good evening everyone Um I call this meeting of the Highland Park Rank Control Board to order It is March 27th at 5:30 p.m Um OPMA So this meeting is called to order in accordance with the
Open Public Meetings Act Notice of this meeting was provided to the Home News Tribune the Star Ledger and the Highland Park Planet on January 21st 2005 and was posted on the Burough website at www.hpbau.com and on the bulletin board
at burrow hall 21 or 221 South Avenue Highland Park New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law So the first order of business we'll move to is the approval of the minutes from February 27th 2025 Those
were distributed prior to the meeting Can we get a motion to approve motion to approve Second Um all in favor i I opposed See none Uh motion carries Minutes from February 27th are hereby
approved So the first thing I would like to move to on the agenda is a brief chair's report Um welcome everybody uh that's here from uh public Um I I will say that uh what we're discussing tonight um this is the rent control
board of Highland Park We do not make public policy here So everything that we're discussing tonight is about making recommendations to the bureau council for consideration on the ordinance and to the extent that there is disagreement um we will take that into account I
think report all of that back to the burough council including what anything that we may get from public comment later on in the meeting Um I would like to make a few notes about um procedure and decorum Um I we do follow we will
follow um to where it does not uh to the extent that it does not um conflict with any of our bylaws or rules that we've established otherwise we'll follow parliamentary procedure Um the reason for this of course is that we keep structure in order throughout the meeting and that it provides fairness
and equality when it comes to participation so that all can participate I don't think any of us need to have this entire book memorized I think a few simple rules One I will be keeping stack for the entire meeting That's the cue of people to speak If you would like to speak even if it's in response to what somebody is saying at
that moment please just signal to me I'll be scanning the room periodically um and get you all in stack do not speak until recognized by the chair That way we can keep order and make sure everybody is getting a chance and an opportunity to speak So we won't be going back and forth If someone says
something you would like to respond to please go on stack That goes for anybody at this table Um please go on stack and I'll make sure that we move the meeting along so that anybody anybody who wants to speak has an opportunity to do so All right Um when we get to public comment depending on how many people want to
speak I'll ask that you keep your comments to two to three minutes at a time You can always go back um and speak again once everyone else has gotten a chance to speak if that if that's fair All right Do we all agree great Consent Good Um all right Uh the first thing we
need to do tonight in order to move into executive session as was posted is to um pass a resolution to do so So everybody should have gotten a copy of resolution 2025-1 Wait a second Nope This is not the right one That should be number two two 2025-2
but it was resolution authorizing executive session It is the resolution authorizing executive sessions Right So we will need a roll call um on this Jared is not here Um Pauline here
Lucinda here HP here And here All right Now let's vote on the resolution authorizing executive session Actually I need to move first Can I get a motion uh to approve the resolution
second Second Again Pauline yes Lucinda yes Diane yes HP I'll vote yes This passes All right So we will now
move into executive session for just the part of the meeting that needs to be an executive session We will come back out to discuss everything else on the agenda um that is not um confidential Um can you please clarify uh the potential litigation if I'm understanding the open
public meetings act correctly a movement to executive session requires it to be pending um or or close specific litigation rather than potential litigation broadly All right I will yield to our bureau attorney to answer that So we've mentioned that as
potential litigation in regards to Sorry could you please speak up mention that So we have a point of personal privilege from the audience They can't hear Can we speak louder for them so I'm recovering from co so this is as high as I can go um to
potential potential litigation um and what happening is is that we were discussing the ordinance the last time so we it's proper notice as far as executive session goes so the answer to that is is that it's not it is not pending litigation but potential
litigation however we have given proper notice that we would be moving into executive session that doesn't matter there are only so many ways case that a meeting a public meeting can move into executive session They're pretty strictly required and um especially this
broad notice of potential litigation is not sufficient to um fully fully be appropriate to the open public meetings act It must be more specific than that Again I'll yield to the bureau attorney for this one It's a legal question This
is this is properly the way we All right um being advised by the bureau attorney that this is proper the way that we've done it So we will move into executive session I assume that we have a separate room to go to for this and we will only be discussing exactly what is in the memo and nothing further Um how
long is the executive session expected to last i hope less than 20 minutes Thank you I do still object and I think that your objection is noted Thank you Anyone Ready ready Ready All right All right I'm going to call this meeting uh of the
Highland Park Grant Control Board back into public session and we will um uh move on to the open uh discussion portion of the meeting So we have an order listed here um where we've identified the different parts of the
ordinance that we would still like to discuss And so we will start with exemptions and I will open the floor to anybody that has comments about that particular part of the ordinance Terry go ahead Just to remind in case for
everybody's benefit that we're talking about the what types of properties this would apply to I think we've discussed that quite a bit I think uh initially the council was very intentional including all rental property one single family through you know multif family uh but then there was also the discussion
about should owner occupied two three fours be exempted um as we've seen that in some other towns and so can you clarify that right now nobody is exempted nobody's exempted right now so that's that's where we are um and so I just wanted to just gauge on that one
once and for What do others think go ahead Diane I do think that owner occupied two family except don't think they're very different from single
families I think that many of them are owned by people who have lived in them for a long time I don't think they're um real estate I don't think they're big property owners if they own one I don't
think anyone owns 50 Um and I don't know that for sure but I'm pretty sure and I and honestly I will say this this humble brag is that I
spent many years in housing in this town I've probably been in 80% I've been in your apartment I've been in your apartment I've probably been in your house I um I I kind of know what the two
families are like Um it doesn't exempt me I own a two family but it doesn't exempt me And but I I do know that many of them are owned by seniors who've lived in them for a long time That's my feeling Point of information And can we clarify
when we say owner occupied that we just mean tenants that are living in the same place as the land like the same property as the landlord 100% It would only be and I think that's what Diane you alluded to is like you own a two family but you don't live in it No So that two family would not be exempted from the
ordinance It would be if if you had a probably a one to not a one but two to four family and if you lived in one of the four three two units that building would be exempted or and so we and so
that's you know I thought that would I'm not saying I should have said the two or three I'm only saying twoies owner occupied okay not three family because once you're in a three it's covered by the eight your I thought it was uh above
four So no it's three or four So just be owner occupied two families the proposal you're suggesting Okay Or one family if it's a room and you're subleting I don't know if you're allowed to do that All right Well good On the DL kind of situation I think that's how you Yeah
So this is for two We would own two family for owner occupied Basically this is like a duplex Yeah Reminding everybody to stack [Music] of which I believe there are about um 400 in town 400 owner occupied two units
I think so but I don't know that for sure and I haven't been doing it for a number of years so you know things change so he said um any anyone else on this Um we're recording each of these right
because I think we decided even if there's a plurality of positions on this that we would we would share those all with the council So can you um we've recorded Dian that these should be exempted Yeah I would like to go on the record thinking uh I I think I would like it no exemptions at this point I'm
a little especially knowing it's 400 units I don't know that there are that many Yeah I mean I guess we could get that from the tax assessor Yeah And and then we'd be Yeah Go ahead Terry We I because Diana had an email exchange Um
we can know probably some a good how many two families but how if they're owner occupied or not it would be difficult for us to figure out right even to find out how many two families there I think what Diane's saying sounds very
reasonable I also worry about the negative externalities like what are the what are the unforeseen consequences here that we're not considering and how this might actually play out in real ways but I think both I got it should be noted and I think the council should take that consideration
any other comments on all right shall we move on CPI calculation so this is currently just for those um that are joining us and may not uh know the ordinance the way that We calculate the maximum uh rental
increase each year is currently the average of the CPI the consumer price index which is a measure of inflation um between New York and Philadelphia So we add those two numbers together we divide by two and that's where we get our
maximum increase I think currently it's what 3 um number I want to say 3.7 3.6 6 3.7 3.55 3.55 right which is an average of the two um and I'll open it
up for comment would ideas on this you know I have some but I'd like others to weigh in first All right I will weigh in Um I shared data a while ago I'm not sure if anybody
still has that in their notes I mine is probably in here somewhere Um demonstrating that generally CPI is around 4% a little bit less than that or has been um for several years These of course compound over time The average wage increase in Middle Sex County um in
the last year was less than a percent It was something around 0.5 um percent And uh I did graph that I think at one point in the handout that I gave and demonstrate that if rents are increasing at 4% compounding every year and wages are not of course what we end
up with is everyone's getting poor and it becomes more and more difficult Um I've looked through several ordinances and I haven't found any that actually take wage growth into account but a lot of ordinances do take a percentage of Here we go a percentage of of CPI into C
into um uh into consideration And so what I would like for the council to consider is making rather than just a flat um average of the two uh making that a percentage of that something like 75% 80% Uh this this seems to be there's
a lot of ordinances that do this and it allows us to sort of take into account that wages are sticky and that wage growth is moving a lot slower um than than price growth right um without and so in a way that makes it still very easy to calculate and not having to have
some you know very unknown um uh complicated calculation to do this and it seems to be very common So just opening throwing that on the table for a possibility here that allows us to reconcile that sum right it might be end up being about a percentage lower maybe
than what it is but and not not quite closer to wage growth than to price growth but not quite price growth either which um seems to roughly be what would happen if if you just allow prices to vary with the market rather than having control Any other comments
how how does this compare with rent control throughout the state i mean this particular formula Yeah So it seems that um I mean uh some of them use CPI Some of them actually have flat percentages It looks like like they have no more than 5% or something like that And then
some of them do this percentage I haven't found any like I said that take wage growth in which is like what I want us to consider more broadly because I think our goal the goal of rent control is so we don't displace communities right right we have a working-class community We have retired people that are on fixed income We have students here that are on fixed incomes And we
don't want to displace our community We like the composition of our community Um and so taking wages into account I think is important theoretically but it doesn't seem to translate very well into a rent ordinance because of the way that wage growth is calculated And so this
seems to be a common sort of way of dealing with that is that it's not just CPI but rather a percentage of CPI So when you say common way Yeah but we haven't seen it anywhere else I've seen several examples of it No I found I I don't I don't have them with me but we can I think New York might in other New
York right in other ordinances in New Jersey There's actually someone did a report uh I did not bring it with me but I can give it to Terry to the one that we were talking about There was a figures the like year after we did our ordinance in Highland Park the study out
of one of the Ruckers places did a whole survey of rent control ordinances in New Jersey and they had a nice breakdown of how they calculate the increase you know not specifically but using CPI arbitrary number you know this that um so we can
circulate that Go ahead So will we use a nationwide wa wage growth or will we use the medium income of Highland Park not using wage growth is what I'm suggesting instead of doing that would be a percentage of CPI
So 75% of CPI instead of 100% of CPI Oh got it Yeah So what we're doing times 75 is what I would suggest It doesn't have to be that number I would just suggest that it's not 100% I think I'd like time to think about
this Go ahead Can I make one more when I said there might be 400 that doesn't mean they are all owner occupied Of that 400 maybe 60 are owner occupied not Oh the 400 double units you meant Yeah In
That's what I thought That's what I was going to say I'm not so sure Yeah that's I think that sounds closer to right Other comments on the C other thoughts Paulie I think I need to think about it I
haven't yet we move on vacancy deont control um open up discussion this also includes by the uh revolving tenency or any of those issues
Yeah So when I think about the fact that once um a unit is vacated and then it's allowed to be rented out at market rate this means that new units in our community are not affordable to working
people to students to so I think that's something for us to think about um because we're just pricing people out of being able to move into new not new but um units that are now available in our community right um and that the only
people who um you know I think about students working people who are able to afford afford apartments in town If they were to have to move and move within our community they wouldn't be able to afford
it So I just I think that's something for us to think about uh in terms of vacancy control Heather can you explain again what's on the table right now about the CPI oh see we're going back to CPI big CD control
the index Oh just a sec Can you can you say it more succinctly okay So um if you if you look here the way that we calculate our CPI so that'll be the fourth column would be the result of that because it's CPI Philadelphia and CPI New York City
And we're currently just doing an average of those two Right this represents price growth how much see inflation is how how much the prices are growing right in the first column we have average wage growth for middle sex county and you can see that there's a
huge divide between or a huge discrepancy between how fast wages are growing versus how fast prices are going growing and right now we're we're pinning we're we're pegging our our maximum increase to price growth but it's wage growth is lagging so far
behind that over time as those as those price growth increases compound that number gets bigger and bigger and bigger right exponentially and much faster than wages are growing And so at some point that discrepancy is growing so big that
people are un would will ultimately be unable to afford where they're living regardless of whether or not they can now Okay And that's the problem Yeah Did I explain that well enough you sure did Okay Great Yes But you're talking about Middle Sex County not Highland Park
right we don't have data for Highland Park specifically just like we don't have CPI for Middle Sex County We only have CPI for the cities that we are that we live between Right We don't have CPI for Highland Park and we don't have um wages for Highland Park because those
data are not collected Um so did you proposal did you say an alternate to how we are doing it now so what I'm suggesting because I had presented this just to demonstrate what how far this um you know the price how
far wages lag behind like uh prices behind inflation Right Um which which in real terms means that you're you know if your prices go up everything that you're paying goes up and your wages don't you're poorer than you were the year before Right Yes Right So over time that
can become very problematic if you allow them to continue growing at at disparit rates like that Right Right And so what I'm saying rather than because initially I had proposed that we somehow factor in wage growth and looking at a bunch of ordinances that's not very common
practice but what is common practice or what we do see in other ordinances is that rather than taking just CPI they take a percentage of CPI So allowing it to be 75% of CPI So instead of 3.55 it would be 75% of that Okay Yeah Would be
the max increase Now I get it Okay I get it Thank you We got anything else on CPI sorry we shouldn't have breeze past that so quickly Thank you All right Let's go back then to what Lucinda was um discussing with vacancy
deontrol which is right now the ordinance states that when uh once um units are vacated that they can be raised to market rate they're no longer subject to rent control Um I mean they have to be able landlords have to be able to rent them right so they can't they're but they they can rise to market
at that point Um and so Lucinda has made one argument and like to hear from others Go ahead Diane I I think we're we're looking at tiered systems of housing We're going to
have we're looking at keeping the housing stock um at a level that would include maintenance would it include the cost of
what it costs to renovate you know redo an apartment when the apartment is vacant um there are other factors I think other than um just keeping it at a
a certain point certain rental price Um and I and I think that could be a danger if we don't include maintaining and upgrading the housing stock
point of information capital improvements still apply to vacant um would apply We'll say let's say we had vacancy control they would still be they would landlord would still be able to apply Um I'd have to I mean my
instinct is I would think so but I I I hadn't thought about it But yeah I don't see why I mean I think they'd have to make the same they have to come in early and make the same uh you know whatever application and we have we know we have to tighten up that
application So there would be a mechanism to do that I think Um but but yeah I hear what you're saying too in terms of I I have a question more so if you have another point go ahead Terry and then
Lenda Um and I know I've said this before one of my concerns about not having vacant DD control and it's somewhat basic is um it's more difficult to to manage that information You know how do you ensure that and I know you've
done some research Heather Yeah How do like the just given that it's like you he and I and we have you know five other things we're supposed to be doing How do we track and make sure that that actually is happening you know that that landlords are if there
wasn't deontrol I forget what you called it Vacancy control Vacancy control There's vacancy control That means we got to track leases We've got to you know so there was some practical concerns I had which doesn't take away your point at all At all Um but I didn't
know if in your research and I know Jake has been doing some research so we can do that research Um but if if that was something if you've done any research on that how other than I'm I'm familiar with how certain places have done it and it was very cumbersome Um so I I just
know our limitations to some extent Well and then another option would be and I I brought this up last time is revolving tenency which we haven't discussed today but um where you have a group of people renting one place one of them leaves and
instead of there being a new lease rent control applies in that case because maybe they're bringing in another tenant they're still as long as one of the one of them is still Yeah Right So that's another option because that would certainly um yeah
that's just another another option Yeah And go ahead Diane According to our um housing ordinance if that person leaves that entire unit is now
inspected for code compliance and maintenance issues So um it's very possible that one person leaves and it would be a big expense depending on how things are looking
Yeah And that's that's certainly something to consider I just keep you know thinking about students in particular who you know have a fixed income and can't you know afford to have the rent go up 30%
Um other volume anything here um I think maybe I think that's a that's a fair point And so if this were implemented I think we would want to look to make revolving Yeah we would want to make sure that other ordinances that are factored into that and that and
how would that impact reinspection right some of those changes might need to be made to those ordinances then uh to make them line up so that they're they're they harmonize with um whatever changes are made to the rent control ordinance I think that's fair right because maybe that doesn't need to be
the case if it's you know well then you're talking about depreciating the you know the maintenance We have to keep that at a level Well wouldn't that be the same um
if that tenant just had stay that one that let's say the the example was two three roommates and one moves out If that roommate had just stayed there forever you would have the same it would be the same as if someone was replacing that that person I think I think that's just something to note Yeah I I
definitely look at I hadn't thought of the points Go ahead Stephanie So um all roommates like if it's three roommates they will all be on the lease original lease Okay But if lease also
the fee for you know to have a new lease drawn up um including new person screening for that person I mean there are expenses even if you just have one person yeah no that person was already on the
lease right so doesn't every come in you've got sorry go ahead no I'm I'm just Understand yeah If it's if it's three individuals almost and one leaves and they bring in someone new Oh you want to replace the
Okay Okay I thought it was just Okay Three original three Yeah Uh now two the two can stay there and just stay Oh okay Yeah I didn't know someone else was moving in and I thought it was that's the revolving part of the tendency It happens a lot with students right so one
graduates and the other two haven't and they get a new roommate Go ahead Terry I just as a former owner of two family with my husband we actually loved this because it meant you didn't have to advert There's a the switch side is when the two graduate three graduate students
one leaves they find another roommate You don't have to advertise like there's some advantages So I tend to think landlords like it as much as not you know not maybe the control factor but it is very common and it actually helps because that's saves you money on advertising and things like that if
people find their own ten you know new roommate But uh so I'm totally neutral on yes or no to that But I will say I'm in my experience it's very common that landlords don't mind that because it's just like oh good I don't have to worry about this You guys worry about it you
guys get along you know but we always had everybody on the lease that was important Other comments on this um I mean I tend to agree with Lucinda on this I would also like to go on record I would like complete vacancy control That shouldn't surprise anyone
Um I think that we could model our our our um ordinance after that of Newark and several others in New Jersey um that have vacancy control I think the point of rent control like Lucinda says we don't want it to just be that the existing units are ones that are affordable but we want when new units
open up to also be affordable um to the community that that we that we serve right so um I think that's important to have and to the extent that it gets enforced like um our entire rent control ordinance is based on community knowing to come to us when they're even even our
rental increases right we don't go out we don't have those certified at this point We don't check anybody's leases And so the fact that we even have a maximum rent increase Um that's that that's uh it's not um it's not a command and control style of policy uh
enforcement that we have anyways It is it is member you know or community education and people knowing uh to come to us when it's been violated So I think that that would hold even in the case that we had vacancy control and we were subjecting new leases to control Yes the
new person moving in may not know that right but it's it's discoverable and it could be I understand And I think there's there's other um other ordinances that we could model ourselves off of that have vacancy control but I think all points should
be we're reported equally Um Justin Fair return's phoning a friend Um comments on Justin Fair return Well we've looked at other ordinances whether or not
that we have to make a recommendation of some kind in terms of what that should be Um because that does have to be defined when people come forward with hardship applications So yeah
So I just if I'm just want to characterize is like tightening up the definition adding putting a definition because frankly the current doesn't have one at all Um okay and I think that's just the recommendation we want to make to the council right are we all on board with
that and let them figure out what those details are Got it All right Are we going to put a number there before we send it to Do we want to put a number there can say suggest that they should look at the number you know
Well I I feel like we should put the number on something Okay Okay I'm okay with that That's what I think Okay Yes Sorry Keep going So okay We went through everything I
just want to know the timeline So now you guys you'll sleep on all of this We'll come back with an edit Then you have to vote Then it'll come to us I don't even know if there's a vote I mean this is I don't know that I mean because we're just giving recommendations and we
agreed to just include the uh the range of range of different opinions that we have rather than trying to come to consensus here since that seems very unne unnecessary given that we're not the policy makers You are right um that we give you all of our sort of the range
of thought on this and let the council take it from there And go ahead What we had discussed was uh Jake and I would take this feedback as well as the feedback of the public when we get there and also prior meetings because we've talked about this a couple of times in various ways uh basically to to draft a
memo almost like imagining this is on your behalf like these are the things and that that would then go to the council for consideration and then with your committee and working with Sapna you know ultimately where ordinance amendments would be drafted
go ahead and is that something we would review at the next meeting is that yeah we could do that or it could be an email I don't know we talk about that I hadn't thought about it would just be great to just see it before it goes off the committee I think if we're expecting to have any like veto power over it or the ability to make um any kind of edits We
should probably reconvene to not vote to accept it but vote that yes this is our report For example I don't want to I don't want to have any kind of deliberations via email that that um challenges the fact that we do we do a quorum when we're over email So we need to not there needs to not be
deliberation in that space And and I heard a couple people say "I need to think about that." And so maybe if we put this memo together you look at it and you might say "I like that but this and we can add that too." We can always add to the memo Go ahead Blaine So I
think when um Stephanie said timeline we can tell her if in the next two meetings or in the next meeting I think she That's what I'm not speaking for her I'm thinking that she wants an
idea of how soon No I just got I just didn't know So you got this is your suggestion at that it will come as a form of a memo Oh so I didn't know you have to vote again like I wasn't I
don't I don't think I don't think you have to vote I think but I would like to know that we captured the spirit of what you want to convey It would essentially be like the approval of minutes I think would be like cover all the points and then if the answer is yes you know and we won't say you know obviously if
something that everybody thought was you know like we'll use just fair everybody agreed we need to tighten that up we need to probably put a number work with you know work work amongst your council should work to figure out what it's comfortable um based on my research so
they would need this back I mean well okay rent control would need this like our final edits before October remember finance meets quarterly and you can always have a special meeting I think you're over worrying no
I'm trying to so they I mean the only time really times there's some cleanup that we all have discussed many meetings prior that really needs to happen that there's just wrong things in there that we got to fix um so we do want to make some amendments ments this year Um if there's a decision if council wants to
influence this CPI for example for next year this calculation there's some time sensitivity because we got to get that done in time for our October deadline So so there are some you know deadlines but I think we can turn around a memo pretty quickly If you are up for a meeting next
month we could reconvene next month and review it and then and then that memo could I think we should probably plan on that and it be a very very short meeting Yes I think that's a good idea And then that way if let's say we'll look at the finance committee schedule If it doesn't
match up I'm sure folks would be to talk about this just to keep it moving And Jared is in here So this will give him a chance to weigh it Okay And then we'll take it and then at that point Yes And certainly at the
point where we have some some real like an actual amended ordinance we could share it with the comm the board as well What but presumably it will have gone through your committee So there's some consensus behind it I mean I'll go to the council meetings watch what it comes up you don't have to bring it back Yeah
Yeah Our committee it's three two other myself and two other council members who probably want to kick it around a whole bunch of time knowing them do Okay All their edits they want to look at it then it'll come to work session then it'll go to a whole where everyone will decide
the other two council members that's on finance it's um Matt Matthew Hirsh and Councilman Phil George so they will be the first to rise All right any um any last comments on the ordinance itself before we move to
public comment And I think we have a plan which is to compile all of these put it together into a report send it out and then we'll plan on convening next month uh to give it a final look give Jared a chance to weigh in and then um approve it in the same way we would approve minutes but
not um and if we need a resolution for that we can we can do that but I don't know that that's necessary since this is largely an informal act of the of the board recommend commendations It's not our formal charge All right Shall we move to public
comment yes Jake you might want to turn that mic on Remember there's a thing at the base There is only one person online Is anybody here to speak uh in public comment so that's perfect Yeah There we
go If you could state your name I might I got to turn the mic I can also talk louder No it helps for the Zoom They might not be able to hear online if you get it Although my voice
in whatever microphone I think it's working up my voice My name is Jessica Henderson and I am on street and I just want to thank all of the volunteers who serve on this committee I know that a lot of our
committees across our burrow are entirely made up of volunteers and so that you're giving your time to that And I just wanted to share some concerns Um this is my first rent control board meeting but I've attended a number of mayor and council meetings over the
years and seen the public comment period And I was very concerned about last uh month's rent control board and specifically the engagement of our turn attorney that our taxpayer monies are
paying Um and I just wanted to raise that um because I wanted us to be aware that I don't think we want that kind of engagement with our volunteers And I also want the mayor and council to know that they need to consider um that kind
of engagement with the public And I've raised that before I have attended a mayor and council meeting in which attorney Shel also engaged with community members in that way And I just want the mayor and council to really think about whether or not they want
that type of engagement with the public I think it diminishes I think it is condescending I think it's disrespectful and it doesn't allow for us to value you as volunteers who are serving on our committees But also it sends a message
to our public that the mayor and council don't want to hear from the public And I have also noticed that the public comment period in the mayor and council meetings has significantly changed since attorney Shaw started and that it has
what appears to me to be told that they should not respond in any way to public comments Like listen to all the public comments don't say anything I will manage it Meaning attorney and I just I think that the mayor and council really really need to
consider that So thank you again for your service It was really I appreciated being able to be here and here I I'm I'm a homeowner I don't rent out my property I don't rent property although I spent it here for four years before I I bought a home And so I just appreciated the
opportunity to be able to hear your deliberation So thank you Thank you Thank you Jessica others It's your name Hello I'm Kate Stevens I'm on Wayne Street Um I do want to
highly recommend that records report that was mentioned earlier Uh I was reading it earlier today It's great very readable It's called uh rent control in New Jersey What is it where is it how does it work uh it was published in 2024 and it looks at rent uh control history
of New Jersey as well as a more recent uh thing It's got some beautiful graphics that show sort of the uh diminished impact of rent control as uh uh exemptions are added um and that reduces the positive impact Um there's
also been a lot of great studies discussing how broadly New Jersey has very moderate rent control such that it does not tend to have the negative impacts um that are seen elsewhere um and our rent control is currently you know pretty in line with that I do also
want to support the uh discussion of um uh the different ways of calculating CPI There are many uh there was there's again discussion in this lovely report um about the different ways uh to sort of do that that percentage cap of right
a certain percentage of CPI to help keep it sort of sticky in the same way that wages are sticky Um and I also wanted to note that there are multiple ways of vacancy deep control Um I agree I think that keeping vacancy deontrol um or
making vacancy deont control not part of our ordinances would like having having there be no deontrol would be best to help maintain the possibility for people to leave and return Currently that's not an option for lots of people There are many people that I know who are unable
to move out of their current apartment even if they would like to because it cuts off the option of returning to a place that they may love Um and that's very uh depressing and sad and it it it reduces people's freedom to be a person
Um there's also you know you can have once a year or once every 10 years there could be de control for the building Um in terms of uh it also had some lovely suggestions in the back uh about how to build a proper municipal rent control
resource center with suggestions for how to keep track of these things how to provide more information to uh individuals to create better uh processes Um I think that it would be great if some of these uh FAQs for
example which does include the like I was reading the lovely FAQs uh on the website uh and they do in fact mention that uh you can't do the rotating tenency thing they right tell but it's not in our ordinances that you can't it
is simply in the FAQ either way it I might suggest that those be required to be included in new leases being sent out in the same way that lead uh uh packets are sent out with new leases Um and finally uh if we're having trouble
tracking these things then what are my tax dollars paying for um it's possible to create a database to have landlords register It is possible to create a form for renters to report what their
building is like uh what their rent is right now There are tools to do this Um and I think saying it's too hard is really disrespectful to the citizens that are being served Thank you Thank you Kate
Anyone else go ahead Please state your name I'm Selena I'm also on Wayne Street and I just wanted to speak specifically to the vacancy issue Um it is one that as someone who was just recently looking at
renewing a rental lease here is particularly on my mind and I am one of those people who if I leave my current apartment I cannot afford to remain in Highland Park I know many people in this situation students professionals and
many of the elderly including neighbors I've talked with extensively about this And this issue of vacancy being our exception is a really dangerous one because if you have a landlord that for instance does meet the law but always
just within the letter you have no recourse to stay within a community that is so important to you And I just wanted to say I hope you all very seriously consider the importance of maintaining that continuity for people in the
community even if they need to change units For instance they have a baby and need another bedroom or they stop working from home and want to downsize they've retired but just to really push home how important that can be for people choosing to make
a life in this community Thank you others Um uh we No one's raised their hand online All right If we have no further public comment would anybody um I think I would leave it open for comments if there's
anything that came up from the public comment that anyone would like to comment on I'd like to know what who published where was that article published so we can look at it We have it to share Oh you have it That's the one we were talking about before Oh okay
Terry will send it out to Right Y um good question All right The chair will entertain a motion to adjurnn Second See none opposed Uh this meeting of the Highland Park rent control board is
hereby adjourned Everyone please have a good night and I will see you next month Thank you