Tea culture WEEKEND | 17
MARCH 23, 2018 VOLUME 26, NO. 9
www.MountainViewOnline.com
650.964.6300
MOVIES | 21
MV to start taxing, regulating short-term rentals CITY OFFICIALS TASKED WITH DRAFTING AIRBNB RULES By Mark Noack
A
NATALIA NAZAROVA
A SALUTE TO READING Belynda Lindsey reads to an enthusiastic group of students at Monta Loma Elementary School on March 16. Lindsey, a command chief warrant officer with the 63rd Regional Support Command, was one of the Very Important People invited to VIP Reading Day, an annual event for special guests to share a love of reading and talk about their professions. Other VIPS at Monta Loma this year included police Chief Max Bosel, Councilwomen Lisa Matichak and Margaret Abe-Koga, and representatives from the library, the school board, NASA Ames and the Humane Society.
School board blasted for fired principals MV WHISMAN BOARD MUM ON REASONS FOR ADMIN CHANGES AT FOUR SCHOOLS By Kevin Forestieri
D
ozens of frustrated parents and community members laid into top Mountain View Whisman District officials last week, demanding a complete reversal of a decision earlier this month to remove four school principals and decrying what they called a bogus job review process. In a closed-session vote on March 1, trustees unanimously voted to remove, or “release,” Landels Elementary School Principal Steve Chesley, Mistral Elementary Principal Marcela Simoes de Carvalho and Graham Middle School Principal Kim Thompson. Theuerkauf Elementary Principal Ryan Santiago was also removed from his position at the school, and reassigned as
INSIDE
a new assistant principal at Graham Middle School Although the topic wasn’t on the agenda, the March 15 meeting marked the first chance for district residents to weigh in on the decision in person. The board
‘I frankly have no more trust left to give you.’ MONICA TEICHER, DISTRICT PARENT
meeting ended up as something of a release valve for frustration that had been building over the last two weeks. Parents and students packed the multipurpose room at Graham with signs made out of everything from
paper plates to huge construction paper, all showing overwhelming support for reinstating the ousted principals, particularly Thompson and Chesley. The sweeping decision to remove nearly half of the district’s principals at the end of the school year was a bombshell that, to parents, came out of nowhere and seemed ill-advised. Landels PTA president Laryssa Polika-Engle said Chesley had a strong track record, championing initiatives to improve student literacy and partnering with the PTA to bring new programs to the school. Getting rid of him without consulting with parents — and for opaque reasons — has “fractured” the community and given rise to an atmosphere of See PRINCIPALS, page 10
ARTS & EVENTS 16 | GOINGS ON 22 | MARKETPLACE 24 | REAL ESTATE 26
fter years of dithering, Mountain View is getting ready to start regulating and taxing the local cottage industry of Airbnb rentals and other similar services. In a discussion Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously supported the idea of forcing an estimated 670 listed rentals operating in the city to register as formal businesses and pay taxes similar to hotels. To accomplish that, city leaders endorsed a plan for Airbnb to start collecting taxes on behalf of the city, which the company has been offering to do for years. The regulations were described as a “no-brainer” by council members, yet it has taken a long time to get to this point. For years, city officials have acknowledged the need to put together policies for services like Airbnb, but the effort was sidelined for other priorities. Over that time, city officials have mostly turned a blind eye as Airbnb rentals have steadily spread throughout Mountain View, even though they were technically illegal under the city’s rules. During that time, Mountain View has forfeited a small fortune in tax revenues. A previous Voice report found that Mountain View was losing out on about $1 million a year by not taxing Airbnb, not counting its competitors. One scrupulous Airbnb host described how city officials would actually mail him back his money when he tried to pay the same taxes as hotels. The reason for this was city legal staff believed Mountain View needed to first draft regulations before they could tax the industry. At the Tuesday night meeting, elected leaders made it clear they were ready to take that step. “The fundamental principle
here is we want this system to work,” said Councilwoman Pat Showalter. “We want people to make a little more money, and welcome visitors to the community, but not to reduce housing stock.” In regard to housing, a number of public speakers urged caution. Poorly written rules could end up encouraging homeowners to rent out their properties on Airbnb instead of providing long-term housing, warned Sarah McDermott, an analyst with the Unite Here labor union. “In cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, we’ve seen whole apartments being converted into hotels. Suddenly there’s keypads on the units and they’re being rented out like short-term units,” she said. “The concern here is incentivizing taking a long-term rental unit off the market.” To curb this, council members suggested they could put a cap on the number of days each year that any vacant housing could be rented out through Airbnb. Exactly how many days will be decided at a future meeting, they indicated. Some of the more complicated questions on short-term rentals were left up in the air. City staff did not address whether they would need to modify the city’s zoning rules to allow Airbnb services in residential areas. Under the current rules, rental services operating like hotels would be prohibited, pointed out Councilman John McAlister. Similarly, staff also avoided wading into the question of how short-term rentals would jibe with the city’s rigid rent control policies. In San Francisco, rent control protections have been exploited by Airbnb guests to force homeowners to treat them as tenants. City Attorney Jannie See RENTALS, page 12