Registry Derailed By Surprise Deficit

Bonilla And Roche Detail Budget Woes

During the September 2nd Hayward City Council Meeting, Councilmembers Roche and Bonilla took time during the Public Comment period to speak up about the City’s financial problems. Much of the information was included in the Press Release that the Herald shared on Tuesday, but the Councilmembers made clear that things are serious and no new expenses are going to be approved.

Councilmember Roche explained that the looming deficit was a long-term issue that was being made manifest. “[The General Fund has been] structurally out of balance for a lot of years now,” she said. She explained that some decisions were “made with the best intentions but collectively it made the City vulnerable.”

She continued, “Until we rebuild our reserves, there can be no new programs or spending commitments out of the General Fund. Every discretionary dollar must be delivered toward restoring our stability.” Councilmember Roche also emphasized that the finances affect everything and everyone in the City. “Let’s make the decisions now that will allow us to do the things we all want to do to protect all of our residents in Hayward.”

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Councilmember Bonilla was direct that things were looking bad. “The reality is clear,” he said, “Hayward is in the midst of a budget crisis… [which] threatens to deplete our reserves by the end of this fiscal cycle. We’re not talking a year from now or two years from now, we’re talking at the end of June.”

At the same time, he made clear there’s blame to go around. “I share accountability for the situation we’re in today and how we got here,” he said, “I think we all do.” However, he also framed fixing things as a collective effort. “This is the moment that demands collective resolve,” Councilmember Bonilla said, “Every Councilmember, every staff member, and every community member must pull together to meet this moment.”

Councilmember Bonilla said that the City may be cutting over $20,000,000 to balance the budget this year and not deplete the reserves entirely. “The consequences of failing to act are simply too severe not to act,” he said. “The only way forward is together. United, clear-eyed, disciplined, and determined.”

THIS SUNDAY AT BOOKS ON B IN DOWNTOWN HAYWARD

Join the Hayward Herald for a moderated discussion about bike lanes, transit, safety, and the future of Downtown Hayward. I’ll be facilitating the discussion with Councilmember George Syrop and Bike Hayward’s Alejandro Jasso.

Tickets for this event cost $10 and the entire purchase price goes to support the Hayward Herald. We do this without pay and out of pocket, but if we’re ever going to grow, we need support from our readers! Come out and support us, buy a book, and learn something new about transit in Downtown.

See you Sunday!

Rental Registry Put Off Due To Budget

The City Council heard a presentation on a Rental Registry, which would better allow City Staff to enforce the laws already on the books. Over 20 people showed up in-person to support having a Rental Registry and it also received letters of support from SEIU 1021, Alameda County Labor Council, Supervisor Elisa Marquez, and the Local Clean Energy Alliance. Despite overwhelming public support, due to the severe budget shortfall, the idea has been put on hold for the time being.

Staff Lays Out Clear Benefits To City

In the presentation, Staff explained what the Residential Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RRSO) is and how it’s applied. In Hayward there are two different kinds of rental units according to the RRSO, Covered and Non-Covered. Covered units are all multi-unit dwellings built before 1979—about 11,000 units—and there are protections on rent increases for them. The general limit is about 5% a year, though landlords can bank the increases up to 10%.

Non-Covered units, which are all the rest, don’t get that coverage. But they’re still protected by Just Cause protections, tenant retaliation protections, and Section 8 discrimination or harassment. Also, all landlords are required to file rent increase and eviction notices. This is all very helpful and good.

Unfortunately, as Staff pointed out, all of the above laws rely on tenants making complaints—they’re so-called “passive” ordinances. “Landlords are likely under reporting the rent increase and termination notices,” Staff said. They noted that they only receive around 1,000 notices per year despite Hayward having around 23,000 units that require notice.

The issue is made worse because City Staff rely on manually inputting the data, which is also not uniform across different forms. “This puts us at a disadvantage when we want to look at housing policy decisions,” they said. In showing off the pros and cons of a Rental Registry, Staff made clear how it would help the City’s renters and Housing staff. “[A Registry] shifts the RRSO from being a more passive ordinance to a more active ordinance,” they said. It would help with inspections, enforcement, and data accuracy.

The only downside appeared to be the cost, which was approximately $250,000 to the General Fund—the rest of the cost would be recovered with slightly increased fees. Those fees would not only force compliance with the laws on the books, it would fund two additional full-time employees. Unfortunately, the addition of the Housing Manager and funding a portion of the Development Services Deputy Director position would have to come from the General Fund. But Staff made clear this was a modest ask. “Compared to these other jurisdictions, that’s a pretty skeletal crew,” they said.

In the end, Staff recommended putting off the Rental Registry for a year, but only because of the budget implications.

The Community Wants A Registry

Over 20 people gave public comment at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, stretching for around an hour and a half. Renters, mobile home owners, service providers, former City Staff, and other community members turned out to call for the City to enforce the laws already on the books. The opposition was slim, comprised of the Public Affairs and Communications Officer for the Bay East Association of Realtors and the Treasurer of the East Bay Rental Housing Association—both organizations routinely speak out against any renter protections.

Renters Share Their Experiences

Multiple renters took to the microphone to share some of their experiences with absentee and negligent landlords and how difficult it has been to get resolution. Maria Del Carmen Espinoza, resident of Lord Tennyson Apartments, stood with several of her fellow tenants and described rent increases without notice, and a lack of basic contact. “Not only neglect, but a complete lack of accountability,” she said. “We should not have to fight to receive the basic written notice the law already requires.”

Others shared the stress and precarious feelings that come from being one rent increase away from losing their apartment. “Every time I get a notice that my rent was going to be increased,” one speaker, Lala, said, “I waited for [my twins] to go to sleep so I could finally cry because I cannot afford that.”

Another speaker, Anna, described unsafe living conditions that forced her and her family to relocate to hotels or sleeping at family members’ homes. Despite multiple inspections and notices, she specifically thanked an inspector named Mr. Ronald, there was no resolution. “I made it my home,” she said, “I invested and now I don’t know where I’m going to end up with my family.”

Her son also spoke about the plumbing issues that caused black mold to appear in their homes—sewage that pooled and fermented under the home. “I don’t know if Hayward would be a future home for me,” he said, “knowing that our family has been displaced for months now.” And another speaker, Julio, explained why a passive system, like that already in place, isn’t enough. “It doesn’t work when renters are afraid to report or are threatened by landlords,” he said.

The City Should Invest In Prevention

Multiple community members spoke about the need to prevent homelessness with robust renter protections. “You’re either gonna spend the money now,” Ro Aguilar said, “or sped it when they become homeless.” Calvin Wong spoke about how prevention is necessary because there isn’t money to address homelessness after it’s happened. He relayed that some members of the Community Services Commission, which helps allocate funding to service providers, actively question whether the hundreds of thousands of dollars they allocate are making an impact.

David Hall, with Centro Legal de la Raza, explained why enforcement is the key issue. “Hayward has good laws in this area,” he said, “and what this allows you to do is enforce those laws.” He said that enforcement will also prevent many disputes from going to court—saving all parties involved a lot of money—and are mostly because the rules aren’t clear. “Many of these disputes are not based on malice, but a lack of understanding.” And fewer cases means more resources to go after those who are acting in bad faith.

It’s Hurting Schools In Education City

Lani Llamido, a parent, organizer, and Hearts of Hayward Award recipient, pointed out that the cost of living is harming our schools. “The data highlights that the high cost of rent is one of the primary factors contributing to the decline in school district’s attendance,” she said. She pointed out that, in California, decreased attendance means decreased funding for the schools. HUSD has already been forced to cut $50,000,000 from its budget and is facing more cuts this year.

HUSD Trustee Sara Prada also spoke about the impact that rent has on students, and highlighted some shortfalls of the current system. “What’s missing is execution and accountability,” she said.

The System Doesn’t Work

Taryn Sandulyak, Executive Director of Firm Foundation, shared her experience as a former Code Enforcement Officer. She explained that one of the biggest issues with getting habitability issues fixed is getting in contact with the landlords in the first place due to outdated or incorrect information. “This led to tenants living in unsafe conditions for longer,” she said, “and property owners remained unaware of the issues or uninterested until the fees started being assessed.”

Austin Bruckner-Carrillo, speaking in a personal capacity, shared his personal experience with housing insecurity as a child and pointed out that what’s there still isn’t enough. “Families are surely falling through the cracks,” he said. “Please direct Staff to bring back a registry with enforcement and fund it.”

A representative from the Hayward Mobile Homeowner’s Association spoke about her own experience with the mediation process, saying that it was time-consuming and intimidating. She benefitted, she said, from her negotiating partner being a retired negotiator for her union. She expressed concern at how anyone without that experience would be able to manage the mediation process—and that’s when it works as intended.

Agnes Cho, who has consulted on housing and anti-displacement policy in other cities, spoke about the importance of enforcement. “[The plan is] missing effective enforcement that would incentivize property owners to comply,” she said. She recommended including language that would prevent owners from evicting tenants unless they are registered.

2 Landlord Voices Push Back

David Stark, Public Affairs and Communications Officer for the Bay East Association of Realtors, not only asked Council to prioritize the budget over the stories shared by renters, but further suggested that the money should instead be spent on incentivizing landlords to put housing on the market. “I would ask that you spend money on adding more rental units… letting mom and pop housing providers keep providing housing, and think about the cost of the loss of a single rental unit.”

Mr. Stark further implied that the City would be unable to effectively secure any personal data it stored in the Rental Registry and positioned funding it against, specifically, economic development, the police department, and the fire department.

Chris Moore, Treasurer of the East Bay Rental Housing Association, said that the registry would not help with inspection issues—despite the argument to the contrary from a former Code Enforcement Officer—while suggesting that all fees would get passed along to tenants no matter what. “That has to be recovered,” he said. He also, contrary to multiple renters who spoke that night, suggested that existing protections were enough.

“Everybody Up Here Supports A Rental Registry”

Several Councilmembers voiced emphatic support for a rental registry while also agreeing that its development would need to be adjusted around budget constraints. Councilmember Syrop, after highlighting all Hayward has done thus far, stressed that “it’s not an excuse to rest on our laurels.” He continued, “I just don’t see how we can… say we’re taking this crisis seriously if we’re not investing in the tools to collect even the data on it.”

Councilmember Syrop spoke at length on the subject, “I’ve waited two years to share these thoughts. You guys are going to have to bear with me, alright?” Despite the budget concerns, he highlighted that there are cascading benefits to investing in housing. “All of this prevention ultimately saves the taxpayers money,” he said. He highlighted how people who aren’t rent burdened have more money to spend locally, work locally, and be taxed locally. “Not only is it the morally responsible thing to do, it’s fiscally responsible, too,” he said.

However, he ultimately agreed that the Registry needed time because of the budget. “The situation is dire,” he said. “I can’t think of what could possibly be more important for us to figure out how to budget around during a housing crisis than a housing manager. Our deficit cannot be an excuse for inaction by City Council.”

Councilmember Syrop further pushed for the enforcement mechanisms outlined during public comment and for Staff to continue looking for creative ways to fund the positions without using General Fund money. “If an opportunity prevents itself… we should act,” he said.

Councilmember Zermeno was all in. “My first thought,” he said, “is I support the registry 100%.” He then asked pointed questions of City Staff around the Registry: whether or not mobile homeowners are covered by the Registry before pushing for their inclusion, details on the pass-through fees before suggesting the next presentation prevent pass-throughs entirely, and what Staff will be doing around this in the meantime. Staff said they would look at shifting personnel to reduce General Fund expenses.

Councilmember Bonilla was fully supportive of the Rental Registry and requested Staff make the existing resources more accessible in the meantime so people can at least use what’s available. He further relayed his own experience with housing displacement at the age of four, “because we couldn’t afford a rent increase,” he said. “We called my grandparent’s garage home for the next 10 years.”

“I strongly support the idea of a rental registry here in Hayward,” Councilmember Bonilla said. “That said, we also must acknowledge where we are as a city.” He stressed that the budget is a primary concern, but that the City should continue to find ways to make a Rental Registry financially possible. “The last thing I want to do is direct staff to go and work on something and then in 2 months have to cut it because we haven’t looked at… the budget in its totality.”

Councilmember Roche felt similarly. “I have no issues with the merits of a rental registry,” she said. “I’m not going to argue against a rental registry.” But she also stressed that the budget situation is dire. “The fiscal crisis it not a hollow thing I’m hiding behind… we have to say no to any allocation right now. If the City is not financially healthy, how can we help anyone?”

Mayor Salinas summed it up during his comments. “It seems that everybody up here supports a rental registry program,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to stop today.”

Moving Words With Vague Promises

Councilmember Goldstein, after mentioning that he had met with David Stark, said he was moved by the testimony from renters. “The reports of wrongdoing are absolutely stunning,” he said. He shared a personal story about how his family was forced, after adulthood, to separate because of affordability issues. “What a tragedy that is,” he said, “that we had to live so far away.”

His voice broke when he said, “I’ve seen every generation lose that struggle to stay connected.” However, he fell short of explicitly supporting a registry. “I believe very strongly we should do something about it,” he said. “I’ve never believed that a lack of money should stand in the way of progress and I’ve always firmly believed that working together we can make great things happen.”

“It may or may not look the way that you want it to look,” he said, but he remained committed to “find ways to solve this problem.”

A Small Push Back

Councilmember Andrews, in response to a public commenter pointing out that American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money earmarked for housing programs had been rolled into the General Fund, asked Staff to outline the housing programs funded by ARPA dollars. These included legal assistance from Centro Legal de la Raza (around $1,000,000), relocation assistance, foreclosure prevention, and other homelessness programs.

Councilmember Syrop interjected that the commenter meant the homebuyer’s assistance that was never spent. Approximately $2,000,000 earmarked for that program was rolled into the General Fund in December 2024. “Yes, I understand that,” Councilmember Andrews said, “I just anted to say that we did use some ARPA dollars.”

Councilmember Andrews stressed that the City is not turning away from a rental registry. “This is just something we have to review in terms of the budget.” She, and Councilmember Bonilla, highlighted that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors would be taking up the idea of a county-wide registry in Fall, with the help of Supervisor Marquez. However, the rules for the Board of Supervisors may delay that project substantially, or water it down, similar to the plans for Just Cause Eviction Protections.

She also seemed to take issue with the idea that HUSD’s enrollment issues were the City’s responsibility, suggesting that if HUSD enacted youth enrichment programs, it may encourage families to stay within the district. Mayor Salinas also pressed HUSD to “step up and reimagine how we look at” school sites and property development.

Lord Tennyson Apartments “On Notice”

Multiple Councilmembers took issue with the reports from Lord Tennyson Apartments. Councilmember Roche pointed out that the City had been dealing with issues for some time. Councilmember Andrews said, “Lord Tennyson Apartments, you are on notice.” Mayor Salinas agreed, “Lord Tennyson Apartments, if you’re watching… you are on notice.”