During a July debate over affordable housing, East Palo Alto City Council member Mark Dinan exchanged WhatsApp messages with Owen Byrd, a developer who stood to benefit from the decision, according to videos obtained by the Palo Alto Weekly. Dinan did not disclose the exchange.

What the videos show

The videos were taken during the council's July 7 meeting on the Temporary Housing Development Incentive Program, which would have briefly paused the city's inclusionary housing rules. Those rules require developers to set aside a share of new units as below-market-rate housing. According to the Weekly, Byrd repeatedly urged Dinan to exempt projects of 20 units or fewer. Byrd has submitted plans for a 20-unit townhome project in the city.

"Make a motion just to modify the existing program to exclude 20 and below," Byrd wrote. The Weekly reports that when Byrd added the motion would still provide "momentum for change," Dinan replied "yes" at 9:45 p.m. The council voted at 10:15 p.m. to approve the modified proposal.

Dinan's response

Dinan said Byrd did not influence him. He said he didn't read the messages during the meeting and that his app deletes his message history automatically. "One, nothing Owen Byrd has ever said to me would change my policy," he said. "I know it's a bad look to have somebody messaging you... that's sloppy behavior, but this didn't affect anything." He said he had publicly supported exempting 20- and 25-unit projects well before the meeting, and that he has "no financial relationship with Owen or Sand Hill or any company."

What happened next

On July 13, the city's Planning Commission adopted a resolution finding that the proposed ordinance was not consistent with the General Plan, according to the meeting summary. At the July 21 council meeting, resident Filiberto Zaragoza accused Dinan of "outsourcing your vote to a developer." The city's legal staff said at that meeting that exchanging undisclosed messages with members of the public during a council meeting is not consistent with the Brown Act. The council then reversed its earlier decision. City Attorney John Le and City Manager Melvin Gaines did not respond to the Weekly's questions about whether Dinan's conduct broke state law.