Bahl's comments are unpopular, but true...

Glad to see they made it for 4 or more tenants per year. It's really important to exempt small landlords who rent a home or rent out rooms in their personal resident, because these people provide additional needed housing. If the renter's laws do not protect small landlords, it is not in the best interest of homeowners to offer up their spare room for rent during a time when space is much needed.

Get rid of all property tax and have only one flat tax for state and federal. People would have more money to spend and the money could be better accounted for, not all this waste that is today.

Now apartments will never get updated. The city staffers have condemned Mountain View to become ground zero of lousy, outdated, filthily, run-down apartments. Think tenderloin, bay view, and hunters point.

But if you are a slacker, rejoice! Now you can continue to slack your way through life while the liberal pandering city council members continue to buy your votes with my tax dollars.


Good work council, good work!

Hmmm. Mountain View. A city with a big heart? Let me make sure a certain kind of person can not live here. But hey we will give you a little bit of money to go away without a fuss. Of course not enough to live in Mountain View.

I can't tell if this is good news for low-income people or not. I guess if you already rent an apt here it's good for you. If you make below that $81,000 cut-off, your chances of moving into MV and getting a rental are now probably pretty slim. Does anyone think landlords will rent to future tenants making below $81,000 going forward? I doubt it. Even if the place is rundown and outdated, they'll probably wait until they can rent to someone who earns $82,000 or more. These policies may have good intentions, but many backfire...

Bahl and Inks got it right. Dear staff lady, please show us the proof that this kind of law does not discourage landlords from keeping their rental properties in good condition and we will be inclined to believe you. While I am happy that the trigger is 4 tenants, thereby helping the small mom & pop landlords, it's akin to saying how happy one is because only the hand was cut off and not the entire arm. This is the camels nose under the tent for rent control.

Is all of this "BIG BROTHER" or "ROBIN HOOD"?

NBC3 reports on June 19 that the VTA has been found in volation of safety standards by the State. You won't read the story in local newspapers.

"We are a small city with a big heart"
Translated into layman's terms, that reads: "We are a small city with an equally tiny brain"

Is the new ordinance really that big of a deal? The penalties imposed on the landlord seem to be completely preventable. Just structure the leases to expire before the demolition.

I ask again...what is the definition of Affordable Housing? One thing to a Googleite, another to an hourly service-worker.

"It remains the only such ordinance in Silicon Valley."

Actually, East Palo Alto's Rent Stabilization Ordinance includes a requirement for relocation monies. A landlord in EPA could be required to pay up to $36,000 under certain circumstances to remove tenants in order to build condos.