A positive takeaway is that Almond may *reconsider* tying rent hikes to inflation. Inflation does not necessarily correlate with with the costs of running a property. An issue is poor accounting standards which overstates revenue and understates expenses for Housing Provider. For example, increases in water, garbage, and energy went up and are not factored in rent increases. My property tax bill is up $1000 year over year. Housing providers are also paying a fee to support the $2.6 M Measure V bureaucracy. All these things add up, and Housing Providers pay our bills and do not having the luxury of wishing them away based on ideology.

In the private sector, we would be cited for not adhering to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles if we arbitrarily excluded expenses. But that is what is happening on the Measure V Program. In the private sector we would clearly communicate the changes in expenses using standard metrics. Some examples include % of revenue, % increase year over year, % increases in total expenses. Instead, Emily just says, "It's not much". Accounting practices on this program should be improved to reflect the real world, and the real impact on Housing Providers. When we write those expense checks, that is real money leaving our P & L. I hope Almond will use here experience and expertise to bring some level of professionalism to the Measure V program.

One more story to make a point. While some of the people behind Measure V may have good intentions, they really need to improve their economic, accounting, and finance capability. Or you end up with failed programs which do more harm than good, and yield unintended consequences. That is what is happening here. Reminds me of a Measure V supporter I listened to to understand her point of view. I pointed how how Berkeley Rent Control resulted in insufficient revenues to maintain properties. She pointed out that her friend took out a home equity loan to pay for roof/paint ect. Here is what this nice young lady did not understand. Her friend had to take out the Home Equity Loan because he/she did not have enough cash from revenue to pay for maintenance/replacement. So they are piling more debt on top of the 1st mortgage. And the interest on the home equity loan goes to the banker instead of the the painter or roofer. Just burying your self in more debt. So get this Measure V Program on a more professional footing, and start accounting and understand all the expenses landing on top of the Housing Providers. After you have the data, you can make better quality decisions.