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Agenda Report
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April 7, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Legislative Policy Committee (March 4,2025)
FROM:City Clerk
1 SUBJECT: ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
ESTABLISHING PROTOCOLS AND PROCEDURES TO MAKE
APPOINTMENTS TO THE PASADENA RENTAL HOUSING BOARD
(PRHB) FOR SCHEDULED AND UNSCHEDULED VACANCIES
AFFECTING TENANT MEMBER, AT LARGE MEMBER, ALTERNATE
TENANT MEMBER, AND ALTERNATE AT LARGE MEMBER
POSITIONS
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council:
(1) Find that the proposed action contained in the agenda report is exempt from review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") in accordance with State CEQA Guidelines § 15061(b)(3), the "common sense" provision that CEQA only applies to projects that may have a significant effect on the environment; and
(2) Adopt a resolution approving and formalizing the process to make appointments to the PRHB for scheduled and unscheduled vacancies affecting Tenant Member, At Large Member, Alternate Tenant Member, and Alternate At Large Member positions on the Board.
BACKGROUND:
The Pasadena Rental Housing Board is the administrative body empowered to "administer and enforce" the provisions of City Charter Article XVIII - The Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment. The Board is comprised of 13 members, with seven Tenant Members, four At Large Members, and two Alternate Members. Pursuant to City Charter Section 1811(c), the City Council, collectively, appoints the At Large and Alternate members of the PRHB. The seven Tenant Members (one from each Council District) are nominated by each District Councilmember and collectively approved by the City Council. Pursuant to City Charter Section 1811 (d), "Rental Board members shall serve four (4) year terms, unless they are appointed to fill unexpired terms or are designated to fill a two (2) year term on the initial Board."
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MEETING OF.4/7/2025AGENDA ITEM NO.4
Pasadena Rental Housing Board Application Process
April 7, 2025
City Charter Section 1811 provides details regarding eligibility, term limits, appointments, reappointments, and unscheduled vacancies to serve on the PRHB. The City Clerk's Office is tasked with administering the application process for Board seats, which requires the submission of an application, a nomination petition with at least 25 signatures of residents supporting the applicant (from the same Council District), and a Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700) filing. The City Council's Office is responsible for publishing solicitation notices for vacancies on the Board and for selecting and appointing Board Members.
Previous Appointments to the PRHB
In 2023, when initial appointments were made to the PRHB, there were more than 40 applications submitted for City Council consideration for the 13 positions on the initial Board. Regarding the seven District Tenant Members, each Councilmember submitted their nominee to serve on the Board to represent the District, with the full City Council acting to ratify the seven nominations.
In terms of the four At Large Members, the City Council is tasked with acting collectively on these seats. Therefore, the Council conducted a consensus building process with each Councilmember responsible for ranking their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th choices of At Large Member applicants. The rankings were announced publicly and tallied at the meeting as a way to narrow the field of applicants and identify commonality of preferences among the City Council. Due to the high number of applicants, and in the interest of time, there were no formal inten/iews or statements made by applicants at the meeting. Following the tally of preferences, and further deliberations, the City Council was able to identify those applicants with consensus support. The Council then acted by motion and second to appoint four At Large Members, as well as one Alternate At Large Member and one Alternate Tenant Member to serve on the Board.
In December 2024, an unscheduled vacancy occurred on the Board for the Alternate Tenant Member position. Pursuant to the City Charter, there was a 90-day application period, with the City Clerk's Office able to confirm 4 applicants having met all the application and Charter requirements to serve in the Alternate Tenant Member position.
As occurred in the initial appointment process, the City Clerk's Office distributed the application materials for the qualified applicants to the City Council for review and consideration. However, with this process, since there were only 4 qualified applicants, each applicant was asked to attend the Council meeting, provide a brief statement regarding their interests in serving on the Board, and respond to questions by members of the City Council. Once each applicant completed the "interview" at the meeting, the Vice Mayor asked each Councilmember to announce their top three choices, with the results tallied and announced by the City Clerk. Following deliberations, the Council then approved a motion and second to select one of the applicants to serve as the Alternate Tenant Member.
Pasadena Rental Housing Board Application Process
April 7, 2025
Upcoming End of Terms
On May 24, 2025, the 2-year terms of five members appointed to the initial iteration of the Pasadena Rental Housing Board will expire, and the City Council will be asked to select both Tenant and At Large positions to serve new 4-year terms. Following is the list of initial Board Members whose staggered terms are set to expire:
Brandon Lamar
Yaneli Soriano Santiago
Deborah Dunlop
Allison Henry
Adela Torres
District 3/Tenant
District 5/Tenant
District 7/Tenant
At Large
At Large
These five positions are eligible for reappointment, having served just two years in their initial Board positions. Charter Section 1811 (d) states, "Members may serve no more than eight (8) consecutive years" on the Board. Each member was asked to again complete the application process to reaffirm both their application information and support in the community for their reappointment.
Vacancies and End of Terms on the PRHB - Roles and Responsibilities City Council's Office - Prepares and publishes Notice of Solicitation for Applications
Rent Stabilization Department and Pasadena Rental Housing Board - Publicizes Notice of Solicitation to ensure community awareness of application period City Clerk's Office -Administers the application process, certifies applicants that have met the application requirements (pursuant to City Charter Section 1811), and submits applications of qualified applicants to the City Council for consideration
• District Councilmembers - Nominates a Tenant Member to serve as the District representative on the PRHB
City Council - Collectively, ratifies Tenant Member nominations by District Councilmembers
City Council - Collectively, appoints At Large Members to serve on the PRHB Legislative Policy Committee Review of Proposed Process On March 4, 2025, the City Clerk presented information to the Legislative Policy Committee on possible approaches to formalize the appointment of members to serve on the PRHB. Following is the approach considered and supported by the Legislative Policy Committee, which is based on prior appointments made to the Board:
Certified Applicants: Following the deadline to submit applications for consideration, the City Clerk's Office will transmit to the City Council those applications of applicants that have met the requirements of the City Charter at least two weeks prior to the scheduled appointment date.
Pasadena Rental Housing Board Application Process
April 7, 2025
Tenant Members: Each Councilmember can review Tenant Member applications received for their District, meet with applicants, and select a nominee to sen/e on behalf of the Council District. Nominations shall be submitted to the City Council's Office in a timely manner to allow for the nominee's name and position to be posted on the City Council's meeting agenda for ratification by the full City Council.
If no qualified applicant is available for a Tenant Member opening, or if the qualified applicant(8) certified by the City Clerk's Office are not deemed ideal for the position by the Councilmember, the Councilmember can seek out additional residents of the District to apply as the District's Tenant representative on the Board. Such applicants must complete the application process, and be verified by the City Clerk's Office as completing all the requirements of the City Charter in order to be eligible for appointment. The Council District's Tenant Member should be appointed by the end of the term, or as soon as possible thereafter, bearing in mind City Charter Section 1811 (d), which states, "The City Council will appoint members to the Board with careful alacrity, taking care to ensure there are no unfilled Board seats." At Large Members: Each member of the City Council is to review all applications submitted for At Large Member positions (the pool of applicants will likely also include Tenant Member applications, since all qualified applicants for Tenant Member positions are also eligible for At Large Member positions). Members of the City Council can meet with applicants prior to the meeting and/or utilize submitted materials to identify the most qualified applicants to support for appointment to At Large positions.
At the Council meeting, each member of the City Council will be asked to announce their applicant rankings for up to five top applicants in priority order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., choices), and the City Clerk will tally the results of the City Council's ranked choices.
The City Clerk will announce those applicants that have the most consensus support from members of the City Council. The results of the collective City Council rankings are intended for consensus building purposes only, and do not constitute a vote of the City Council, nor entitle the highest ranked applicants) appointment to the Board.
Depending on the results, the City Council can determine whether it is necessary to interview top applicants, if further information is need. The City Council must allow for public comment on the item prior to proceeding to deliberations. Following deliberations, and once it is determined that there is consensus, the City Council can proceed to motions to appoint, requiring at minimum five affirmative votes of the City Council to appoint either one applicant (if Council acts on each vacancy individually), or a slate of multiple applicants to fill all open positions on the Board.
Application and Pasadena Rental Housing Board Timeline for May 2025 End of Terms:
Pursuant to City Charter Section 1811(c), the City Council shall make appointments to the PRHB within 90 days of the publication of the Solicitation Notice for Applications.
Based on this information, following is a timeline for the application period and appointment or reappointment by the City Council:
Pasadena Rental Housing Board Application Process
April 7, 2025
Date of Publication of Solicitation Notice for
Applications
February 10,2025
Deadline for Applications to be Submitted to the City
Clerk's Office
April 21, 2025
City Clerk to Forward Qualified Applications to the
City Council
April 21, 2025 or
thereafter
Date for City Council to make Appointments or
Reappointments
May 5, 2025
End of Terms for the five PRHB positionsMay 24, 2025
FISCAL IMPACT:
In the event that the City Council conducts a separate single-item special meeting for the purpose of conducting appointments to the Pasadena Rental Housing Board, there may be administrative costs for staff support (overtime, etc.) and translations services related to conducting the special meeting. Funding is available in the City Clerk's adopted budget for additional meeting expenses.
Respectfully submitted,
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City ClerR, CMC
Resolution to Establish Appointment Process
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment A - Notice of Solicitation of Applications to Serve on the Pasadena Rental Housing Board (End of Terms)