Title
Recommendation to Authorize the Interim City Manager to Execute a Three-Year Agreement in an Amount Not to Exceed $500,000 with Centro Legal de la Raza for Tenant Legal Services; and
Adoption of Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year 2018-19 General Fund Budget of the City Attorney’s Office to Appropriate the Remaining $400,000 for Tenant Legal Services. (City Attorney 001-2310)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: David L. Rudat, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As part of the Mid-Cycle Budget process, the City Council set aside $500,000 of General Fund monies, and appropriated $100,000 of those funds in anticipation of the first year of a three-year pilot project to provide legal services to low-income tenants. Council also directed staff to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to secure an organization to provide the legal services. The City Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with the Base Reuse and Community Development Department, conducted the selection process and is recommending that the City Council approve a three-year, $500,000 agreement with Centro Legal de la Raza (Centro Legal) to provide those services.
A $500,000, three-year agreement requires that the remaining $400,000 that was set aside, but not appropriated, in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 budget be appropriated at this time.
BACKGROUND
At its May 18, 2018 work session, the Council supported a proposal by the Alameda Renters Coalition to fund legal services for low-income tenants and directed staff to develop a three-year pilot program. On June 19, 2018, the Council committed $500,000 in one-time General Fund monies to fund the pilot program to provide legal services, including eviction defense, for low-income tenants.
Staff is recommending that the Council approve a three-year agreement for tenant legal services in the amount of $500,000 to Centro Legal, for the reasons discussed below.
DISCUSSION
Request for Proposals
The CAO prepared and published an RFP to legal service providers (Exhibit 1). The RFP set out the following timetable:
|
Event |
Deadline |
|
RFP/RFQ Issued |
August 2, 2018 |
|
Written Questions from Anticipated Respondents |
August 16, 2018 |
|
Answers to Written Questions Issued |
August 27, 2018 |
|
Proposals Due |
September 6, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. |
|
Initial Review |
Week of September 10, 2018 |
|
Interviews (tentative, if necessary) |
Week of September 17, 2018 |
|
Announcement of Selected Respondent |
Week of September 24, 2018 |
|
Negotiation with Selected Respondent |
Week of September 24, 2018 |
|
Award of Contract and Approval by Council |
November 7, 2018 |
The RFP was published both in a newspaper of general circulation (the Alameda Sun, with a run date of August 9, 2018) and on the City’s website. In addition, the City Attorney’s Office reached out to tenant legal service providers known to City staff, including the East Bay Community Law Center, Eviction Defense Collaborative, Centro Legal, and the Public Interest Law Project.
The City Attorney’s Office received one proposal on the September 6, 2018 proposal due date by Centro Legal (Exhibit 2). The City then issued a one-week extension to increase the response rate, in addition to doing additional outreach. No other proposals were received.
The City Attorney’s Office and City staff met with a representative from Centro Legal to discuss the scope of the engagement and other issues. As a result of that meeting, Centro Legal finalized its proposed work scope and staff prepared a three-year, $500,000 agreement for Council’s consideration. The work scope reflects the work being done on a countywide basis to address anti-displacement as discussed below and is intended to be consistent with, and complimentary to, that effort. The Agreement is attached as Exhibit 3.
Alameda County Anti-Displacement Program
At the same time that the City Council was considering a proposal to fund tenant legal services, the County of Alameda was implementing a program to provide anti-displacement services on a countywide basis, unincorporated Alameda County and cities within the County’s jurisdictional limits. The County’s program is funded with boomerang funds (County general fund money that would have previously gone to the County’s redevelopment agency but now flow to its general fund). The Board of Supervisors approved a $2.5 million initiative over a 2 ½ -year period. The initiative provides anti-displacement services to low-income tenants as well as low-income homeowners.
The County issued an RFP and approved a single program administrator (Centro Legal), in addition to other legal services providers as approved subcontractors, all of whom would serve low-income tenants and homeowners. Funds are being used to provide legal services, as well as to provide direct financial assistance, to prevent displacement. Very low-income tenants or homeowners (those earning 50% or less than the Area Median Income (AMI)) are eligible for the direct financial assistance. Low-income tenants/homeowners (those earning less than 80% of AMI) are eligible for the legal services.
The County program recently launched and is active in all Alameda County cities and the unincorporated areas. The program is designed to provide a seamless referral system that evaluates location, language spoken, disability, etc. and then match the tenant to the most appropriate provider that is designed to offer the full range of services to prevent displacement of tenants or homeowners close to where they reside. All providers run in-take clinics and conduct consultations, make referrals, and offer legal representation to tenants or homeowners, as needed. The County program augments existing legal services programs funded by the cities of Berkeley and Oakland. Such cities decided to further fund the limited services to their respective residents to augment what is currently offered by the Program, as staff is recommending here. Accordingly, if the City Council approves the legal services agreement with Centro Legal, the services provided to Alameda tenants will also be an augmentation of what is now available through the County program. Those cities that fund legal services are able to serve more of their residents and to provide more in-depth services than can otherwise be provided.
Centro Legal, as the administrator of the County program, believes that there is now a good framework in place to provide tenant legal services referrals and an increased capacity to address evictions in a timely fashion. Cities who provide additional funding for tenant legal services are now able to build on this programmatic infrastructure to further protect their residents against displacement.
Because the County program rolled out in late summer, staff was unaware of the program at the time Council was considering such a program in the City earlier this year. Council could decide at this time that the countywide program is sufficient to meet the needs of low-income Alameda tenants, or it could decide that it is important to serve as many tenants as possible and that it is appropriate to fund complementary legal services. If the Council decides it wants to further fund legal services for tenants, staff recommends that the agreement be synced with the County program from both a timing and work scope perspective. For that reason, staff is recommending a three-year agreement in the amount of $500,000. This is also consistent with the Council’s initial request to fund a $500,000, three-year pilot program.
Centro Legal
As noted above, the City received one proposal, from Centro Legal, in response to its RFP. The single response was due to the organizational structure that is now in place for the countywide legal services program.
Given its proximity to Alameda, directly over the High Street Bridge in Oakland, and its ability to serve Spanish-speaking tenants, it is anticipated that Centro Legal will be the lead service provider to the City of Alameda under the countywide program. Therefore, all of the legal services organizations involved in the countywide program deferred to Centro Legal to submit a proposal for legal services in Alameda. This is consistent with other legal services providers, such as East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley, who have long-standing relationships in specific jurisdictions based on geographic location, capacity to work in languages other than English, and familiarity with local rent ordinances, etc.
Attorneys at Centro Legal are familiar with Alameda’s rent ordinance, have worked on behalf of tenants in specific cases, such as 470 Central Avenue, and are currently providing services to Alameda tenants under the countywide program. Therefore, staff believes that Centro Legal is qualified to provide the legal services sought pursuant to the City’s RFP.
If Council wants to move forward with funding legal services for low-income tenants to augment services currently being provided by the County, staff recommends approval of a three-year, $500,000 agreement with Centro Legal and adoption of a resolution appropriating the balance of the $500,000 that was not previously appropriated.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) was appropriated from the General Fund in the City Attorney’s Office Budget as part of the FY 2018-19 Budget. In addition, $400,000 was committed for future years. Because staff is now recommending a three-year agreement to sync up with the countywide program, it is necessary to amend the FY 2018-19 General Fund Budget to appropriate the remaining $400,000 at this time. The required resolution has been prepared for Council consideration.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This recommendation complies with Alameda Municipal Code, section 2-62 (Purchasing; Local Preference Policy) and the City’s Administrative Policies and Procedures implementing the same (Purchasing Policy).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3).
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute a three-year agreement in an amount not to exceed $500,000 with Centro Legal de la Raza for tenant legal services; and
Adopt a resolution amending the Operating Budget for fiscal year 2018-19 to appropriate the remaining $400,000 allocated for tenant legal services.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Kern, City Attorney
By,
John Le, Assistant City Attorney
Debbie Potter, Base Reuse and Economic Development Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Request For Proposals
2. Centro Legal Proposal
3. Agreement