Pasadena’s Rental Housing Board this week approved three contracts to provide interim consulting, legal and public relations services — the body’s first substantive moves as it works to get off the ground months after voters created the board through Measure H, the city’s groundbreaking rent-control charter amendment.

In a special meeting Wednesday, the board approved contracts with Goldfarb Lipman attorneys for legal services in an amount not to exceed $50,000; Allegra Consulting for public relations services in an amount not to exceed $25,000; and with BHYV Consulting for staffing and consulting services totaling $74,999.

“Contracting with some of these folks will, in short, help us get started as a rental board,” said board chair Ryan Bell.

According to its proposal to the 11-member board, Goldfarb Lipman will offer on-demand advice regarding housing and tenant legislation, as well as drafting services to create regulations and documents relating to Measure H. It previously contracted with the city of Mountain View in creating that housing board. The contract does not include litigation services.

Allegra, which previously worked with the city during its redistricting process, will provide outreach and education services, including research, copywriting and drafting communications. BHYV will help train the board, design programs, staffing models, job descriptions, operating procedures and create a plan to set up the organization.

The initial contracts will allow the board to start receiving support before the body — expected to grow to the size of a small nonprofit at full capacity— is fully staffed and will eventually be replaced with long-term agreements.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel; there are plenty of rent programs out there doing a great job, and we can make it our own in different unique ways if we want to but there are people … who have done this before for other organizations and can bring us state-of- the-art, best practices to start,” Bell said. “So we’re starting way down the road rather than having to build regulations from nothing. That’s the advantage; we can kind of hit the ground running.”

Voters approved Measure H in November, ushering in rent control and tenant protections for Pasadena residents, as well as creating the rental housing board. The board is tasked with overseeing rent control, just cause evictions and relocation assistance and crafting other rental regulations.

However, since the board is independent from the city, renters haven’t seen any relief, clarity or signs of progress in the past few months, with the first meeting coming just last month. Tenant groups say that delay has caused confusion they claim landlords have taken advantage of, refusing to recognize Measure H provisions until contacted by the board.

Meanwhile, the issue of evictions remains prominent.

According to Pasadena’s 2023 point-in-time homeless count, homelessness increased in the city by 9% compared to last year, with more than half of those people experiencing chronic homelessness.

The number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time also increased from 9% to 14%, primarily driven by economic factors like COVID-19, unemployment and financial hardship. Evictions also played a significant role, accounting for 24% of first time homelessness cases compared to 17% last year.

The board will meet again Wednesday, with agenda topics to include a presentation on the board’s legal structure and possible training from the legal consultant; board member compensation; approval of a fact sheet and press release; and potentially setting the annual general adjustment, which determines rent increase caps.