Jarvis / WMA Ballot Initiative

The new Jarvis initiative -- with major funding from the WMA park owners association -- includes a ban on mobilehome park rent control and other local government efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing under the guise of protecting people from "eminent domain" abuses by local government.
In their recent propaganda about condo conversion of mobilehome parks, the park owners and their attorneys have been claiming that lower income residents in parks converted to condo's will be protected for life against any rent increases (other than CPI) by "state rent control." Even the governor seems to have been snookered by this claim, which is why he said he decided to veto AB 1542. But while they're telling residents "don't worry," the park owners have been contributing millions to get the Jarvis / WMA initiative on the ballot. And that initiative -- if it passes -- will wipe out the rent control provision in the STATE condo conversion laws. So low income residents in parks converted to condo's would have NO protection against rent increases under the Jarvis / WMA ballot initiative. Low income residents of condo-converted parks will actually be the hardest hit if the initiative passes. The owners of those parks will jump at the chance to force low income residents to move out so they can sell their spaces as condo's.
The Jarvis / WMA people have now gathered enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot for the June, 2008 election. If it passes, then hundreds of thousands of mobilehome residents in California will have their rents increased dramatically. We need to start soon to educate people about the hardship that this initiative will cause if it passes.
The California League of Cities is also gathering signatures to put a counter initiative on the June ballot which will limit cities' ability to use eminent domain, but which will not affect local (or state) rent control and other affordable housing programs. We should support this proposition and make sure that it gets more votes than the Jarvis / WMA initiative. More details will follow soon.