Ms. Henry Recaps Major Policy Decisions Considered or Enacted By Council And Tells How You Can Have Your Voice Heard By The City Council
Listen To Her Recap Here:
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SUMMARY OF COUNCIL MATTERS COVERED IN THIS AUDIO SEGMENT (in order of presentation):
All members of the public are welcome to speak at Council Meetings, especially Alameda Youth.
Procedures On How to Speak before The Council.
A brief look at City Council protocols and rules of order.
Various Council Proclamations of the month.
10/3 Council Meeting
Major, lengthy hearing and discussion of substantial issues tied to City’s Response Letter to Oakland Airport’s Draft Environmental Report, including air and noise pollution matters, and next steps in the consideration process. City’s response letter ordered back for major overhaul which incorporated expert scientific and technical advice per council’s unanimous order. New draft completed and released on 10/14 before submittal to Oakland Airport on 10/16 ( see full stories on ANN News homepage and stay tuned for more)
New Parks and Recs Swimming pool leases granted.
Alameda Police Body Cam Footage Review Software purchase and purposes.
Temporary agenda modification to Council Rules of Order to provide for earlier, public input.
Special 10/5 Meeting with Alameda and Oakland Police, Coast Guard and boat owner/residents to update on procedures for boat related crime prevention.
10/17 Council Meeting
Zero Waste Plan to help reduce landfill disposal amounts and increase recycling and composting; moving away from “gray bins.”
Lease modification ns with Project Burger and Park Street Wine, adjacent to Alameda Theatre.
Lease denial to allow expansion to West Tower Ave by Science Corp, –a local business seeking to create an eye implanted chip based blindness cure — due to animal testing concerns raised by folks expressing animal rights positions.
Special 10/25 meeting regarding substantial, staff-recommended changes to City’s rent program related to Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for some rental properties to allow some additional tenant protections and allow more improvement projects to qualify for cost “pass through; ” limited rental increases for properties of two three and four units –about ¾ of all rental properties in Alameda. Any increases under this scenario will be limited to a cap of 5% of monthly rent.
For properties of five or more units, the Rent Ordinance’s existing process allows landlords to petition for an upward rent adjustment based on a constitutionally guaranteed right to “fair return” which would remain an option for landlords no longer eligible for a CIP.
The revision also established a new “emergency fund” to help subsidize temporarily displaced tenants who have to vacate due to health, safety or CIP related reasons.
Ms. Henry describes the proposed changes as a means to balance the interest of providing upgraded significant structural improvement against the need for tenant protections. She praises the city’s “unique, robust” rent control program in a number of ways and encourages concerned members of the public to contact the City’s Rent Program at 510-747-7520 or rentprogram@alamedaca.gov
The Council adopted the changes, but there will be scheduled “a second reading” of the policy to allow the public time for additional comment and Council reconsideration, and the public is encouraged to stay tuned to upcoming City Council Agendas to keep track of the issue.
Background On This News Feature:
This is the first of a series of scheduled, end of the month interviews with the City’s PIO to keep the community informed about what key policy decisions and issues face Alameda with respect to matters before the City Council.
All members of the public are invited to preview City Council Agenda Items by accessing The Alameda City webpage, clicking on the “Your Government” button in the top bar and then clicking on the “Meeting Agenda Minutes & Videos” selection.
There the viewer will see the Agenda for the next scheduled City Council meeting, as well as how to attend virtually during a meeting, and view past Agenda, Meeting Minutes and Past City Council meeting videos. Note that the video may not post until after a few days after the meeting.
In the name of full authenticity and transparency, City Council Recap audios are unrehearsed, spontaneous and not edited,
As PIO, Ms. Henry’s function is to remain objective and neutral on matters that have come before the City Council.
It is the function of the local press and the public at large to dig more deeply into the issues with respect to the subjective and judgmental elements of any given policy decision, why Council members voted (or did not vote) in a given way, what was said at the meeting, controversies, spin and ‘the politics’ of such matters.