[A Fillmore citizen and resident of the El Dorado Mobile Home Park invited Senator Sharon Runner to speak
to the senior residents at her convenience. At issue was the Senator’s vote, or abstaining from voting, on
SB444, saying it has the same affect as voting ‘no’. [Quote from the Capitol Report, the GSMOL Californian,
the July/August Edition, page 4, showing a report by GSMOL Lobbyist Brian Augusta: “Note that a ‘no’ and
an ‘abstain’ are the same; abstaining from voting on SB444 has the same affect as voting no”.]This is the
response from her Runner’s Legislative Director, Tanya Vandrick]

Senator Runner is very busy this week due to it being the end of the legislative session, as am I, so I apologize for the delay in responding. However, Senator Runner will not be addressing the residents at El Dorado MHP. It seems you are misinformed about Senator Runner's vote as she abstained on Senate Bill 444 (Evans).
While she normally supports policies which give local governments more local control she also strongly supports private property rights. SB 444 failed in the Senate with a vote of 18-16. If it had passed it would have discouraged the conversion of mobile home parks to resident ownership. Specifically, it would have allowed a local government to establish ordinances or use other provisions of law to disapprove conversions, so it could have had the effect of keeping mobile home parks under local rent control ordinances that could otherwise convert and get out of rent control. Senator Runner believes that such a policy would have allowed local governments and residents to control private land use decisions for land they do not own thereby infringing on the property rights of the park owner.

Senator Runner understand that she and the residents do not agree on this legislation and will not agree on legislation of this nature in the future. Therefore;— while she appreciates your invitation to address the residents of El Dorado MHP, she respectfully declines. You are, of course, welcome to write an editorial expressing your support for the bill. Senator Runner appreciates an open exchange of ideas with her constituents because this helps her make policy decisions that reflect her constituency as a whole. Believe me, she has had plenty of feedback from both proponents and opponents of SB 444.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and concerns with Senator Runner. She was happy to have me help you track down the person you needed at the City and she hopes your concerns are addressed by the judge's decision to require an EIR before a conversion can be done.

Best regards,
Tanya Vandrick Legislative Director