DATE:
March 18, 2025
TO:
Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM:
Wanda Wong, Deputy City Clerk
Heather Glaser, City Clerk
TITLE: Rental Housing Committee Applicant Interviews
PURPOSE
Interview applicants for the three openings on the Rental Housing Committee and make a recommendation for adoption at the March 25, 2025 City Council meeting.
DISCUSSION
The City Clerk’s Office conducted a recruitment to fill three openings on the Rental Housing Committee (RHC) (three terms beginning April 18, 2025 through April 17, 2029). Six applications were received for the RHC openings during the recruitment per iod that concluded on February 28, 2025.
Rental Housing Committee
The RHC consists of five members and one alternate. The alternate member is permitted to attend all RHC meetings and to speak but is not authorized to vote unless a regular member of the RHC is absent at that meeting or is recused from voting on an agenda item. No more than two members of the RHC may own or manage any rental property or be real estate agents or developers. The C ommunity Stabilization and Fair Rent Act (C SFRA) specifies the RHC composition and eligibility requirements. The eligibility requirements for RHC members include:
• All members are required to be residents of the City of Mountain View; and
• Anyone nominated to the RHC must be in compliance with the CSFRA and all other local, state, and federal laws regulating the provision of housing.
The names and term expiration dates for the current RHC members are as follows:
Name Term Expires
Mark Balch, Alternate April 17, 2027
A lexander Brown April 17, 2025
Robert Cox April 17, 2027
Rental Housing Committee Applicant Interviews
March 18, 2025
Edie Keating April 17, 2027
Kevin Ma April 17, 2025
M. Guadalupe Rosas April 17, 2025
Alexander Brown, Robert Cox, Edie Keating, Kevin Ma, and M. Guadalupe Rosas do not own or manage any rental property or are a real estate agent or developer. Council may consider recommending one member that owns or manages rental property or is a real estate agent or developer. City staff has noted the applicants that fall into this category on the Summary of Applicants (Attachment 2).
City staff determined all applicants are qualified to serve on this body. Pursuant to City Council Policy No. K-2, a person appointed to serve on a board, commission, or committee may only serve on one body at a time.
Interview Process and Questions
Pursuant to City Council Policy K-2, interviews are to be conducted in a panel format. Applicants will be interviewed in groups by body, each applicant will receive the same amount of time to answer each question, and the questions selected by Council will be asked in randomized round- robin order. Council may ask a limited number of clarifying questions in the event an applicant’s answer was unclear or otherwise not understood. Clarifying questions should not be used to allow an applicant an additional opportunity to expand on the original response.
On March 7, 2023, Council gathered the following information from RHC applicants:
1. One minute: T ell us about yourself and what unique perspectives and abilities you would bring to the Rental Housing Committee.
2. Two minutes: Tell us about the role of the Rental Housing Committee and the role of its legal counsel in the Rental Housing Committee decision-making process.
3. Two minutes: What do you t hink will be the important issues in the next year , and how would you go about thinking them through and addressing them?
Voting Process
At the conclusion of interviews, Council may discuss the applicants before voting. Pursuant to City Council Policy K-2, each member of the Council shall vote for as many candidates as there are open seats (e.g., if three seats are available, vote for no more than three). In the case that a variety of terms are open, the candidate(s) with the highest number of votes shall be granted the longest term(s). In the event there is a tie vote, each member of the Council shall revote for the candidate(s) of their choice , and the candidate with the highest number of votes wins. City Council Policy K-2 also states Council may choose another voting method by majority vote.
Rental Housing Committee Applicant Interviews
March 18, 2025
NEXT STEPS
Council should determine the questions that will be asked of each applicant and the amount of time that will be allocated to each question to be asked and confirm the process it will follow for the interviews and voting. Following the interview, Council should vote on its appointment recommendations for final adoption at the March 25, 2025 City Council meeting.
PUBLIC NOTICING—Agenda posting.
Prepared by:
Wanda Wong
Deputy City Clerk
Heather Glaser
City Clerk
WW-HG/4/CAM
429-03-18-25SS
205084
Attachments: 1. Board/Commission/Committee Member Selection Guidelines
2. Summary of Applicants
3. Attendance Report
4. Applications