Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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of mold and questioned whether the City wished to assume that responsibility. She said the ROA felt it was preferable to provide educational seminars to landlords and tenants alike, rather than incorporating it into the rental housing code. She encouraged the council to postpone incorporating mold into the housing program until those issues were studied and professional opinions sought. She also encouraged formation of a committee representing staff, landlords and tenants to discuss the future housing code program, as was done in Portland. She referred to a memorandum from staff indicating that the City would not assume any liability for mold; that would be passed on to landlords and it would be very expensive. Dennis Casady , Eugene, stated that Eugene’s housing program was based on the Corvallis model. He said the Corvallis ordinance included a sunset clause and the ROA had lobbied for a sunset clause in Eugene’s code. He said the ROA had also asked for a separate or designated account for fees collected by the housing programs, but that was not established. He said the Corvallis program assessed $8 per unit while Eugene assessed $10 per unit per year; the Corvallis program had one staff person to administer it and Eugene had three-and-a-half people to administer its program. He said the Eugene housing program, which only duplicated Oregon landlord/tenant law, had a $78,000 surplus annually. He was troubled that the ROA was not informed about the proposed changes to the ordinance and urged the council to reestablish instead of remove the sunset clause to assure that the City would continue to revisit the housing code and make adjustments as necessary in the future. Devin Gates , Maxwell Road, Eugene, commented that legal aid was available at no cost for tenants who qualified, as was the court. He said the law was very clear concerning retaliatory action towards tenants and provided punitive damages. He noted that units deemed unacceptable represented less than one percent of the rental market and asked out of fairness that the council consider protection for landlords from bad tenants. He expressed alarm with including mold in the ordinance. He said the state was specific about habitability and aside from leaking roofs and plumbing, all other mold was tenant-caused due to the environmental conditions they created, such as not using bathroom fans, heating rooms properly, poor housekeeping or failing to notify the landlord of a problem. He said no other jurisdiction addressed mold, with exception of minimal language used by the Gresham program. He cautioned the council about the potential unintended consequences to the availability and affordability of rental housing. Michael Steffen , Pine Canyon Drive, Eugene, stated he was also an ROA board member. He urged the council to retain a sunset provision to give rental property owners an opportunity to provide input on the housing program. Nancy Nichols , Deadwood Creek Road, Deadwood, said she owned five rental properties in Eugene, most of them for longer than 20 years. She said she occasionally found mold in a house when tenants moved, but not others, and felt that the mold could be attributed to tenant behavior, rather than the house. She was very concerned about adding mold to the ordinance. She did not object to the housing program initially, but gave several examples of how it had caused unnecessary delays in making a property available for rental because the City could not determine the nature of a problem or how to solve it. She noted that not all people were sensitive to mold, while others were sensitive to certain paints or adhesives. She asked if paints and glues would be added to the housing code. She said most mold was due to insufficient use of fans, heating or cleaning and she did not understand how housing inspectors could correct tenant habits. She said a better use of the surplus fees was to fast track solutions to code violations to provide landlords with definitive directions and any needed permits within three weeks of an inspection. Bill Slattery , Jackson Street, Eugene, stated he was a general contractor and forensic investigator for construction defects. He had been involved in many high profile mold and spore cases in Oregon and suggested that $78,000 would not be adequate to hire an industrial hygienist, which was what would be MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 19, 2008 Page 6 Public Hearing