Thank you for publishing the article “Rent increases hit residents of Woodland mobile home park” (The Columbian, March 5). The Criteses are just two of thousands who are being impacted by drastically rising rental rates across Clark County. Rents have been rising for years, far outpacing the cost of inflation in other areas, and jeopardizing stable housing for multitudes across Clark County. The social service systems in our country were not built to handle a crisis of this magnitude. Upstream policy solutions such as rent stabilization are vital to the health of our community.
Thankfully, Olympia is on the verge of enacting policies to help families like the Criteses. A rent stabilization bill currently in front of the House has the ability to provide balanced, reasonable solutions for skyrocketing rents and prevent the displacement of families and workers across the state. Please contact your legislative delegation and tell them to support rent stabilization.
