Emeryville's Newest Council Member-Elect Involved in Scandal Before Taking Seat

 Emeryville's Newest City Council Member in Hot Water Over Residence Discrepancies 

Was Election Law or Affordable Housing Law Violated?

Newly elected City Council member Courtney Welch is entangled in a scandal over her Emeryville residence, having likely defrauded Emeryville’s affordable housing program or California election law, the Tattler has learned.  Specifically, Council-elect Welch either shared her government subsidized low income apartment with two unauthorized people without permission from and in violation of Emeryville’s Below Market Rate (BMR) housing program or she has helped the two people, her parents, when they signed their names on their voter registration forms falsely claiming they live in her apartment.  

The two bedroom apartment rented by Ms Welch can only accommodate up to four people according to her lease and since her two minor children live with her, two additional people would represent a violation of the City’s BMR stipulations.  Three bedroom units are available at her apartment complex and that would have allowed her parents to move in with her but Ms Welch did not rent one of those.  

Candidate Welch told her campaign Twitter
readers she was having trouble meeting the 
City's BMR income mandates.  If her parents 
lived in her unit and showed any income
at all, that would have to be reported.

Moving to Emeryville from Oakland, Ms Welch registered to vote on June 1st according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters with her parents also registering June 1st at her Emeryville address.  Ms Welch informed the landlord her two children would be living with her but she did not acknowledge anything at the time about her parents moving in.  In addition to renting a three bedroom unit, she would have also been required to submit income documents for her two (parent) housemates according to Emeryville’s BMR program dictates.  If two uncleared people moved into her apartment, that would be a violation of Emeryville’s BMR housing law.

If income from her parents pushed her 
over the disqualifying line, the subsidized 
apartment would have to be given up
to a needy family.

The need to clear people by checking their income is necessary to protect and ensure Emeryville's affordable housing stock is available for needy people.  Uncleared persons can move in on a temporary basis but only for up to one month according to the lease agreement at Ms Welch's apartment complex, a regulation backed up by the City of Emeryville's BMR housing program.

California election law makes it a crime for citizens to knowingly falsify registration documents by registering to vote at a location other than their legal domicile.  Voting in a falsified different election district also constitutes a crime.  In a tweet, Ms Welch’s father claimed to have voted for Courtney on October 14th. 

Many Council election watchers noted how the Council candidate was able to get a hard to come by BMR unit so quickly.  Moving here in June, Ms Welch had already announced her candidacy for the open Council seat  left by Christian Patz in July.   Mr Patz announced his resignation from the Council in May.

In September, the Alameda County Democratic Party announced it would endorse the new Emeryville resident/City Council contender causing some in town to question if that party set her up for the newly opened Emeryville seat.  A young but rising political star in Oakland, Ms Welch may have jumped at the opportunity of an auspicious Emeryville beginning to a political career, open Oakland City Council seats being such a rarified thing.  

From Courtney Welch's Campaign
Twitter Account
To vote in an Emeryville election
you have to live in Emeryville.

With seeming lightning speed, Ms Welch also was accepted on Emeryville’s Housing Committee by our City Council before the election, a fact Courtney conspicuously placed in her campaign literature.  Interestingly, at their June 15th meeting, the Council overlooked the fact that although she missed the deadline for the Housing Committee application, they appointed her anyway even though, in a snub to the Council, she didn’t attend that meeting to answer customary applicant questions.  Housing Committee members subsequently reported Ms Welch only ever attended one committee meeting.

Having won a low turnout November 2nd special election 1033 votes to her contender's 705, Courtney Welch will take her oath of office and become Emeryville’s newest City Council member in December.

Ms Welch was contacted multiple times for comment on this story but she did not respond. 

Arias Housing Investigation Expands to Include More Alleged Fraud in BMR Program

‘Mr Emeryville’ Surrenders Emeryville Loft Home

'Hyper-Local' Promoter , Rob Arias Ensnared in Affordable Housing Fraud Allegations

A family atop Emeryville’s long waiting list for an opportunity to buy an affordable loft home are about to feel that they won the lottery.  The winnings might be easier to come by for more people in coming months as fraud is uncovered in the City's BMR subsidized housing program..

Every unit within one of Emeryville’s main affordable housing programs is being investigated for fraud after authorities uncovered one unit being used as an office. Several other units are under suspicion. It is unclear how many units within the city’s Below Market-Rate (BMR) program are being illegally sublet, used as AirBnBs, or as a pied-à-terre.  There are 238 for-purchase and rental units in the program, in a city where 134 mostly market rate housing units were built in 2020.  There were about 2400 people on the City’s wait list for the last tranche of BMR affordable units that became available. 

Ironically, the incident sparking the investigation starts with one of Emeryville’s leading promoters, a man who made a second career building an on-line hub for positive, ‘hyper-local’ spin.  Rob Arias, editor of the E’ville Eye was asked to sell his loft home at 1500 Park Avenue back to the City this month, after admitting to city investigators he had purchased a Pleasant Hill home in 2019.  Tuesday night, after the lengthy City investigation, the City Council voted to place Mr Arias' Emeryville home on the market so that a needy family can take advantage of his unit, a coveted ownership BMR affordable home.

People using Emeryville’s BMR program must annually certify the unit is their primary residence.  The City investigated following repeated calls from The Tattler after neighbors said the unit was seldom occupied, and even more rarely after business hours.  Numerous photographs taken by Tattler staff showed the unit vacant every night for weeks. The evidence was later confirmed by City staff, presumptively at the behest of the Council. 

When drawn into direct communication with investigators, Mr Arias asked for elaboration on the definition of 'primary residence' even though he had annually signed a legal document certifying the loft had been his primary residence since 2003.

Arias purchased the Park Avenue unit in 2003 for $206,000.  The City paid $338,200 to buy it back this week.  Essentially, Mr Arias received free housing for eighteen years and left with $132,000 in walking around money. He can’t be faulted for that.  That’s how the BMR ownership program is supposed to work.  Give people in need a chance.  But if you strike it rich, or in this case find a way to finance a second home, continuing to own a government subsidized unit is wrong morally.  And legally, if you live primarily in your new market rate home.  It violates the legal annual certification and is a slap in the face to everyone on Emeryville’s lengthy affordable housing waiting list.  

Mr Arias needed an affordable home in 2003 and he was lucky existing BMR unit holders didn’t exhibit the same behavior he has been engaging in over the last two years, otherwise he might not have been able to get affordable housing through Emeryville's BMR program.   People’s financial situations can change.  And the financial lure of holding on to a bargain in Bay Area real estate must be great.  But officials are finally acknowledging in action that poorly supervised affordable housing is an ‘attractive nuisance’ encouraging misuse. 

The housing authority at City Hall is wrapping up its investigation of other abuses in the BMR affordable housing program.  The Tattler has public records requests pending and will continue to report on the un-needy but greedy people who take advantage of Emeryville's good will and non-wealthy people who would be helped with housing in our town. 

Tattler Investigation:
Eight successive nights between 8 PM and 9 PM last spring revealed 
lights out at Rob's Emeryville loft (red arrows).   Early to bed?

Tattler Investigation

Rob's Car is Almost Always Parked at His Pleasant Hill Home

Eight different days; mornings, afternoons and nights.  Only one time

on a Saturday at 11AM was Rob's car not in the driveway. 

A clear sign he likely lives at this address.  The City of Emeryville agreed.

Under Penalty of Perjury Rob Signed This Declaration
This was signed in July 2019 AFTER he and his spouse had
purchased their Pleasant Hill home.  

Rob Forgot What a Primary Residence Was Before His Required Interview by City Housing Investigators
A few days after he sent this email (January 21st) he was interviewed.  He wanted to know what
'primary residence' meant for purposes of the interview, even though he had signed an annual declaration that his Emeryville loft was his primary residence since 2003 without being bothered by this question.

According to Redfin, Rob's home in the suburbs is worth $833,881.  He and his spouse purchased it in May 2019 for $630,000.

Regardless of the government assistance meant for needy families, Mr Arias (and his spouse) own more than $1 million in California real estate, until the final sale of the Emeryville loft probably in about a week

Breaking News: City Action Leads to Rob Arias, E'Ville Eye Editor to Sell His Former Emeryville Home

 Breaking: City to Take Back its Affordable Home Previously Owned by E'Ville Eye Editor

Tattler Initiated Investigation Prompts City Action

BMR Program Beneficiary May Have Violated Conditions

Tonight, the Emeryville City Council effectuated the sale of the former home of embattled local gadfly and self styled political pundit Rob Arias who had been enrolled in the City’s Below Market Rate housing assistance program since 2003.  The Council took the action unanimously in a ‘consent calendar’ vote at the regularly scheduled Council meeting.  Mr Arias’ unit was taken back by the City in a responsive action to complaints after an investigation into the legitimacy of the contract Mr Arias had with the City regarding the habitation of his unit.  Under contract, all recipients of BMR ownership assisted housing in Emeryville must sign a yearly contract holding the unit as a ‘primary residence’ for 10 months out of every year, a condition the City may have found to be false in the case of Rob Arias.  A January 11th Tattler story revealed Mr Arias had purchased a two bedroom home in the city of Pleasant Hill in 2019.  Tonight's Council action was initiated by the City of Emeryville and initially challenged by Mr Arias but ultimately agreed to.

E'Ville Eye Editor Rob Arias
He has owned a home with his wife 
and child in the city of Pleasant Hill 
since 2019.

As a result of  tonight's action in the Council chambers, Rob Arias' unit, #322 at 1500 Park Avenue, will soon be wholly owned by the City of Emeryville and will be put back into service as affordable housing for low income people who want to live in Emeryville.  The City will buy back the below market rate unit from Mr Arias for $338,200.  After an inspection of the unit, a list of repairs was issued before the sale happens and the City takes possession. 

The Tattler first broke the story of the Arias residence in Emeryville after it was found Mr Arias and his wife purchased a home in Pleasant Hill in May 2019 for $630,000 while continuing to hold his Emeryville government assisted affordable unit.  The City launched an investigation as a result of the Tattler story and citizen complaints that came from it.  The current value of the two bedroom two and a half bath Pleasant Hill home is $751,000.  

Rob Arias, the editor of the right wing pro-business E’Ville Eye ‘community’ news site, has continued to tell his readers he lives in the Park Avenue district and that his “hyper local” E’Ville Eye is the voice of the community.  

Simultaneous with the Arias unit, the City of Emeryville is reviewing the entire BMR program for compliance city-wide in a process that is ongoing and has not been completed yet.  

The Tattler will continue to file public records requests investigating the sale of unit #322 at Park Avenue and other BMR units in the city and report in the days to come.  Watch this space.