Just weeks after the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to extend a countywide moratorium on evictions, the board do so again on Tuesday, furthering the prohibition to 60 days after the expiration of the county’s public health order, but no sooner than 60 days after Dec. 31, 2020.
The request was first made by Supervisor Richard Valle, who, along with Supervisors Wilma Chan and Keith Carson, supported the item.
Supervisors Nate Miley and Scott Haggerty abstained. Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors extended the moratorium through Sept. 30 with the same vote tally.
Tuesday’s discussion was again dominated by the two holdouts on the board. Miley and Haggerty supported the need for protecting tenants, but believed the moratorium does little to aid landlords, who are also struggling during the pandemic.
“There is protection needs for tenants during the pandemic,” Miley said. “I also feel small landlords, many of color, needs protections as well.”
Miley labeled the moratorium, “one-sided,” and urged the county to initiate a renter’s relief and assistance program. “The county could evaluate that and pay landlords so that tenants can remain in their residence.”
Haggerty called the moratorium an “overreach by government,” and added, “We should be helping landlords to recoup the money they are losing.”
Later, Haggerty raised the possibility of giving landlords a 12-month window to repay property taxes. The proposal is slated to come before the board’s planning committee.
ebcitizen.com 