Mayor Mueller and City Council Members,
Last month you voted to follow Redwood City's form of TRAO with the addition of a Community Housing Fund. While I feel that any
tenant relocation assistance paid for by property owners creates a disincentive for the needed new housing that will be the
solution to the region's housing shortage, your selection of the Redwood City model with its constraints is better than the form
proposed by the Housing Commission which included just cause eviction.
Paragraphs 8.56.120 and 8.56.130 were added by City staff to the Redwood City. Upon my inquiry with City staff I was told that
these paragraphs were added to the County's version of the TRAO. Cara Silver has confirmed to me today that in fact these
paragraphs have not yet been approved by the County and are only preliminary. The first of these "Retaliation Prohibited" states
an existing State law and is, therefore, arguably unnecessary. Its "notice" benefit seems more likely to engender litigation than
to reduce it.
The "Failure To Comply" paragraph which includes the language, "shall render the landlord liable to the tenant for damages
permitted by law in a civil action for wrongful eviction" seems clearly to be a move towards just cause eviction which the Council
made very clear at last month's meeting is not its intent from the TRAO.
Redwood City didn't feel a need to include these paragraphs. I strongly recommend that you delete these paragraphs from the TRAO.
Best Wishes,
Curt Conroy
