News

On Tuesday, Aiy-yu-kwee Mobile Home Park resident Cory Holderman asked the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors for help.

According to a report in the Times-Standard, the board voted to direct the Economic Division of Humboldt County Community Development Services "to assist in identifying and preparing grant applications and/or other funding sources for relocation assistance, if available, for the residents of the Blue Lake Mobile Home Park, and to coordinate with the city of Blue Lake."

In a press release issued today, the Blue Lake Community Support Group, "an ad hoc committee of community members who have come together to assist the residence of the Aiy-Yu-Kwee Mobile Home Park evictees in their quest for fair treatment and equivalent housing," responded to comments that Blue Lake Tribal Administrator Arla Ramsey made on Channel 3's Six O'clock news on Wednesday. (Ramsey said that the tribe decided to evict residents for financial reasons and that it had been "subsidizing" park residents since it purchased the park in 2002.)

In direct response to Ms. Ramsey's assertions that the Tribal Council is subsidizing the mobile home Park and that its infrastructure is failing, BLSC Group's research indicates otherwise. At the time of the Park's purchase by the Tribal Council five years ago, local sources report that the septic system was in good shape. Its annual budget was $600 and that covered the costs of pumping out the tanks every few years. Mowing and weed whacking the dirt driveways and around the asphalt one have been the only maintenance applied to the three, short, narrow driving lanes. Since a live-in caretaker handles the mowing and weed whacking, its annual cost to the Tribal Council is minimal. On the income side of the Rancheria's ledger, the BLSC Group's research reveals that the Tribal Council collects over $50,000 per year in rent from the Aiy-Yu-Kwee Mobile Home Park residents.

Unless Ms. Ramsey can disprove these estimations by providing the actual revenue and expense figures, the BLCS Group alleges that during the Rancheria's five years of ownership, the Tribal Council has enjoyed a quarter of million dollars in profit from its Aiy-Yu-Kwee Mobile Home Park.

Here's the Channel 3 news report. It's the second third story.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.470707&w=425&h=350&fv=] from www.kiem-tv.com posted with vodpod

And here's the BLCSG's whole press release: Win-Win Solution