Our View: It’s time for the City of Gilroy to take action
regarding the health and safety issues at stake at Velladao Mobile
Home Park.
When it comes to the appalling situation at Velladao Mobile Home Park, the operating word is safety.
City officials must find a way to enforce reasonable safety standards for the residents of the south Gilroy facility. With wires Duct-taped to poles and 700 square feet of spilled raw sewage, it’s hard to see how the city could overreact to a situation that imperils not only the residents of Velladao but the entire community.
After visits last week by state inspectors, who have jurisdiction because the park is classified as a transportation facility, some temporary fixes are in place, but it is clear that more long-term repairs are needed.
Of course, we’re concerned about the residents – we don’t want anyone to become homeless. But we’re also worried about serious health risks from repeated sewage leaks, and about the safety of the park’s residents and firefighters should the unsafe wiring spark a fire.
We don’t think it’s premature, despite the assessment of some city officials, to consider having the city take control of the park.
“If it means us taking over control of the park to make it work, because the state either can’t or won’t (order adequate repairs) – I think that’s something we have to seriously look at,” City Councilman Russ Valiquette said recently.
We have other ideas for addressing this issue as well:
– The city should investigate passing an ordinance that regulates mobile home and trailer parks to a higher standard than the state requires so that Gilroy could inspect and cite any mobile home park that doesn’t meet its standards.
– The city should investigate whether or not its blight ordinance be used to bring this park up to proper health and safety codes. Standing sewage and Duct-taped electrical wires seem to meet any commonsense definition of “blight.”
– Gilroy’s state representatives, Assemblyman Simón Salinas and State Senator Elaine Alquist, should bring pressure to bear to speedy repairs and/or find alternate affordable housing for these residents.
– Salinas and Alquist should sponsor legislation to toughen state standards for “transportation” facilities where people live, like Velladao, and remove any loopholes that might exempt older facilities from modern standards.
With health and safety concerns as serious as those at Velladao Mobile Home Park, there’s no time to delay. There’s little risk of overreacting. This community must find a way – now – to make sure the residents of Velladao Mobile Home Park have a safe, healthy place to live.
