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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSome good news for a change
Benicia landlord scraps plan to relocate mobile-home tenants
Its rare these days to find a landlord whod pass up a chance to fatten his wallet if it meant evicting tenants and causing mass misery.
But thats exactly what happened in Benicia this week.
Ace Hardware store owner Gene Pedrotti withdrew his permit application to build a store at the site of the East N Street Trailer Park when he found out what lay in store for the residents. Most are senior citizens some disabled seniors and military veterans living on meager fixed incomes, and their stories were featured in The Chronicle on Aug. 7.
Two weeks ago, Pedrotti was ready to offer buyouts to the mobile-home owners so he could build a hardware store on the property. He was willing to pay for the relocation costs and subsidize their new housing for the next two years, time required by law to allow those in need to make the transition to decent housing they could afford.
He thought it would be a win-win situation for everyone involved: Tenants would move into nicer digs; the neighborhood, zoned for new development, would begin to improve; and hed be free from his lease at the Southampton Shopping Center in town.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/johnson/article/Benicia-landlord-scraps-plan-to-relocate-6456282.php?t=2b5e438356&cmpid=email-premium
With all the lack of humanity going in with 47% of the voting population voting for the empathy free republican politicians and the massive evictions going on in San Francisco, this is a feel good story. In today's paper there also was a story about a women who inherited an apartment house and tried to evict the long tome tenants. The tenants won but the landlord is now suing the estate of a women who died fighting the eviction for back rent. There is a place in hell for people like her and Mr.Perdotti earned his place in heaven.
AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)where mobile home parks and other forms of affordable housing are in extreme jeopardy.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/104010374
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)TDale313
(7,820 posts)Kudos to the Hardware Store owner for doing the humane thing.
Housing costs are just out of control here in the Bay Area. Struggling with these issues myself. I think I'd like to help if there are groups or volunteer organizations or even work opportunities to assist people struggling to find housing they can afford or to help address these issues. I know there are no easy solutions, but this is reaching crisis proportions. Not sure if there's anything I could possibly do to make a small difference, and I'll be doing some more research to see if there are any political attempts being made to address this, but if anyone has any thoughts/suggestions, I think I'd like to do anything I can
Editing to add, I'm in the South Bay if anyone has any suggestions on groups to get involved with or campaigns to look into 😀