CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
Brian Dossey, City Manager
On November 8, the City Council and Town Staff hosted a Veteran’s Day Recognition Event at Veteran’s Village on Mission Road. The event was held to honor the many men and women who served our county in observation of Veteran’s Day. The City Council welcomed all the Veteran’s who now reside at Veteran’s Village and recognized and honored 18 Men and Women to the Town of Colma’s Veteran’s Dedication Plaque that is proudly displayed at the Colma Community Center (pictured on back). The event was concluded with a wonderful BBQ that was hosted by our Recreation Department Staff. We are so grateful that the men and women who reside at Veteran’s Village can now call Colma their home. I would also like to thank Colma resident Vanessa Parli for organizing the Verano Homeowner’s to bake cookies and other items to take to the Veteran’s Village residents on Sunday, November 10. As part of this showing of generosity the Leung family also donated many home goods that the Veteran’s will be able to use on a daily basis. Acts like these are what Colma is all about and makes me proud to be a part of this community.
SamTrans is looking for community feedback. SamTrans launched Reimagine SamTrans, a transformative study that will examine each route in the SamTrans bus system in light of changing travel patterns. Reimagine SamTrans will consider everything from customer experience, to route design, to how often buses run, to efficient and effective operations and practice. We need your feedback on this critical effort! Take the Reimagine Survey: Whether you ride the bus, drive, walk, bike or other we want to hear from you. Share your vision for a future SamTrans network. Visit https://www.reimaginesamtrans.com/survey to take this fun short survey. The Survey closes December 31, 2019.
The Town has just recently completed its second series of our Disaster Preparedness Workshops – Community Action Program for Emergencies (C.A.P.E.), training approximately ten residents to not only be prepared in a natural disaster but to also assist the community in a large-scale event. I would like to thank the men and women who committed eight evenings to the program and am excited for their continued interest in additional training. With this being our second series of workshops, we now have almost 25 men and women who have been trained in disaster preparedness and response. If you would like to be a Superhero for our community please watch for details on additional Disaster Preparedness programming and C.A.P.E. in 2020.
Now that we are well into the Holiday Season, I would like to invite the community to donate new toys for Operation Santa Claus. Operation Santa Claus is a non-profit organization that provides a holiday experience to families in the community who are homeless or whose income is less than their expenses. There is a toy drive bin at Town Hall that we are asking the community to fill up prior to December 16. Please help us provide to families in need during the Holdays.
Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season! As you know, the Holiday Season brings several special events to this great community. Please see the calendar on pages 2 and 3 of LiveWire for the dates and times for each event. For more information please call the Colma Community Center at 650.985.5678 or visit our website at www.colma.ca.gov.
RENTER PROTECTION LEGISLATION
Christopher J. Diaz, City Attorney and Samantha Chen, City Attorney’s Office
Are you a renter in Colma? Or a landlord that owns and leases out properties? California passed a series of renter protection bills effective January 1, 2020 that may affect you. Governor Newsom said in a speech before the California Legislature earlier this year that he wanted the “best ideas” on rent stability and eviction protection from lawmakers, promising to sign a “good package on rent stability this year.”
The Governor asked, and the Legislature delivered. Here are the bills:
- AB 1482: Central to the package is AB 1482, a sweeping bill that imposes a statewide rent cap and “just cause” eviction provisions. AB 1482 provides that, over the course of a 12-month period, a residential landlord cannot increase a tenant’s rent by 5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living set by local CPI or 10 percent, whichever is less. For the most part, AB 1482’s rent cap will only affect properties that are 15 years of age or older, contain two units or more, and are not already subject to local rent control ordinances.
- AB 1482 requires “just cause” showing for landlords wanting to terminate residential tenancies, which includes failure to pay rent, violations of leases, and criminal activity at a property. These “just cause” protections apply when the tenants in a unit have occupied it for some time.
- SB 329: Prohibits landlords from discriminating against tenants who rely on third-party public assistance and housing subsidies such as Section 8 vouchers to help them pay rent. Certain owner-occupied units are exempt.
- AB 1110: Requires landlords to give 90 days’ notice, rather than 60 days’ notice, to a month–to–month tenant before imposing a rent increase of more than 10% of the amount of rent.
Some legislation for tenants and landlords to keep in mind as we go into the new year!