA of the final payment made under this AGREEMENT shall operate as and be a release of CITY from all claims and liabilities for compensation to SANTA BARBARA for anything done, furnished, or relating to SANTA BARBARA's work or services. Acceptance of payment shall be any negotiation of CITY's check or the failure to make a written extra compensation claim within 10 calendar days of the receipt of that check.
14. MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS
At any time during normal business hours and as often as CITY may deem necessary, SANTA BARBARA shall make available to a representative of CITY for examination of all its records with respect to all matters covered by this AGREEMENT and will permit CITY, at CITY’s cost, to examine and/or reproduce such records. SANTA BARBARA will retain such financial records, time sheets, work reports, invoices, bills and project records for at least two years after termination or final payment under this AGREEMENT.
15. WAIVER; REMEDIES CUMULATIVE
Failure by a party to insist upon the strict perform ance of any of the provisions of this AGREEMENT by the other party, irrespective of the length of time for which such failure continues, shall not constitute a waiver of such party's right to demand strict compliance by such other party in the future. No waiver by a party of a default or breach of the other party shall be effective or binding upon such party unless made in writing by such party, and no such waiver shall be implied from any omissions by a party to take any action DocuSign Envelope ID: CF48A24E-7D71-4310-9759-6D7A6B2F4AA7 9 City of Goleta Agreement with City of Santa Barbara
Rental Housing Mediation Program Service Agreement
with respect to such default or breach. No express written waiver of a specified default or breach shall affect any other default or breach, or cover any other period of time, other than any default or breach and/or period of time specified.
All of the remedies permitted or available to a party under this AGREEMENT, or at law or in equity, shall be cumulative and alternative, and invocation of any such right or remedy shall not constitute a waiver or election of remedies with respect to any other permitted or available right of remedy.
16. CONSTRUCTION OF LANGUAGE OF AGREEMENT
The provisions of this AGREEMENT shall be construed as a whole according to its common meaning of purpose of providing a public benefit and not strictly for or against any party. It shall be construed consistent with the provisions hereof, in order to achieve the objectives and purposes of the parties. Wherever required by the context, the singular shall include the plural and vice versa, and the masculine gender shall include the feminine or neutral genders or vice versa.
17. MITIGATION OF DAMAGES
In all situations arising out of this AGREEMENT, the parties shall attempt to avoid and minimize the damages resulting from the conduct of the other party.
18. GOVERNING LAW
This AGREEMENT, and the right s and obligations of the PARTIES, shall be governed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California. Should litigation occur, venue shall be in Superior Court of Santa Barbara County.
19. NON-APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS
Payments due and payable to SANTA BARBARA for current services are within the current budget and within an available, unexhausted and unencumbered appropriation of CITY funds. In the event CITY has not appropriated funds for payment of SANTA BARBARA’s services beyond the 2023-2024 fiscal year, this AGREEMENT shall cover only those costs incurred up to the conclusion of the 2023-2024 fiscal year. In the event of such non -appropriate of funds, City shall immediately inform Santa Barbara of such fact and Santa Barbara may stop accepting requests for services from all Goleta residents.
20. MODIFICATION OF AGREEMENT
The tasks described in this AGREEMENT and all other terms of this AGREEMENT may be modified only upon mutual written consent of CITY and SANTA BARBARA.
21. USE OF THE TERM “CITY”
Reference to “CITY” in this AGREEMENT includes City Manager or any authorized representative acting on behalf of CITY.
DocuSign Envelope ID: CF48A24E-7D71-4310-9759-6D7A6B2F4AA7 10 City of Goleta Agreement with City of Santa Barbara
Rental Housing Mediation Program Service Agreement
22. CAPTIONS
The captions or headings in this AGREEMENT are for convenience only and in no other way define, limit or describe the scope or intent of any provision or section of the AGREEMENT.
23. AUTHORIZATION
Each party has expressly authorized the execution of this AG REEMENT on its behalf and bind said party and its respective administrators, officers, directors, shareholders, divisions, subsidiaries, agents, employees, successors, assigns, principals, partners, joint venturers, insurance carriers and any others who may claim through it to this AGREEMENT.
24. ENTIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN PARTIES
This AGREEMENT supersedes any other agreements, either oral or in writing, between the PARTIES hereto with respect to the rend ering of services, and contains all of the covenants and agreements between the PARTIES with respect to said services.
25. PERMITS
SANTA BARBARA, at its sole expense, shall obtain and maintain during the term of this AGREEMENT, all appropriate permits, licenses, and certificates that may be required in connection with the performance of services under this AGREEMENT.
26. PARTIAL INVALIDITY
If any provision in this AGREEMENT is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will nevertheless continue in full force without being impaired or invalidated in any way.
27. NOTICES
Any notice required to be given hereunder shall be deemed to have been given by depositing said notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, and addressed as follows:
GOLETA: Robert Nisbet, City Manager
City of Goleta
130 Cremona Drive, Suite B
Goleta, CA 93117
DocuSign Envelope ID: CF48A24E-7D71-4310-9759-6D7A6B2F4AA7 11 SANTA BARBARA: Laura Dubbels,
Housing & Human Services Manager
City of Santa Barbara
P.O. Box 1990
Santa Barbara, CA 93102-1990
28. COUNTERPARTS AND ELECTRONIC/FACSIMILE SIGNATURES
This contract may be executed in any number of original counterparts. The contract will be effective when all parties have executed the same counterpart, or each party has executed separate counterparts and has delivered a copy of the signature page of the counterpart to the other party. Upon execution by all of the parties, the counterparts shall constitute one and the same contract. Counterparts or signature pages may be delivered via delivery of an original or duplicate in person or by mail, or a duplicate, including scanned copy, in an electronic format, including transmission by electronic mail, secure Internet drop-box, facsimile, or similar other standard interchange format capable of reproduction and storage.
In concurrence and witness whereof, this AGREEMENT has been executed by the parties effective on the date and year first above written.
CITY OF GOLETA CITY OF SANTA BARBARA
Robert Nisbet Elias Isaacson
City Manager Community Development Director
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO CONTENT:
Deborah S. Lopez Laura Dubbels
City Clerk Housing & Human Services Manager
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
MEGAN GARIBALDI, CITY ATTORNEY
Scott Shapses Sarah Knecht
Deputy City Attorney City Attorney
DocuSign Envelope ID: CF48A24E-7D71-4310-9759-6D7A6B2F4AA7 12