Housing Appeals Board Elimination

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and details may be misheard.

What: a proposal to eliminate the Housing Appeals Board as part of the Chapter 60 update.
Where it stands: presented 2026-10-19; no objections recorded.
Next: included in the ordinance update (target agenda date November 2).

The board was created in the 1980s to hear appeals of housing code orders. Its authority over fines and legal action was removed from the code in 2024, leaving only requests for relief.
About half of its meetings since 2024 were canceled for lack of business.
Requests for relief would go to the State Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, which already hears the city's other code case types and says it has capacity.
Hearings are by phone on the first and third Wednesdays; wait is about a month, and emergency hearings can be requested. The city clerk's office would help with the process.
Prompted by a city manager's office request that board staff look for efficiencies.

One member asked about the state's timeline, worried delays would be unfair to tenants.

About 3 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-19 - City Council Work Session	3

2026-10-19 - City Council Work Session — staff recommended eliminating the board and sending relief requests to the state (about 3 minutes).