FAIR RENT COMMISSION
MAY 5, 2004

ATTENDANCE: Richard Booth, Chairman; Martin Bernard, Vice Chairman; Jordan Kolovson; Sarah Mann; Norman Roberts; Wendell Simms

STAFF: Lawrence E. Patterson, Field Representative

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MARCH 3, 2004

The following corrections were made:

Page 1, second paragraph, second sentence: “In the past, the sub budgets of the HR Commission and FR Commission were combined for department related expenses, but that each commission still had it own budget.

Page 2, first sentence: salary should be changed to position
first paragraph, last sentence: “The fact that there have been no complaints regarding services is good because…”
second paragraph, second sentence: “Mr. Patterson showed that the department….”
Second paragraph, last sentence: “Mr. Patterson responded that most of it already is, but the manual portion is still necessary and very time consuming”

Page 3, first sentence: Mr. Bernard said that the City should change its online job description to …”

Page 4, first paragraph, third sentence: “Since she refused, and the Health Department cited the landlord, Mr. Patterson recommended closure.
Last paragraph, second sentence: “After discussions with the tenant, he suggested that the tenant pay the rent increase so as to not be late, also an 11.5% increase over a two-year period is permissible.

** MR. BERNARD MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS CORRECTED
** MR. ROBERTS SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Chairman Booth said that he had a very short report this evening. He reported that he was appointed to the new Blue Ribbon Task Force. They met last Thursday and he has a large stack of material to read. Some of the materials date back to 1975.

Chairman Booth reviewed the history of the Blue Ribbon Task Force. Mr. Patterson said that he was called the evening before the meeting and asked to appear for the 3:00 p.m. meeting. He was able to gather together all of the information requested for that meeting. Mr. Patterson read the names of the members of the task force. Chairman Booth commented that the task force seems to be made up of a good group of people. Mr. Patterson noted that he took the minutes for that meeting and is working on them.

FIELD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT

Mr. Patterson gave an overview of office procedures for the newer members of the Commission. He explained the in-take procedures and presented a copy of the daily log. He commented that he knows of no other City department that keeps such a telephone log.

Mr. Patterson reported that they have recently been able to build a library of available books about tenants and landlords. These books are available for use by the commissioners to provide them with additional knowledge when they go out on inspections. Mr. Patterson said that he realizes that it is difficult for some commissioners to go out on inspections due to their schedules.

Mr. Patterson said that he has also been picking up copies of the Connecticut Apartment Guide for the office. He said that he also has packets that provide basic information on what the Fair Rent Commission does and the rights of tenants and landlords. Some brochures from the State are available in Spanish.

Mr. Patterson distributed and reviewed the 2002 – 2003 activity report that was requested by the Law Department. Mr. Patterson also distributed the 2003-2004 activity report.

As of right now, the department has not been getting nearly the workload they were getting. After December, things started to slow down, but they expect that to change at any time.

Mr. Patterson presented the Blue Ribbon Commission report. An addendum to the report was completed in March of 2004. He said that the task force has been taking a lot of his time.

Mr. Patterson provided copies of the job description for the Director of Human Relations position. He said that a problem with the job description is that it does not include a mention of the responsibilities associated with Fair Rent.

Mr. Patterson said that since the department is experiencing a temporary lull in their workload, he would like to reactivate holding tenant seminars that would cover several topics regarding tenant rights.

Mr. Booth noted that the department used to hold such seminars and asked Mr. Patterson if he would have the time to conduct these seminars. Mr. Patterson replied that it has been a long time since these seminars were held, but he would like to hold them some time in the future. In addition, he would like to try to hold a seminar in Spanish. Mr. Booth suggested that Mr. Jose Bermudez would be willing to lead a bilingual seminar. Mr. Patterson said that he would like to hold the seminars after he has completed his Task Force duties at the end of June.

COMMISSIONERS’ POTPOURRI

The Commissioners had nothing specific to discuss.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business
REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF EACH OPEN CASE

A. MOTION AND VOTE ON OPEN CASES, AS NECESSARY

Mr. Patterson said that there was only one page of open cases at this time.

Cases #1513 and #1514 are almost wrapped up.

Case #1512: Tenant has vacated the property and the landlord has served all tenants with a Notice to Quit, because they are closing on the property. Mr. Patterson recommended closing the case.

** MR. BERNARD MOVED TO CLOSE CASE #1512
** MR. ROBERTS SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

PRESENTATION OF NEW CASES

A. DECISION TO HEAR OR RECOMMENDAIONS TO STAFF

B. MOTION AND VOTE ON EACH CASE PRESENTED

There were no new cases.

Mr. Booth said that he would like to see more open cases, which would justify having a Commission. Mr. Patterson said that even if there are no cases to hear, there is still a need to meet to keep the Commissioners apprised of what is going on. Mr. Patterson added that the workload could change at any time and become heavy again.

Mr. Simms said that he felt the seminar would be a wonderful thing. Mr. Patterson replied that seminars traditionally trigger a lot of activity, but that it needs to be revived.

Mr. Booth said that it is his intent, not to call a meeting if there are no hearings scheduled, unless there is business that needs to come before the Commission.

The Commissioners discussed the fact that the department is short handed.
Ms. Mann asked if there is anything the Commissioners could do to help the department with their workload. Mr. Bernard suggested that it would be helpful if Commissioners could go out on inspections.

MOTION TO ADJOURN

** MR. SIMMS MOVED TO ADJOURN
** MS. MANN SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Rosemarie Lombardi
Telesco Secretarial Service