Residents urge council to support mobile‑home advocates and investigate alleged smear campaign

Several residents of Petaluma mobile‑home parks used the general public comment period to press the council for help after receiving a hand‑delivered packet they called defamatory.

Jorge Rango Garcia (speaker 17), who said he has lived at Capri Villa for 23 years, told the council the packet had been distributed to every resident and expressed concern that it seeks to weaken resident leadership and trust: “These new owners claim they have they want to interact and negotiate with the residents, but all we know from them, their track record are eviction evictions, illegal rent and space increases,” he said.

Bert Boda (speaker 5) described a broader pattern and called the packet a “disinformation campaign,” saying it was designed to destroy confidence in their organizer: “This is how a professional agitator operates,” he told the council, urging it to acknowledge and address what residents described as organized harassment.

Multiple other speakers — including Linda Rennie (speaker 18), Kat Pollan (speaker 19) and others who identified themselves as residents or advocates — asked the city to connect them with legal resources, document the alleged harassment and help determine whether park ownership had legal exposure. They specifically named Harmony and 3 Pillars as parties residents see as hostile to their organizing efforts and asked for continued city support to defend rent‑stabilized seniors on fixed incomes.

Council members listened and several reiterated the council’s past work strengthening mobile‑home protections; some asked staff to provide an update on related matters such as state fee increases and available legal supports. The mayor closed public comment after confirming the clerk had recorded the speaker cards; no formal council action was taken during the public comment period.