Good Morning Mayor Mueller & City Council Members,
Over the two weeks since the Council's study session on the proposed TRA you have had the opportunity to reflect on the myriad of
issues and possible solutions. In making your decisions tonight I ask that you keep in mind the following three points:
* The 20 "self reported" (never verified) no fault evictions in 32 months is less than one per month and this rate will most
likely decline over time as Facebook's influence on the Belle Haven neighborhood spreads,
* Much of Menlo Park's "affordable housing" is owned by small investors like myself who have close relationships with their
tenants - often charging below market rents. Heavy handed complex regulations will have the unintended consequence of pushing
ownership from them to corporate housing providers whose legal obligation to their investors is to maximize profits to the
detriment of the tenants.
* The current political climate is heavily swayed by engineers and lawyers whose objectives may be well intended but are
profoundly misguided. The perspective of economists is greatly underrepresented in this discussion. However, I strongly
encourage you to heed their counsel which would immediately point to the long term damage done by such confiscatory policies
everywhere from San Francisco to Caracas.
In conclusion I recommend that, to the greatest extent possible, you:
1. place the burden of providing public benefits on the taxpayer not the investor,
2. include a two year sunset provision on any policy to allow for reassessment and
3. exempt properties with fewer than five units.
Sincerely,
Curt Conroy
