Comments on Will Rossbach - Maplewood, MN: VOTE NOVEMBER 3RD

Thank you for taking the time to at least look int...

2009-11-12T11:13:52.175-06:00

Thank you for taking the time to at least look into the matter.

The study that you reference from an "institute for business" group (California MHP rent control) draws the conclusion:

"That specific mobile homes might be more or less 'affordable' as the result of the (rent control) regulation, but on balance, the effect of lower mandated rents to consumers is offset by the higher purchase prices of mobile homes."

I cannot debate the entire finding of this very long and complicated study but I would ask that you forward this and your opinion to APAC attorney Justin Bell.

I would however, like to add this: The study is based on California rent control and the cost of living in that state is usually seen as much higher than in other states- which also would impact the purchase price of a mobile home- which I would guess costs much more than a new mobile home would cost here in Minnesota.

Overall, I would still say that buying a new mobile home is a LOT more "affordable" than purchasing a standard home and I cannot see where enacting a rent control ordinance would push up the cost on a newer mobile home to a level of being out of the reach of "affordable housing"- especially here in Minnesota.

Furthermore, I cannot understand why the City of Maplewood is refusing to consider Mr. Bell's request in defining "reasonable" as it applies to any sort of rent increase in our mobile home parks. No one is even replying directly to the arguments that Mr. Bell has made. Again- no one is arguing against an increase in rent- we're only asking that rent increases be "reasonable". WHY is that too much to ask???

Does the study from California even address an (unreasonable) "increase in rent" that rises outside of cummunity and economic standards such as the CPI index?

I would like to invite you to meet with the residents of our park- door to door- if you haven't during your campaign. While the situation that we are faced with may not be an "issue" with you or anyone else in City Hall-it is an issue with many of the seniors in our park who are struggling to survive on fixed incomes.

I shouldn't have to remind you that we're also voters and "citizens of Maplewood"- not just "customers" locked in a dispute with a "private business". It's a dispute which focuses on being "reasonable" and when Maplewood City Hall allows businesses (Especially an out of state business) within the city to conduct themselves "unreasonably" all of its citizens lose.

If you still think that a business, who looks out for only "unreasonable" profits on the backs of our senior citizens is not a Maplewood issue, then I would like you to look us all in the eye, individually, and tell us that.

Thank You.

Thomas P. Riddell

www.rollinghillsreporter.com

Will Rossbach said... Mr. Riddell, I have viewed ...

2009-11-11T19:35:08.464-06:00

Will Rossbach said...
Mr. Riddell, I have viewed the information that you suggested, you have a nice website by the way, I also looked at the state statues. I decided to also do a little research on my own. I came across this study http://escholarship.org/uc/item/44d7h9hs
done by the Berkeley Institute for Business and Economic Research. It has many interesting findings with a much boarder view of the impacts of manufactored home rent control. I can certainly understand your furstration with your situation but I do not believe that this is currently a Maplewood issue. Will

2009-11-11T19:27:08.257-06:00

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Mr. Rossbach, Thank you for your reply. The best ...

2009-11-04T23:21:59.972-06:00

Mr. Rossbach,

Thank you for your reply. The best way I can communicate to you as to how the City of Maplewood can help, is to direct you to a You Tube video of a meeting that was held over the summer at City Hall between our association and RHA.

As you have mentioned there are indeed rent control programs availiable and they have been used in many MHP communities/cities throughout the United States- to stem "Unfair" and "Unreasonable" rent increases- which adversly affect citizens- many of whome are on fixed incomes. This is more than just a "discussion" between a privatley owned business and its customers.

RHA was of the opinion that the matter should be taken up at the state level as to how to define "reasonable" (rent increase) when it comes to the broad definition of the state statue of 327c.

APAC's attorney Justin Bell, I think, did a great job of trying to explain that the state's postion has been to throw it back to the local jurisdictions- in order for them (In this case Maplewood)to define what is reasonable....

I'm fairly certain you received a recommendation from RHA to not pursue this matter further....but that would be the city council's choice.

Here's the link to the segment that explains best what the City Of Maplewood could do for the people at Rolling Hills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Ouuw6vV5w

You can watch all of the segments here and other information about our community at: www.rollinghillsreporter.com

If you would like to discuss thisw further go to the "contact" page at the site.

I hope you realize that there is a LOT you can do for our community- you just have to be willing to take the first steps in helping us...

Thank you for your time.

Thomas P. Riddell

Mr. Riddell, Thank you for your comments.I will n...

2009-11-04T19:00:37.439-06:00

Mr. Riddell,

Thank you for your comments.I will not try to defend my personal actions in your case, I could have and maybe should have shown more interest in your situation. I would, however be interested in what you think the city can do to help you with the rental situation in which you and the other residents of Rolling Hills find yourselves. I am not aware of any authority that Maplewood has to intervene in a rental dispute between tenant and renter. There are indeed some government rent control programs that apply in particular situations but I do not believe they apply to your situation. I do not see your situation as a referendum on affordable housing but as a discussion between a privately held business and its customers. That discussion does not seem to have any bearing on manufactured housing's role as one of the better options to help provide affordable housing. If you believe that I am incorrect then please feel free to contact me and help me to understand.

It looks like you won the top seat. I hope you a...

2009-11-03T23:23:50.918-06:00

It looks like you won the top seat.

I hope you are as respectful and gracious as Diana has been when she has been criticized by a citizen of Maplewood. She has ALWAYS said that she is open to all communication even if it reflects badly on her.

With that being said, first I would like to say that I am a PROUD Democrat and a PROUD Union member of AFSCME, of which you were endorsed by. However, I must point out that I did not vote for you and as a citizen of Maplewood I feel it is only fair to tell you why you did not receive my vote:

Back in early February of 2008 I contacted you in regards to problems that I and other residents were having in our mobile home park community(Rolling Hills)- with the owners of our park raising our rents at a rate which was both unfair and unreasonable, especially to the majority of residents who are seniors on fixed incomes.

Our resident association requested your support and inquired if we may be able to go before the city council to make our case. You seemed to encourage us to speak during visitor presentation at the February 25th meeting- which we did but you never returned phone calls or e-mails after that meeting and never publicly supported or acknowledged our troubles.

Later we found out that, in fact, you were proposing to limit visitor presentations at the same meeting that we made our presentations at.

Since that time, our association has gone before the council and the HRA a couple of times and not once did you or any of the other council members acknowledge our plight. The only person who spoke up for "protecting affordable housing" was Mayor Longrie.

Once again, I hope you take this criticism as well as Diana Longrie has. I hope you won't stifle our freedom of speech and I also hope that what I have seen written about you doesn't come to pass such as consolidating our fire and medic services with St. Paul- as well as the selling of our parks.

I sure do hope that you can turn my sour opinion of you to something more positive.

I wish you well....

Thomas P. Riddell