8/11/2019 The Return of the Boogey-Man | Vanguard Press | Oct. 22, 1987

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T HE F CCNGHT S CAP T AI N P O

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OCTOBER 22-29,1967

got two proposals on the cityballot that, in essence, wouldhave create a commission thatc o u l d r o l l b a c k r e n ts i n re-sponse to legitimate tenantcomplaints. Landlords spent

515,000 to 520,000 to fight

the proposals, which then-

mayoral-candidate BernieSanders supported and which

died at the polls hy a four-to-

one m arg in . .

For the past six years, the

Sanders administration hasp r o p o s ed a v ar i et y o f meas-ures designed to keep rents

d o w n , i n c l ud i n g a t a x o n r e ale s t a te s p e c u l a t o rs a n d c o n d o - -

M i n iu m c o n v e rs i o n s . There

have been o ther fa r-reach ing

proposals, such as inclusionaryzoning, w h i c h a l d er m e n h a v e

been unwill ing to support thus

far.In the meantime, Clavelle

said, rents, which doubledfrom 1970 to 1980, doubled

again from 1980 to 1985. The

city h a s t a k en a f ew s t e p s f o r -war d. he s aid , but the n faUs afew steps back in retaining andcreating affordable housing.

L a n d l o r d s , h o w e v e r , disput-

ed the figures showing rentshave doubled, which CEDO

officials said came from theBurlington Housing Authority.

cont inued on page 6 ...

of Aldermen before being

adopted.Backers of the proposal,

including CEDO Director

Peter Clavelle, said the fearof rent control, th e "big boog-eyman," is unjustified an d theproposal is not a "strategic ini-

tiative"to be followed up by a

call for rent control. Yet, inthe next breath, Clavelle said

the figures generated from the

proposal could "precipitate a

discussion of the need to reg-

ulate rents."I think many landlords are

fearful that with this informa-tion, we would better under-stand how lucrative" the busi-

ness of renting apartments inBurlington is, Clavelle said,

adding "I'm personally not an

advocate of rent control, butCEDO is charged with devel-

oping an affordable housing

program."Rent control in this coun-

try has had a checkered histo-

ry," Clavelle said. "It's not

always achieved what it was

i n t en d e d t o ," a n d might no tbe "politically salable; he said.

"But anyone who would write

it off as out of the quest ionbecause of the results Ibefore Iwould be na ive," warned Clav-

elle,In 1981, tenant advocates

F ear of the "big boogey-

m a n " - t he w a y o n e top

city official described the

idea of rent control- hasgripped landlords in Vermont's

largest city. In Burlington,landlords are waging a very

vocal war against the latestproposal coming out of City

Hall, one they believe could

lead tocity regulation of rents

in an estimated 7,000 dwell-

ings.At issue is t he Sanders-

admiostration-hacked propos-

al that would require QueenCity landlords to register theirapartments with the city. Un-

der the proposal, landlords

would pay the city 57 0 every

three years for each rental

unit. According to city offi-cials, the money would be used

to fund the city's aparunent

inspection program and twolandlord-tenant programs, in-

cluding an expansion of the

mediation program.However, the more centro-

versial part of the proposal is

the requirement that landlords

tell city hall exactly how much

they're charging for rent in

each unit. Landlords say they

fear the pro-tenant Sandersadministration would use therental figures to fan the Dames

for rent control. And they sus-

pect the proposal is simply a

way for the administration to

raise revenue and squeezemoney from landlords.

Stuart Bennett, who repre-sents Apartment Owners lnc.,

a landlord lobbying group that

has battled city hall in the past,

said th e fear of rent control isjust ified "wh en you con side rthe context in which Sandershas made proposals in con-

nection w i th rental properties.I have yet to see anything that

has been a real positive, let'swork together kind of thing.

It's been all landlord bashing.

So we take a dim view ofrequiring us to give them infor-

marion. There's a certainamount of paranoia, which is

jus tifie d."!I 1 ark Lafayette, a landlord

who owns aboutSOunits in

Burlington, said "The thing is,

when CEDO ICommunity andEconomic Development or -fice] gets the numbers, they'll

twist them

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BOOGEYMAN:

< i l I I continued from page 1

"What we've attempted to

do is come forth with a varie-ty of programs and initiatives

which are moderate responses

to the housing crisis," Clavelle

said, adding, "I view rentalhousing as being a public re-

s o u r c e , a v e r y s c a r c e r e s o u r c e

and it's not an invasion of pri-

vacy to ask what the rents are."

Lafayette, whose brother isfonner a1dennan Paul Lafay-

ette, a Democratic mayoral

candidate last March. said he

does not want CEDO "going

through my business like mal."ClaveUe said landlords have

opposed virtually every pro-

posal and "if we are unsuc-cessful in putting through mod-

erate proposals, it may benecessary for more radical

responses."

But according to Kirby

Dunn, the director of Com-

munity Action (which Ver-mont Tenants Inc. is a part

of) Ilandlords' fear of rent con-

trol is a "red herring" in the

apartment registration fee

discussion.

"Itbas nothing to do with

rent stabilization or rent con-

trol. I'm tired of it being linked

to that," said Dunn, who also

serves on the city PlanningCommission. Landlords have

raised the spectre of rent con-

trol ODalmost every city bous-

ing initiative, she said, includ-

ing an ordinance requiring

how security deposits are to

be returned.

ClaveUe and Dunn said

there have been no recent

efforts to organize tenants tofight for rent control.

"I think the bottom line isthey're Ilandlords Itrying tohide something," Dunn said.

Landlords who dispute there

is a housing crunch may not

want to give the city informa-

tion that "could provide a fac-

tual basis Ifor the cityIto say

how bad it realJy is.""We're not trying to hide

anything," Bennett countered.

"But we're not willing to pay

for the privilege of telling

them" information, much of

which he claimed they could

secure through sources such

as the city assessor's office.

Sanders insisted landlordsshould pay for apartment in-

spections because they are the

ones who benefit from the

service. It is unfair for home-

owners tosubsidize that work,

he said.

"Those people who have

money have by and large

ripped it off," Sanders said.

referring to rich people, in-cluding landlords. "We are the

only community in the state

that tries to in some way sayto landlords, 'you don't have

all the power,' and that's what

they're upset about. Right now

tbey have about 98 percent

and they're very upset they've

lost 2 percent and they'll wor-

ryabout another Ipercent ifIthe ordinance passes], The

city will know how muchrent they charge and how

much money they're really

making. Whoa, that's pretty

sensitive.

"Number one, it's money. [f

you own 100 units and you're

paying S25 a year. that's 52.500

and that's nct chickenfeed. Butnumber two, people who make

money don't like to allow

other people to know how they

make it. Secrecy is very impor-

tant. So when they come for-

ward and say 'We're losing a

fortune,' Ithe city can sayI 'Oh,

is that right? We have infor-

mation you're charging S600

a month," Sanders said.Asked ifthe proposal would

spark rent hikes. Sanders said:

"Under the present system, it

doesn't matter. You're going

to pay anything the landlord

wants you to pay in any case.

The landlord may tomorrow

waite up on the wrong side of

the bed and raise your rent by

20 percent .... Frank!y. Idon'tthink this S2 a month Iif the

fee is passed on to renters] is

the basic problem. It's the first

$400 that's the more seriousproblem."

ClaveUe said he thinks "land-

lords in the community are

benefiting from a tight, expen-

sive housing market Iwhere]the .rents charged have noth-

ing to do with the value of the

property, but how much the

market will bear." He said tbe

housing market inthe QueenCity was stretched by college

students willing to pay higber

rents than the average person

could afford.

Clavelle, echoing DUDn,pointed out that the informa-

tion supplied by the landlords

under the proposal could dis-

pel the myth that no housing

crisis exists.

Raising revenue is part of

the motive behind the propos-

al, ClaveUe indicated. He de-

cried the loss of federal mon-

ey to build affordable housingand the scarcity of land left in

Burlington, were someone will-

ing to build more units.

"We should have a program

in the city which guarantees

every housing unit is safe,

decent and sanitary. And to

guarantee that, you need a

well-staffed and adequately

funded housing inspection pro-.gram," Clavelle said.

Under the Sanders admin-

istration's proposal, a third

housing inspector would be

added. Landlords argued the

city generates enough in in-

spection fees to pay for the

division.

And landlords also criti-

cized using some of the mon-ey for landlord-tenant pro-

grams. which they charged

have thus far been heavily

"pro-tenant."

With anestimated 7 ,000units in the city. the proposal,

if adopted. would generate

almost 5500,000 in revenue.

"1 think it's just a Trojan

horse to raise money," Bennettsaid .