Six of the 7 members of the Mountain View City Council were screened and endorsed as candidates by landlord groups with fictitious names including the "Housing Council" and the "Tri-County Apartment Association." Those six councilmembers will not vote for any form of rent control - not even a temporary restriction. I forwarded to the Council papers concerning something short of rent control that might help stem sky-high rent increases and evictions to clear the way for much higher rents. It is mandatory rent increase mediation. Mediation is not arbitration. It is not binding. But it would allow tenants to question, identify and publicize "bad" landlords. Of course, there is no reason to believe that the six will even adopt mediation (which exists in nearby cities including Campbell).

The "Tri-County Apartment Association" is a well known and local portion of a state-wide group. They advcate for the interests of themselves, as apartment property owners.

In the balloting campaign for the first attempt at a school parcel tax (Measure E 2004, $2.5M) they were positively instrumental in its narrow defeat. That measure was very progressive in its tax structure, large apartment parcels would pay significantly more than small rental homes or private residence parcels. The first school parcel tax (actually a "special tax" on property or persons) that passed cut the "progressive" nature of the tax, so 40X larger rental properties did not pay 40X more special tax ( Measure J 2004, $1.9M revenue). This second special tax did not incite the election wrath of the Apartment group.