Hialeah looking to form task force to help residents with soaring rents
HIALEAH - Enrique Julian Ramirez is 84 and lives with his two sons in Hialeah. The retired carpenter says his rent increased by $400 in the past year.
He's now paying a whopping $2,100 a month in rent.
"I pitch in to pay because both of my kids can't do it on their own, I couldn't do it on my own," Ramirez said.
Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo says Ramirez's story is a familiar one and he's forming a task force to help residents with soaring rents.
"We need to plan for the city of the future. Be proactive," Bovo says. That plan doesn't include recreational vehicles.
Last week, the city put the brakes on residents renting out their RVs to people who can't afford the high rent.
Now, councilman Jesus Tundidor who supported curbing RV rentals says the city needs a roadmap to help more than the 11,000 people currently getting housing aid.
"We are policymakers, not developers. We need a group of individuals to help us get there." That includes developers who sat down with Tundidor and other stakeholders Monday.
Bovo and Tundidor say everything is on the table, from looking at worker housing to redevelopment of existing buildings to create more affordable housing.
Hialeah has over 200,000 residents and Bovo says the population is increasing with immigrants settling there.
Those immigrants will need affordable housing, along with current residents.
Ramirez says he's glad the city is looking at solutions because renters need relief.
"They should look at the situation. We have to pay otherwise they evict us."