As the Santa Barbara City Council finalized its rent-stabilization ordinance, the city’s largest housing provider — the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara — found itself at the center of the debate. 

In recent weeks, discussions have focused on whether the ordinance should include exemptions for Section 8 and deed-restricted housing.

Rob Fredericks, executive director of the city Housing Authority, said “it just makes no sense” to include those types of housing programs under the ordinance.

“There’s already a wealth of regulation and burdens that we’re under to ensure that the rents (under those programs) are affordable and they’re reasonable,” he said.

Voucher tenants pay only 30% of their income for rent; the rest of their rent is covered by a voucher program.

However, there are payment standards in place that dictate the maximum amount of rental assistance the Housing Authority can provide on behalf of a voucher tenant.

Fredericks has been advocating for the exemptions since ordinance discussions began earlier this year, but he did want to see a guardrail that units would be exempt only if the rent is at or below the payment standard. 

For deed-restricted units, rents are typically listed at 60% of the area median income (AMI).

For tenants who don’t earn enough to meet the AMI, Fredericks said 90% of tax credit housing units are overlaid with Section 8. That ensures that tenants always have that income-based protection.

However, tenant advocates and some City Council members — particularly Wendy Santamaria — wanted to see all of the units covered under the ordinance.

Santamaria had argued that the Housing Authority’s systems to ensure habitability weren’t working.

Ana Arce, a policy advocate with the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), said they heard directly from Section 8 and Housing Authority tenants dealing with illegal rent increases.

Arce said those tenants were hesitant to report violations out of fear of losing their unit.

“I understand that the Housing Authority says they will find them someplace else, but finding housing is so limited,” Arce said. “The opportunity to be able to find something else is not feasible sometimes.”

Arce explained they weren’t trying to “attack” the Housing Authority. They wanted a third party or alternative options for tenants to report issues if they needed to do so.

“We may find out they don’t need it at all, and that’s OK, but just simply having that as an option would have been really great for them,” Arce said.

“It also would have shed more light to the Housing Authority to be like, ‘Wow, you are meeting the need.’”

Clarifying Information About Presidio Springs Development

The Housing Authority also wanted to clear up some confusion over how the Presidio Springs neighborhood, which is owned by the Housing Authority, will be protected moving forward, even if it isn’t included under the rent-stabilization ordinance.

The property is currently preparing for a massive redevelopment that includes demolishing five buildings with a total of 48 units and replacing them with two three- to four-story buildings totaling 104 units.

The project will be done in phases.

Residents will be temporarily relocated elsewhere within Presidio Springs or into another Housing Authority facility, and will have an option to move back if they wish to do so.

The Housing Authority will also pay for all moving costs and provide labor during the relocation, according to Fredericks.

Santa Barbara Tenants Union advocates were canvassing the neighborhood on Sept. 28 to encourage tenants to speak at the council meeting if they wanted to be included in the ordinance.

Veronica Loza, deputy executive director of the Housing Authority, was on the phone with the on-site Presidio Springs property manager when advocates knocked on the property manager’s door, not knowing it was the property manager. 

Loza told Noozhawk she heard a canvasser say that when the Housing Authority remodels the property, tenants won’t have any protections and they won’t get relocation assistance unless they are under the rent-stabilization ordinance. 

Fredericks said he was very upset by the spread of false information and believes that the tenants union was “outright fear-mongering” residents. 

“That was a false flag that they were putting out there,” Fredericks said. “Our residents are already very concerned and very nervous about this rehabilitation project, and here they’re having lies heaped upon them to try and get them to go to City Council.”

Stanley Tzankov, co-founder of the Santa Barbara Tenants Union, said he wasn’t at the Presidio Springs canvassing, but he explained that advocates there wanted to let tenants know they had an opportunity to use their voice and advocate to be included in the ordinance protections. 

He also believes the concerns of “fear mongering” came from one conversation that was “blown out of proportion.” 

“I think it’s a shame because instead of staying focused on the problems that we can solve together, there’s been sort of a bit of a distraction based off of one conversation,” Tzankov said.

He said Presidio Springs tenants have been concerned and had been approaching the tenants union on their own, “wanting to get involved.”

Next Steps

Going forward, Arce and Tzankov said they will focus on educating tenants and landlords about the ordinance, working with the city to make sure information is accessible and ensuring a good rent board.

“I am really excited because I think this is one of the things that sets the trajectory of the city in a lot of ways,” Tzankov said. “It just feels really exciting to be a part of a really broad movement for working people and tenants.”

Fredericks said he is concerned that the ordinance will lead to smaller landlords selling their properties, leaving fewer options for vulnerable tenants. 

The federal government isn’t currently offering enough funds to issue every single voucher that’s allocated to the Housing Authority.

Fredericks wants to see more pressure on the federal government and Congress to provide the funding, and more investment in affordable housing. 

“We need more affordable housing to be built in the community,” Fredericks said. “That is the biggest issue we’re facing right now: the dearth of available and affordable homes for people in the community.”