City Snubs Tenants – 50% of its residents

Last November, 6 months ago, the state passed a law removing many of the tenant protections in Madison. In March, they passed another bill eliminating tenant rights and increasing landlord rights. With a 2% vacancy rate right now, its a housing crisis for people looking for housing, rents are increasing at alarming rates and the city is doing what? Training landlord by hiring the lobbyists who fought to get the laws changed in the favor of the landlords. Surreal. And, meanwhile, after months of asking for help, blowing off the Tenant Resource Center.

As I noted yesterday, I was swamped by this for the last 10 weeks and its going to be a rough summer as well. So, I asked for help from the city and here is what I’ve gotten so far.

TENANT RESOURCE CENTER REQUEST FOR HELP EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY
It all started when I met with the mayor and asked for help and I was told to write up something brief about what I could use help with. Note, I wasn’t asking for any money, just some help with some basic items. This is what I sent them on January 6th, over 5 months ago.

Here’s a few ways the city could help:

from: Brenda Konkel
to: psoglin ,
“Miley, Sally” ,
Anne Monks ,
“Iheukumere, Astra”
date: Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 10:40 AM
subject: How the city could help with SB107 education

MEETING SPACE
The Tenant Resource Center would love to put on some classes for the community about the changes as a result of SB107. The issue we have is that we would like to charge $10 per person and if they want our books, those are $35. We need to find a place to have the seminars and the MMB (260) or libraries would be a great place to have them for free so we can maximize our profits. But, the policies prevent us from having the meetings there if we charge unless we are sponsored.

Programs involving the sale, advertising, promotion of commercial products or services, or programs sponsored by a business firm, regardless of purpose, are prohibited except for those covered by the library policy which allows performers at Madison Public Library programs with pre-approval to sell sound recordings, videos and books related to their performance.
No admission fee, registration fee, donation or monetary solicitation may be sought from meeting attendees unless the Library co-sponsors the program.

EDUCATIONAL TRAININGS
The DCR does lots of employment and voter education programs, I hardly ever see them do anything on housing. They just sent out a list of all the trainings they are doing at the job center (see attached) but they don’t do anything similar for housing. They could coordinate similar workshops. I”m particularly concerned about people with arrest and conviction records or without social security numbers having a hard time finding housing after SB107. We also need help getting the word out that landlords still have to accept section 8 and that they can’t discriminate based on source of income (SSI, W-2, etc). And those are just the fair housing issues, having nothing to do with the awful rental market and other tenant protections that went away. We could do these together, or they could do them on their own, but is seems to be a huge need – and if the city is reaching out to landlords it would be better than us doing it – most likely.

SETTING UP AND ADVERTISING TRAININGS
In the alternative, they could just set up trainings and I’ll show up and do them, I just don’t have admin staff to get them set up and do all the administrative stuff that is required to get them done and then advertising them in the traditional places. I got social media covered. I would like to sell our books though, if possible.

NEW LANDLORD REGISTRATION SYSTEM
I think with the new landlord registration system, there is a way to contact may landlords by email and let them know about trainings – if us or DCR were to set them up.

These are my preliminary thoughts, I’m trying to find a quick and easy way to do this, because it is soooo necessary and I just don’t have the people power to get it done. Sorry to bug you all with this, it just seems that “the city” should have a presence and I don’t know who to talk to and don’t have the time.

Thanks again!!!
Brenda

p.s. short enough for you?! 😛

And so I waited. 10 days later I hadn’t heard anything, so I followed up. And heard nothing, so I waited and waited. In February, I presented this same thing, along with other issues, to the Community Services Committee . . . and then I waited and waited. The Community Services Committee is the committee that funds the housing counseling services of the Tenant Resource Center. Nothing happened, and then the State Legislature slammed through another bill that further changed everything. In March, I think I presented the same thing to the CDBG Commission, but I can’t remember for sure. I know I mentioned it in my testimony, since they are the ones that have the contract with us. (Yes, that makes no sense) On March 13th, I sent the same thing to the Interim Community Development Director Hickory Hurie. March 16th I contacted the Mayor’s office again. On March 17th I sent it to all alders and to the county board supervisors, plus county staff and city staff that administer our grants, the mayors office, the county executive’s office, building inspection, planning department, Department of Civil Rights, and the chairs of the CDBG and Community Services Committee.

Lucia Nunez contacted me a few days later and asked if we could meet and we set something up.

Two months later and I finally got a response from the Mayor’s office on March 21st.

Brenda,

I am checking on the City’ policies for a non-profit using room 260 for training. I am also checking with DCR on some of the other issues you raise here.

Anne

and on the 26th I got this suggestion:

Brenda,
The Mayor said that if appropriate departments work with you on something about tenant-landlord law it would be fine to use room 260 or other City meeting rooms and to charge a small fee. Have you asked the City Attorney’s office or George Hank about cosponsoring something like that? Could that work for TRC?
Anne

I met with Astra from the Mayor’s office and the Department of Civil Rights on the 27th of March. At that meeting we discussed a larger meeting to discuss this with all the city parties that would be necessary. A week ago, I got asked about my availability to meet between June 8th and 18th and it looks like this is in the invite list:

Dear Nancy, Isadore, Curt and Brenda,

As Brenda has requested, we are attempting to schedule a meeting regarding the above topic with several City staff, i.e., George Hank, Lucia Nunez, Jennifer Zilavy, Carl Strasburg, Joe Balles, Vic Wahl and Laurel from the Fair Housing Center.

So, maybe a year after the laws passed we might get something set up. Meanwhile, the county, for the first time, let us use the job center for our spring 1.5 day training we do – and we did just this week. Rock County has been doing this for years for us. Other communities around Wisconsin are so much more accommodating to help with issues like this.

Anyways . . . .

POLICE DEPARTMENT PLANS TO “EDUCATE” THE COMMUNITY
Meanwhile, here is what the city is doing, and making sure we are not involved in. . . . This all started when I read in the paper that the police department was going to be training landlords as part of the Southwest Safety Initiative. So, I asked this question on March 26th, to the Mayor’s office and police department:

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/police-will-ride-southwest-side-buses-by-schools/article_c74d7806-e413-5990-83cb-0baea672974d.html

Who’s doing the landlord training for this? Given the changes from SB107 and SB466 I’d like to sit in on the training and make sure that it is accurate. The new laws are presenting some unusual legal issues and I’d hate for landlords to be told the wrong thing and then get in trouble for it.

Cuz, landlords are REALLY confused about what the laws are and have been told the laws would do one thing, and in some cases it does the opposite. Anyways, this was the response I got from Vic Wahl in the police department:

Our plan is to have the Apartment Association provide the training (as they have done for us in the past)….

He didn’t answer if I could sit in on the training, so I sent another email.

May I attend and hear what they are saying. Needless to say, we may have some disagreements and there are some flaws in the recent legislation they supported that the Milwaukee landlords quickly figured out (and wanted vetoed) and I don’t know that they are aware of those pretty significant flaws.

Brenda

p.s I promise to just observe and can address any issues after the training.

I got this response on March 28th:

Brenda – I think a better plan is for me to connect you with whomever ends up doing the actual training ahead of time so you can provide your input. I’ll touch base with the apartment association and work on a plan for this. We are at least a few months out from doing any actual trainings, so we have plenty of time. Thanks

So again, I waited . . . for them to touch base with the apartment association and to find out what plan they worked out.

So, I was surprised to get an email and flyer about the upcoming training, and remembered that I never heard back from Wahl. This was the email that went out to the Allied Drive Stakeholders on May 2nd.

From: ONISIM DORNEANU [mailto:concordelectric2000@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 12:15 PM
To: Denise; doestreich@kcrusaders.com; info@avalonmadisonvillage.com; Jeniffer; Matthew Kohnke – Landlord; ‘Meyer Management’; Jesse Patchak; Sweeney; Robert Wetherby
Cc: Erdman, Natalie; Jeffrey Glazer; Cathy inBelmar; ‘Dorothy Krause’; Mary Mullen; Carol Poole; Wendorf-Corrigan, Lorri
Subject: Madison Police Landlord Training

As part of the 2012 Southwest Safety Initiative, the Madison Police Department will be sponsoring landlord training, presented by the Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin. The training is free, and will be held on May 16 at 5pm. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Please distribute this flyer to other property owners in your neighborhoods. Thanks

Captain Victor Wahl

Ok, I guess they had no plans to get back to me. So, I sent out this email to the group.

Fwiw – I wouldn’t recommend this training, they are refusing to let the Tenant Resource Center attend. I am concerned about what landlords will be told during these sessions as the new laws are complex and confusing. I have been told I can give input in advance, but haven’t been contacted.

Brenda Konkel
Executive Director
Tenant Resource Center

To which I got told at a meeting that I was wrong, that wasn’t what I was told, I was just told I couldn’t present. Do you see anything about presenting in any of the above? I just wanted to sit in and see what they were saying.
This was the email I got from Vic Wahl.

Brenda – this is not accurate. On March 28th I emailed you and indicated that I thought a better plan was for you to connect with the trainer ahead of time and provide input. You did not respond to that email or indicate an interest in providing input.

Wow, I thought they were going to touch base and get back to me, I didn’t know I needed to express interest, yet again, after doing it twice. I was the one expressing interest in the first place, he told me what he was going to do, I didn’t know it was going to require anything from me, it was clear to me I was getting blown off. When I got that email I responded, on May 2nd:

Ok, when should we meet? And why can’t I attend?

May 4th, I got this response from Vic.

The training is being provided by the Apartment Association, and you are welcome to register and come as an attendee. If you would like to provide input or ask questions about the training content ahead of time, please contact Nancy Jensen with the apartment association. Let me know if you need her contact information.

Seriously, after all that . . . this is the resolution, I should talk to Nancy? The person who was one of the main lobbyists to get these laws changed? Um, see, that’s the problem. The city is paying the Apartment Association who lobbied to change the laws to educate people about the changes – and that is my concern. Now that my Milwaukee and Madison trainings are over I’ll contact her an ask for the materials they will be using so I can review them.

Anyways, I was frustrated, but then, Lisa Subeck piled on, and I got this nastigram that was sent to the entire list of Allied Stakeholders.

Hello,

I understand that after receiving information from a city staff member about the upcoming 5/16 Police Landlord Training, you also received a response from Brenda Konkel indicating that she advised against attending the event and claiming that her organization, Tenant Resource Center, was not allowed to participate or give input.

First, her accusation is patently false. No one has denied TRC or its representatives the ability to attend the workshop. Addtionally, she wrote to Captain Vic Wahl asking about TRC’s participation, and he responded indicating it would be best if she spoke to the presenters in advance of the workshop. He also indicated to her at that time that the police department would be working with the Apartment Association on the training. Over a period of more than a month since receiving it, she did not respond to that email to indicate interest in doing so, nor did she contact anyone further at that point.

I admire, respect, and appreciate the work of Tenant Resource Center, but it is not the only organization that provides landlord/tenant training and support. The Apartment Association also has a long history of high quality training and support to landlords and has worked with the city to provide numerous workshops and training sessions in the past. I have personally attended and benefited from many of these opportunities. The fact that this particular training session is not being presented by Tenant Resource Center does not make it any less worthwhile than those presented by TRC.

I am disappointed that the TRC’s Executive Director sent an email recommending landlords and other not take advantage of a free training being offered by the city in conjunction with the Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin. This training is part of the broader southwest safety initiative approved as part of the 2012 city budget. Such trainings are crucial to the success of the broad effort to improve neighborhoods on the southwest side of Madison and across the city. Please do share information about this important training opportunity with landlords or others you may know who would benefit from it.

Thank you,
Lisa Subeck
District 1 Alderperson

I asked Lisa if she was calling me a liar – cuz that sure is what it felt like. I haven’t gotten a response from her. Clearly she had her timing screwed up and got bad information. She hasn’t apologized to me yet. Don’t expect her to.

So, after BEGGING the city for help for months . . . here we are . . . what are tenants getting from the city? A landlord training where we are paying the Apartment Association that lobbied to change these laws to benefit landlords. And the Tenant Resource Center, funded for years from the city, couldn’t even get a free room to do trainings. Awesome. Just freaking awesome. Why does the city make everything so hard?!