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#15 Critical Housing Update: What Long Beach Housing Providers Need to Know (John Edmond) · Own More Doors

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: What's up, everyone?
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Juan Weezar here with another Own More Doors podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: We have the director of the apartment association, John Edmond, good friend of mine.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well connected in the city of Long Beach.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: And today we're going to be updating um housing providers, apartment owners on what the heck is happening.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and uh one of the things, John, when I first got started with uh the YouTube channel and the podcast, was I wanted to inform housing providers on things that were happening because you you and I were hearing the same complaints.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, they keep passing these laws.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know this was going to be voted on.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, and I don't agree with it.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, it's making it it makes me not want to be a housing provider.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: It makes me doesn't want, it makes me not to want to renovate my properties.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: It makes me want to sell and get the hell out of California.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's the stuff that I'm hearing.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: I know you hear it because you because you're a part of the apartment association.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, catch us up, man.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, thank you so much for having us on uh with the apartment association.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: We want to make a mass appeal to all housing providers, anybody that's dealing in the real estate marketing, this is something that is of concern, whether you're a developer, multifamily owner, um, housing provider, or beyond.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: The the issues that are impacting um housing in Long Beach in the state of California have been going on for some time now.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And as the state, county, and cities try and create remedies, they actually in many ways create policy, and I think to what you were saying, that does the opposite.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So where they have uh protected classes, seniors, um folks that have low income, um, where they want to, you know, help them, they they create policies sometimes that as housing providers we look at and say, well, that's counterintuitive.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: That actually doesn't help the very segment in the group that they're trying to protect, if you will, or or help.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: It actually makes it m uh more difficult.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And there's several examples that we can go over.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'm really here to appeal to everyone to be where you're not waking up one day and you read in the newspaper that the city council is voting on X, Y, and Z, and everybody gets upset and shows up to council with pitchforks and knives, uh, and or feel defeated that that they're not at the table and are able to be part of the process.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: And John, let me uh stop you right there.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: By the time the council's discussing at council, that's too late.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of baked.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's too late.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: So so so for anyone to think let's all rally together and go to city council, they they need to rally together now, right?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, we still need to.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I I often say that it's it's best to be um part of the takeoff to be on the plane for the landing, right?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, if you're not part of the process as the formulation is occurring, it's hard at the end when there's been uh public outreach and when there's been public testimony, and when city staff has sort of really narrowly tailored sort of what their recommendations are to council, to then convince the majority of the council to essentially take out what all the hard work that was done in building it up to that moment and coming up with something different.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, it it's not to say that it can't happen.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's not to say I like to characterize it as create an alternative or a softer landing on some of these key issues, but really the negotiations and the conversations need to happen way earlier in the process.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: John, when you're talking about public outreach, and you know, we spoke a couple days ago, they've had these, and you're and you're telling me, hey, housing providers are not showing up.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: We're not showing up.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Who is showing up?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, tenant advocacy groups.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and there's a big rabbit hole of like who these organizations are and what they do.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Many of them are nonprofits, many, many are funded like by the Cal and Dow and everything, but they are in some cases paid um community organizers that go out and do the hard work of knocking on doors and uh making a case and and really trying to get people to come to the conversation.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: They write speaking points and they have an agenda and they're just really driving that process.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so the two meetings that have occurred so far are, I would say, 90% um tenant advocacy groups and tenant um advocates, tenant advocacy rights groups that are asking for a lot more than what staff has on the recommendation.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, some of the conversations that I've witnessed are, you know, uh right to counsel, even for uh evictions that are lawful.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um so it's it's meant to slow down the process and and really try and keep people in their homes for um to it you know to the ability that they can, despite the fact that it's a lawful eviction.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: The difference is interesting.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's the the the distinction and understanding, and I even see some some city staff not really understanding what it means when there's lawful evictions and what that, and how it's a useful tool in order to make modify and to make improvements in the property.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So we went through this with it with the um with the uh uh um the um renovation ordinance that we did where where folks didn't really understand like what why why is this bad for property owners?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like um, and it's not just about the tenant relocation fee, it's the fact that on the one hand, the city says, you're not doing enough, you need to fix your properties, it needs to have a minimum living standard, and you need to do this earthquake retrofitting, and you need to do you know, solar panels, and now we're gonna, you know, they're gonna come out with like electric cars and all this infrastructure and um investment that you need to make in your property that are dictated on high.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you shall be energy efficient, you shall do all you know all these things, which not by by the way, we can talk about individually.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but what that impact is because the land the landlord cannot support it through the current rents, right?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, these are you, you know, some of these are you know hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the scale and size of the properties.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: John, so there's already been two meetings.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um housing providers are unrepresented.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh well underrepresented, they're just not there.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so we don't want to miss the next one.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: So why don't we start with the with the dates of the next one and then everything that could potentially be voted on by city council.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I'd like to say it's not too late.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I want I want to encourage folks to be a part of the process.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Ideally, and and the thing that has the highest value, highest impact, is your time and physically being there and being in part of the process and voicing your concern and speaking to the issues that impact you most.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: So for us, it's about the the just cause uh ordinance.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: But there's many items like they they want to do um, you know, development uh um inclusionary housing.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, is it 11%, is it 3%, is it 7%?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: But right now they're throwing around 11%.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what that does is it makes the cost of building housing uh less affordable, which means you'll have less development, which means you'll have more stress as it pushes down for market rate housing availability because we're not increasing housing stock, right?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Which has been going on for literally 20 years.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we try and tell city staff and folks like, look, you're in the weight for us to build more housing, and and they're doubling down on more rules, more regulations, because they're trying to solve for a problem without understanding that market forces dictate whether or not uh they're gonna build or not.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So specifically, the last uh community meeting as it is right now, like I said, there's they could do more.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And quite frankly, Juan, that we can host our own community meetings and we can invite council members to it.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And we can, you know, so I this is one meeting of many meetings that I think need to happen, and we need to engage with the electeds and with the policymakers and city staff as we go through this process.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it is Thursday, September 12th, from 6 to 7:30 at McBride Park Community Center.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is our chance to voice our concerns and offer real solutions to the housing challenges facing Long Beach.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's uh mark your calendar September 12th from 6 p.m.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: to 7 30 p.m.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's a Thursday.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: And and we'll have the uh more information in the notes now.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you can't make the meeting, uh we'll put in the link, you know, we'll point down wherever that is.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we'll put in the link that you can do what's called a public uh comment for that meeting.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll have a link where you put your name, your email, and then you click on the things that you're interested in commenting on.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I'm my hair's on fire, which isn't much left, but my hair's on fire for a just cause ordinance update.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a a multitude of other issues.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: I would just highly encourage uh to focus on this one issue.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: I know that that it might trigger some folks, like uh some of the things that are there that are really antithetical to our industry and our practice.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: But to me, right now, it we need to really kind of set the line as it relates to some of the things that they're trying to do.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: John, so let's talk about the things that they're trying to pass right now.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And and I'll let you take it from the top.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, essentially there they're there's they're requiring that that you have to um you're compelled that uh you cannot do month-to-month uh leases anymore.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: That has to be a minimum of a year.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: That uh so therefore you couldn't do like substantial remodel or anything like that um during a 12-month period.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so it's like a noticing requirement that you would then have to pay them half of your um half of the uh relocation fees up front, and then the other half upon uh when they move out.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, they're going from two months or there was a certain dollar amount that it maxed out out to now six months of relocation.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So whatever they're paying, and those are the discussions that are happening.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they want more and more, but that that's you know, and I think staff's recommendation is a little bit more modest, but that's um what what is being proposed uh by by some folks.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: John, for for someone listening, like so right now in Long Beach, uh the relocation is um a two months rent or$4,500.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so And that was negotiated, by the way.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was discussed.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of discussion around that.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I some people might be wondering what I'm wondering.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Why can't it stay there?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: What's wrong with that?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because the tenant advocacy groups are saying it's not enough.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it's meant to be, I'll be candid, it's meant to be punitive.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's meant to be so that it makes it more difficult for you to do substantial remodels to the property, which is contrary in to the policy of maintaining and increasing your your uh habability of the property itself.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: We we um were selling a building and I helped the owner do the substantial renovation um clause and to and talk to the tenants and kind of you know get those conversations going.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the tenant was paying forty five hundred dollars, and so it's it's two months rent or 4,500.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, but in this case, two months rent was$9,000.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: The tenant gladly took the$9,000.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they were they were thinking of moving anyways, and so this was bonus on top of it.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so to to think that someone would be paying$4,500 times six, yeah, it's outrageous.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll just say outside of Long Beach, and this is what I worry about, this is what kind of makes me concerned, especially since so there is so little attention being paid by uh multifamily um uh housing providers at this moment, is that it can get a lot worse.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, LA has a slew of policies and initiatives that they're creating into their just cause ordinance, right to counsel, whether even if it's a legal form of eviction, which most cases they are, uh but they but the at taxpayer expense, they are hiring lawyers to fight housing providers, even if it's completely legal and lawful.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: So someone is let's stop paying rent, you know, they're four months, five months into not paying rent.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: A landlord's only like the only thing a landlord, uh a housing provider can do is to start an eviction.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: You're saying that that tenant now would have uh right to counsel.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right to counsel.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, paid a taxpayer expense.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: And their job is to be.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if anyone's listening, I mean, any housing provider or something, you don't have to be a housing provider to listen to this and say, hey, this doesn't sound right.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing it's an erosion of property rights, right?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I mean, whether you're, you know, whatever party affiliation that you have or whatever, it is when something is is taken away, it never comes back.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: There's all these exemptions.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's not ADU, it's not for single-family homes, it's not for condos, it's not until it is, right?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is this is what happens is that once something happens, it's very easy to then add categories, which is exactly what's happening at the state level.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: We thought we negotiated sort of a state rent control with the governor, and now there's an initiative process to basically say, no, everyone can decide their own rent control in each municipality.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we're back to square one again.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So the struggle's real.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the struggles are uh happening.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: I I think what happens is when I talk to property owners, myself included, you get just so defeated, right?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: You feel like, okay, I'm not being heard, we're the bad guys, we're the villain, you know, it's not worth my trouble.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And what I try and express is, well, it's if the to me, if you're going to be in this business, it is expected that there's going to be disruption from government, right?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: And COVID um really made governments more beholden.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of talked about this on the last time that we discussed it to do.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Unless we're at the table and unless we're laying on uh on the cards discussion about the specific policies that they're bringing forward, and then bring forward policies, which which we can talk about a little bit here, that they ought to consider to address the housing crisis that we're experiencing, and and to find their ultimate goal.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're talking to a policymaker, why why do the things that we just discussed right now?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Why increase it to six months or three months of um relocation fee?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what is the problem that we're solving for?
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And to your point, that tenant was like, hey, I'm happy to get the money and I was gonna go anyway, and also and it's and what it is is most of the time property owners are not used to government being in that relationship, right?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: They want them out of that relationship, and that's what many, and I explained this why people, a lot of people don't want to uh you know, have some of these uh programs that are out there, right?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: But they are, and so the so the question is how do we help provide adequate solutions from an industry perspective that address these concerns?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that part of that is being there physically, having the comment period, and showing up at council.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: It is important.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say it right here, right now.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Throughout every step of this process, we need to sh show up.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because without showing up, we we lose by by numbers, by literal numbers in the audience, right?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's it doesn't make anybody think about an alternative if there is nobody presenting it before them at the dais or at the council itself.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so every step in this process, and and even though there's we're here talking about the last meeting of three, this is still the beginning of the process.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's still, we still have time to create sort of a momentum, to create, to get our us more organized, for us to come up with better messaging, for us to be able to bring other solutions to the table, and quite frankly, hold them accountable on the decisions that they're making.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, when they did the substantial remodel ordinance, uh and I think we talked about this, it was really only two quote unquote bad actors, right?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: One of them, and I investigated this, I looked at all the people who pulled permits during the moratorium.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: One of them was uh uh an outfit that um kind of was in the middle and decided to finish it and didn't think anything of it.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then the other one had done an exchange uh uh and moved to Florida, and the new person that picked it up was from out of state and didn't know that there was a moratorium.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of seems normal to me, but we're talking about two instances out of everybody that created that law.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Essentially, we were solving for, based on what I saw, based on my ex my uh research, we were solving for two problems uh that impacted people, but that was it.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: There wasn't this like hundreds and hundreds of people who were doing um substantial remodels during COVID.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, just there's no case, there's no proof, there's nothing.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: But that's what the council was responding to because that's what they were hearing from the advocates.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: What else is what else is being proposed, John?
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so there's there's uh you know, we'll have a copy of the document there, but there's there's issues as it relates to inclusionary housing, um, downtown shoreline plan, so sort of reimagining the the shoreline, and there's a lot of discussion about um you know providing more opportunities for for low-income housing, which I'm I'm supportive of.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't think there's any reason why we can't do that.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I think if you want to entice a developer to develop in Long Beach, you gotta make it easier for them.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't think I've never heard a developer say that they're not interested, they wouldn't build low-income housing if they can if the project will pencil out.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, when this first came up, I I went to council and I uh on behalf of the association and I expressed, hey, um, if you make it easier for developers to develop, more development will happen.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: And if you incentivize whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish, um, they'll take up the incentives.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: They'll they'll do it if you whether it has to do setbacks or whatever.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: The state has created like a like different different things within their portfolio that they can do to be able to do development that they're doing.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: The city can do even more.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll give you an example.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: City right now has a shot clock.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: If it's 100% affordable housing, they have to get entitled, approved, and everything within a certain period of time.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's like 90 days.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, guess what?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you if you meet uh a percentage of affordable housing outside of what is required by whatever setback rules or offers and c offers that they make and or compromises that they make based on the policy for incentives as they exist today, you could offer more incentive by guaranteeing approvals so you can start building.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because as a developer, it's a cost of carry, right?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: You have land acquisition, you have soft cost, architect, da da da da.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Last thing you want to do is be in purgatory for two years.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: If you're guaranteed a decision in 60 days, they'll they'll build that into the plan, right?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so there's lots of different things that we could be doing as it relates to that.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, then it has to do with um, you know, we have a program with the city uh about inspections, uh, it's called PRIP.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and we have advocated for, and I think we should take it more seriously.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is another solution where you have to get an inspection, it's every year.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: And and what's interesting is they don't really get to us every year because there's not enough inspectors, so they're wanting to like my uh you know fund more inspectors.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: I said, well, why don't you if I've had the last five inspections passed with clearing colors, come see me in three years, come see me in five years, even right?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: And have those inspectors go after the folks that you don't have time to seem to go after, right?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there should be something in it for being a a good actor, right?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Why spend more money doing a program that quite frankly most people have no problems with and and really target the folks that that you need to target?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't seem to resonate.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: So those are things that that are coming up there.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: But in the document, they they talk about um sort of reimagining downtown the inclusionary housing policy.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked to developers that are very concerned about that.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Really, for our network and the folks that we're we're trying to uh convey is the just cause ordinance.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm not saying that what staff's recommending is good.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying what I worry about is that other things that are being discussed in these public meetings that are happening all over our state.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: LA, you know, um Burbank, uh, you know, all of these cities that are really creating, you know, even LA County, uh LA County is moving forward with the right to counsel, right?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: For unincorporated uh LA County.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: I if we don't start talking about and getting engaged, uh I think those will be included in the staff recommendation when it comes to counsel.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: John.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Many of those other topics, right?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: So they're saying what they're saying in the document, but I'm saying well you don't have to be rocket science to see what's going on around us to know that that those are things that the housing advocate, I'm sorry, the tenant advocate groups are trying to push for.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: We'll we'll uh we'll uh uh add this attachment that you're referring to onto the notes.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: I do have a question just so people understand, because you're talking like can you walk us through how the policy at the city level is made?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because you made you mentioned like staff recommendations, so I'm like, okay, so is it staff that sits in a meeting and says we need to change this?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Or is it the public meetings and people call it uproar that tell staff we need to change it, or is it city council saying, uh, hey, the you know, the folks in my district have been complaining about this and we need like where does this all start and leads to actually a uh I guess a law being passed?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I think I think what is in the discussion for the city has come up a different so inclusionary housing is a standalone item that came up with the city several years ago, just cause eviction came up separately.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: So what what they're doing is they're really targeting housing in general, right?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: That they're doing a multi-prong approach to solutions for um how to provide more affordable housing to more people, right?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so so it they they say, okay, staff, uh look at what's happening around us.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: What are some best practices?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: What are your recommendations?
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: So they put together this document and they have there's a starting place.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now I always get frustrated because the starting place Shows bias, in my opinion, right?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like it's not like you walk into one of these three meetings and it's a blank piece of paper and they go through this brainstorming exercise and say, give me your best and brightest ideas.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: They say, Well, here are things that you know we're we're considering.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so then everyone says, Well, we need right to counsel, we need this, we need and so they start putting all that into uh to the place.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it is sort of like a forward-carrying momentum.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: So many of these um discussions that happen at the community involvement is exactly what that's for.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's community to be involved to help shape what ultimately staff's recommendation is and ultimately what the council will vote on.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so the starting place is sort of happens over time through a myriad of policy or initial creation of policy and discussions that are happening.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: And in a lot of ways, in I'm not saying it's occurring right now, but you know, look, this was published in the newspaper.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: There was like a couple of emails.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, you're pretty, you know, you got a you know big following.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Have you were you contacted?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Were you were you asked to be in like a focus group or asked to get them to yeah?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I should have been asked.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's this see, this is what I'm trying to get at.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: So so it's like they're doing just enough.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then conversely, they would say, Well, we we we've done notices, we published it in the newspaper.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: We've done what more do you want us to do, right?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's sort of and so so anyway, so they go through that process, there's public comment, then it goes back to council.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so I'll give you an example.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: One what we should do is we should host our own forum and invite property managers, uh owners, you know, we can we can get everybody together in a room.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's do it.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I definitely want to do this.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm done.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then invite the city council and invite city staff to come.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, whether they come or don't come, it'll be like a convention, right?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: And we host, we talk about what's being talked about, and then we bring forward our agenda of advocacy.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because here's what's been happening time and time again.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: We had a breakthrough moment right now, okay?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's put it out there for everybody.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: Aren't you tired of waking up and there being some crazy thing in the newspaper and then coming to council for it to be like a foregone conclusion?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Aren't you tired that somebody's sitting here saying spend a Thursday or whatever day it was to go to a community park group?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not gonna be fun because it's never been, I'll just be candid with you.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: It can be get pretty, we're gonna be respectful of everything.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: But we'll in so many cases I've been in rooms where I get shouted out.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like they get yelled at, literally.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we have to be part of the process.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: But why don't we come up with three things, Juan, that are not against what the tenant groups are doing, not against necessarily what staff recommendation will be when this finally does come to council, but advances some kind of agenda that's mindful of what the needs are, but is a better way forward.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe we maybe we as a c as a group, and and this is important that I don't know what those are today, and neither do you, because we just thought about it through this conversation, which is why this podcast is so great.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: But we have a meeting and we have the best and brightest housing providers, property managers, you know, folks at the table, realtors, brokers, everybody, housing experts in our in our space, come up with some solutions and bring those forward separately and and advance that.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: So so what we can do is we'll submit it as, you know, hey, we're against these things for these reasons, which is what I'm asking everybody to do uh in two, you know, in three days.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: But then but then let's also start working on some solutions to these problems because A, they're either not a problem and the solutions are not working, or the solutions that they're coming up to are not actually going to fix it.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: I I found a a Nancy Allsweet article from 20 years ago in the office, and it said how housing crisis is an issue.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what she was talking about is how government is always in the way of allowing us to build more housing.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: That was happening 20 years ago.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, guess what?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: I believe it's still that way.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you talk to any developer in town, how hard is it to just get a permit?
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: How hard is it still and listen, they hear this all the time, and I don't want to sound like a broken record, but things could, it's like, what have they done internally to fix some of the pressing issues that we've been known to have happen before you start a new agenda or a new list of things, right?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what if if if if maybe there's an ombuds that helps somebody get a new unit to move into instead of, you know, maybe instead of paying the tenant, well, you know, the city should come up with that as a solution.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is, but that that's the type of thing I'm thinking we do.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, I digress.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a package of a lot of different things that they're gonna be bringing forward.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: This is the beginning of the process, and I think we we're vibing on putting a can like a meeting of industry professionals that can come together and maybe we come up not with a smorgasbord.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: We we brainstorm, we do start with that white piece of paper that I talk about that doesn't happen.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: We say, here are what we think they're solving for, what is the best way to approach it, and then pick a couple just to advance and move forward.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Not saying that it's gonna happen, but at least it's it's not just that we're against what they're proposing, it's that we're against what they're proposing, here are the reasons why, and we are for these policies and recommendations that we make as an industry to move forward.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that hasn't been done in a long time.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well then it's it's it's time we we change that.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: So so we'll have more on that later, then I guess.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know for sure.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: So a couple things.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um Sept September 12th, so this is a few days away, uh, 6 to 7:30.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Which park again?
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's a McBride Park.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: McBride Park here in Long Beach.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Here in Long Beach, it's in central Long Beach.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: For for anyone who says, you know, listen, this this uh this podcast has to be edited and we have to launch it.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: So even if someone misses this date, there's gonna be other um public events that we could go to.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: Where John, where can someone where's the central place?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Is it the apartment association website?
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: Is that is that where everyone should be going?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna put together sort of like the hot the Long Beach housing policy for the apartment association.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'll create an email serve where promise not to give it to anybody else during the night, but that that way we can notify folks about when things pop up.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's the best resource.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: So whether you're a member or not, let us know that you're interested.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can send me an email at John at A C S C dotorg, um, and then I'll I'll respond and make sure that your email gets on a list.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're gonna activate our membership, we're gonna do outbound calls, texting.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm putting out uh this evening a an e-blast um to encourage people to show up.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: I will just say, you know, I I didn't mean to sound like it's gonna be a waste of time.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: It is not a waste of time showing up to these things.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: It is so crucial.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I know you said that, hey, if you can't make it, I I don't want to use that word.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: If you can't make it, it means you don't have to no no the thing is listen, you gotta make it.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, I'm gonna be there, John.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is important for me.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: So this is someone needs to be um to your point, just giving our perspective because I I hear the housing provider perspective because that's because that's who I'm serving.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: And and it's important that their story, their nar narrative gets told, and right now it's just not being told.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: In my opinion, um, we do have some folks that are showing up, so I want to thank them for doing that.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really important, but it's not enough.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm I'm I am worried that the overwhelming majority of the people who have been in attendance are not are not only um they are advancing they are advancing a much more onerous agenda than what is being uh laid out in black and white in the document that you're gonna have a link for.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of discussion around a lot of different things that'll that'll just be uh very problematic for this for us to be uh friendly, property friendly.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it's an absolute and complete property right erosion that's taking place if any of those things happen.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: So so there were three things that I wrote down is erosion of property rights.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're a housing provider and you know how hard it was when you first bought that building, and you know that you had a scrape to have that down payment, and you know that when you closed it, you were negative for many years before you ever went a little positive, and you've invested in creating housing for the city, they should be rewarding you.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: So so that's that's that's the first part.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like the fact that we're losing property rights is a problem.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: The fact that there's disruption from government is a problem, and the fact that we're losing by not having the numbers at these places is a problem.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so we we need to have our voices.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't get it back, Juan.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing is if if if whatever look, you know, you'll say to yourself, well, it's not that bad.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm just just to say, like, but but but what's there is not what it'll be.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be it's going to, in my if if left uh without any counter thought or um uh impressions, if you will, by by the by by other stakeholders, right?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because when you read this, it talks about like community and the need for that.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: But we're part of the community, we're very much part of the community.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: We we pay taxes, we improve properties, we create a value.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: And just this concept alone.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Housing providers provide affordable housing to all.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Market rate housing is affordable housing.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: I I it's like it, it's now if the government wants to create a a price point that's below market rate, then they should pay for it.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: It should be a like just like you would for food, health insurance, or other things that they say that are in need.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: But what they're doing is they're shifting the burden from government to housing providers.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: They're making you pay for it.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's and it makes no sense.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you try and explain this to folks, it's like, well, wait a minute.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: They can't do that.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, that's what's happening, and it is happening.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's um, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but it is it is important to come to this meeting.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: I want you everyone to, you know, they have a rules, right?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, silence your cell phones, listen without interrupting others, you know, share the space with others, navigate around the boards, treat fellow attendees and staff with respect, both during and after the meeting, and address all the comments to the project team members and not to other attendees.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: So it should be a good place for us to express our ideas.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying our ideas are not being expressed well enough through sheer numbers.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: Got it.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: John, um, people should join the apartment association?
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so check out the apartment association.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: We will see you folks September 12th.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: We are gonna continue having John back frequently so he can continues to update us on what's happening with these policies.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: John, thank you for all that you do.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and the way that we reward John is by signing up for the apartment association.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm gonna tell them.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, John, so I'm gonna leave you with that.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'll leave you with the final word.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'll just say um as as uh as I started, if you're not on the plane as it takes off, you're not gonna be on when it lands.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: And and I would say that this is advocacy 101.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we we we're not squeaking loud enough.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we're not, and and and what I feel like is there's an opportunity here to help shape this in such a way that we could have a soft landing, that it's not gonna be LA.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: Look, Long Beach prides itself on being its own city.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're the the fifth largest city in the state of California, and we're the lar the second largest uh city in LA County, and we sort of have a history of of kind of working together to handle our problems.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're not LA, so we shouldn't have LA solutions.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're not LA County, so we shouldn't have LA County solutions.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: We can come up with a a better way, which is the Long Beach way, right?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that just like tenant advocacy groups have every right to be at the table and to voice their concerns, so do we.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just encourage every single one of you to come on out, be part of the conversation, and really um make it the a Long Beach way where we we can we can thrive, not just survive, but but thrive in Long Beach in in in um in it being a housing provider.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, John.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: All right, thank you.