Dear Editor,
It was with a sense of dismay that I read both the Western Wheel article and editorial regarding the mobile home park residents’ request for an advisory board.
It is indeed interesting, if not worrisome, that Coun. Fischer and the Western Wheel editorial mutually advanced a suggestion, worded in the negative, that our dilemma is somehow not a Town issue and that the Town should avoid becoming involved, which, of course, begs the question: will the Town get involved when the mobile home park goes into disrepair and becomes a slum?
Particularly worrisome is a fact that homeowners in our mobile home park have no control with respect to the pads upon which their home sits.
We do, of course, accept that the land has value and that Lansdowne deserves a return on their investment, but to what end?
I would like to remind the parties involved that we both vote and pay taxes.
Our taxes are paid over and above our pad rents.
I would also suggest that research should have been undertaken prior to comments being advanced.
The Mobile Home Sites Tenancies Act clearly states, “A council may by bylaw establish a Mobile Home Sites Advisory Board and provide for the remuneration of its members and any other matters pertaining to its procedures or incidental to the exercise of its functions.”
We interpret this as meaning Town council must pass a bylaw to enact this legislation. The act goes on to clearly define the function of such a board.
It would appear by Lansdowne’s resistance to our request that they have something to hide. Might it be that they don’t want to lose their cash cow?
In closing, we ask only that we be treated in a fair and reasonable manner in compliance with the act.
Kenneth Hood
Okotoks
