Berkeley City Council Special Meeting – August 5, 2024: Tenant Protection Ballot Measure Debate and Vote
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Berkeley City Council Special Meeting – August 5, 2024: Tenant Protection Ballot Measure Debate and Vote
On Monday, August 5, 2024, the Berkeley City Council held a special meeting at 6:00 PM in the School District Board Room to consider placing two versions of the Berkeley Tenant Protection and Right to Organize Act on the November 5, 2024 ballot. After hours of public testimony and deliberation, the council voted 5–0–2 (with two abstentions) to approve a compromise version (Item 1b) as amended, sending a pro-tenant measure to voters alongside a competing landlord-sponsored measure.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Over 80 members of the public spoke, both in person and via Zoom. Speakers included tenants, small property owners, rent board commissioners, union members (UAW 4811, SEIU), students, and representatives from the East Bay Rental Housing Association and Berkeley Association of Realtors.
- Supporters of the measure described personal experiences with mold, unsafe conditions, rent gouging, and threats of eviction. They argued that the measure would expand rent control to previously exempt government-subsidized housing (e.g., Harriet Tubman Terrace, Strawberry Creek Lodge), lower the annual rent cap, and create enforceable tenant right-to-organize. Many emphasized that Berkeley is a majority-renter city and that voters deserve a choice.
- Opponents, including small owners of golden duplexes and ADUs, warned that stricter regulations would discourage renting out units, reduce housing supply, and harm tenants by driving up rents. They cited rising costs for insurance, utilities, and maintenance, and argued that the ballot measure failed to qualify via signature gathering (60 signatures short) and was rushed without proper fiscal analysis.
- Several speakers noted that 53% of Berkeley renter households are rent-burdened (paying more than 30% of income toward rent).
Discussion Items
Item 1a (Councilmember Lunaparra): Proposed the original Tenant Protection and Right to Organize Act, which included phasing out the golden duplex exemption, a 3% rent increase cap, and expanded coverage for government-subsidized housing.
Item 1b (Mayor Arreguin & Councilmember Hahn): A compromise that retained the golden duplex exemption, kept the 3% rent cap (later amended to 5%), included a right-to-organize for properties with 10+ units (or 1–9 with a property manager), and added a housing retention funding commitment of at least $1.1 million. It also restored coverage for certain government-subsidized units and added utility metering flexibility.
Amendments:
- Councilmember Humbert moved to raise the rent cap from 3% to 5% and to change the eviction threshold from one month's fair market rent to one month of the tenant's most recent lawful periodic rent. The first part passed (5–3), the second failed (4–4).
- Councilmember Tregub offered a friendly amendment to allow rent board approval of alternative metering technologies, which was accepted.
- A non-substantive clean-up amendment was also approved.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on Item 1b as amended: Passed 5–0–2 (Councilmembers Kesarwani and Humbert abstained; Councilmembers Bartlett, Tregub, Lunaparra, Mayor Arreguin, and Hahn voted yes; Councilmembers Taplin and Wengraf were absent).
- The council designated Mayor Arreguin, Councilmember Lunaparra, and Councilmember Tregub as authors of ballot arguments.
- The measure will appear on the November 5, 2024 ballot alongside a competing landlord-sponsored initiative. The city attorney and clerk were directed to make non-substantive clarifying edits before submission.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. We just established quorum. And so if people can please take their seats, thank you for joining us this evening. We'd like to start this evening's city council meeting. And Councillor Bartlett, are you on the Yes I am? Okay, thank you. Counselor Bartlett will be on a teleconferencing uh from a remote location. Um, and uh I believe it's 3 a.m. where he is currently teleconferencing from. So thank you for being here and participating in this important meeting tonight. Um so good evening. I'd like to call to order the special meeting of the Berkeley City Council for Monday, August 5th, 2024 at 6 p.m. The first order of businesses roll call if the city clerk can please call the law. Okay, Councilmember Kissawani is currently absent. Council Taplin is currently absent. Councilmember Bartlett. Present. Gregor Rose. Present. Present. Wangraf is absent. Luna Para. Sure. Humbert. Present. And Mayor Aragine. Present. A quorum of the city council is present. Thank you. This is a special meeting to take up uh two items. Item one A is placing the Berkeley tenant protection. Sorry. Um once again, item one A is placing the Berkeley Tenant Protection and Right to Organize Act on November 5th, 2020 for ballot, uh submitted by Councilman Luna Parr and item one B is an amended version of that, which uh I've submitted um on behalf of Councilman Hahn as well. Um so um we're gonna provide um opening comments on both those items. We have a presentation with the rent board, and then we'll open up for for public comment thereafter. So um just first to open on this item, then I'll turn over to Councilmember Lunapara. Um and thank everyone for being here tonight. Um so uh as we know, uh the rent stabilization board uh earlier this year had proposed uh a number of important changes to the rent ordinance um that uh are now being presented before us tonight. Um uh item one B is an attempt to uh find uh a middle path um to ensure that we can move this measure forward to to be to be submitted to the voters um this November. Um and uh I think the key aspects of item one B are as follows. Um it it uses the version of the of the rent ordinance changes that Councilmember Lunapara had introduced, but makes uh several um substantive changes. One um it does not include um uh uh it retains the current exemption for golden duplex properties. Two um it it um uh makes some a slight change to the section under tenant right to organize by uh uh requiring that the uh the tenant right to organize uh would would kick in for properties of ten units or more or properties of one to nine units if they're if they're managed by a property manager. Um and um trying to see what the other major change and a number of other clarifying changes that were made uh with the input of the city attorney's office. Um there was one substantive change that we um we did propose, which was to strike the language under the applicability section, um, which is uh section 050. Um under I guess that's 050B3 government-owned and government subsidized rental units. The rent board had previously proposed that certain government subsidized rental units be covered under rent control. Um uh initially we are proposed to strike that in conversation with the rent board um and with further explanation about the why this this change was proposed. I'm proposing that we restore the rent board's previous language, and uh we'll hear from the rent board later about why they're proposing this specifically and why it's important. I just want to emphasize that um anything that's newly constructed is exempt from rent control.
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