Seniors living in mobile homes across Fullerton may soon be able to qualify for a local rent assistance program after city officials decided to expand who can qualify for the subsidy.
The change comes a couple months after John Saunders announced he intends to convert Rancho La Paz, a senior mobile home park he owns, into an all-age mobile home park – a move that put the existing rent subsidy at risk for low income seniors living there.
On Tuesday, city council members voted 4-0 to expand the program to seniors living at mobile home parks across town regardless of the age designation for the park. Councilman Fred Jung was absent.
The previous program was adopted in 2019 and was specifically for seniors living at senior-only mobile home parks, according to staff.
Initially, city staff suggested opening up the mobile home rent assistance program to people of all ages but Mayor Nick Dunlap and Councilman Ahmad Zahra said it should still strictly be for seniors.
“What we hear kind of meeting in, meeting out is the importance of helping the seniors who are in need and so I just don’t understand how expanding a subsidy program to include non-seniors is going to help them,” Dunlap said at last Tuesday’s meeting.
Todd Harrison, a Rancho La Paz resident, thanked the council for expanding the rental assistance program and said many of the park’s homeowners need the help.
He added while the subsidy is not enough, it’s a start.
“Even with the attempts to hold back Saunders’ predation, many have been starved out of their homes, broken by the fear of stress or just given up and died for lack of hope and or attention,” Harrison said at Tuesday’s meeting.
The amendment to the rental assistance program comes about a year after local food bank leaders warned of a food cliff caused by the end of enhanced COVID benefits as well as the high cost of food.
Those leaders warned that seniors would be one of the most impacted communities by the food cliff.
[Read: Orange County Seniors Are Expected to Be Hit Hardest by Incoming Food Cliff]
Another Battle Brews at Rancho La Paz
The subsidy was created after seniors living at the Rancho La Paz mobile home park, that sits between Anaheim and Fullerton, pushed officials in both cities to consider enacting a rent control ordinance to avoid a rent hike by the new owner at the time, Saunders.
While officials in both cities did not enact a rent control ordinance for mobile parks, Rancho La Paz residents successfully advocated Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) to craft a state law to shield them from rent spikes that was signed into law in 2021.
The law narrowly applies to mobile homes in the state that span at least two different cities.
[Read: OC Mobile Home Park Seniors Win Rent Relief After Two Years of Activism]
In December last year, Saunders called for a Zoom meeting for the day after Christmas with Rancho La Paz senior homeowners to go over new rules of the park – including turning it into an all-age park, according to a city staff report.
After resident pushback and complaints to both Anaheim and Fullerton city officials, Saunders rescheduled the meeting in person in January.
At the December 19 Fullerton City Council meeting, city officials debated putting a 45 day moratorium on converting senior mobile home parks to a park that accepts all ages at the request of Zahra and Councilwoman Shana Charles.
According to a staff report, the moratorium needed a 4/5 majority vote to be approved.
In the end, the council called on staff to look at potential amendments for the rent assistance program so it would still be available for Rancho La Paz residents and did not take action on the moratorium.
Jung was absent from the Dec. 19 meeting.
Rancho La Paz Concerns Echo in Surf City
Seniors in Fullerton and Anaheim are not the only ones in OC who have called for rent control specifically at mobile home parks.
Huntington Beach mobile home park seniors have also been pushing their elected city officials in recent years to put a measure on the ballot asking voters to decide on a new law that would stop rent hikes at mobile home parks.
Surf city leaders refused to take up the debate.
Instead, they created a rental assistance program in 2022 for eligible seniors at mobile home parks.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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