Covington tries expelling mobile home residents

If you're poor or working-class, you're no longer welcome in the city of Covington, Kentucky. You built the city with your hands, but city officials say you're no longer needed.

Without warning, the city has forced Covington Mobile Home Park to close - and residents have only until mid-March to move out. The city purchased the property and gave each household only $500 to cover expenses. Some residents are military veterans, have recently had major surgeries, or are disabled.

This is nothing less than a nauseating mass expulsion - and an uncompensated land grab. Surely, the residents - although they don't own the park - had invested more than $500 in their homes. Anything short of homelessness costs more than that. I've spent tens of thousands on rent in the years since I got my current apartment, and if the government purchased my building, I'd feel as if I have a constitutional right to have the government compensate me for every last penny - even though I don't own the building.

The deal stems from a zoning change enacted by the city in 2006 designed to keep out housing for people who aren't financially secure. The city refused to allow the mobile home park (which already existed then) to be grandfathered. The city now plans to use the mobile home park site for just an empty space.

This is just the latest right-wing class war being waged by an American municipality. And - like too many other crusades like this - it's being waged by a bona fide city, not a rich suburb where you'd expect it. In other words, residents don't even have a local government that represents them!

The federal government should levy a stiff fine on the city of Covington for housing discrimination based on economic level.

The expulsion of mobile home residents by the city of Covington brings government tyranny to the very doorstep of countless people. Is it too late to fight it on the ground? For some it is, because the media wouldn't cover the story until now, after some have already given up and moved out. But it's not too late for the rest. (Incidentally, I have notified Occupy Cincinnati of the situation.)

And I will remember this class war. I'm not one to let it go unanswered.