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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/19/1989 Donald K. Ratty, Chair Oscar Anthony . Kevin McDermott Staff: John Stinson AGENDA BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Wednesday, July 19, 1989 12:00 Noon City Manager's Conference Room 1. AMBULANCE RATE UPDATE 2. FAIR HOUSING 3. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT HOME IMPROVEMENT LOAN 4. REQUESTED INCREASE IN THE HOME ACCESSIBILITY GRANT AMOUNT MEMORANDUM July 17, 1989 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS FROM: CAROL WILLIAMS, CITY CLERK~~ SUBJECT: CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 36-89 ITEM 7. a., PAGE 5) Attached are copies of correspondence from the League of Women Voters, dated July 14, 1989, and the United Communities Coalition, dated July 14, 1989, in support of providing a stipend to volunteer testers to the Fair Housing Program. CW:rg Attachments rpt.1 OF \ ,,OMEN VOTERS of Bakersfield Post Office Box 6332 Bakersfield, Caiif'orr~ia 93386 (805} 366-619/4 ... July 14, 1989 Honorable Mayor Clarence Medders and City Council Members 1501 Truxtun Avenue Bakersfield, ~a~ifornia o.~ ~01 Honorable Mayor Medders and Council Members: The League of Women Voters is a nationwide, non partisan organization whose purpose'is to'encourage the informed participation of citizens in government. Nationally and state wide the League of Women Voters is supportive of programs and .policies which provide equal opportunity for access to housing without discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin. As such, the League of Women Voters of Bakersfield has been involved in the issue of' Fair Housing since the days of the Fair Housing Task Force. We have been privileged to serve since then as a member of the Fair Housing Advisory Committee. The Fair Housing Advisory Committee voted to recommend to you and the Board of Supervisors that funds for a stipend be provided for volunteer testers to the Fair Housing Program. Also recommended was that the Director, Monty Hopper, proceed with the stipend proposal and work with the City and County Community Development Departments to develop the necessary administrative changes to the Memorandum of Understanding. We urge you to adopt the funds as recommended by the Director who we believe knows what is needed to make the program effective. My vote in support of the stipend recommendation was a result of many considerations, some which I would like to specify here: 1) Information gathered from other programs throughout the state (both non profit and. governmental) indicated a common practice of providing a stipend to volunteer testers in order to attract and maintain a pool of qualified testers; Mayor Medders Page Two andBakersfield City Council July. 14, 1989 2) When the local Fair Housing Program encountered difficulty in the recruitment and availability of volunteer testers (many of whom worked full time and were not available as needed), the Fair Housing Advisory Con%mi~tee recommended focusing on other groups of potential volunteers. However, what was not fully taken into account was the very real poss£bility that such other potential volunteers might be in need of a stipend in order to be able to volunteer; 3) The commitment to fair housing shown by the Director of the ' Department, Monty Hopper, indicates that he takes the program very seriously and genuinely wants it to succeed. 4) I believe that a program of volunteer testers who do not receive a stipend has been tried in Kern County for several years now and found to be lacking. The Fair Housing Program needs t~o be equipped with the same standard tool of the trade, one which other programs have routinely included as a necessary component of their program. We urge the~ City of Bakersfield to join with the. Kern County Board of Supervisors in furthering fair housing in our community by making a stipend available to testers. In adding this component to the program a more reliable pool of testers can be achieved and reputable documentation of testing more readily assured. Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter. Sincerely, of Bakersfield cc: J. Dale Hawley, City Manager Geary Taylor, CAO Arthur J. Saalfiel~d, City Attorney Kern County Board of Supervisors B.C. Barmann,. County Counsel Clerk of the Board of Supervisors City Clerk UNITED COMMU!~ITIES COALITION Post Office Box 602%;~5 Bakersfield, California 93386.,?~ ~ (805) 366-6194 July 14, 1989 The Honorable Mayor Clarence Medders Council Members and Officials of the City of Bakersfield, California 1501 Truxtun Avenue Bakersfield, CA 93301 Dear Mayor Medders and Councilmembers: The United Communities' Coalition (U.C.C.) is a multi-ethnic, multi- issue organization whose purpose is to guard and further the values of our religious traditions and; democratic rights and to improve relations among all races, nationalities and religions. · U.C.C. has been a strong supporter of the City of Bakersfield and the County of Kern, Fair Housing Program. We strongly urge you to support the recommendations of the Fair Housing Program staff and the Fair Housing Program Advisory Committee, to approve the funds ($1,500) that will provide a stipend to volunteer testers in next year's budget, as proposed by Fair Housing staff. Reasons for the adoption of the recommendation are as follows: 1. A fair housing program, if it is to be effective, needs a pool of qualified and trained testers. The testers are needed to test the validity of discrimination complaints and to conduct the annual Audit required under the Memorandum of Understanding (M. O.U. ) between the City of Bakersfield/County of Kern and the Department of Weights and Measure's Fair Housing Division. For over two years staff has had a problem recruiting volunteer testers. The 1988 audit could not. be completed for lack of a sufficient number of testers. It is entirely possible that 'more money was spent on attempting this endeavor than what .is being asked for in a stipend. Obviously, money could have been saved if there 'had been sufficient testers to complete~ the required audit. The Honorable Mayor Medders Page 2 Council'Members and City Officials July 14, ~989 2.' As you know, all Community Development Block Grant (CDBG recipients~ must sign a Certificate of Assurance and guarantee . to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (H.U.D.) that each respective municipality or county will comply with: "Title VIii of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Public Law 50-284), as amended, administering all programs and activities relating to housing and community development in a manner to affirmatively further fair housing and; will 'take action to affirmatively further fair housing in the sale or rental of housing, the financing of housing, and the provision of brokerage services." 3. H.U.D.'s Guide to Fair Housing Law Enforcement manual, among other things, states the following: "Testing may be described as a way of measuring differences in the quality, content, and quantity of information and service given to customers by real estate firms and rental property managers, attributable to a difference in race (or national origin, religion, or sex - whatever variable is beina tested}. Teams of persons similar as possible in all characteristics except as to race, pose as homeseekers. The team members visit the same real estate office, rental agency, or apartment building at closely spaced, intervals to apply for the same type of accommodation. Each tester records the responses and treatment received in accordance with a prescribed form. The two reports are then compared." "Testing: It is a method for ascertaining, whether or not fair housing laws are being violated, and if it appears that they are, for developing the evidence with the fullest possible documentation." "The consensus clearly is in favor of paying testers something, albeit the monetary rewards may be rather nominal. Most testers are motivated at least in part by the desire to help forward the goal of equal opportunity in housing." 4. The Fair Housing Program staff conducted a mail questionnaire survey which was sent to 43 fair housing councils and agencies throughout the state. Nineteen responses were received. With the exception of 3 programs, which did not use testers, all of the other 16 fair housing programs paid a stipend. The Honorable Mayor Medders Council Me~?~ers and City Officials Page 3 July 14, 1989 5. On May 30, 1989, the Kern County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to include funding for volunteer tester stipends in next year's Fair Housing Division's budget as recommended by the Fair Housing staff. ' With the Supervisors, stipend approval as an incentive, Fair Housing staff received over 30 favorable responses to their latest recruitment efforts. 6. The experience of the Fair Housing Program is that in some ~ns~anc~s it m~y be possible for some testers to do 2 tests a day, but usually only one test per day can be done. Twenty-five dollars is reasonable compensation for the amount of time spent, expenses and the type of~ performed, task We may all agree that there is probably no ~greater hurt that a human being can suffer than to be told they cannot rent or buy a home which they can afford and for which they have all the qualifications to purchase, all because of the color of their skin,~ their sex, their children or their religion. It is hard to understand why anyone ould want to deprive any citizen of their rights under the law and gnized accepted moral standards. Again, we urge you to support the funding of a stipend to help recruit volunteer testers as recommended by Fair Housing staff. It is clear that unless a program has testers who receive a stipend, it is an ineffective program. Please give our community a clear message, that the City of Bakersfield is committed to having an effective fair housing program, a program which will assist in eradicating discrimination from our community. Thank you for giving our request your utmost consideration. Very truly yours, David p. Burciaga, Chair United Communities Coalition cc: Kern county Board of Supervisors County mmznmstrative officer office of County Counsel County Clerk of the Board of Supervisors U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development