Mobile Home Park Owners in Carson to Battle Rent Control

Carson mobile home park owners are planning a petition drive aimed at eliminating rent control for residents who do not meet federal poverty levels, saying the parks are not earning enough to stay open.

But City Atty. Glenn Watson said the proposed voter initiative would invite lawsuits against the city and increase demands on the city staff.

Exactly who is pushing the measure is unclear. A Sacramento political consultant said the park owners who hired her to speak for the measure do not yet wish to be identified.

Phase In Deregulation

The proposed measure, filed as an initiative petition a month ago, has not yet been posted or advertised by its supporters, which must occur before signatures can be gathered. State laws on ballot initiatives require signatures from 15% of the voters to force a special election.

For residents not meeting federal poverty guidelines, the proposed measure would phase in deregulation of rent control, limiting increases to 9% a year for the first two years after passage. After that, there would be no limit on rent increases for such tenants.

Low-income mobile home residents would remain under rent control, which limits increases to those justified by an increase in a park’s operating costs or by capital improvement expenses. Under the city’s existing ordinance, such increases--which must be approved by the city’s Mobile Home Rental Review Board--apply to all spaces in a park.

To stay under rent control, mobile home residents would have to submit personal financial data to the board showing that their income meets federal poverty guidelines.

Watson said the concept--requiring park owners to help poor residents solely on the basis of income--is untested in the courts.

“I would see litigation resulting from the measure,” Watson said.

In addition, Watson said, processing hundreds of applications from mobile home residents seeking to prove low-income status could become a burden on city staff.

The proposal already has been denounced by politically active residents of mobile home parks.

Rosemary Marble, who lives in Colony Cove Estates mobile home park, characterized the proposed measure as “bashing” mobile home owners.

“If you, as a registered voter . . . sign that petition, you are sentencing your fellow citizens to possible economic eviction,” she said in a letter to The Times.

She urged mobile home residents to attend a council meeting June 7 to “see if we can kill that initiative before it is too late.” If the proponents gather enough signatures, however, the council would be required to adopt the measure as an ordinance or put it on the ballot.

Speaking for the group of Carson mobile home park owners behind the proposal is Ann Stewart Brown, who runs a Republican-oriented political consulting firm based in Sacramento.

Brown would not identify the park owners backing the measure, which was filed at City Hall by Carson resident Thomas Ibarra, a schoolteacher. Brown said Ibarra, who could not be reached for comment, agreed to file the petition in his name after discussions with other supporters of the measure, including some mobile home park owners.

Brown asserted that the initiative is needed because Carson’s rent control ordinance is driving park owners out of business.

“See, what is going on in Carson is that the park owners are not making enough money to keep their doors open, OK?” she said. “You have parks closing. (The park owners) were trying to find some way to help the people who need help without making the landlords subsidize everybody.”

Citing the rent control ordinance, the owner of the Avalon Carson mobile home park announced recently that the park will close. In addition, the owner of the Citation park also said he will shut his park.

Brown disputed the argument that mobile home park owners would turn around and attack the measure after it passed, hoping to eliminate any rent control. According to one theory, park owners could argue that it is unconstitutional because it places the public goal of assisting low-income residents on a group of private parties, namely park owners.

“My very strong opinion is (park owners) are not going to challenge this law. They know they are going to end up with (the existing) rent control (ordinance) if this law is found unconstitutional,” she said.

Brown also said she doubted that city officials would be inundated with applications seeking low-income status. “I think you are going to get closer to 10% of the park residents qualifying, which is a highly manageable number,” she said.

The city has about 2,700 mobile home spaces in 28 parks. Carson planner Timothy O’Rourke said it is not known how many residents would be classified as poor under federal regulations.

The initiative could go on the Nov. 8 ballot if backers collect signatures from 15% of the registered voters of Carson by June 29.

Brown said the mobile home park owners are uncertain if they want an election in November or February. She added that a professional signature-gathering firm had been retained to assist the park owners backing the initiative.

PROPOSAL AT A GLANCE

The ballot initiative by owners of mobile home parks would require signatures from 15% of the voters in Carson to force a special election.

For residents not meeting federal poverty guidelines, the measure would phase in deregulation of rent control, limiting increases for such tenants to 9% a year for the first two years after passage. After that, there would be no limit on rent increases.

Low-income mobile home residents who want to remain under rent control would have to submit financial data showing that their income meets federal poverty guidelines.