By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Although mobilehome parks in Sunnyvale are not subject to any rent controls, citizens who live in and around the parks will be asked to vote on Proposition 199 in the March 26 election.
The proposition, if passed, would eliminate rent controls in mobilehome parks throughout the state and prevent cities from imposing any laws to stabilize rent on mobilehome spaces.
Rex Mathis, state secretary of the Golden State Mobilehome Owners League and a resident of Casa de Amigos Mobilehome Park, said Proposition 199 could affect Sunnyvale mobilehome owners, many of whom are senior citizens with fixed incomes.
"It would affect affordable housing in terms of park owners having the freedom to raise rents excessively because they would no longer be faced with the possibility of Sunnyvale imposing a rent-stabilization ordinance. That possibility has always tended to curtail excessive rent," he said.
He conceded that not all park owners would raise rent excessively if given the opportunity.
Mathis and other mobilehome residents plan to hold a rally in opposition to Proposition 199 on Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m. at Casa de Amigos, 1085 Tasman Drive.
Mathis said he does not know how many people will attend, but he has invited local politicians including state Senate District 13 candidate John Vasconcellos and Assembly District 22 candidate Trixie Johnson and various other candidates who oppose Proposition 199.
Mathis expressed concern that, if Proposition 199 passes, rent control will be gone forever. Only the Assembly, state Senate and governor could displace such a law. Sunnyvale City Council adopted a formal position opposing the proposition last May.
The initiative, sponsored by mobilehome park owners, would phase out rent control on mobilehome spaces and phase in a discount for the 10 percent of Sunnyvale's 4,000 mobilehome owners who meet income qualifications.
Passage of the proposition could change the relationship between mobilehome-park owners and their residents because owners could raise rents at will. Sixty percent of California cities currently have some form of rent control policy in place.
Instead of rent control, the proposition would offer a 10 percent discount for 10 percent of the spaces in each park.
Subsidies would be granted on a first-come, first-served basis to very-low-income residents. Individuals making below $20,750 and couples making below $23,700 would be eligible for subsidies.
Dan Rich, administrative assistant to Sunnyvale's city manager, said in a report to the council that park owners could raise rent for all residents to the average rent paid in a park. The 10 percent subsidy would then be subtracted and some residents could end up paying more than they did without the subsidy.
For example, a mobilehome owner who pays $500 a month for rent has his rent increased to $600. The renter qualifies for a 10 percent subsidy on the average rent at the park, which is $550. The owner will then have the $55 subsidy subtracted from his $600 rent and pay $545 a month instead of the original $500.
Paul Kradin, a member of Californians for Mobile Home Fairness, the campaign committee for this initiative, said rent control does not accomplish its goal of helping people in need of affordable housing. He added that rent-control policies cost taxpayers millions of dollars in administrative and legal fees.
Rent control also restricts how much money park owners can make. He said owners have a difficult time "making ends meet."
"People are going out of business, which closes parks. Only two new parks a year have opened in California in the last 10 years," Kradin said.
Residents should not be frightened until they have read the initiative themselves, he said. Rent control is not going to evaporate overnight.
Jorj Tilson, executive director of Manufactured Housing Educational Trust, said the initiative is counterproductive to sustaining and enhancing mobilehome housing.
She said people who live in mobilehome parks are often stereotyped as "old" and "poor," which is not substantiated by any demographic studies.
She added that people who live in mobilehome parks have the benefit of a community atmosphere. However, she expressed concern at the proposition's lack of an enforcement mechanism.
Park owners resent local government control, Tilson said. Park owners feel that public agencies do not trust them and that they must be scrutinized.
She said park owners do not like rent control, but they do not think this proposition is the answer. "Things are done well in Sunnyvale," she said. "This will put a monkey wrench into mobilehome sales."
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 21, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.