Landlords Impede Green Upgrades
In Which: Residents call for preserving green space at Skywest, Hayward plans to eliminate natural gas emissions, and Landlords stand in the way of green upgrades
This story concerns the Council Sustainability Committee, which focuses on the various “green” initiatives throughout the City. It’s led by Councilmember Andrews, along with Councilmembers Roche and Zermeno.
Still Fighting For Skywest Green Space
During the public comment period, multiple community members spoke in favor of maintaining the wilding green space at the location of the former Skywest Golf Course. For those who don’t know, the golf course was originally operated by HARD until they closed it down prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lacking any official use, it’s been rewilding for several years and is a popular walking area for local residents.
Community members spoke in favor of preserving as much of it as possible—the area technically belongs to the Hayward Executive Airport and is slated to be developed with commercial and aeronautical purposes in mind. They highlighted the monarch butterfly population that overwinters in the eucalyptus trees—saying that the numbers are higher than Monarch Point in San Leandro and also Santa Cruz—and sightings of other endangered species, including Golden and Bald eagles.
Mimi Dean, newly elected representative to the Oro Loma Sanitary District, said that the northwest portion of Hayward needed a green space—and is owed one by the Quimby Act. The Quimby Act specifies that Hayward should provide at least 3 acres per 1,000 persons in an area. “Preserve this beautiful open space for future generations,” Director Dean said.
Councilmember Andrews responded by reminding the public that Skywest is closed and that people should not be using it. “I just wanna make sure, just for safety,” she said, “that there’s a security issue—we are not touring without staff, and staff have to approve any access to [Skywest].”
Councilmember Roche suggested that the residents speak at a Council Infrastructure and Airport Committee meeting, which frequently discusses the airport properties.
Electrification A Barrier For Low Income Renters
With the massive fires in Los Angeles being due, in no small part, to climate breakdown, the City of Hayward is pursuing a plan to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas appliances. According to the Staff Report, natural gas makes up 27% of the City’s entire greenhouse gas emissions—behind the 56.6% caused by vehicle emissions. Staff outlined a plan to reduce natural gas use in Hayward to zero by 2040.
One of the important components to the plan is ensuring that low-income residents are not left behind. Since the primary way of reducing natural gas use is by changing appliances, it falls to individuals to buy electric appliances which can be cost-prohibitive. In an effort to find out where low-income residents are and their thoughts, the City partnered with Local Clean Energy Alliance and CSUEB’s School of Public Health to survey and interview hundreds of low-income Spanish-speaking residents.
Of those surveyed, 85% were renters and 82% had no idea what electrification is. An important discovery for the students was that landlords are a frequent barrier to implementing green appliances. Not only did respondents highlight a lack of support for repairs and maintenance—which can make a home less energy efficient—but also landlords placing restrictions on tenant-initiated improvements—including new appliances.
An important point to note is that the City is not handling water heaters and furnaces, which are being regulated by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAMQD). It was unclear why.
Landlords A Barrier To Change
Councilmember Roche commented that, since the cost of replacing appliances is so high, would it make more sense to focus on a single neighborhood? “It’s one thing to offer $1,000 for a $5,000 job,” she said, “versus a smaller amount of people getting full replacements.” She said such an approach may make a bigger impact on low-income residents.
Councilmember Roche also asked about specific appliances being targeted, if not furnaces and water heaters. Staff said that targets include stoves, ovens, and dryers. She then expressed concern about volatility of electricity prices and that the new appliances might actually cost more at their utility bill. Staff said that other energy efficiency measures were needed—including weather stripping, sealed windows, etc.—to bring costs down and ensure heaters or air conditioners aren’t constantly running.
However, he pointed out that, since the majority of low-income residents are renters, the main holdup is their own landlord. “Since they’re renters,” he said, “the landlord doesn’t want to invest any more money in the home. And if they want to do something themselves, they’re very restricted.” By placing restrictions on tenant-initiated improvements, landlords are not only holding back climate and health goals, they’re also foregoing no-cost improvements to their own property. “They’re stuck in the middle,” he said, “they don’t know what to do.”
The Staff Report also said that the idea of tenant protections, to safeguard against landlords passing the cost of electrification to tenants, was something that the City could pursue.
Partnerships and Funding
Councilmember Zermeno asked how long it would take to complete the roadmap. Staff said that they would be working on the roadmap internally, and that the grant—which was used to pay for the surveys and focus groups—would be used to discover the cost of implementing the plan. As for funding it, Staff said that they would have to look into grants—part of the roadmap is identifying funding sources.
Councilmember Andrews highlighted other agencies to partner with in order to get the word out to residents. She specifically asked Staff to work with HUSD for outreach on the matter. “If you have capacity,” she said, “partner with [Hayward Unified School District]… because some of those parents feel comfortable when information comes from their schools.” She also asked Staff to consider partnering with the Library for outreach. “A lot of people use the library as a source or information, too,” she said.
The Problem Of Landlords
Unfortunately, none of the Councilmembers seemed to have a plan for how to help renters whose landlords are a barrier to implementation. One of the students who conducted the focus groups, Fernando Sanchez, spoke during Public Comment to highlight the problem. “My aunt was given an opportunity to get her appliances replaced for free, because her energy bill was so low,” he said, “but she was denied by the property management and landlord.”
In situations like that, it’s unlikely that even a full replacement approach—like Councilmember Roche suggested—would be effective in getting appliances replaced for low-income renters. On top of that, Mr. Sanchez also said that the issues around maintenance and repairs can drive up energy cost—and natural gas use—for low-income residents. “They suffer a lot of mismanagement,” he said, “There’s mold in those houses in the ventilation. Every time someone puts in a work order they change the company the following week. So a lot of people are dealing with issues within the home.”
Similarly to the community comments around the Skywest green space, this issue highlights an area where the silos of local government can allow important things to go unaddressed. No Councilmember addressed the concerns around landlords prohibiting new appliances—despite attempting to focus on low-income residents, most of whom are bound to be renters. Without changes to local laws, landlords could either continue to prohibit new appliances—even if they’re free—or, if they do decide to perform upgrades, pass on the cost to tenants and price them out of their home.
Part of the reason low-income residents typically find themselves resistant to green upgrades is that they’re more expensive—new appliances cost more and electricity costs are up—and they may need to perform costly improvements to a home they don’t even own. A tenant should not be paying for new insulation on a unit they rent, that’s the landlord’s job. However, if the landlord does perform the upgrades, they increase rent and displace the tenant.
There was no mention during the meeting of any plan to address low-income resident’s concerns.