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Rules Committee to forward ordinance clarifying temporary evictions for capital improvements to full Board
Summary
After public testimony urging stronger tenant protections, the Rules Committee voted Oct. 7 to send an ordinance clarifying temporary-eviction rules for capital improvements to the full Board of Supervisors; speakers said relocation payments are insufficient and daytime respite options should be considered.
The Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Oct. 7 to recommend to the full Board an ordinance clarifying temporary evictions for capital improvements, after multiple public speakers urged stronger safeguards for tenants.
Clerk Victor Young read the ordinance summary into the record, saying the administrative code clarification is intended to cover work that would render a unit hazardous, unhealthy or uninhabitable and to limit temporary evictions to the minimum time required to complete repairs.
Advocates and tenants who testified said the proposed language is a step forward but falls short on practical protections. "Relocation payments are not sufficient to cover the cost of first and last month's rent, moving expenses and the cost of renting at market rate," said Anastasia Yovanopoulos, a District 8 tenant, who urged the committee to revise relocation assistance levels. Polly Richards Babcock, a District 5 tenant, said current temporary rent reductions do not address the ‘trauma and violation of quiet enjoyment’ for residents who are homebound during adjacent construction and called for a discussion of daytime respite or alternative accommodations.
Ken Fujioka of the Chinatown Community Development Center thanked staff and the Rent Board for interagency work but said longer-term displacements triggered by code-required work remain inadequately addressed. Committee members acknowledged the concerns on the record; one supervisor thanked community advocates and said the legislation still leaves several urgent tenant-protection issues unresolved but committed to continued work to tighten relocation rules.
A committee member moved to recommend the ordinance as a committee report to the full Board; the motion passed without objection. The clerk noted items acted on by the Rules Committee will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda on Oct. 22 unless otherwise stated.
The measure will next be considered by the full Board of Supervisors on Oct. 22, 2019.
