Focus on choice shows sad state of affairs
Pro-life Democrats: It's a sad state of affairs and shows the degradation of our society when we have political candidates running on a sole issue, abortion (The Sun, Feb. 7).
As a Democrat, I would hope that Tom Hayes would have other issues to bring to the table that would interest us voters. Give Vasconcellos credit. He didn't do a flip-flop on the issue like President Clinton.
John Wahl
The Dalles
Vote against Prop. 199
On March 26, voters all over the state of California will vote on many issues. One of these is Proposition 199.
This proposition will limit mobilehome rent control throughout this state. It will phase out all existing rent-protection laws where they are now in effect. It will prevent, by law, the passing of any new ordinances for protecting mobilehome owners from excessive rent increases. This is a direct attack on a feature of government very important to local citizens. That is, local control.
In addition, Prop. 199, if passed, will result in serious hardships on the thousands of senior citizens who, living on fixed incomes, have found mobile homes to be a special form of affordable housing. If Prop. 199 passes, many of these seniors will lose their homes because they will not be able to pay the resulting higher rents to their mobilehome park owners.
For these reasons, many groups have voiced their opposition to Prop. 199 and joined the fight to defeat it. These include the American Association of Retired Persons, the Congress of California Seniors, the California Labor Federation, the California Democratic Party and the California Council of Churches. In addition to these are 11 counties, 75 cities (including Sunnyvale) and more than 400 elected public officials. And the list is growing as more people learn that Prop. 199 is not what it says it is.
Citizens: Vote on March 26. Vote "no" on Prop. 199. Help preserve local control. Help preserve affordable housing for people of all ages, but particularly for those seniors whose homes may be their total investment for their future.
Rex M. Mathis
Tasman Drive
Mathis is state secretary of the Golden State Mobilehome Owners League. --Editor
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 21, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.