Berkeley City Council Special Meeting on COPA/TOPA - September 30, 2024
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Berkeley City Council Special Meeting on COPA/TOPA - September 30, 2024
The Berkeley City Council held a special meeting on Monday, September 30, 2024, beginning at 6:00 PM, to consider a single agenda item: the adoption of Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 13.89, the Community/Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA/TOPA), introduced by former Councilmember Kate Harrison. The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format, with Councilmember Terry Taplin participating remotely under AB 2449 due to just cause. Mayor Jesse Arreguin arrived after a brief recess. The Council heard extensive public comment, deliberated on two motions, and ultimately voted to refer a COPA-based program for study rather than adopting the proposed ordinance.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Supporters (approximately 30 speakers): Tenants, affordable housing advocates, nonprofit representatives (e.g., East Bay Community Law Center, Bay Area Community Land Trust, Berkeley Student Cooperative), and labor union members (SEIU 1021) urged adoption of TOPA, citing tenant displacement, the need to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing, and successful models in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Many shared personal stories of eviction threats or building sales. Several speakers supported Councilmember Lunapara's supplemental for further administrative review.
- Opponents (approximately 15 speakers): Small property owners, real estate brokers, and representatives of the East Bay Rental Housing Association and Berkeley Property Owners Association opposed TOPA, arguing it would burden small landlords, create administrative complexity, delay sales, discourage investment, and not create new housing. They noted that Berkeley already has strong tenant protections (just cause eviction, demolition ordinance) and a small sites program. Some called for an equity study before implementation.
Discussion Items
- Councilmember Cecilia Lunapara and Councilmember Igor Tregub presented a substitute motion to refer the current Harrison item to the city manager for analysis of fiscal, operational, and administrative impacts, including the San Francisco COPA program and other comparable tenant acquisition models. The motion also included a $100,000 budget referral for the study. The motion failed on a vote of 3–6 (yes: Bartlett, Tregub, Lunapara; no: Kesarwani, Taplin, Hahn, Wengraf, Humbert, Mayor).
- Councilmember Sophie Hahn presented a main motion to refer to the city manager a study of a program based on San Francisco's COPA, with additional concepts: a potential requirement for nonprofits to offer co-op conversion within a set number of years, a building size threshold, administrative costs and funding sources, notice and right of first refusal for tenants, and a review of other jurisdictions' tenant acquisition programs. The motion also included a $100,000 budget referral. The motion passed 6–3 (yes: Taplin, Bartlett, Tregub, Hahn, Lunapara, Mayor; no: Kesarwani, Wengraf, Humbert).
- Councilmembers expressed concerns about the Harrison ordinance's complexity, staff capacity (only one housing policy staff member available), and lack of dedicated funding. The mayor noted that the Harrison ordinance was not right-sized for Berkeley and supported the COPA approach as a more feasible first step.
Key Outcomes
- The Council defeated the substitute motion to refer the Harrison ordinance for analysis (3–6).
- The Council approved the main motion (Hahn) to study a COPA-based program, including a $100,000 budget referral, with a 6–3 vote.
- The referral will examine San Francisco's COPA model, potential co-op conversion requirements, appropriate building size thresholds, administrative costs, funding sources, tenant notice/right of first refusal, and comparable programs in other jurisdictions.
- The item will be processed through the City Council's regular referral and review process (RRV). No ordinance was adopted at this meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Recording in progress. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the special meeting of the Berkeley City Council for Monday, September 30th, 2024. We have one item on our agenda tonight. And that is to adopt Brooklyn Municipal Code Chapter 13.89 Community Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. This was introduced by former councilmember Harrison. So before we get started, I'd like to read I'd like roll call, please. Okay. Councilmember Kessarwani is currently absent. And she's noticed to be participating remotely. Councilmember Taplin. Here. Bartlett. Present. Trega. Present. Han. Present. Wenggraft. Present. Unapara. Here. Humbert. Present. And Mayor Aragin is currently absent. So quorum is present. And then before we get started, we do need to do the uh AB 2449 script for Councilmember Taplin to participate in the meeting remotely. So just briefly, uh Councilmember Taplin is participating in the meeting remotely, pursuant to the Brown Act as amended by AB 2449 under the just cause justification. A quorum of the council is participating in person at the physical meeting location that was noticed on the agenda, which satisfies satisfies the requirement of the Brown Act. Councilmember Taplin has notified the council of its need to participate remotely. And Councilmember Taplin this time, please provide a general description of the circumstances related to your need to appear remotely. Thank you. Okay. And uh Councilmember Taplin, also please disclose if there are any adults age 18 and older that are in the room with you at your remote location from where you are participating. In this room, I am currently alone. Okay. And then uh Councilmember Taplin will participate through both audio and visual technology. So we can continue. Thank you. Before we get started, I'd like to um to read our rules of procedure. To allow for full participation by all members of the community, and to ensure that important city business is able to be completed. We ask that all attendees conduct themselves in an orderly manner and respect the rights of others participating in the meeting. Please be aware that the city council's rules of decorum prohibit the disruption disruption of the orderly conduct of the council meeting. A summary of these rules is available in the one-page handout on the table in the rear of the boardroom. Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to shouting, making disruptive noises, creating or participating in a physical disturbance, speaking out of turn or in violation of applicable rules, preventing or attempting to prevent others who have the floor from speaking, preventing others from observing the meeting, entering into or remaining in an area of the meeting room that is not open to the public, or approaching the council dais without consent. We ask that you observe these rules so that all members of the public may observe may observe and participate in tonight's meeting. And we don't take speaker cards, do we at the special meetings? No, no speaker cards. And how much time does each speaker have? Well, the rules prescribe that if there are more than 10 speakers on a topic, that time is reduced to one minute per speaker.
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