Title
Recommendation to Allow the Agreement with Centro Legal De La Raza to Expire and to Authorize the City Attorney’s Office to Provide Housing Education and Mediation Services for Landlords and Tenants on a Pilot Basis Using Contracted Resources. (City Attorney 10023040)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In November 2018, the City Council approved a three-year Agreement with Centro Legal De La Raza (Centro) to provide legal services to lower-income tenant households, which will expire on November 13, 2021. Rather than renew the agreement, staff is requesting that City Council approve staff’s recommendation to permit the Centro contract to expire and to establish an in-house program, a pilot basis, which expands the services offered to serve landlords and tenants, while reducing total costs, especially those borne by the General Fund.
BACKGROUND
In August 2018, staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for legal services. Despite reaching out to local tenant legal service providers and extending the RFP deadline, the City of Alameda (City) received only one proposal in response to the RFP.
In November 2018, the City Council approved a three-year Agreement with Centro Legal to provide legal services to lower-income tenant households in the city. To be eligible for services under this Agreement, the tenant had to be a resident of the city and have a household income of less than 80% of the area median income (AMI). The total compensation for these services over the three-year period was $500,000, allocated from the General Fund, spread more or less equally over the term of the Agreement. The Agreement with Centro Legal expires November 13, 2021.
At the same time that the City Council was considering a proposal to fund tenant legal services, the County of Alameda (County) was implementing a countywide program to provide anti-displacement services in 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 flows to its general fund). The Board of Supervisors approved a $3.5 million initiative over a 2½ -year period. The initiative provides anti-displacement services to low-income tenants as well as low-income homeowners. These anti-displacement services are now operating under the County’s Housing Secure Program. On August 4, 2020, the County provided an additional $3,396,315 to the program and extended the term of the program to May 21, 2022. Centro is the recipient of these County funds and now provides such services County-wide.
DISCUSSION
Given Centro’s ability to provide anti-displacement services County-wide through the County program, and requests staff has received from the community that the City provide education and mediation services to all tenants, not limited by income, and to landlords, staff has advised Centro Legal that it would like to pursue a pilot program, starting in February 2022, that serves both landlords and all tenants, including those who earn above 80% AMI. In doing so, it would allow the current agreement with Centro Legal to expire on November 13, 2021 per the terms of the grant agreement. Staff recommends this pilot program as it allows the City to expand the scope of services while simultaneously reducing costs. Furthermore, Centro would continue to operate the Housing Secure Program for the County, in addition to administering the Alameda County Housing Secure Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which helps income-eligible households pay rent and utilities, both for past due and future payments.
As part of the proposed pilot program, a limited-term contract paralegal will be dedicating their time to work on housing issues in Alameda - helping to educate residents about the law, and mediating conflicts where appropriate. The paralegal is expected to partner with the Rent Program to provide workshop-based education to landlords and tenants on a monthly basis, and take part in hosting the City’s annual Fair Housing Conference. He will take inquiries from landlords and tenants, provide both proactive and responsive education about applicable state and local housing laws, and engage in neutral mediation where appropriate. The paralegal will receive support from in-house attorneys and special counsel, as appropriate. Of course, in the provision of these services, City staff must always remain neutral and impartial. Additionally, consistent with legal and ethical responsibilities of the City Attorney’s Office, members of the Office could not provide legal advice to the public nor could they provide legal representation to the public.
Approximately $170,000 per year was allocated from the General Fund to pay for contractual services provided by Centro. The allocation of general fund resources, instead of Rent Program funds, for this contract was necessary because services were only provided to a subset of the fee paying population. Staff now recommends an in-house pilot program to benefit both landlords and tenants. Staff further proposes using contracted staff and as-needed special counsel, as opposed to immediately hiring additional employees, because: (1) contracted staff happens to be currently trained and available for this assignment commencing February of 2022; (2) contracted staff gives the City more flexibility given the pilot nature of the program; and (3) using contract staff is more cost-effective. The City Attorney’s Office estimates that total contract cost will be approximately between $100,000 to $120,000 per year. Because under the pilot program staff would provide services to both landlords and tenants, Rent Program funds may be used instead of the General Fund, resulting in an annual savings to the General Fund of approximately $170,000. The Rent Program budget currently includes $141,000 per year for a lease of private property that is reimbursed by the City. The private lease will expire at the end of February 2022, at which time staff proposes to move the Rent Program to City Hall West, and the resulting lease savings of approximately $47,000 would be available for the pilot program for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The City Attorney’s Office expects the pilot program to launch in February of 2022. The contract paralegal becomes available for this assignment in late January, when his current duties (backfilling a paralegal who is on leave) are expected to conclude. The Office expects to undertake this pilot for a period of 12- to 18-months and will return to Council with progress updates and further recommendations before the conclusion of the proposed pilot.
Consequently, staff recommends this pilot program, which transfers certain responsibilities from Centro Legal to staff, expands services to both landlords and tenants, and saves the City General Fund dollars while still providing access to tenants who are at risk of displacement and in need of rental assistance.
ALTERNATIVES
• Direct staff to publish a new Request for Proposal (RFP). Staff does not recommend this option as it has proposed a more cost-effective option.
• Direct staff to renew the agreement with Centro Legal. Staff does not recommend this option.
• Do nothing, which would result in the cessation of the Centro Legal agreement with no backfilling of these services.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The proposed pilot program, which is expected to cost between $100,000 to $120,000 per year, will be cost-neutral to the City because staff is facilitating the transition of the Rent Program staff from a leased facility to City Hall West, which will result in savings of the previously budged leasing cost of approximately $141,000 per year. No additional budget appropriations are needed to allow the agreement with Centro Legal to expire and to implement the pilot program.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is in conformance with the Alameda Municipal Code and all policy documents.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity is not a project and is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15378 (b) (4) of the CEQA Guidelines because it involves governmental fiscal activities which does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Allow the Agreement with Centro Legal to expire and authorize the City Attorney Office to Provide Housing Education and Mediation Services for Landlords and Tenants on a pilot basis.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager concurs with the recommendation to allow the agreement with Centro Legal to expire.
Respectfully submitted,
Yibin Shen, City Attorney
Lisa Nelson Maxwell, Community Development Director
By,
Lisa Fitts, Community Development Program Manager
John D. Lê, Assistant City Attorney
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Annie To, Finance Director
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager
Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager