[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6481624,"mediaKeyId","5479101-eb3fa2aca00ffd8caa63366a3c318e09","parentId",5479101,"title","Committee approves $8,600 amendment to legal-services contract with Goldfarb & Lippman LLP","audioSeconds",233,"startMs",4393000,"endMs",4626000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5479101-eb3fa2aca00ffd8caa63366a3c318e09&start=4393&end=4626","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5479101-eb3fa2aca00ffd8caa63366a3c318e09/thumbnail_4393000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6481624/Mountain-View/Santa-Clara-County/California/Committee-approves-8600-amendment-to-legal-services-contract-with-Goldfarb-Lippman-LLP","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6481624-378a19c90c40eb72ebfb6b0094962736/orig.mp4?Expires=1775998465&Signature=Dg6clKOSvC5vihoMwqOHibVuYGBASvg4sNspHD4t7NQB1JMgdBmcsodlmQfj8Hgyb2zB8mfcb2szhYLhPYQiDpDm4SoNhteGIEE1XrjoExVadZ3W~izRj6LM8b-CfVJv~C-tN-Epu-2UKyErRXovVYK8WwGmCWJtgrGCfYTSo7q9qFT5paEuBqo1-NFuEvNNzU3Ls3~WjQi-Pw7fiIaklkZyNq8KmsuWjb7LB7TC0-wur6LBILa0j21gWjgOL5bOc5Iqu4ZUfcY6L4BXetI2luQ1Uu3A-B-w7WjLq4Ijob7i54ceDt8phsJxFTR2yS8VnxmT7gSmvuwFa2Sw7YRmCg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Coty of Mountain View","date","2025-07-25T02:22:40.657Z","article","Mountain View’s Rental Housing Committee voted unanimously to amend the fiscal-year 2024–25 agreement with the law firm Goldfarb & Lippman LLP, adding $8,600 to the contract so the total not to exceed amount becomes $208,600. Staff said the firm’s billings exceeded the originally budgeted $200,000 because of a higher number of petition appeals filed in prior years.

The firm provides legal review of petitions and drafts tentative appeal decisions when petitioners appeal hearing-officer decisions to the committee. Staff recommended the amendment and noted that, like the Project Sentinel amendment approved earlier in the meeting, the additional $8,600 would be charged to the FY25–26 budget because FY24–25 financials are closed.

Member Keating moved to authorize the amendment; Member Hislop seconded. The committee voted unanimously in favor.

Why it matters: the amendment covers additional legal work required to prepare tentative appeal decisions and ensures the committee has legal support for hearing appeals without delaying cases for lack of funds. Staff said petition activity is expected to taper, so the current FY25–26 budget should absorb the added cost.

The committee concluded with staff announcements about workshops and the next meeting date.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","July 24, 2025 City of Mountain View Rental Housing Committee Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","The Rental Housing Committee authorized an $8,600 increase to its FY24–25 agreement with Goldfarb & Lippman LLP for legal services on petition appeals, raising the not-to-exceed total to $208,600; committee vote was unanimous.","taxTitle","Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California","taxId",2861,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6481627,"Committee authorizes $18,000 amendment to Project Sentinel contract to cover higher hearing-officer costs",473,3905000,4378000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5479101-eb3fa2aca00ffd8caa63366a3c318e09&start=3905&end=4378","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5479101-eb3fa2aca00ffd8caa63366a3c318e09/thumbnail_3905000.jpg","/articles/6481627/Mountain-View/Santa-Clara-County/California/Committee-authorizes-18000-amendment-to-Project-Sentinel-contract-to-cover-higher-hearing-officer-costs","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6481627-fff81b26f804089c83c39d8e78db4cec/orig.mp4?Expires=1775998465&Signature=X0llzBiAXFFCm1HFtdJBEIjtI8zTUmt3qUIMFx3SRvT6t8KzEd6rM~e5X-9OscavaU2KJlsSzwpjeeHjwYmFXy1bfOwc~6vkAxdeACiETmgxqwdLl5FnrhKb5uRYC0lFTXFa-WVzS~h5RiDqh8hAp~cgtuxAmKfpdBp7Zsdc0z-aZr4-9GzktOR41EAY98ReiBVBO6J1WIST5ljxvPhSSzNPkNNok9byRLRrn8tjfOSy3wkDf-qhuNzDeWGWuJRnPPox2UIv1wwXIgfcn1x36zjfmrBHNdkdcrV9ZGgMqeX6JGGCHPXzDO3z7txePB3hvYCBQvO4YOBWBdUXsjdhkg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Mountain View Rental Housing Committee authorized an amendment to its fiscal-year 2024–25 agreement with Project Sentinel, adding $18,000 to the contract to cover higher-than-expected volumes of petitions and related hearing-officer invoices.

Staff said the original agreement authorized a total not to exceed $180,000, allocated across administrative support (up to $10,000), facilitators (up to $10,000), and hearing officers (up to $160,000). An increase in petition filings in 2023–24 resulted in more hearings billable in 2024–25, and staff proposed adding $18,000 so the total would not exceed $198,000. The additional funds will be taken from the 2025–26 budget because the 2024–25 financials are closed, and staff said the remaining FY25–26 budgeted hearing-officer funds (about $162,000) were expected to suffice for the coming period.

Vice Chair Cox moved to authorize the rent stabilization manager or designee to amend the Project Sentinel agreement as described; Member Keating seconded. Vice Chair Cox said the committee appreciates staff’s briefing on the petition curve and the likely tapering of invoices. The motion passed with five ayes.

Why it matters: Project Sentinel provides administrative and hearing-process services that support the city’s rent-stabilization processes. The amendment ensures the division can pay invoices for hearing officers and administrative services without interruption, and it signals near-term budget pressure tied to a temporary surge in petition filings.

The committee next considered a separate amendment to a legal-services agreement.","The Rental Housing Committee approved an $18,000 amendment to its fiscal-year 2024–25 agreement with Project Sentinel, raising the not-to-exceed total to $198,000 to pay for administrative and hearing services driven by higher petition volumes.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6481632,"Rental Housing Committee largely affirms hearing officer in Washington appeal, remands part of window award",3224,664000,3888000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5479101-eb3fa2aca00ffd8caa63366a3c318e09&start=664&end=3888","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5479101-eb3fa2aca00ffd8caa63366a3c318e09/thumbnail_664000.jpg","/articles/6481632/Mountain-View/Santa-Clara-County/California/Rental-Housing-Committee-largely-affirms-hearing-officer-in-Washington-appeal-remands-part-of-window-award","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6481632-fb036bf8c4b2489e187556872becadfd/orig.mp4?Expires=1775998465&Signature=PMirc2~seEDs2D7P7JTzQ4gM0QvUPJD5NFwBiF2bdbYk2XMMUAaC63rTipcLTR19ejy--9SLXcuTB53baJOgBPLrk6Ypl8iZf18niERUO0VOTr8RKvD8v7TGfzKu9pUb2oyAv5q9zr-z-AUXmGRZYlZUT8pTctTSEP0axpRHUHCLg3dEs00vHhO3RSfhMc~TrX~UL0l4lyNEnq1YyW9oxMNK-wcaoavb1ERsE7Y~rBLCdouFbW2IFhdUT29R3qQaWGoSSZMg5UBAp~TEFGiWePsjXNXuVWHeW9GYTWtHxdiconmNdMmNVkKcAnch3nFOSEKQOkKbGwfg~rXMG-62RQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Mountain View’s Rental Housing Committee voted to adopt the tentative appeal decision in petitions 242522 and 242523, related to tenant Mary Ann Washington’s claims for rent reductions on habitability grounds, and remanded part of the hearing officer’s award for further explanation.

The committee voted to affirm the hearing officer’s findings that the unit’s repeatedly clogged toilet justified a 4% rent reduction from Sept. 1, 2021, through Jan. 1, 2025, and an ongoing $117.98 monthly reduction until the condition is corrected. The committee also affirmed that a recurring leaky dining-room window constituted a decrease in housing services, but it remanded the size and period of that award to the hearing officer because the record did not show how seasonal (rainy vs. dry) occurrence of the leak was accounted for. The hearing officer had ordered a 2% reduction from Jan. 1, 2017, through Jan. 31, 2025, and an ongoing $58.99 monthly reduction until fixed.

The remand followed staff’s recommendation that the committee should base its review on the hearing record and avoid receiving new evidence. Staff said the hearing officer’s factual findings were supported by the record in most respects but that the record did not support awarding the leaky-window reduction continuously for all months without explanation because testimony and evidence indicated the leak was worse during rainy months.

Tenant counsel Lisonbee Martinez urged the committee to deny the landlord’s appeal and to affirm the hearing officer’s decision in full, arguing the clogged toilets were a persistent, uncorrected problem and that the landlord had been on notice about the window for years but had not resolved it. Martinez said, “This appeal today is merely an attempt to diminish the well considered findings of the hearing officer.”

The landlord’s representative argued the contested conditions were intermittent and sometimes repaired, and that the awards covered long periods when management believed the conditions had been fixed. The representative told the committee the record did not clearly show continuous problems throughout the periods awarded and supported remanding at least the window award for further explanation.

Committee members debated whether the hearing officer had adequately explained how she accounted for intermittent conditions. Vice Chair Cox said the clogged-toilet problem “is clearly a recurrent problem” and favored affirming that part of the decision while supporting remand to make the window award rationale explicit on the record. Member Balch made the motion to adopt the tentative decision and remand as recommended; Member Brown seconded. The committee recorded the outcome as 5 yeas and 1 recusal.

The committee noted remedies tied to ongoing conditions can be ended by a compliance hearing. Staff told the committee a compliance hearing can usually be scheduled within one to two weeks depending on availability.

Why it matters: the decision upholds the hearing officer’s authority to order ongoing rent adjustments where the record shows unresolved habitability issues, while also asking the hearing officer to clarify how intermittent, weather-related problems were factored into a continuous award. The ruling preserves the basic remedy structure under the city’s CSFRA process while sending a narrower question back for a written explanation on the record.

The committee’s action may reduce legal risk by making the hearing record clearer if the remanded reasoning is supplied; staff cautioned that any committee decision could lead to litigation and noted fiscal impacts tied to appellate work. The committee moved on to other agenda items after recording the vote.","On July 24, 2025, Mountain View’s Rental Housing Committee adopted the tentative appeal decision in two petitions filed by tenant Mary Ann Washington, affirming most of the hearing officer’s findings on recurring clogged toilets and a leaky dining-room window but remanding the window award for clarification of the period and methodology.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Committee approves $8,600 amendment to legal-services contract with Goldfarb & Lippman LLP

Committee authorizes $18,000 amendment to Project Sentinel contract to cover higher hearing-officer costs

Rental Housing Committee largely affirms hearing officer in Washington appeal, remands part of window award