Some East Palo Altans are criticizing the assertions of City Council candidate Mark Dinan, claiming that he has been spreading inaccurate information about numerous issues in the city.
Dinan, an energetic and outspoken candidate who is running against six other contenders for one of two open seats on the council, is a member of the East Palo Alto Public Works and Transportation Commission. He hosts the Facebook page East Palo Alto Neighbors and the Facebook blog East Palo Alto Sun.
Multiple residents and some groups have expressed concern for months about Dinan's claims, which they said are either incorrect or greatly exaggerated.
On the issue of new housing, Dinan wrote in an online post, "It has been over 20 years since a workforce friendly market rate apartment building has opened its doors in our city. Light Tree is the first new affordable housing apartment built in the city in over 18 years. We actually have less apartment housing in EPA now than 30 years ago, when redevelopment knocked down apartment buildings on the current sites of Ikea, the Four Seasons, Amazon and Home Depot."
But affordable housing advocates dispute his assertions.
Duane Bay, executive director of EPACANDO, a local nonprofit organization that has co-developed 440 permanently affordable apartments in East Palo Alto, said that affordable housing has been built within the past 18 years, or since 2004. The nonprofit co-owned and built 32 apartments at Nugent Square in 2006 and 41 apartments at Serenity Senior in 2016, just six years ago, he noted.
In addition, Bay said, when it comes to replacement apartments built since the city's demolition 30 years ago of the Gateway 101 project, which includes Ikea and the Ravenswood Shopping Center, EPACANDO built Bay Oaks with 38 units of affordable housing in 1996 and Peninsula Park with 64 market rate and 65 permanently affordable units in 2001. Those apartments exceed the number demolished through the Gateway 101 project alone.
The Four Seasons or University Circle development mentioned by Dinan started in 1999, which was 23 years ago — not 30. Located on the west side of the U.S. Highway 101, the redevelopment did demolish 100-plus affordable residential units, according to the East Palo Alto city website.
"The facts I provided are a matter of public record, and as such, are available to Mr. Dinan," Bay said in an email on Thursday. "I prefer not to comment further because to offer generalities about Mr. Dinan's apparent tendency to exaggerate and make factual-sounding statements in order to bolster the credibility of his political assertions about what he thinks would be best for our town would risk committing a similarly intentional infraction."
East Palo Alto City Council member Carlos Romero has also spoken out about Dinan's claims about housing, which he's said have been misleading.
"Since 2010, the city has approved 362 units through Design Review permits. This excludes Woodland Park’s recently approved 605 market rate units. Of the 362 units, 41 have been built, 91 are under construction, 168 are fully entitled and 32 are planned. I would describe those numbers, submitted to California’s Housing and Community Development Department, as not insignificant," Romero said in a written statement.
"Despite being admonished in public for these inaccuracies and made up facts, he has persisted in propagating them during his campaign," Romero said.
Dinan has also come under scrutiny for comments he has made regarding the city's Measure L, a business tax that is before voters in the Nov. 8 election that would raise a tax on landlords of residential properties from 1.5% to 2.5% of gross receipts.
In an Oct. 21 post on his Facebook campaign page, Dinan questioned how the city would spend the Measure L funds. The measure allows the city to use the funds for any purpose the City Council deems necessary and appropriate to benefit the people of East Palo Alto, "including increasing the supply of affordable housing and protecting residents from displacement and homelessness," the interim city attorney's impartial analysis states.
Dinan said he is concerned about how the city would spend this funding and stated that Romero had proposed to use $900,000 of Measure O funding "not on paying off past due rents or building new housing but on rewarding groups who support and do political work for him. Giving groups $900k in taxpayer money to pay salaries without any real accountability is political patronage, not fighting displacement."
Romero called that allegation "patently false."
"To date we have used these funds to support our Safe Parking Program (for homeless persons living in RVs), assist tenants with their applications to the state's rental relief program, fund legal assistance for tenants at risk of eviction, among other housing-related programs," he said in a written statement on Oct. 25.
Dinan has also asserted that the tax increase on landlords would be passed on to tenants, despite language in the ordinance to the contrary.
"Ten years from now, 95% of the tax raised by Measure L will be paid by EPA renters, who will have higher rents due to this tax. Measure L states that this cost can not be passed on renters, (but) this will only be true if the renter stays in their current residence. This tax will be passed on to the renter in any new rental agreement," he wrote. "Landlords already build all sorts of fees and expenses into the rent, and this will be no different."
Interim City Attorney Valerie Armento, who wrote Measure L's impartial analysis, said the measure's provisions do not allow for the tax to be passed on to tenants unless a pass-through is constitutionally required.
"The findings and declarations section of the bill also states: 'Any increase in this tax cannot be passed on to tenants protected by the City's rent ordinances and regulations and likely will not be passed on to other renters since landlords already typically charge rents to the maximum the market will bear,'" Armento noted.
"Any violation of passing the tax to tenants could be considered an unlawful detainer," which a tenant would be able to legally challenge, she said.
Dinan has also used hyperbole when discussing other issues, which other residents have called out. In a post about the city's stray animal population and the need for more animal services, he claimed there were 50,000 cats and 10,000 dogs in East Palo Alto. Asked about the veracity of that statement, he said in an email:
"Those numbers are probably high — a more realistic 5,000 dogs (1 for every six residents) and 15k cats. I really have no idea how many cats there are, there are colonies all around, and many, many more cats than dogs."
Ofelia Bello, executive director of Youth United for Community Action, said such misinformation has a negative effect on community discourse and misleads the public.
Dinan responded to the accusations in an email on Friday night.
"These accusations have no merit. My positions reflect a fact-based analysis of the issues that East Palo Alto faces today, and I stand by my positions and analysis.
"My campaign is about bringing positive change to East Palo Alto and providing practical solutions for tough issues like parking, housing, parks, safe streets, fireworks, and development," he said.
Comments
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 6, 2022 at 2:22 pm
Registered user
on Nov 6, 2022 at 2:22 pm
[Portion removed.]
These accusations have no merit. Carlos Romero and his pal Ruben Abrica fear transparency and do not want to be held accountable for their failed records on housing, public safety, government administration, and dangerous parks. My campaign is focused on bringing positive change to East Palo Alto and providing practical solutions for tough issues like parking, housing, parks, safe streets, fireworks, and development. [Portion removed.]
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 6, 2022 at 2:23 pm
Registered user
on Nov 6, 2022 at 2:23 pm
• Measure L is a general fund tax that requires 50% approval and the funds generated will go into the general fund with no legal requirement to be spent in any specific area. I spoke to acting City Manager Patrick Heisinger about this. For the funds to be specifically spent on housing, a much higher threshold for voting would be required.
• Measure L is a rental tax that will inevitably be paid by renters. Anyone that thinks that a 2.5% tax will not be factored into new rental agreements along with other expenses (mortgage, home/flood/earthquake insurance, garbage, sewer, security, maintenance, etc) is delusional. EPA rents are noticeably lower than surrounding communities, and the idea that there is no room for increased rent is hopeful speculation. EPA renters may not see this increase immediately, but 10 years out it will be factored into higher rental prices.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 6, 2022 at 2:27 pm
Registered user
on Nov 6, 2022 at 2:27 pm
[Post removed.]
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 6, 2022 at 4:11 pm
Registered user
on Nov 6, 2022 at 4:11 pm
Seeing a landlord and political candidate talk about passing on their tax to tenants is problematic.
Registered user
another community
on Nov 6, 2022 at 11:35 pm
Registered user
on Nov 6, 2022 at 11:35 pm
@Optimist Pessimist Realist … “problematic”!? More like realistic! I’m afraid Dinan is right: landlords factor their expenses into the rents. There’s no doubt that if their expenses rise, that these will be reflected in rents over time. There is no way to detect or enforce non-compliance with the language in Measure L prohibiting landlords from passing their increased expenses (or, in this case, taxes) on to tenants.
The complaints raised in this article sound more like hair-splitting “gotcha” points distracting from Dinan raising fair points about widely-recognized problems facing EPA. OK, so he got some specific numbers wrong. But instead of discussing housing or stray animal policy or solutions, the focus becomes whether Dinan got the exact cat, dog and housing unit numbers exactly right.
It’s kind of like debating whether the cited rate of water intrusion flooding the ship is quite right while ignoring the fact and larger issue that the Titanic is sinking!
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Nov 7, 2022 at 7:41 am
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 7:41 am
50,000 cats?!? Wow. EPA only has about 30,000 people. For more balanced representation, there should be at least 3 cats elected to the city council. And possibly 1 dog.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2022 at 9:48 am
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 9:48 am
This article mischaracterized "some East Palo Altans". Every one of the people interviewed were caught by Mark Dinan trying to rush the Opportunity To Purchase Act through city council without significant community input or awareness. Mark alerted the wider community via his large social media group and brought significant numbers of people to the virtual city council meeting 3 days later. This time resident homeowners who weren't politically or financially tied to the leadership of the handful of housing "nonprofits" showed up, and the months that followed were very contentious and personal. This is the promised return after city council postponed the first attempt due to the backlash.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2022 at 10:22 am
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 10:22 am
Yes, it’s a problem when a political candidate who’s also a landlord talks about breaking the law. Speaking of sinking ships, it’s great Dinan’s history of misinformation is documented in a news story. Meow.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2022 at 11:48 am
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 11:48 am
Drake is mistaken. Dinan’s friend Regina Wallace Jones (yes she’s his friend, just today he publicly thanked her) and the rest of the council were all pro-OPA/TOPA and that's public record. It came up multiple times in public meetings including when Lopez joined the council. The. Lopez came out against it. If Dinan and other residents weren’t paying attention up until a year ago that’s on them. The problem is Dinan continually promoted misinformation about OPA so people interviewed in this story have firsthand knowledge of his tactics. It’s not about OPA/TOPA, it’s about misinformation. Residents relying on Dinan won’t get accurate information no matter the topic. Meow.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2022 at 1:00 pm
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 1:00 pm
Drake brings up an important point - everyone who criticized me in this article stood to gain [portion removed] if OPA/TOPA was passed. [Portion removed.] They wanted OPA to apply to all rental homes and all homes with ADUs, and have the ability to appraise prices downward, delay home sales up to 280 days, apply $1000 per day fines to non-compliant homes, and take away right of first refusal and give it to the city or EPACANDO [portion removed] or YUCA [portion removed]. I organized the response to OPA, which is a direct attack on homeowners in EPA, and disproportionately affects Black and Latino households - who invested in EPA real estate instead of the stock market. OPA was a [portion removed] giveaway of homeowner wealth to the city and the qualified non-profits. It also reflects an attitude which is "let's not build new housing, let's take over the existing housing instead." OPA is horrendous policy, an insider deal that [portion removed] hurts thousands of homeowners in EPA.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2022 at 1:17 pm
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 1:17 pm
Good example and the point of this article happening in real time, Mark Dinan commenting with misinformation. He says ‘It also reflects an attitude which is "let's not build new housing, let's take over the existing housing instead." ‘
East Palo Alto has had a lot of new housing since year 2000. Duane Bay, his organization and partner organizations are responsible for some of it, plus there’s additional market rate housing as SFHs, condos and apartments.
This article came out while a bunch of other controversial things about this candidate were posted by concerned residents. People can look up Pamoja Magazine on Instagram or do a Facebook search.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2022 at 4:43 pm
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 4:43 pm
Voters, Please do not believe Mark Dinan, he [portion removed] loves to exaggerate things to gain something, an example, he put his children in the Las Lomitas District by saying that they are English Language language learners, when in fact they speak English. Mark is a Latino want a be, and gets the Latino card card to make gains in his benefit and this is not an exception. His children are using the spots that real English and disadvantaged students could benefit from. Also, he forgot to mention that he ran for Sanitary District couple of years ago and and he got less than one thousand votes in his favor. He did not win. He is not getting the message from voters. He is not well liked in our city because he believes he is better than everyone else and does not accept poor people only rich, and English speaking. This is probably why he is now using Martha Barragan to gain votes for him. Poor Martha she does not realize that she would have better chances of winning running by herself. I would have voted for her, but the fact that she joined Mark, makes me doubt her integrity and her courage to do think or do things by herself. If she wins, she will be Mark's puppet. I rather vote for Abrica, He is not perfect (no body is). He has a lot of knowledge, qualifications and really cares about all the people who live here and not just the rich. There are a lot of documentary videos about the kind of work he has done for our city. He really deserves a Tall Tree Reward, but I do not know how can we give that to him.
If Mark is concern about cats he should be feed them as a Lady Cat Animal lover does every morning she comes to my neighborhood before she goes to work and feeds the cats, catches them, takes them to be spayed & neutered & releases them in the same neighborhood so they can survived. This is caring about animals not killing them.
Registered user
Palo Verde
on Nov 7, 2022 at 4:55 pm
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 4:55 pm
[Post removed; successive comments by same poster are not permitted.]
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2022 at 9:50 pm
Registered user
on Nov 7, 2022 at 9:50 pm
Its surprising that this Online News Media dedicated an entire page to You? Wow.
Poor Mark. God Bless his Heart.
Karma is a "B"? In one Forum you said that you were taking Coaching Lessons. How are those Coaching lessons going for you?
Did they tell you that Teaming up with Martha would make you look some other way? And those Flowers on Your Signs? Too bad you can't erase the footprints, you left over on your Facebook Page, of 9,800 (outside) members? You bragged about your Form 460 of raising over $25,000. Mostly from Outside Investors, FB, Google and Other Technology CEO's
But Martha has been to only one Forum? Why was that?
5 Forums shows up 1 time?
Even "Q" Smith's Coaches told her to stick to the script & show up? She's not going to Win either? Jeff the Coach? He's told to agree with the Mayor to look engaged.
Abrica is going to Win (AGAIN) by default. Because everybody is concentrating on You. What a waste. Because Abrica has been there so long and really he hasn't done anything, but polish up his Election Act.
Abrica is no better than you. He's talked against other Ethnic backgrounds sublimely. He wants Undocumented Workers added to the "Disable" List, so that they can be Hired. Then he said that this Land is Ohlone Indian Land, so therefore this is Mexican Land. He also said that the African Americans did not Organize and Founded the City, because this is Ohlone Indian land.
Its ALL on Video Tape on Zoom meetings.
Yet they say that he is going to Win, because of Name recognition. He's like a comfortable pair of OLD Slippers.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 9, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Registered user
on Nov 9, 2022 at 4:54 pm
I’m response to We the People’s comments blaming Mark Dinan for Ruben Abrica being re-elected is a far fetched idea. And saying that Abrica is no better than Dinan is inappropriate. Will you please provide in detail the sources of all of the claims you made here about Mayor Abrica including the claim he allegedly made about Ohlone Indian land belonging to Mexicans. This is the second time I’ve hear this accusation about Mayor Abrica claiming EPA land belonging to the Ohlone in the past which today makes it part of Mexico. Ms. Gail Wilkerson made this same claim in the council candidates’ video discussion lead by Henrietta Burrows. I would like to put this to rest whether Mayor Abrica made these comments or not.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 10, 2022 at 12:09 am
Registered user
on Nov 10, 2022 at 12:09 am
epa resident 235.
You are correct. I heard this as you from video. As to going into detail.
The videos are there for ALL to view. I back track according to Candidate Wilkerson's statement. Abrica was ignored & Dinans antics were OVER the Top & WAS paid too much attention. When Dinans practices have been known for years. The status quo, instead of listening to how Abrica was managing his campaign. While the distractors were shining light on Dinan. Abricas "Dog Whistle" alarms were constantly going off. You gave him the sympathy votes. As he accused Dinan & Barragan of splitting the votes? In fact Barragan was caught meeting with Abrica at the first in person CC Meeting, in the City Hall.
Mayor Abrica apparently began campaigning as far back as May of 2022. Making claims to History that were misrepresented. Some of the messaging was let go as him catering to his base. Why his fellow Council persons didnt react is strongly in question? Abrica threw Lopez under the bus as to forcing the Former Attorney out.
I reviewed the video during the meeting regarding Employers hiring requirements. Mayor Abrica wanted to include Undocumented Workers. His remarks were chalked up to pandering to his Base. Abrica asked 3 times. The Acting Atty & Consultant became frustrated & directly responded. They put it to rest. That you could not make Future Employers violate Federal law. You cant Force Developers or Future Employers to Hire people that have come to the United States illegally.
Mayor Abrica also re-wrote History at the AME Church Forum. Rewriting History, as he skipped completely over the Other Ethnic backgrounds that resided inside East Palo Alto prior to Incorporation.
As to the complete erasure of the poor Japanese Placed into Concentration Camps & others that farmed and Owned Nurseries inside of East Palo Alto.
Abrica rewrote History as far back as to the Spaniards to reshape and to demonstrate to his Base that he is being faithful to them.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 11, 2022 at 10:35 pm
Registered user
on Nov 11, 2022 at 10:35 pm
Here’s hoping Dinan isn’t elected, the woman with all the felonies stays toward the bottom of the pack and the other controversies swirling around Dinan are published here.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Nov 12, 2022 at 1:38 am
Registered user
on Nov 12, 2022 at 1:38 am
Optimist Pessimist Realist
Swirling? We can't speak on those FB post about Mr. Dinan a member of the Social Media called "Grinder"? How about the Racists Moderators that he had on his Facebook page? He is always bragging about his 9,800 members on his FB page. Moderators on there, working for Fb and another who advocated harming the house of a Predicator who is Black. Yet ignored the other 53 Caucasians & Browns who are on Megan's List? There was one Moderator who used the Forum to promote attacking the removal of The only African American who was kicked off from Moderating? The Other Candidates Dinan was caught Hugging up with at least, 5 innocent Blacks that he was using. They should be careful about their connection. Reason his Moderators (now & then) Are in the same position as Barragan. Some Moderators are claiming distance from Dinan. Like Dinan said, he had help?
One Moderator used Dinan's forum to collect Pets that had wondered off from home & they were picked up and claimed that they were turned into the SPCA. But no evidence was verified that they were dropped off? Those rumors about them being eaten, could not be verified? Yes about those Felon's. All those racists Moderators past & present associated with Dinan. Especially those Candidates that weren't "vetted" with records? Is it true that someone is writing a Book?
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Dec 27, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Registered user
on Dec 27, 2022 at 1:02 pm
We, you are reposting comments you’ve made before. What new info can you contribute?