In a marathon three and a half hour plus Henderson City Council session, members voted five to two, with Mike Inscoe abstaining due to a stated conflict of interest, to rescind Chapter 21C of Henderson City Code with calls for a certificate of occupancy for rental dwellings.
The five to two vote was at first deemed not to meet the super majority two-thirds necessary when an ordinance is being voted upon to pass on the first reading by City Attorney Billy Strickland. Upon reconsideration of his original judgment, Strickland argued that the vote did indeed comprise the super majority needed to pass on first reading.
The dissenting votes were cast by members Garry Daeke and George Daye.
Council member Mike Rainey argued that the two-thirds majority had not been reached. It was determined that for the sake of caution, another vote should be taken at a subsequent meeting.
As the meeting continued, it became clear that Daye had voted against the revocation of the city code because he did not understand that the motion had called for the elimination of the ordinance. In an effort to revoke Chapter 21C without another vote, members attempted to rescind Daye’s vote by having Daye himself move to rescind his vote. According to rules of procedure, however, the motion had to be seconded by Daeke in order to proceed to a vote. Daeke chose not to second the motion.
The vote on 21C will have its second reading at a special meeting on Monday, April 21 at 5:30.
Speakers at the public hearing that preceded the vote were both for and against the elimination of the 21C. Henderson resident Marquita Vann told the council that Henderson has a lot of good landlords, but that 20% make it bad for the others.
Vann told the council of an occupant of a rental dwelling whose landlord was not fixing problems in the unit. She said she had come to advocate “for the 20% who are still living like that”.
Henderson attorney Mike Satterwhite, who represents a consortium of landlords who oppose 21C, told members that he and his clients feel that 21C was “preordained”. He claimed that the Community Development Committee chaired by Garry Daeke that developed the ordinance during the previous council tenure had in fact had its discussions led by other council members; that is, members who were not serving on Daeke’s committee.
The other members of the Community Development Committee at that time were Mary Emma Evans and Lonnie Davis.
Satterwhite stated that it was “very unusual” that the ordinance came out of the committee without a recommendation from the committee.
Recounting the events that led to the passage of the ordinance, Satterwhite reminded the council that 21C did not receive the necessary two-thirds vote on the first reading. Between readings, Daeke held a public forum at the Shiloh Baptist Church on September 18, 2007. Satterwhite said that there were many false statements made at the forum, chiefly that people were told that the city would not be inspecting for cleanliness.
According to Satterwhite, Chapter 21 of city code requires housing to maintain a standard of cleanliness.
Satterwhite said that then City Manager Jerry Moss had told him that the ordinance would be presented without a certificate of occupancy being required during preoccupancy. He said that preoccupancy was voted for the same night.
According to Satterwhite, Wyatt stated that the city did not have the manpower to do the inspections.
“Neither I nor my clients have much faith in how we got here,” Satterwhite said.
Satterwhite acknowledged that a memo was sent to his clients’ tenants stating that the landlords support Chapter 21 but not 21C. He said that the letter asked tenants to attend Daeke’s forum at the Shiloh Baptist Church. The landlord’s attorney also said that Daeke posted a comment on Home in Henderson inviting those who favor 21C to attend the forum.
“Why not invite those who are against it?” Satterwhite asked.
Without necessarily disputing that Daeke’s comment post exists, Home in Henderson was unable to locate the comment post in question.
Satterwhite said that he was told by a council member that the city was not being run by the rich and powerful anymore. He refuted that assertion by stating that the citizens are ultimately running the city and that the citizens spoke “loud and clear” at the last election.
After Satterwhite concluded his remarks, member Mary Emma Evans asked how the council could be assured that landlords would have their houses up to code of 21C was repealed. Satterwhite responded that his clients are committed to keeping housing units to minimum standards or better as set forth in Chapter 21. He also added that he thinks tenants should be notified of their rights in writing.
The Reverend C.J. Dale spoke in opposition to 21C. He claimed that the ordinance had come from the “hypocrisy” of some council members.
Dale indicated that he believes that 21C would be a form of discrimination, as the majority of people who rent are African-American.
“I’m not in anyone’s pockets,” Dale said.
Henderson activist Deryl von Williams spoke in favor of 21C.
Von Williams said that she knows of three people who have died because of conditions in trailers. She said that people cannot pay their water bills because landlords will not fix leaks.
Von Williams opined that the previous council had good policies, but that their problem was “personality”.
Henderson resident Barbara Richards spoke in favor of 21C because she believes that people deserve safe and decent housing to line. She said that the housing stock has an effect on the city and county’s economic growth.
She said that the housing cannot be trusted.
“That’s why you have people falling through the floor,” Richards said.
After O’Geary closed the public hearing, Daeke remarked that when his committee agreed to have hearings on the rental certificate of occupancy that he did not have a strong opinion on the issue. He said that the more his committee worked on it, the more he believed that it was something that the city needed.
Daeke refuted Satterwhite’s assertion that the ordinance was “pre-ordained”.
The former Community Development Committee chair said that a majority of people at the meeting at the Shiloh Baptist Church had a concern about privacy, hence the decision to inspect prior to tenant occupancy.
Daeke said that he stood by his comment on Home in Henderson.
Wyatt told the council that he believed that the city staff could administer the ordinance in a timely and effective fashion. He apologized to Satterwhite for stating previously that he did not think it could be done.
“We’ll do this with diplomacy and tact,” Wyatt said, referring to the enforcement of 21C.
Rainey said that he did not see a difference between 21 and 21C.
Strickland replied that 21C allows systematic inspections. Otherwise, he said, a magistrate’s warrant is necessary for inspections on the city’s volition.
The city attorney also argued that the exterior of a rental unit could be “pretty enough” to prevent the inspection of the inside.
Strickland argued that the city was not getting many complaints due to fear of retaliatory evictions.
Council member Lonnie Davis said that he had listened to the former city attorney (John Zollicoffer) who did not advocate 21C. He said that many cities that had adopted such an ordinance had rescinded it.
Member Mary Emma Evans remarked, “Sometimes you can’t trust the tenants you put in your houses”.
Council member George Daye said that problems should be worked out between the landlord and the tenant without getting a third party involved.
Evans then moved that 21C be rescinded and that Chapter 21 be “strongly enforced” and that the city not allow it to become an ordinance that is “minimized or overlooked”.