In the process of gathering signatures these past few months for rent control initiatives, we have had the overwhelming support of the people of Lake County. There have been the occasional naysayers and I would like the opportunity to answer their concerns, and express one of my own.

A few folks have said, “I don’t sign petitions.” And, of course, that is there choice. However, they should know that The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees them the right to petition:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (my italics).

I would implore these folks to consider the wisdom of denying to themselves, categorically, a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

There are a few folks that have vehemently pronounced, “I am against rent control.” I understand their sentiment, but, my response is that “I am against being homeless.”

There are also some folks who believe that the market should be the arbiter of price, and here I would agree in principle. But, there is a counter notion in economics: market failure. Market failure is an imbalance in information and/or power between parties.

Put colloquially, “the playing field is not level.” If your rent goes up, you can look for a cheaper apartment, get a second job, ask your boss for a raise, etc. But, mobile homes, as I have said in the past, are not mobile. In most cases, they cost more to move than they are worth.

And, the senior owners of the mobile homes are often not mobile either: some of the tenants in my park are over 90 years of age. It would be a cold-hearted act of cruelty to vacate them from their homes because they could no longer pay the space rent (which has happened in jurisdictions with no rent control).

The last group of naysayers can’t sign our petition because they are not registered to vote and do not care to vote, for a variety of reasons: “the system is rigged”; “there is no real choice”; “my vote doesn’t matter”; “I never vote”; “I can vote for tweedle-dee or tweedle-dum,” so, “what is the point?”

Your vote does matter: In the 2012 election, approximately 21,000 people voted in Lake County. A few votes can be critical. Please register to vote, and, hopefully you will vote for our initiative when it is on the ballot next year.

You can register at the Registrar’s Office on the second floor of Lakeport City Hall, or you can get the stamped form at the post office, or you can download the form from the internet and fill it out and submit it, or you can get whatever political party that you belong to help you register.

And, you can check the box for permanent absentee ballot, so that you need not have to travel to your polling place at voting time.

The power is in the pencil: please exercise that power and sign our petition, and vote next year when it is on the ballot. Thank you.

Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.