Concord pol accused of backing landlords on rent control

Nearly a year ago, the city of Concord enacted some of the strictest tenant protections in the state.

Now newly elected council member Pablo Benavente is accused of favoring landlords and the demands of property owners over keeping low-income tenants housed and safe, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

In April, Concord enacted a rent-control ordinance, while increasing “just cause” eviction protections to tenants. The ordinance was pushed by tenant groups, who since 2016 had worked to pass stronger protections for renters, who occupy 40 percent of the homes in the city.

Seven weeks after being sworn in as council member, Benavente last month requested the city expedite its annual public review of the rent control rules and tenant protections. The public review is slated for Feb. 25.

The 33-year-old freshman lawmaker, who narrowly ousted 12-year incumbent Edi Birsan in November, had quietly asked that the council review its rent cap formula.

Benavente also asked the city to review rental requirements for single-family homes and condos.

He said putting an item on the agenda was the easiest way to ensure property owners could legally speak out during the law’s first annual review.

“I truly believe that is leadership — trying to find that balance and hear everybody,” Benavente told the Mercury News. “I owe it to the people who voted for me to bring this up for discussion.“

On Tuesday, dozens of residents argued that it’s still too early to make an accurate assessment of Concord’s tenant protections ordinance — let alone try to move program goal posts that elected officials set in a 4-1 vote last spring.

Benavente’s focus on landlord concerns was an about-face from his role as chairman of Monument Impact, a nonprofit focused on immigrant, refugee and low-income areas in Concord.

“It felt like a betrayal,” Karen Hernandez, a community organizer with Monument Impact, told the Mercury News.

Rami Kahlon, among the mom-and-pop landlords opposed to rent control and tenant protections, said it’s become more difficult for retirees like him who rely on rental income to cover higher bills for insurance, sewer, water, garbage, utilities and building maintenance.

He argued that Concord’s rent increase limit of 3 percent, or 60 percent of the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower, is prohibitively strict compared to nearby Richmond and Berkeley, which align with a 2019 state law that limited hikes to “5 percent plus CPI,” or 10 percent a year.

“You want me to subsidize increased costs, but [the rent cap] does not cover those expenses,” Kahlon told the city council.

“Basically, my retirement income will decrease each year, and I’ll keep deferring capital improvements like paint, roofs and concrete,” he said. “There won’t be enough money left over. You have a chance to fix this policy mistake.”

— Dana Bartholomew