Ok, am I the only person in the valley who thinks it is weird that the city of Boise would take it on themselves to deprive poor families of heat and lights because the landlord can’t be found or held accountable? Does that guy own somebody at City Hall or at P&Z? There is some other agenda going on besides city workers worrying about the safety of a dozen or so poor people. Guardian – would you please get the real facts in this case? It sounds totally phony to me. Thanks.

Thank you for the information, Junkyard. So now we know that Mr. Hoffer is getting the city to evict his tenants for him. How convenient.

Yes, safety is an issue and I agree that park owners should be licensed and properties inspected. I think if Boise City has any consideration for the tenants at all, it will make the most necessary repairs, then collect from the owner, and/or put a lien on the property so that when it sells the city will recover costs.

If you drive around any older section of the valley you will find little pockets of older trailers mostly inhabitated by the poorest of the poor – the young, old, non-English speaking or disabled. I think the city and the county had better start doing an inventory of these properties because the eviction process will only speed up as long as there is demand to “improve” these properties.

The funny thing is, during my many years in real estate, mobile home parks have been known to be a serious cash cow for the owners. The tenants, especially the ones who own their trailers, are over a barrel – they can’t afford to move them and once past a certain age, there are no parks that will accept older homes. What will the city do to help trailer owners from having to abandon their homes? The people renting a trailer might be better off moving, but the ones who own will simply be forced to abandon an investment. That is wrong no matter how you look at it.

This situation is the most blatant and disgusting form of exploitation that one can imagine. The park owner should be fined, then tarred and feathered and run out of town. Or put in jail as you suggest.

You are too kind, Junkyard. My opinion is that the City of Boise just doesn’t give a damn about poor people. However, I heard on the evening news that a group of lawyers are standing up to represent the tenants. A couple of them are guys I know and I hope they will do their best to give aid.

It is hard to understand how this wiring issue is such a damn emergency. There are surely millions of homes, trailers, and old barns that haven’t had the wiring upgraded since electricity was made a part of our daily lives. Just because the new stuff is better doesn’t mean the old stuff doesn’t work. Check out about a zillion cities back East – does anyone think all those old buildings have upgraded wiring? Please.

While I try to resist being part of the conspiracy theory nuts I have to say that the response of the City of Boise is peculiar at best and suspect at worst.

As I mentioned in my last post, this is just the beginning of an avalance of old parks being sold off for bigger profits. I respect the rights of owners to sell their property. However, we must put some laws in place to provide for the relocation of tenants. These folks, for the most part, are among the least able to fend for themselves and they have no idea how vulnerable they are.

Poor people have to live somewhere. A decent society will try to see that they get treated fairly and that a reasonable safety net is there to provide help in the worst of circumstances. I have noted that various groups, including the Catholic Charities, have stepped up to help. That gives me hope that our society is trying to do the right thing. And thank you, Ben Stenkamp, and others, for contacting the mayor about this problem.

P.S. – Junkyard – where did you Google up the sale of the park? I thought I knew something about Googling but that one I didn’t get.

I appreciate your remarks, Joe. I guess we all notice that the mainstream media has gathered up its cameras and has scurried down the street to another story. That is what happens to stories about poor people – they get covered with the dust of the departing TV newspeople. And I guess we can assume these folks are not voters or they might get just some tiny bit of respect.

I want to hear what happens to the jerk landlord and how the city will demand justice for the people left homeless. This reminds me of FEMA and the victims of Katrina on a small scale, except it is caused by a rotten human instead of bad weather.

I can’t remember when a human interest story got me so riled. Will just one news department, print or otherwise, please give us an update on this situation? Thanks.