From:
To: City Council
Subject: Fircrest Mobile Home Park rent increase...
Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2023 2:43:46 PM
Sebastopol City Council
7120 Bodega Ave.
Sebastopol, CA 95472
Dear City Council Members
In 2009, my husband and I bought our place in Fircrest Mobile Home Park because it was the only affordable option available to us. We could no longer take care of our long-time home in the Hessel area, due to our age and health issues. At that time, the monthly rent here was about $585, which was very doable.
I retired from my full-time job as a mail carrier in Novato in 2009 and in 2010 took a part-time, minimum wage job driving cars for Hertz. Husband John could no longer work, but received Social Security which helped us get by until his death in 2018. I continued working for Hertz until 2020 when Covid became an issue so I left and then had to get by with my minimal postal retirement plus social security, which is what sustains me to this day. Meanwhile, the monthly rent for my mobile home kept increasing...
Now the rent is $725 and going up to $769 next month, after this year's 6% increase. I feel I am one of the lucky ones who can still afford to live here, but for how much longer??
I'm urging you to cap the yearly rent increase at 4%. Also, I understand that there may be plans to add 15% to space rent when a mobile home is sold. This would make moving here quite difficult for seniors on fixed incomes and no doubt make it harder for current mobile homeowners to find buyers when and if they need to move.
Thank you for your consideration.
Candy Riddell
FMHP resident