Last week, the Bakersfield City Council Wednesday’s meeting held a discussion on the Neighborhood Stabilization and Prevention Program Plan. The Program Plan is a development of programs designed to mitigating the inflow of individuals facing housing instability and to prevent homelessness.
During the meeting City Council largely agreed with staff’s recommendation for allocating additional American Rescue Plan Act funding to the city’s homelessness abatement programs. However, a $100,000 proposal for providing legal assistance to landlords was a point of disagreement.
During City Manager Christian Clegg’s presentation he explained there is still a $1,200,000 budget proposed use of ARPA funding for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program:
- $450,00 Code Enforcement to respond to habitability
- $550,000 Substandard Housing Rehabilitation Project
- $100,000 Community Training and Engagement
- $100,000 Landlord Assistance Fund
City Manager Clegg explained the $100,000 funding was to help assist smaller landlords with four units or less.
“We would have a service that was available to landlords to be able to get that guidance and counsel,” said Clegg.
“I’m really struggling to find the nexus between this landlord assistance and neighborhood stabilization. Perhaps if the council wanted to consider another funding source, that would be a different consideration but given the context that these are ARPA federal dollars for disadvantaged neighborhoods, I’m really struggling to find how this is an appropriate use of dollars first and foremost.” said Vice Mayor Andrae Gonzales.
The council members approved the first three of the recommendations but asked for an alternate recommendation for the $100,000 landlord assistance fund.
Several concerned Kern County residents shared their public comment opposing the allocation.
“It just seems that it’s just another way to help those who want to pad their own pockets, create more wealth, to push people out on the streets. We already have a housing problem…” said Wendell Wesley Jr. “So I would urge the council to rethink this.”
“If there is money to throw at this issue to incentivize landlords, the obvious solution is to keep someone housed by paying the rent through a rental assistance program versus just giving the landlords a separate program or money to learn loopholes on how to evict more tenants,” said Char Thompson the Central Valley Regional coordinator with Tenants Together. “I again urge you to reconsider the 100, 000 in allocation to landlord incentives.”
“The Landlord Legal Assistance Program will provide resources for landlords to facilitate the continual displacement and evictions tenants are forced to encounter. Tenants already have incredibly scarce resources and a lack of awareness of their rights and a minimal access to representation. Adoption of this program would further harm and directly displace residents you Specifically in Southeast and Central Bakersfield,” said Sandra Melgoza-Plascencia, with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.
