John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath. It is a novel about the 300,000 souls escaping the dust bowl and migrating west to California.

Some were from Oklahoma, but they were all called, derisively, “Oakies.” They sold what they could, at bargain basin prices and bought cars and headed west.

There is a standalone chapter about a used car lot owner. The owner of the lot knows the farmers are desperate and is a sociopath (someone who knows the difference between right and wrong, but does not care).

The owner of the lot has a selling frenzy, taking advantage of the farmers’ desperation, and overcharging for junk vehicles. The farmers have to go 2,000 miles with their family and possessions aboard those jalopies.

I was thinking about how the novel was timeless. In fact, the situation in our senior mobile home park is analogous to the plight of the “Oakies,” except, we are the “oldies.”

The new owners have raised the rent. Under current law, there is no legal limit as to how much they can raise the rent. There is only a practical limit: starving us out, which would kill the geese that lay the golden eggs.

There is no choice for us. We have nowhere to go, and no means to get there. And, even if we had the energy and the means, we can’t easily sell our mobile homes, and as the space rent goes up, our equity plummets. We are a captive audience.

Meanwhile, the owners are making an 8.5 percent (before the last raise) return on their investment of almost a million and a half dollars. Evidently, they want to boost it higher, and the easiest way to do this is to increase NOI (net operating income).

This can be accomplished by raising the space rent, and they can do that with impunity, because the only limits they have are conscience and satiety.

In this regard, satiety is unattainable because they can’t answer the question, “When is enough, enough?

So, I made a presentation before the Lakeport City Council. I brought a petition for rent control signed by almost every resident of the park. They listened politely, asked some questions, thanked me and sent me on my way. I was unfamiliar with the process, so, I was surprised at the outcome: none.

My next step in the democratic process is the initiative. This will require signatures from a percentage of the registered voters in Lakeport.

I am writing to let you know that I will be around and about in the near future, asking for your help. Let’s put it on the ballot and let the citizens of Lakeport vote “yes” or “no.”

Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.