These talking points are suggestions. Pick one or two that resonate the most with you and make them your own.
Please remember, we are the good guys. We are polite, persistent and relentlessly reasonable. We don’t yell, threaten or insult. We offer solutions, not complaints.
Talking points
Nevada County can mitigate the homeless/housing crisis by making RV/trailers safe, available and affordable without having to build anything or spend millions of dollars.
This is about solving a problem, not “addressing” the problem.
We have a homeless/housing emergency. Redefining legal housing to include RV/trailers just makes sense, especially if you care about the welfare of our unhoused citizens.
Most homeless people are not mentally ill or addicts. They just need housing they can afford.
Excluding RV/trailers is implicit class discrimination. Just because we live in RV/trailers because that’s all we could find or afford doesn’t automatically make us “trailer trash.”
So many people already live in trailers that code enforcement would have to remain complaint driven – but the complaint must have merit.
Code Compliance’s first priority should be keeping people where they are and assisting them to come into compliance. Forced relocation/evictions should be a last resort.
Code Compliance must report the demographics of all the individuals who are forced to relocate.
Working-age adults coming out of homelessness need RV/trailers as first-step, transitional housing on their way to better housing once they get stabilized.
RV/trailers are a last resort for older and disabled people on fixed incomes who can’t find housing.
Currently, RV/trailers are the only truly affordable housing out there that doesn’t require government subsidy (our taxpayer dollars) to be affordable.
For extra income, property owners in the unincorporated areas of Nevada County who are not using their RV/trailers can choose to rent them out to responsible people on the same basis as any other rental transaction.
People who have private property and the right hookups can rent space to people who have their own RV/trailers.
Renting homes on wheels on private property is what housing for the people by the people is all about.
Having a safe place to live is a human right. If there is no housing, we must at least establish safe places for people to camp or park with toilet facilities and garbage cans.
