Contact Information

1901 Harrison St. 9th Floor

Oakland CA 94612

510.273.8780

rmandelman@mhalaw.com

Practice Focus

Public Law

Affordable Housing

Land Use

Redevelopment

CEQA/NEPA

Rafael Mandelman | Attorney

Professional Experience

Rafael joined McDonough Holland & Allen PC in 2007 as a member of the firm’s Public Law practice group in Oakland. He provides advisory and transactional services to public agencies and private entities, with an emphasis on redevelopment, land use and affordable housing law. Previously with several Bay Area public law boutiques, Rafael’s experience includes: advising public and private clients on CEQA compliance, preparing CEQA findings, and drafting briefs in CEQA and other writ litigation; advising local governments on Brown Act requirements, limits on local taxing authority, rent control, land use matters, redevelopment pass-through agreements, and affordable housing requirements under the Community Redevelopment Law; and representing redevelopment agencies, housing authorities and developers in real estate and affordable housing matters.

Presentations/Publications

Presenter, “New Challenges in Density Bonus & Inclusionary Housing Issues,” San Diego Housing Federation Annual Affordable Housing and Community Development Conference, October 2005

Co-author, "Planning by Plebiscite: The Ballot Box Is the Wrong Forum for California’s Growth Wars," ABA State and Local Law News, summer 2001

Leadership Positions/Affiliations

Commissioner, San Francisco Board of Appeals

Member, Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council

Member, San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee

Board Member, Livable City

Member, Alameda County Bar Association

Clerkships

Law Clerk. California Department of Justice, Environment Section, fall 1999

MHALaw Search

Admitted to Practice

State Bar of California, 2000

State Bar of Nevada, 2001

U.S. District Court, Northern District of California

Education

University of California,

Boalt Hall School of Law

J.D., 2000

Certificate of Specialization, Environmental Law

Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government M.P.P., 1999

Concentration, Housing, Urban Economic Development and Transportation

Yale Univeristy

B.A., cum laude, History, 1996