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The Pleasanton City Council may increase funding for a city program that’s been helping struggling Pleasanton residents pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic at their upcoming Tuesday night meeting, starting 7 p.m.
“Pleasanton residents continue to see their household income significantly reduced since the shelter in place (SIP) order continue to be extended,” staff said in a recent report. “This reduction in household income, undoubtedly, is continuing to leave many Pleasanton residents unable to afford to pay their rent and at risk of losing their homes and/or being displaced from the Pleasanton community.”
In response to the growing problem, city officials established the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program this summer, which is administered by local nonprofit CityServe of the Tri-Valley and “has the objective of mitigating potential homelessness and displacement of existing Pleasanton residents who are experiencing a decrease in household income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus, unable to pay their rent.”
Staff has also recommended allowing eligible applicants to receive a second month of rental assistance, as well as committing up to $200,000 additional funding to ERAP from the Lower Income Housing Fund (LIHF), if there’s a need once the original funding and an additional $150,000 of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) COVID funding has been exhausted.
As of Oct. 30, the program has a remaining balance of $151,632 from the original $500,000 approved budget.
ERAP has provided $298,367 in rental assistance to 151 eligible tenants unable to pay rent due to a COVID-19-related loss of income since its establishment in June. The program pays for delinquent rent only and payment is made directly to the landlords.
By providing a second month of rental assistance, staff said affected Pleasanton renters would be better able to “stay current on their rent or pay a portion of their delinquent rent in order to mitigate the risk of losing their homes and/or being displaced from the Pleasanton community.”
No changes to the program’s criteria eligibility have been proposed.
Qualified applicants must be current residents of Pleasanton with a valid residential lease with a third-party landlord for at least six continuous months, be in good standing with payment and terms of their lease prior to the countywide shelter in place order issued March 16 — as verified by the landlords — and have a household income not exceeding 80% area median income (AMI) established for Alameda County (adjusted for household size) prior to March 16.
Participants must also show documentation of loss of income of “at least 20% due to COVID-19 as a result of employment and/or school/childcare closures and/or inability to work due to COVID-19 illness or caring for a family member infected by the disease.”
Staff has also proposed increasing assistance to $5,000 per household, or double the previous $2,500 maximum. Applicants residing in three bedroom units would only receive the maximum $5,000 assistance.
Funding awarded will “represent the lesser of the tenants actual rent for two months or the applicable to month maximum affordability rent for households at 80% AMI, adjusted for unit size (i.e. number of bedrooms).”
In other business
* On Tuesday, the council will consider using money from the city’s General Fund surplus to form a mental health crisis response program with licensed clinicians, and saving the rest for other purposes.
In addition to accepting the city’s fiscal 2019-20 year-end operating budget report and designating the general fund balance, staff is recommending the council allocate $800,000 from the city’s $4.3 million surplus to establish a Crisis Response Program and putting the remainder in the Rainy Day Fund.
Cash inflow exceeded outflow by about $4.3 million overall, according to a staff report.
“The proposed allocations boosts the city’s Rainy Day Fund from $5 million to $8.5 million that will be available to help balance the fiscal year 2020/21 budget in the event revenues are less than estimated,” staff said.
Aiming to “reduce the number of people detained for mental health evaluations,” the city would also start a crisis response program using $800,000 from the surplus, and provide “specialized resources to respond to those in acute mental health crisis that is not currently available today.”
“The current response model requires dispatching a police officer to all mental health-related calls without the benefit of a trained and licensed clinician,” staff added. “The crisis response program will include the response of a trained and licensed clinician at the time of the call to help evaluate the severity of crisis, refer the person in need to other services, or arrange for transport to a care facility for further evaluation.”
The $800,000 will be allocated to a specific expenditure account in next year’s mid-year budget.
According to staff, the suggested General Fund reserves would “result in combined year-end General Fund reserves of $30.6 million, which is approximately 27% of the actual fiscal year 2019/20 General Fund operating expenditures.”
The city aims to have General Fund reserves equaling at least 20% of operating costs, with a target of 25%.
* The council will give staff guidance on policy direction related to the city’s Climate Action Plan (CAP 2.0) on Tuesday. An update on the city’s Energy and Environment Committee will be presented as well that evening, including the next phases of CAP 2.0 and recommendations for reducing the city of Pleasanton’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Since early this year, the Energy and Environment Committee has been reviewing background documents and issuing direction on different elements of the CAP 2.0, which are expected to guide the next steps of the CAP 2.0 process.
Specifically, staff has sought council input on “the preferred greenhouse gas emission reduction target pathway, vision, guiding principles, co-benefits, and action selection criteria, as recommended by the committee.”
The project’s next phases are expected to include recommended actions the city may take to meet GHG emission reduction targets–some of which could require public funds–such as diversifying the city’s energy sources, adding fast EV-charging stations along transportation routes, investing in green stormwater infrastructure, restoring riparian habitat areas, and promoting cooling centers “to combat warmer summers.”
An initial community outreach plan was made but delayed due to the pandemic, which has also delayed the CAP 2.0 completion date. Since then the city has adjusted its outreach strategy, using e-newsletters, social media, print advertising and email through distribution lists to connect with residents. The Local Leaders of the 21st Century Clubs at local high schools are also in the process of creating videos about various CAP 2.0 projects to eventually share with the community.
Virtual engagement on the project website includes a community feedback survey, of which about 510 responses have been received so far.
