By Chris Dietrich, Commission Chairperson
The City-UCD Student Liaison Commission met on Wednesday January 13th, 2010 for its normal monthly meeting. At this meeting many issues were discussed that carried over from its December meeting.
Among the items discussed was a possible ordinance that would require the return of interest earned on rental security deposits in the city of Davis. The ASUCD Senate passed a resolution in November supporting such an ordinance and submitted this resolution to the Commission. After discussion both in support and in opposition to this proposed ordinance the Commission decided to not make a formal recommendation to the City Council at this time while other options could be explored.
One of the alternatives to such an ordinance would be to update the Davis Model Lease. The Davis Model Lease has been used in the city for many years, and represents a collaboration between renters, landlords, and other stakeholders to ensure the best possible agreement is available. This lease is used by about half of the rental properties in Davis. However, this document has not been updated since 1992, and thus is at times outdated and inconvenient for some complexes. Members of the Commission are working to form a workgroup to update this lease so it can be used more widely in the city. The lease currently provides for the return of interest on security deposits, and if it is more widely used then perhaps an ordinance for this policy would not be necessary.
In the coming months the Commission will be discussing sustainability issues and political rights for students in the city.
—Chris Dietrich reporting
