From: Fred Allebach
To: _CityCouncilListPublic
Cc: Stapp, Mark; Fleming, Victoria; Okrepkie, Jeff; Alvarez, Eddie; Rogers, Natalie; Banuelos, Caroline; MacDonald, Dianna; Smith, Maraskeshia
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Dec 2 council meeting dynamic pricing agenda item Date: Monday, December 1, 2025 8:34:22 AM
Good morning Members of the City Council,
This is a public comment on the Bennett Valley
dynamic
pricing
agenda
item. Please read this free NYT piece on
the issue.
The bulk of the info is in the video.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/opinion/dynamic-pricing- algorithms.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5U8.dAQg.INjly0g5Qqb- &smid=url-share
My suggestion: vote No and steer clear of dynamic pricing as an unethical, immoral, and many times illegal pursuit
of
excess
profit.
Government is supposed to act as a backstop to
business' excess pursuit of profit, not join in with it.
When price
becomes
fungible, greed rules without limit.
My concern
is that once the city has opened the door to dynamic
pricing,
it will spread to water bills, park picnic
fees, parking
meters, and any
number of ways the city can leverage
higher
prices. Does a
time of budget
austerity mean it's OK for the city to resort to usorius fee-raising tactics?
Will staff present any downsides?
I'd at least like to see some council deliberation on whether using what is a consumer-reviled method to leverage
higher prices is a good
idea for the
city overall? No consumers think
dynamic
pricing is a good idea because
frankly, business
is greedy and prices never go down. If you believe
prices will go down, I'll sell you the
Brooklyn Bridge. Business and its
advocates never tire of ripping us off. Examples: rents for housing, concert tickets, airline prices, airline seat selection; people
hate this! If it
worked for the
good why aren't rents and airline prices lower?
What are city council member's rationales for support? I'd like to
know.
best regards, Fred Allebach
"We don't know where we're going but we have to stick together in case somebody gets there." Ken Kesey