Mobile home park residents breath sigh of relief – for now

The public comment was notably relaxed at the latest Sonoma City Council meeting when City Planner David Goodison introduced the adoption of a moratorium on the conversion of mobile home parks to resident ownership.
Councilmember August Sebastiani set the tone at the start of Wednesday night’s session by dedicating the meeting to the memory of Harry Drittenbas, former vice president of the Rancho de Sonoma Homeowners Association, who passed away recently.
Former president of the association, Diane Shepherd. who a neighbor said had left her sick-bed to come to the meeting, thanked Sebastiani. She told the council Drittenbas was, “a valued friend and staunch advocate against the condoizing of Rancho de Sonoma, and he will be greatly missed.” Noting that Prop 99 was passed by a two-thirds majority and Prop 98 “was soundly defeated,” she urged the council to extend the moratorium “as long as deemed necessary.”
Other voices joined her plea, recommending varying lengths for the extension. Tom Martin, treasurer and representative of the executive board of he Sonoma Valley Democratic Club urged the council to extend the moratorium until a later date, not only for the Rancho de Sonoma but other communities as well.
Laurie Gallian said, “It’s time to do due diligence, but it’s also time to resolve the situation because a lot of individual lives are in the balance.”
Preston Cooke, whom an observer described as “congenial,” requested that the Council not have a year of negotiations but just “cut that time back. I would hope you would look at two months,” he said, “I think that is adequate time. If in two months, we’re not ready, I’d be willing to extend it again, but I would request a shortening of that time.”
Sam DiGiacomo summed up the park residents’ plea with uncharacteristic brevity. “This morning, we woke up to a better California,” he said, “as voters approved Prop 99. Tonight, we hope to go to sleep in a better Sonoma. We ask for unanimous vote to extend our condo conversion moratorium. We must continue to protect our citizens and our affordable housing stock.”
Mayor Joanne Sanders said the Council is “very motivated to get this resolved and get this in place while the Council is seated here.” She said further, “There have been some comments thanking the Council for their support of rent control. I want to go on record that I have been steadfast in my support for the precious affordable housing stock we have at our three parks, and I will continue to be supportive of protecting that, and protecting all of you.”
The council voted unanimously, with Councilmember Barbose absent, to extend the moratorium for another year.