There are some interesting things that have already taken shape for our new council.  Some of these decisions can be disastrous for us and some of these things will prove to make our job more difficult.  Bottom line:  Things are not getting any better for us this or the next couple of years.

1.  Procedures change:  Mayor Abed has placed on the agenda this week a change in the procedures for the City Council.  If approved, before any item comes before the council, 2 council members will have to approve the item.  That means, if we get Olga to present something to the council for a decision, it will require her to get another council member to give the nod for the item to be placed on the agenda.

This is horrible!  With the clear super majority of the council against our issues, we will have an incredibly difficult time having any issues heard outside of rent hearings.  We will be there on Wednesday to fight this.

2.  Committee appointments:  Mayor Abed has changed the look of the committee appointments and the most significant change is to the Energy SubCommittee.  With the appointment of Ed Gallo to the committee, this could be a disaster for us as m/mh owners.  Not just because Gallo has the appointment (that is a disaster in itself).

The WMA is currently in negotiations with the Public Utilities Commission to transfer all master-metered utility services in California parks to the home owners.  This will give us better control of our rates, but with Ed Gallo on the sub-committee, our rates will significantly increase if he has his way.  We will be watching.

3.  Rent Control Threats:  With the new procedures to appoint a new city council member, we got a rare glimpse into the minds of our city council members with regard to rent control.  Ed Gallo and Mike Morasco both answered the question on Proposition K and both shows bias and favoritism for the park owners.  We would not be surprised if the council tried to remove rent control all together.

The good news is the recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Guggenheim v. City of Goleta case.  (We will be providing an in-depth analysis in the coming days.) The court, in an 8-3 decision, upheld that rent control is legal and that it is not a taking of private property (park owner profits) and that rent control does and rightly favors the home owners who have more to lose without rent control than a park owner does under rent control.

We will continue to keep you up-to-date.