With pensions and 401k retirement plans across the country in serious trouble, many senior citizens are finding themselves in dire need of stability.
That troubling cloud was evident at Monday night's Jackson City Council meeting when a large contingent of seniors were present to support extending rent control for lots in mobile home parks in the city.
Jackson first established rent control for mobile homes in 1995, primarily at the behest of residents of Rollingwood No. 1 on New York Ranch Road. At that time, the park's residents felt that then-owner Dale Williams was leveling large and unpredictable rent increases on his tenants, most of whom were on fixed incomes.
Leading the charge to stop the financial stress was Rollingwood resident Shirley Dajnowski. Strong opposition came not only from Williams, but also Wayne and Darlene Douglas, owners of Highlands Mobile Home Park. Tenants from both parks continued to argue their case to the city council. Eventually, the council passed a rent control ordinance to protect the seniors, though the ordinance has a repealer that expires July 12, 2010.
On Monday night, Dajnowski stood before a new city council and asked that the rent control be extended for another decade. "Many years ago, I stood before the Jackson City Council and asked for their help," she said to the crowd. "We homeowners in Rollingwood were being subjected to exorbitant rent increases and realized if this continued without some form of control we would lose our homes … mobile homes have always been considered 'affordable' housing. Without rent control, 'affordable' is a meaningless word."
During Dajnowski's statements at the podium, she acknowledged that Rollingwood currently had a new owner, Joe Chirco, who was a "just and fair" park owner. However, Dajnowski said the Rollingwood residents are still pushing for extension of the rent control because there's no guarantee that the park will not change hands again and they'll end up in the same position they were in before.
"For 20 years, the Western Manufactured Home Park Owners Association has tried to outlaw vacancy control and eliminate rent control in the state of California," Dajnowski added. "They have power and money to gain their objectives, but by retaining our rent ordinance we can put up a lot of roadblocks and level the playing field."
Rollingwood resident Dennis Hern also spoke at the meeting, telling the council "without rent control, we're left with no options." Hern was able to get every Rollingwood resident he managed to speak to - all but three - to sign a petition in support of the rent control. After the meeting, he told the Ledger Dispatch that many of the residents of Rollingwood were not able to be at the meeting in person. "They are counting on Shirley and I to speak for them tonight," he said.
Councilwoman Marilyn Lewis was the first to speak after Dajnowski and Hern's presentation. "I'm in favor of extending the rent control," Lewis said. "It's my understanding that the owner of Rollingwood No. 1 is not even opposed to doing this."
Dajnowski elaborated on Lewis's point. "When I spoke with Mr. Chirco, he said he was generally against the idea of rent control but understood why we felt we needed to do this," Dajnowski explained. "He said he wasn't going to stand in our way."
Jackson City Manager Mike Daly informed the council that not all mobile home park owners in the city would back Chirco up on that. "I recently spoke with the owners of Highland Mobile Home Park," Daly said of Wayne and Darlene Douglas. "I think it's fair to say they are strongly opposed to extending this ordinance."
Jackson Councilman Keith Sweet quietly acknowledged that he was also in favor of extending the rent control. Vice Mayor Wayne Garibaldi indicated he was leaning toward extending the rent control but felt the council needed to speak with all of the mobile home park owners first. "We have to get their input," Garibaldi said. "I feel like that's a must before we can get the ball rolling."
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material the use of which may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Tenants Together is making this article available on our website in an effort to advance the understanding of tenant rights issues in California. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.