More needs to be done to address the job/housing gap

If local officials want to avoid state intervention to address the housing crisis they should fight this power grab by unelected bureaucrats who do not have a mandate to do anything in my city. Fight ABAG, MTC and CASA at every step and at every turn. We don't want more housing and congestion in our cities, and we certainly don't want to take orders from people living outside our city. If you don't like it, don't move here.

Well said, Fight ABAG, MTC and CASA

Strange how the very people who want housing seek to destroy existing housing with ill-advised efforts at property control. Burlingame wisely has Measure T to give property owners a bit of protection. All Bay Area cities need strong ordinances which protect the rights of private property owners from rent control in all its forms - including Items 1,2 and 3 of the so-called Bay Area compact. Criticizing persons like Ms. Colson who work hard to move forward is easy. Get to work being part of the solution instead of just complaining and destroying the work of others. Thank you, Mayor Colson for your vision.

MTC should focus on region-wide transportation systems and get out of the business of trying to impose rent control throughout the bay area. MTC is huge agency that needs to be reigned in. Hopefully, Mssrs. Hill and Mullin are listening.

Politicians love a crisis. The dynamics of living in the Bay Area have and are changing. Many people will not be able to live here for a variety of reasons. And many people don't want to live here for a variety of reasons.
The imbalance of housing to jobs will be faced by the employers. If there is no place to live then the jobs will go unfilled. So perhaps employers decided that the employee pool will be populated in other areas of the state and country. The burden of this lies on government and employers as to what is truly possible for future job creation and accommodation for living.
One thing is certain, trying to reign in free market activity as to the cost of housing is not an answer. So what theses agencies are attempting to do will have little impact other than the existing housing stock could very well deteriorate. Affordability lies with new construction of housing with the partnership of governement and job creators. Attempting to restrict existing housing by turning it into some sort of utility based enterprise that many of the activist orgs and these agencies would like to see, simply does nothing to eliviate the jobs/housing imbalance.

Great letter, Mike. You are a standout for continuing to bring these issues to the forefront. Retailers, schools, restaurants and even hospitals are having a hard time filling positions, as folks who work in those employment areas have difficulty affording rents here. I am so tired of hearing property owners complain about their "property rights." They seem to think that renters want to "take something away" from them. No, that is a spurious spin on the issue. What we want is for people who love the area, who have lived here for a year or 40 years, who contribute to the community, to be able to enjoy the community and a have a wonderful quality of life. Realtors, landlords and renters should be able to negotiate and come to terms with what is needed. Instead, the realtors and landlords, at the bequest of SAMCAR and CAA, continue to obstruct and deny, making it difficult for renters. SAMCAR sends talking points to their members right before City Council meetings. That is why, at a recent Council meeting, every single “housing provider,” except one, confused the “red tag ordinance” with Rent Control. It was exhausting to hear one after another get up and confuse the issues. SAMCAR leadership, obviously, has no clue regarding what the red tag ordinance is about, or they just don’t care. And the sheep-like members of SAMCAR just did what they were told and repeated this nonsense, like good soldiers.
Realtors are often spouting how much they LOVE the free market. Fine, why don't you take advantage of the free market and start charging REASONABLE rents? A free market expects people to deal with finances responsibly. But you don't do that. Rents are going up far faster than inflation, and it is hurting our community. If you would start pacing your rent raises in accordance with the CPI, it would be one step toward consensus. The current situation is absolutely heart-wrenching!
That is why we oppose you. You are irresponsible. When I'm at City Council meeting and I hear another one of those so-called "housing providers” talk about how they're being victimized by having their precious property rights threatened, all I hear is attempts at self-victimization. And when they say, "the people have spoken. The people don't want rent control,” I sit there seething because I know that the people have spoken, based on the lies and deceit that SAMCAR and CAA spread before the elections on Measure Q and Measure R. Fortunately, they didn't get far in Redwood City in their vicious attempts to discredit Diana Reddy. Other RWC candidates were so incensed by their mischaracterization of Ms. Reddy that they returned donations CAA had made to them! We need reasonable rents for the good people of the Peninsula, so that they can continue to live here!