First of two parts
[Editor’s Note: Distressing reports such as the following incident are bobbing up around Culver City this season. The unprecedented notion of rent control is being heatedly discussed in some quarters of the city following two recent deaths suffered by persons just informed of titanic-sized rent increases. City Hall remains stoutly opposed to the concept.]
Within view of the City Manager’s office and the chambers where the City Council makes policy most Monday nights, Jose Garcia, strapping and healthy, is living out a daily nightmare never used to have to fret about.
He is a longtime resident of the ironically named Harmony Village, across Duquesne from the Police Dept., and a bird with average eyes could see City Hall from his front steps.
Earlier this summer, Mr. Garcia and his wife were double-punched in the face with an astronomical rent increase that would have rattled and angered the tamest persons.
Mr. Garcia, however, related his story with admirable calmness.
A Lifetime Investment
“I have been here since was four years old. I am 46, going to be 47.
“Me and my wife grew up around the corner on Braddock Drive.”
What, Mr. Garcia was asked, has changed?
“Everything,” he said, evenly. “I do a lot of work in rich communities, like Beverly Hills and the Palisades. I have seen how Culver City is trying to be like them, getting rid of the lower-income people.
“People who can’t afford to live here anymore have to move to Inglewood or South Central. They love to live here, and they have lived here.
“But they no longer can afford it.
“My wife and I have lived here, in this apartment, for 19 years. Around the block, at 9917, my wife was there, and my mother-in-law, who lives across the way, lived there for 25 years.”
Mr. Garcia’s mother-in-law, of advanced age, is among the residents being forced to evacuate and scramble for new quarters.
The reason is unadorned: Well into retirement, she cannot afford the 105 percent rent increase.
Mr. Garcia and his wife have been socked with the same 105 percent jump.
Were tenants given warning or leeway options?
“No,” said Mr. Garcia. “The old owner told us they were going to work with us and that the new owner wanted to meet with us.”
The meetings soured fast.
(To be continued)
