The Schenectady City Council has voted down a resolution to opt into New York's Good Cause Eviction law. Now, the council will form a task force to examine the city's housing needs.
Housing advocates seeking eviction protections for tenants — and landlords warning of unforeseen consequences — spoke at Schenectady City Hall Monday night.
Under the state's Good Cause Eviction law, landlords must have good cause to evict their tenants. The law also places limits on rent increases.
But upstate localities must opt into the law for it to apply to renters.
The council voted 4 to 3 against adopting Good Cause eviction measures, instead opting to revive legislation proposed by Councilmember Joseph Mancini to create a city task force to examine housing needs.
Mancini’s proposal, which was defeated at a city council committee meeting last week, was revived by Councilmember John Mootooveren, who decided to co-sponsor the legislation.
Councilors opposed to the Good Cause opt-in supported created the task force 4 to 3. The entire city council is comprised of Democrats, but a divide has persisted between conservative and progressive members.
Mancini says he wants more time to decide on the best course of action,
“Good Cause law came and like wow, we’re asked to vote on it. And I haven’t done my homework, I don’t know if we have as a city actually looking at that data and what have we already attempted. But it’s a serious issue and I think as a task force, we can take a real critical look at it and say this is the right thing or this is not and these are things we can do in its place,” Mancini said.
The city’s split decision on Good Cause mirrors the divide among members of the community.
On one side, Good Cause supporters wore T-shirts and held up cardboard signs that read “Stand up for Tenants” and “People Over Profits.”
All of Us advocacy group co-founder and Schenectady city school board member Jamaica Miles say the law would provide needed protections for tenants.
“This isn’t a pretend ‘Oh what if something happens?’ We know what happens when Good Cause passes cause we’ve seen it in other cities, we’ve seen it in other states so it’s not a question mark, it’s not an ‘I wonder’ and to anyone that leaves the city because Good Cause passes, good bye,” Miles said.
On the other side, members of group Schenectady Landlords Influencing Change held up signs that read “No Good Cause Evictions.”
SLIC founder and director Chris Morris says Good Cause evictions would result in less control over landlords’ own properties and could cause landlords to implement higher standards for tenant approval.
“Good Cause legislation strips landlords of essential discretion and control of their own business even in cases where their relationship no longer works, it governs private contracts and creates legal uncertainty about how and when a tenancy ends.” Morris said.
Councilmember Damonni Farley, who first introduced Good Cause legislation to the council in June is hoping Mancini’s Housing Stability Task Force is not just an effort to delay progress. Farley was among councilors who voted against forming the task force.
“I try to open the opportunity for Mr. Mancini to make a commitment that this wouldn’t be something that would kick the can down the road for months and months and months while our most vulnerable people in the city are faced with unsafe living conditions, retaliatory evictions and egregious rent hikes. So hopefully to be delayed is not to be denied,” Farley said.
The Housing Stability Task Force will be charged with conducting a review of local housing trends, eviction filings, rent burdens and vacancy rates, assessing the potential impact of Good Cause Eviction in the city. The task force will also recommend short-and long-term strategies to stabilize housing.
Its preliminary findings must be submitted within 120 days of formation. The task force, to be formed by the council's Government Operations Committee, will include representatives from the city council, the Schenectady Department of Development, local non-profits, landlords, tenant advocates, and legal experts.
