OWNERS OF MOBILE HOMES COMPLAIN MANAGERS SAID TO USE AGGRESSIVE TACTICS.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer PALMDALE - Residents of two city-owned mobile-home parks have complained of rude behavior and ineffective management from park and city staffers. Some 100 residents of the Boulders at the Ranch I and II mobile-home parks packed a park clubhouse to complain to Mayor Jim Ledford about management and other issues at their adjoining West Palmdale parks. ``We are human beings; we are not animals,'' said Boulders II resident Sam Bono. Some residents complained that park and city staffers took an aggressive, heavy-handed approach to enforcing maintenance rules against residents financially or physically unable to keep up their yards, and that residents were being ordered to keep up homes better than the park itself is maintained. But others complained that run-down run·down n. 1. A point-by-point summary. 2. Baseball A play in which a runner is trapped between bases and is pursued by fielders attempting to make the tag. adj. also run-down 1. a. homes had been allowed for too long in the park, and said management should be enforcing the rules residents agreed to when they moved in. ``I've been here 1 1/2 years,'' Dale Hancz told the mayor. ``I signed a bunch of rules and regulations. All I'm asking for is the park enforce the rules and regulations.'' Other residents complained about limited exits out of the parks in a wildfire, about increasing traffic making it hard to drive out of Boulders II, and about security guards at the gates At the Gates are a Swedish melodic death metal band. They are one of the forebears of the Gothenburg sound of heavy metal along with other bands of the Gothenburg metal scene like Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. questioning residents and their guests when they tried to come in. The mayor bluntly told the residents that he didn't believe all their accusations against staffers, but he promised to talk with City Manager Bob Toone and city Housing Manager Mike Adams Mike Adams may refer to:
``For something to get to this point, there has to be something cooking,'' Ledford said. ``We're going to get to the bottom of this. We need to set up a system that allows us to express our concerns and get a response. ... I'm not here to make any promises, except we're going to come back with something different.'' Ledford said he supported reviving the park's homeowners' association A homeowners' association (abbrev. HOA) is the legal entity created by a real estate developer for the purpose of developing, managing and selling a community of homes. , which residents said had gone dormant from antagonism antagonism /an·tag·o·nism/ (an-tag´o-nizm) opposition or contrariety between similar things, as between muscles, medicines, or organisms; cf. antibiosis. an·tag·o·nism n. from park and city staffers. An inherent difficulty in mobile-home life is that residents are both owners and renters. They must pay rent for their spaces, but they also are responsible for maintenance of their homes. Meanwhile, park managers have authority over who can buy a mobile home in a park and enforce park rules on residents. Bono told the mayor that he was threatened with eviction The removal of a tenant from possession of premises in which he or she resides or has a property interest done by a landlord either by reentry upon the premises or through a court action. because he hadn't fixed up his yard while he was preoccupied with tearing out carpeting and installing hardwood hardwood: see wood. hardwood Timber obtained from broad-leaved, flower-bearing trees. Hardwood trees are deciduous trees, except in the warmest regions. floors, the result of his wife learning she had asthma. Another resident came close to tears as she told the mayor that she was being ordered to keep up her landscaping around a home that she bought in December but can't live in because tests showed it was infected in·fect tr.v. in·fect·ed, in·fect·ing, in·fects 1. To contaminate with a pathogenic microorganism or agent. 2. To communicate a pathogen or disease to. 3. To invade and produce infection in. with mold. Barbara Neddie said she was spending $1,200 month renting another home to keep her children in the Westside Union School District and still paying space rent on her mobile home while suing the person who sold it to her. ``I'm asking you to back off,'' Neddie said. The city bought the two Boulders at the Ranch parks on Rancho ran·cho n. pl. ran·chos Southwestern U.S. 1. A hut or group of huts for housing ranch workers. 2. A ranch. Vista Boulevard and the Boulders at the Lake park on Avenue S in 1997 for $20.6 million after threatening the owner with an eminent-domain action. City officials said city ownership would rein in rein in Verb 1. to stop (a horse) by pulling on the reins 2. to restrict or stop: either prices or wage packets had to be reined in Verb 1. rising rents and stabilize management. The city turned over the parks to a nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. Long Beach organization called LINC Housing, but tired of providing subsidies because of high vacancy rates and took over their operation in 2002. The parks have improved greatly under the city's ownership, the mayor said. ``Ninety percent of parks wish they were this nice,'' Ledford said. Thursday night's meeting with the mayor was organized by leaders of the Coalition of Mobilehome Owners-Los Angeles County, who told residents they must organize. ``You have to state your case before the City Council,'' said organization Vice President Ray Chavira, a Lancaster mobile-home park resident. |
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