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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.14.21 RHAB MinutesRental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 1 Rental Housing Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 14, 2021 Present: Alec Gulan, Lynnsey Erickson, Timothy Ernst, Linda Jevaltas, Tom Hutchison, Donn Lord Excused: Danny Garcia. Katrina DeGroot Staff: Allen Davis; Community Development Director, Darlene Brandt; Grants Coordinator, Anna Maier; Administrative Assistant, Casey Koelbl, Housing Inspector I. Call to Order Mr. Ernst called the meeting to order at 3:30pm. II. Roll Call Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. III. Approval of Minutes – February 10, 2021 The minutes of the February 10, 2021 meeting were approved with minor revisions. (Erickson/Jevaltas) IV. Citizen Statements Mr. Matt Mikkelsen, 906 Winnebago Avenue, stated that he is a landlord in town and would like to speak regarding the preamble to the Tenant Bill of Rights. He feels that it is very inflammatory towards landlords. He has successful relationships with his tenants. It is not financially beneficial and it is stressful when things do not work out with a tenant. The way that the preamble is written makes it sound like he is the bad guy and he has a big problem with that because he considers himself a decent landlord and so do several of his tenants that he has had for multiple years. Mr. Mikkelsen stated that he wants the preamble removed completely because it is not fair how landlords are portrayed in this situation. He discussed the matter with Mayor Palmeri and Council Member Mugeraurer. It is something that he is going to become more involved with to get the preamble removed. It is not in the landlord’s interest to evict tenants and he knows that is one of the things in the preamble about unnecessary evictions. He would rather work with a tenant to keep them in their house and continue to get paid. He is also involved in judgement collections and finds that working on resolving a problem is much more financially productive and much less stressful. He has spent a lot of time working with tenants proactively and helping guide other landlords to help mediate their situations. Mr. Mikkelsen stated that there have been some comments made about landlords pushing back against the City and causing situations that become harmful for tenants. During the Inspection Program, the City argued to have local control instead of state control. Part of the problem with the Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 2 Inspection Program was that there were tenants who did not want to have an Inspector come through their place. There was one specific incident with four roommates and three of them did not want the City to come through. They still came through because they forced the tenants to allow them in and it created a lot of problems along the way, both for the City and the landlord. It ended up becoming a lawsuit where the landlord had to sue the City for communication issues. Mr. Mikkelsen asked what the purpose of the Rental Housing Advisory Board is and what the actual mission statement is. At the December 9th, 2020 meeting, Mr. Ernst said that he had no specific ideas for policy. He finds that concerning and it makes him wonder what the purpose of the board is. Mr. Mikkelsen stated that there is also talk about vulnerable people. He is demanding to see those statistics to find out what those issues are. If there are issues, he would love to be part of the resolution to find ways to solve the issue. There was also mention of threats against tenants for talking with the City. He is demanding specific examples of actual threats. Mr. Mikkelsen stated that he advertises he is looking for tenants who want to have a positive relationship with their landlord. He also puts the Inspection Services phone number on the top right corner of his lease to show good faith. The top left corner has the link for the DATCT website, which is basically the Wisconsin’s Consumer Protection website. He gives this to his tenants to let them know that he is interested in having a positive relationship with them. Mr. Mikkelsen stated that the preamble for the Tenant Bill of Rights is already established. The Tenant Bill of Rights seems to come from state statutes. DACTC has the tenant rights and responsibilities right on their website. Instead of spending time with the City that he is paying for with his taxes, why don’t they just give out the tenant rights and responsibilities from DACTC and promote DACTC’s website for tenants having a problem with their landlord? Mr. Ernst stated that he would respond to Mr. Mikkelsen after the guest speakers because the Tenant Bill of Rights is an agenda item. V. ADVOCAP Rental Assistance Update Ms. Lu Scheer stated that this is her first opportunity to provide a Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance (WERA) Program update. Wisconsin received approximately $389,000,000. They are able to pay rent that’s due, utilities that are past due, and current utilities that are due. ADVOCAP is assisting Fond du Lac, Winnebago, Green Lake, and Calumet counties. Emergency Services Inc. (ESI) is assisting the entire state. They have spent $1,017,654, $603,618. Approximately $603,618 or 59.8% of the total $1,017,654 has come into Winnebago County. Ms. Scheer stated that ESI and ADVOCAP combined have paid $929 for current utilities to assist five households and $21,614 for past due utilities to assist 35 households. They can pay up to 15 months of assistance including both rent and utilities and the payments could go as far back as March of 2020. They have paid $5,669 to assist five households with mobile homes. Unfortunately they cannot pay City water bills, but ADVOCAP has other options and resources to assist with those. Late fees are an allowable cost. Most landlords were willing to forgive or reduce late fees, but they cannot put a cap on Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 3 late fees. ADVOCAP was trying to keep late fees under $100 per month and most landlords were willing to do that, but they had a few who insisted on some pretty high rates. They paid $10,552 to landlords for the purposes of helping 46 households. The highest payment to a landlord she saw was $5,100. They can pre-pay up to three months for rental assistance. They have prepaid $304,570 in rental assistance for 144 households and $253,136 in past due rental assistance for 121 households. They also paid security deposits for 5,325 households. Ms. Scheer stated that they recently learned of three landlords who received payment for past due and pre-paid rent and then evicted their tenants. She does not know if they are from Winnebago County, but the state is now requesting those funds back. They had two landlords refuse any assistance. They try to encourage landlords, but landlords they the choice. The majority of landlords are working with their tenants. Ms. Scheer stated that this program is likely to go through the end of the year. They also understand that there will be another stimulus package and they’re anticipating that the rental assistance could continue until 2024. The next package is very likely to help homeowners as well. So far they have not received requests for mortgage assistance. As she looks are the area more closely, she realizes that they’re not the highest spending area because employment in Winnebago had a slight increase during the pandemic. Fond du Lac was the lead in the state in regards to the number of employed individuals from March through November of last year. She knows that the pandemic has affected many people and she certainly does not want to minimize that, but they are fortunate to not need as much funding as other areas. Mr. Lord asked if Ms. Scheer has a summary that he could distribute. Ms. Scheer replied that it is on the ADVOCAP website under FAQ. They have the pre-screen and other information there as well. Right now they have fewer than 20 people on their waitlist and with WRAP they had around 400 people on their waitlist. Between ADVOCAP and ESI, people are being served relatively quickly. The whole purpose of this is to prevent homelessness. Mr. Lord asked if the original WRAP program had enough funding. Ms. Scheer replied that they were able to continue to draw down. They ran out of time before they ran out of money. Mr. Lord asked if she thinks the same thing will happen this time. Ms. Scheer replied that she does not know how much is owed in utilities, but she believes utility companies were paid out around $1,000,000 to assist 1,700 households. People have not had to pay utilities for 18 months, but they know that will end and there are a lot of people who are scrambling. ESI also works with people who have applied for energy assistance who may not be eligible for WERA funds. Ms. Scheer stated that she also wanted to mention that they were able to serve 174 people with the dollars that ADVOCAP spent. They spent $612,000 on 174 people, 104 of which were in Winnebago Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 4 County. Out of the 174 people, 79 were at 30% or less or county median income, 22% were between 30% and 50% county median income, and 3% were between 50% and 80% county median income. ADVOCAP is helping people who are the most vulnerable and the lowest income in their area by a huge margin. She cannot say if it is the same for ESI, but you must be below 80% to be eligible for energy assistance. Mr. Lord asked if she was expecting much happening tomorrow after the moratorium expires. Ms. Scheer replied that she thinks the utilities are working with ESI and they’re aware that this money is available. She has no way of predicting how many people are behind in utilities. Mr. Hutchison asked how many landlords received funding, Ms. Scheer replied that the reports cannot be filtered that way and the State would need to know why she is requesting that information. Mr. Hutchison asked how many landlords received assistance and then evicted their tenant anyway. Ms. Scheer replied that it was three landlords. Two of the names she didn’t recognize at all, so she’s not even sure where they are located. Mr. Lord asked how they were able to be evicted if their rent was paid and they didn’t go before a judge. Ms. Scheer replied that not all tenants know their rights. They know there are landlords who knock on the door and tell the tenant they want them out now, and they know that the tenants move. Mr. Lord replied that he hopes the wave of evictions predicted by the media does not happen because of programs like this. Ms. Erickson asked for confirmation that the process to apply for this is to complete the pre-screen application on the ADOVCAP website. Ms. Scheer replied affirmatively. The website wasn’t working on Monday, but it is working now. People have to apply for energy assistance no matter what because everything goes through ESI’s system. Either ESI or ADVOCAP can pay. Mr. Ernst asked what RHAB can do to assist ADVOCAP with their mission. Ms. Scheer replied that they can keep people informed. People need to be eligible for one month. They only check the income for one month and they can pre-pay up to three months. They have the flexibility to help for one to three months and they are trying to do that as much as they can. Mr. Ernst thanked Ms. Scheer for the update. They would love to have at the June meeting her if she would be interested in speaking with them then. Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 5 Ms. Scheer replied that she will plan to attend and will use the same format if they found it useful. VI. Fair Housing Council Presentation Ms. Erika Sanders stated that she is the Director of Program Services for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council. She is very glad to able to speak with RHAB today and talk about the Fair Housing Council and what they do. Overall what she’d like them to know is that the Fair Housing Council exists to be a resource to them. The Fair Housing Council Milwaukee has been around since 1977 and they serve the whole state. They have a satellite office in Madison and they had a satellite office in Appleton from 2002 up until the start of the pandemic. It is their intention to have an office in the Fox Valley as soon as possible and they are hoping to look at office space soon. Ms. Sanders stated that the Fair Housing Council is a private, non-profit organization and they conceive of themselves as a civil rights enforcement agency. They enforce all the laws that pertain to someone’s rights in virtually any aspect of the housing market including home mortgage lending, sales, rentals, appraisals, and others. Their mission has two parts. They work to combat illegal housing discrimination across the state and they work to help create and maintain racially and economically integrated housing pattern because communities across Wisconsin remain somewhat racially and economically segregated. A flyer was shared with RHAB about the Fair Housing laws that they enforce. She doesn’t won’t go into the law today, but perhaps they could schedule a time for a future meeting if they are interested in discussing it in more detail. Ms. Sanders stated that she would like to discuss some of their services. They take complaints from people who feel like their rights have been violated in the housing market and they help people pursue a legal remedy if that’s what they choose to do. They’re not attorneys and they do not have them on staff or provide legal representation for clients, but they work to ensure their clients are aware of their rights and what the different paths are if they choose to seek out a legal remedy. They can help people file administrative complaints with agencies like the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division or various city attorney’s offices or administrative agencies. They can also help people file complaints with the federal government and HUD. They work with a panel of cooperating attorneys who have agreed to work with their clients on an affordable basis. They also do a lot of education and outreach to housing consumers and housing providers. They give dozens and dozens of presentations annually to social service agencies, homeless services agencies, community based groups, neighborhood groups, religious congregations, and school groups. They provide training to housing providers as well. They do a lot of technical assistance on the telephone to both housing consumers and housing providers who call them with general questions about fair housing issues. Ms. Sanders stated that their website has three fairly new resources that she encourages the board to review and share with their networks as they feel appropriate. As of the end of 2020, they have a brand new fair housing guide for owners and managers of rental properties. It is a fairly comprehensive overview of fair housing laws and issues faced by people who manage rental housing. Their website also includes a resource guide for responding to hate incidents in housing. Hate incidents have been on the rise across the county. Wisconsin is no exception and the resource guide on that topic provides concrete steps or actions one can take to make sure that hate isn’t welcome in their Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 6 community. The last new resource that they have is a free housing search application. People can download it on tablets and smart phones and it allows them to enter data about units they look at. They can log a lot of information like the size, cost, and location. It has a mapping function so people can look at where units are in relation to one another. It allows them to compare multiple places based on factors like size or cost. It also has fair housing information, so if someone experiences housing discrimination in the course of a housing search, it give the user information on where to seek help. Ms. Sanders stated that their website is www.fairhousingwisconsin.com. They also share a lot of their information on social media. They post about significant fair housing cases that have occurred and emerging fair housing news. The best way to contact them is their toll free state wide number, which is 1-877-647-3247. Her direct number is 414-315-377. She would be happy to have more specific conversations about their work with anyone who is interested. Mr. Lord asked if the City is required to put on one fair housing seminar per year in the area. Ms. Sanders replied that historically they have had a CDBG contract with the City. They have conducted a training for rental owners and managers as part of that contract. It did not happen during the pandemic. Instead Oshkosh funding helped them develop the fair housing guide that she referenced instead. She has every expectation that they will hold seminars in person once again when it is safe to do so. Mr. Lord asked if they would charge to give a seminar to a non-profit landlord association. Ms. Sanders replied that typically they would charge for private trainings. Those that they don’t charge for are those funded by CDBG entities. She would need to know more specifics about what he’s suggesting and it’s absolutely something she would be open to discussing with him separately. Mr. Ernst and others thanked Ms. Sanders for her time and the helpful information. VII. 2020 Inspection Services Complaints Mr. Davis and Mr. Koelbl provided 2020 Inspection Services data to RHAB. Ms. Jevaltas asked if a receipt or something in writing needs to be presented to the City if a complaint made by a tenant results in an inspection and then the landlord fixes it and resolves the complaint. Mr. Koelbl replied that typically they have pictures sent to them or they do re-inspections to verify that items are fixed. Mr. Ernst asked how the violations broke down. Mr. Koelbl replied that they do not have a way to break that down and they would need to look at each case individually. Ms. Jevaltas asked if it is mostly safety issues. Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 7 Mr. Koelbl replied affirmatively. VIII. Winnebago County Eviction Data Update Ms. Erickson provided updated Winnebago County Eviction data to the board. Mr. Hutchison asked how many of the filed evictions resulted in eviction for the tenant. Ms. Erickson replied that she would need to go through each individual case to see what the final ruling was, but she can pull that information for the next meeting if it would be helpful. Mr. Lord asked what percentage of the evictions were for Oshkosh. Ms. Erickson replied that she would have to say the majority are for the City of Oshkosh, but there are some clusters elsewhere. Mr. Lord asked if the moratorium expires on June 30th. Ms. Erickson replied affirmatively. IX. Median Income Amounts Mr. Davis provided a summary of the current median income amounts. X. Website and Social Media Update Mr. Koelbl stated that he posted information regarding Fair Housing Wisconsin to social media. He thinks it would be a good idea to post information about ADVOCAP to social media and their website. Mr. Ernst stated that they had also discussed posting their meetings once those are available. Ms. Erickson stated that the public survey for the housing study could be posted to Facebook as well. Mr. Ernst stated that we can post the schedule of Farmers Market dates when those are available. Ms. Jevaltas asked if it might be a good idea to post general complaints data to indicate that the City is paying attention and responding. Mr. Ernst replied that it would be useful to have that information be more public. Ms. Erickson replied that adding quick education pieces to go along with the top violations might be helpful. XI. Affordable Housing Study Update Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 8 Mr. Davis stated that the City retained RDG for the study and RDG has started contacting interested parties. There are a number of ways to participate and a number of RHAB members will be invited to for interviews in April and May. The interviews will finish by the end of May and they are hoping to have a draft plan for review in June or July. The public will be able to participate with surveys being developed with the City and the consultant. Mr. Lord asked if Mr. Davis had any information on the vacancy rate. Mr. Davis replied that the City does not have a number like that. The only time they get a snapshot is when the census is completed once every ten years. Ms. Jevaltas asked how long the housing study might take. Mr. Davis replied that it will be wrapped up at the end of June or early July. Mr. Hutchison stated that he wanted to note that it is a housing study, not an affordable housing study. They are looking at all areas of housing. The technical committee was asked what types of things the study should be looking at, and if they’re not providing vacancy rates, they probably should be as part of the study. He’s on the committee, so he will bring that up. Mr. Ernst agreed that vacancy rates are a good specific ask within the scope of the study. XII. Approve Tenant Bill of Rights Mr. Ernst stated that he proposal right now is in an odd place procedurally and asked Mr. Davis to provide an update on that. Mr. Davis stated that at the last RHAB meeting they had a motion but no second so it died for a lack of a second. It still has not been voted on, tabled, or advanced. He strongly recommends that they make a decision on the item. It could also be amended and voted on at this meeting. It is up to RHAB how they’d like to proceed. Motion to approve 21-01 Tenant Bill of Rights by Hutchison. Seconded by Erickson. Ms. Jevalatas stated that if Mr. Mikkelsen is curious about what RHAB does, he can read the minutes, or check social media, or attend meetings like he did today. She thinks he learned today that there are vulnerable people in the community and got some statistics in that regard. Mr. Ernst stated that he would like to address some of Mr. Mikkelsen’s statements. Ms. Jevaltas explained the purpose of the board well. He added that the strategic plan is part of the minutes, so he can look at that. Very broadly their goal is to inform and advise Common Council on issues related to rental housing in the City of Oshkosh. Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 9 Mr. Ernst stated that Mr. Mikkelsen brought up an example of an issue related to the rental inspection ordinance as a reason why the tenant bill of rights is bad. He doesn’t really understand that argument or how one court case against the inspection ordinance disproves that there is an imbalance of power especially given the statistics that were presented today. Mr. Mikkelsen also read a quote from the previous meeting and there is probably some important context there. This is not so much a policy issue, but a resolution reaffirming that the City is interested in protecting its vulnerable renting populations. He admits that there was no policy option to propose to assist vulnerable tenants at their meeting in December. Mr. Ernst stated that Mr. Mikkelsen asked about vulnerable populations and examples of threats. According to recent national statistics, about 1/5th of tenants are at risk of housing stability issues due to COVID-19, with the majority of those people being low income and minorities. Additionally they know that 60% of the evictions that take place in Winnebago County take place in Oshkosh. Examples of actual threats have been provided at past meetings. One that comes to mind is a letter from a semi- prominent landlord in the campus area explaining that tenants would be fined if they let in inspectors or called them. They’ve also seen landlords who have contacted tenants to tell them their stimulus money must be spent on rent or else there would be consequences for the tenant. He can personally attest to being harassed by certain landlords in town for standing up for tenant rights as well. He can try to answer any specific questions that Mr. Mikkelsen might have. Mr. Ernst stated that he disagrees that the Tenant Bill of Rights is unnecessary. The imbalance in power is clear. Landlords have more allies at the state level than tenants do. There is a pretty clear movement toward law changes which preference the landlord at the state level. That has been empirically true recently. Additionally they see widely inconsistent interpretations of what certain landlords are allowed to do in the City versus what they’re not allowed to do. Other research would indicate that all of these threats are exacerbated by COVID-19. He agrees that the bill itself does nothing to prevent these things. What the bill does is make the rights of tenants more visible which could potentially empower them to act for their own benefit. Mr. Hutchison stated that his main point is that he doesn’t know the bill will accomplish or how it will be used. He is not sure what will happen to it if it is approved by Council. He is wondering how many people are going to be aware of this and how much it will actually help. RHAB has spent a lot of time on this and Council is going to spend time on this when the information is already available. If you google “tenant rights in Wisconsin” some flyers come up. That’s his opinion. Ms. Jevaltas stated that she thinks having a Tenant Bill of Rights is important because it can be put on paper and distributed to people. For the most vulnerable people, when they say poor, they mean poor. They don’t have internet access and they might not have a computer. Those who are impoverished are truly that, so they can’t just google their rights. A lot of people who haven’t worked with vulnerable populations don’t realize what vulnerable means and when they’re talking about rental housing and vulnerable populations it’s important to know exactly what that means. Being able to give someone a flyer with their rights on it or having it available at resource facilities like the Salvation Army is an important thing. Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 10 Mr. Lord replied that the State has a very good handout already that covers what’s included in the bill. He thinks it’s important to distribute that. When people sign a lease, he gives them the State’s handout that covers tenant rights. It is available free of charge. Ms. Hutchison replied that if you’re printing out the bill, you can print out the State’s handout which has more information and includes both the tenant and landlord rights. The State also updates their handout as the laws change. One of the problems with some of these boards is they take up staff time that staff could be using to work on important things. They’re taking up their time trying to debate this thing which could be solved by using the State’s handout. He understands that some people don’t have access to it, but they wouldn’t have access to the bill either. Why not just print out something that’s already been published? Mr. Ernst asked if Mr. Hutchison is volunteering to distribute them then. Mr. Hutchison replied that he is not volunteering, but Ms. Jevaltas is. He is suggesting that they distribute the handout the State has published. Mr. Ernst replied that he understands that there is redundancy built into the resolution in part because he thinks it’s important for the City to make a clear statement that renters have rights too. Ms. Jevaltas agreed with Mr. Ernst and added that when a landlord provides the information on tenant rights and responsibilities, the focus is on the responsibilities of the tenant. The tenants need something just for them because they’re important. Ms. Erickson asked Mr. Davis what the plan would be if this were approved and how would it be used compared to the handout Mr. Hutchison is referring to. Mr. Davis replied that it would need to be adopted by Council. Then there’s typically a discussion with Council and staff on how it would be distributed. Oshkosh Media Services would be involved for news releases and there would be some printing. He would be speculating about anything beyond that. Mr. Ernst stated that if they can come to an agreement as a board as to some approach to distribute the state’s handout, he would be willing to withdraw the item. If they can agree to engage in some sort of public information campaign in order to promote this document and promote the rights that already exist, then he will withdraw the motion thereby saving Council and staff’s time, avoiding redundancies, and avoiding hurt feelings over language choices. Ms. Jevaltas asked if Mr. Ernst is talking about the document that the landlords hand out. Mr. Ernst replied affirmatively, adding that the document comes from the State. Much of what is in the bill is a reiteration of those things. Mr. Hutchison replied that he is all for that. He really thinks it is important to have both the landlords and tenants understand what the rights of both parties are. Sharing that information via social media Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 11 and distributing the information at the Farmer’s Market is a great idea. It’s a handy booklet because there are a lot of smaller landlords, himself included, that don’t do enough of this to fully understand all the rules, so getting the information out is valuable and he’s in support of that. Mr. Gulan stated that he agrees with Mr. Hutchison 100%. Ms. Jevaltas asked if it is something they can start working on at their next meeting since it is very important. Mr. Ernst replied affirmatively. Mr. Ernst stated that he will respectfully withdraw the item in order to avoid redundancy, unnecessary expenditure of staff and Council time, and to avoid the personal threats and intimidation he would likely see as further sponsoring this bill under the auspice that this board will come together to execute a public information campaign to benefit both landlords and tenants. Item withdrawn by Mr. Ernst. XIII. Other Business Mr. Ernst stated that on the next agenda they will discuss the public information campaign for tenant and landlord rights and that will include the pamphlet from the State. He would like members to come with any specific ideas they have for distribution as well as any ideas for videos or anything else they can do. Mr. Ernst stated that they were invited to sit out at the Farmer’s Market again this year. He is not sure when that kicks off, but in the past they’ve done one per month where they sit out and talk to people and hand out literature. He said that they would probably be interested in continuing that. He will confirm the dates and bring them to RHAB once he has them. Mr. Ernst stated that he sent an e-mail to the board that he is planning to send to Mr. Rohloff because Mr. Rohloff requested Board and Commission input on how to spend ARPA funds. He did some research and put together a list of recommendations which include the establishment of a fund for rental assistance, establishment of a tenant legal assistance fund, and the creation of local mediation services to help keep people in their homes. He also included a list of non-funding recommendations for things that can be done to address housing during the pandemic. This includes prohibiting late fees and fines for things like back rent accrued during the emergency, ensuring that tenant legal services fits into that as well, expunging eviction records accrued during the pandemic exploring opportunities for tax credits, tax breaks, and mortgage forbearance for property owners and smaller housing providers that need it the most. All of the links and recommendations are included in the e- mail. He asked if they would like the recommendations sent to Mr. Rohloff as a group or only on his behalf. Ms. Erickson replied that the first paragraph mentions the current moratorium only applying to housing providers accepting federal funding, but that was specific to the CARES act. At the last Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 12 Eviction Prevention Group meeting, they discussed that the Housing Authority is exploring adding an Eviction Prevention Specialist position to help tenants and landlords navigate how to avoid evictions. They brought up the need for that kind of role within the larger community. It would be someone who can float between different housing providers and provide assistance both to property owners and tenants to help walk through the things that they can do before they get to the point of an eviction and what resources are available. She doesn’t know if that’s something that’s allowable in this funding, but she was asked to bring that up. Mr. Ernst replied that the Treasury Department statement broadly applies to maintaining housing stability and he thinks keeping people in their homes is the best way to do that. Mr. Rohloff specifically mentioned that they’re focused on homelessness in Oshkosh. They understand the best way to prevent homelessness is to keep people in their homes now, which also means helping people with rental assistance and avoiding evictions when possible. Mr. Davis stated that they can add funding recommendations for the June agenda. Mr. Hutchison stated that if the letter is going to Mr. Rohloff now, it should be clear that it’s coming from Mr. Ernst and not RHAB as a whole. Mr. Ernst stated that the Mayor wants to know if the date and time of this meeting still works for everyone. He asked if anyone had suggestions for alternative times. Ms. Jevaltas replied that it is good for her, but half the board members aren’t here. Mr. Ernst replied that they are working on that too. Mr. Davis stated that they just received a resignation from Ms. DeGroot and they’re expecting something like that from Mr. Garcia as well. Ms. Jevaltas asked what they do in that situation. Mr. Davis replied that the Mayor appoints new members, or recommends the appointment of new members and then the Council approves. The new positions should be filled by the end of May. XIV. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:28 PM. (Erickson/Jevaltas)