Voters OK Limits on Mobile-Home Rents

Santa Paula voters approved Measure P, an initiative that bars rent increases when a mobile home is sold and was opposed by owners of the city’s six mobile-home parks.

In supporting Measure P’s vacancy controls, voters Tuesday rejected a well-funded campaign by opponents, who said the city would raise taxes to defend the measure in court.

Measure P’s well-organized backers from the city’s 1,500 park residents were forced to scramble late in the campaign after opponents raised more than $47,000 in their attempt to defeat the measure.

In a newspaper-like mailer sent to voters, Measure P’s critics contended that the ballot initiative would also result in shabby parks because of restrictions on the type of repairs that could be charged to park residents.

But supporters increased their efforts after the opposition’s critical mailer and telephone campaigning raised doubts among voters, said Helen Currier, who headed the ballot measure drive.

Rather than rely on the person-to-person campaign that they had planned, supporters placed ads in the local newspaper and on Spanish-language radio stations to combat the high-profile opposition, Currier said.

Others said the park owners had miscalculated by hiring a campaign manager from outside the area.

“They used Los Angeles tactics in a Midwestern-type town,” City Administrator Arnold Dowdy said.