Mayor Rudolph Giuliani named two new members to the city Rent Guidelines Board in late March, filling one tenant and one public seat on the nine-member panel.

The Mayor appointed Paula Dagen to the public member seat vacated by Earl Andrews, who he appointed last year. Dagen's biography was not available at press time but she is reportedly a principal at the investment house of Morgan Stanley. She is the third banker appointed to the RGB by Giuliani.

The Mayor filled the tenant seat with David Pagan of Los Sures, a community organization from the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. He replaces Leslie Holmes, who died suddenly shortly after the RGB voted the final 1996-97 guidelines last June. The tenant movement unanimously considered Holmes to be the moral voice on the board, while Chairman Edward Hochman demonstrated his discomfort and animosity for her frequently.

The RGB starts hearings April 9 on rent guidelines for the 1997-98 year. It will set the increases allowed for rent-stabilized apartments on June 23—if there still is rent stabilization.

This year, observers predict lower guidelines based on one economic and one political reality. The economic figures appear to show the real estate industry’s revenues and profits continuing to surge ahead, while tenant incomes have continued to decline. The political reality, perhaps more important, is that the Mayor is up for re-election, and will likely dictate that the RGB set lower guidelines than the current 5 and 7 percent for one- and two-year lease renewals respectively.

Although the RGB meets frequently to discuss its staff's research and interpretations of existing studies before it votes, some members, including Chairman Hochman, admit that the guidelines they voted on last year were actually dictated by City Hall.