New policies that would make it easier to evict tenants from public housing or force them to move to smaller units received a drubbing Tuesday from tenants who attended a meeting of the Marin County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.
The policy changes are embedded in a five-year plan that the Marin Housing Authority must update yearly for review by the federal government. The authority manages approximately 500 public housing units in Marin, many of them in Marin City. The Board of Commissioners, which is made up of county supervisors and two other community representatives, unanimously approved the plan.
One of the changes gives managers greater leeway to enforce a "one strike" eviction policy if tenants, their household members or guests are involved in illegal drug activity or violent criminal behavior. Authority managers are no longer required to grant grievance hearings in all one-strike cases.
"I'm being held responsible for the things my son is accused of," said Mosetta Reynolds, the mother of Omari Allen, who has been accused of firing a handgun into a sheriff's patrol car that was occupied by an officer when it was parked on Drake Avenue in February.
Reynolds, whose case is being handled under the old policy, said she was hospitalized when a 30-day eviction notice was tacked on her front door. She said by the time a neighbor told her about the notice she was told it was too late to request a grievance hearing.
"This is a big burden on my mind," said the elderly Reynolds, who said she had been ill for more than a year and spoke seated in a wheelchair.
Kelly Garduno, a public housing tenant in Marin City, said, "It worries me as a mother of four. I can't keep my kids in the house all of the time. I think everyone should have a grievance hearing."
Paul Cohen, executive director of Legal Aid of Marin, said it would be unfair to punish family members without providing them with a grievance hearing. Cohen said he would advise his clients not to sign the housing authority's new contract, which includes the change.
"I'm not saying they shouldn't be subject to possible eviction, but give them a grievance hearing so everything can be aired out," Cohen said.
Dan Nackerman, executive director of the housing authority, said public housing authorities throughout the country adopted policies that were tougher on crime in the 1990s.
"For some reason, the policies that the Marin Housing Authority adopted were much more lenient," Nackerman said. "Marin Housing Authority does not routinely or even very often terminate for serious crimes. Marin Housing Authority presently has serious crime households."
Another of the changes alters the authority's policy for reassigning tenants who have more rooms than they need to smaller units. In the past, the authority placed its lowest priority for reassignments on those tenants who had lived in a unit with extra rooms the longest. The new policy reverses that.
Gracie Stover said that when she moved into her public housing unit 53 years ago she had a husband and three children. Today, Stover said she lives in the unit by herself.
"Don't take our homes away from us," Stover said. "Let me go out feet first."
Conchita Sibbalucca, who has lived in her unit for 50 years, said, "I have nine grandchildren. They come on weekends. I beg you not to make me move into a one-bedroom apartment."
Royce McLemore, a long-time public house resident and community activist, said that because there is a limited number of one-bedroom units in Marin City, some seniors may have to be uprooted from the community where they have their family and support systems.
"If you move a senior out of their environment there are devastating effects," McLemore said.
Nackerman said McLemore lives in a unit with four bedrooms and may herself be affected by the policy change.
In addition to these policy changes, the housing authority has created a protocol for evicting tenants who create unsafe living conditions by hoarding. The policy states, "The experts seem to agree that most hoarders will not act sufficiently themselves, or accept help to act, unless faced with eviction or other harsh consequences." It makes it clear that tenants should be given at least 10 days to remove hoarded items when they are creating a safety hazard - but not more than 30 days.
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