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f INITIAL FAIR HOUSING RECOMMENDATIONS City Manager Fales presented the Committee with his initial recommendations • for a "Fair Housing Action Plan, " following the Committee ' s request for such recommendations at its last meeting . Midpeninsula Citizens for Fair Housing (MCFH) revealed June 14 that nearly 70 percent of the apartments they had audited in Redwood City appeared to practice racial discrimination . On June 28 it had recommended that the Housing Concerns Committee and City staff meet with the owners of the apartments found by the audit to be discriminating to discuss the audit particulars . It has also made fourteen written recommendations to the Committee , among them that the city license apartment managers and require them to post a list of vacancies and their rental terms and that the City Attorney participate in fair housing suits brought by individuals . They also suggested that the City promote various educational programs for education about housing laws . . City Manager Fales said that his recommendations were "pragmatic " but that if the Committee wanted to do it "another way" his office "could tell you what you ' re in for . " He recommended that the MCFH list of violators of fair housing laws be turned over to the San Mateo County Human Relations Commission (HRC ) "for immediate remedy. " This would utilize an existing program and would not "divert the Housing Concerns Committee from developing a plan of action for Redwood City . " The San Mateo County Human Relations Commission, City Manager Fales said , "is at least supposed to be charged with doing this . " To initially encourage the involvement of the Tri--County Apartment Association ( TAA ) , the Manager recommended asking for TAA comment on the MCFH recommendations and that they "put forth a program to eliminate practices of discrimination by its membership . " A letter to this effect has already been sent to the TAA, he said , but no answer received . He further recommended that the City meet with the TAA to review the MCFH survey and recommendations along with the TAAts program, get a formal commitment from TAA to eliminate discrimination, and jointly develop a program to be implemented by the TAA . This program would be to educate its owners and managers , institute a standard tenant screening process, develop a standard lease , and provide an incentive for compliance . Independent apartment owners , he recommended , should be mailed a letter by the City reviewing fair housing law, publicizing the MCFH survey , and indicating the start of "a continuing effort to uncover and spotlight violators . " As a part of the City ' s upcoming newsletter, the Manager recommended disseminating fair housing information, reviewing current surveys , publicizing court action against violators , and generally pressuring violators into non-discrimination . As long range action , the Manager recommended that Redwood City develop a close working relationship with the San Mateo County HRC and that the City conduct an annual survey to monitor the extent of discrimination , contracting with volunteer groups such as MCFH to do the survey for "a nominal charge of under $2, 000 . " He further recommended that Redwood City should closely follow, not duplicate , Palo Alto ' s legal research into efforts to circumvent the Rumford Fair Housing Act's pre-emption of local fair housing legislation. He said that AB 1878 , which would "authorize a city or county, by ordinance , to provide MINUTES HOUSING CONCERNS COMMITTEE JULY 12, 1972 PAGE 3 OF 5