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MINUTES – Eugene City Council January 18, 2017 Page 1 Work Session M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 March 13, 2019 12:00 p.m. Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Claire Syrett, Jennifer Yeh, Alan Zelenka Councilors Absent: Betty Taylor, Greg Evans Mayor Vinis opened the March 13, 2019, Work Session of the Eugene City Council. 1.WORK SESSION: Renter ProtectionsGrants Manager, Stephanie Jennings gave a council follow-up staff presentation about theexperience of Eugene renters and local current rental market issues related to affordability,availability, access, quality, and stability. Ms. Jennings also provided an update on proposedstate legislation related to rental protections.Council Discussion •Councilor Clark - requested data to reflect number of single adults vs. multiple adults insingle-family housing, remarking that there are more single adults living in single-familyhousing in Eugene compared to other communities in Oregon; suggested there is adiscrepancy between the model for which single-family homes were built and whocurrently lives in single-family homes; raised concern that council’s decisions make morehomes more expensive to rent. •Councilor Syrett - appreciated the use of the word “home” rather than “unit” as an exampleof the disparity in attitudes regarding home ownership and rent; stated the need foraccurate vacancy rates to understand rental conditions in Eugene; supported exploring ingreater detail application fees and the use of a smart phone app that could house auniversal application and fee; remarked that conditional to passing a Construction ExciseTax (CET), the city should look at creating a revolving loan fund to support first and lastmonth payments and security deposits, strengthening protection preventing retaliation,monthly fees for pets rather than blanket security deposits, landlords to provide rights andresponsibilities prior to renting, and to look into strategic collaborations with localagencies to support those with disabilities and the unhoused in the community. •Councilor Pryor - remarked that while the study contains a self-selection bias, shading theresults being discussed, the feedback is direct, informative, and of value; remarked thatthis is an indicator that the council should remain engaged with the topic; suggested thatwhile initial council engagement may raise rents, council-supported financial supports willultimately reduce these costs. •Councilor Zelenka - questioned why Eugene’s rental population is so much higher (ascompared to national rental figures) and suggested that more data in comparison tosimilarly sized communities in college towns would be helpful; questioned the accuracy ofreported rental rates to actual rental stock and lamented the high rates of renterdisplacement due to increased rental costs; noted the intersection of housing availability,affordability, and displacement as something he’d like to discuss more in the next work ATTACHMENT C April 22, 2019, Meeting - Item 2A