when a ballot measure passes, the ordinance is effective immediately, but the
language in this ordinance includes a May 2022 effective date. They do not have a
infrastructure in place to enforce this which may have been contemplated in the May
2022 effective date. Further updates, they do need equity in housing, they need more
of a housing supply. The ordinance as written may have put some goals at odds.
Many development projects today are on hold. They already released an rfp toward anti
displacement and housing affordability. Rent stabilization ordinance do not apply to
new construction. For the study, they received 2 excellent proposals. They need to
build a conversation about equity and growth. She does not have much more to
provide today. That is all she has.
Brendmoen said they have been asking for this for some time. This should not be
coming as any surprise. They wanted to be sure to make sure voters had information.
A vote took place and they need to have the tools to carry this out. There is frustration
that an e-mail was received answering questions they asked for months.
Councilmember Thao said he is not clear that it’s effective immediately and effective in
May. Does that gap open them up to legal exposure. Also, who is funding this?
Where is this money coming from? Goodman responded she had similar questions
this morning. The website was a working web page that should not have been
published. It is still there but not with as much information. The ballot measure is the
ordinance that is effective immediately, and the ordinance has an effective date in it.
Thao said if he is a landlord and he is in the middle of negotiating my lease, can he
increase it 5%? What is his legal obligation? Is there exposure to the City?
Goodman responded she does not have an answer to that question.
Brendmoen said there is a ballot initiative in play that the Mayor supported, but we do
not have that contingency built into that levy. We did not anticipate this cost when we
set our levy limit. Are we amending the budget? Goodman responded that is an
excellent question. The work that has been done has been looking at other cities,
administrative burden, etc. Given the timing, it is likely that an amendment has to
come after the budget has adopted.
Brendmoen said this was not a surprise. That we have done none of this work is a
shock to her.
Councilmember Noecker said there are a lot of questions this morning regardless of
which side you are on. The website has been taken down. What was up with that?
Where do people go when they have questions? What department has been
identified? When will we know when we will know. Goodman responded said it is
regrettable that the web page went up with information that was not clear. They will
ensure that there will be contact information. PED (Planning and Economic
Development) will respond in some way to questions. She has not had a chance to
talk to Director McCarthy today. She has not been deeply involved in the work yet.
They may have to get back to the Council on the timeline. She appreciates that more
information is needed.
Councilmember Prince said she is sorry Goodman is taking the brunt of this.
Karcher-Ramos, the Deputy Mayor, and City Attonrey are more appropriate places for
these questions to be addressed. The information that went up from Ramos had
definitive answers. The effective date was clearly stated. It is really troubling that they
have had this ordinance available and the Administrative should have been thinking
about it. Does anyone know how many landlords we have in Saint Paul? She thinks
we have 70,000 rental units. All the landlords who think 3% does not give them a
reasonable return on their investments will be able to appeal to the City on what a
reasonable return on their investments look like. It was told to her by lawyers that they
