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Sunday, November 30, 2008 - 18:31:17
Hell by the Week
I wrote this article earlier this year, about a situation that has been a festering sore in Fayetteville - and other communities in Northwest Arkansas - for a long time now. Lioneld Jordan, who is quoted in the article, may have a chance to have some influence in the matter, now that he has been elected mayor.
Hell by the Week
In Fayetteville, the "affordable housing" no one wants to talk about
Written by Richard S. Drake
It is a blow to reform and the political hopes of the poor that the middle-class no longer understands that poverty exists. But, perhaps more important, the poor are losing their links with the great world . . .They are not seen and because of that they themselves cannot see. Their horizon has become more and more restricted; They see one another, and that means they see little reason to hope. - Michael Harrington, "The Other America"
In an ever-uncertain economy, more and more families find themselves unable to provide even a shadow of the lives that their parents provided for them.
Some find themselves lost in a crippling cycle of poverty, unable to thrive in a community which seems either unaware or uncaring of their problems. Many in this Northwest Arkansas community find themselves living in conditions that can only be best described as sub-standard.
Be careful when you walk out onto the porch - the boards might give way. Don't flush the toilet if all you are going to do is urinate; the landlord hasn't come to fix it yet.
For many, the Dickensian world of poor houses and slums where families struggle by on a few dollars a week may be a sort of Victorian fantasy, but they exist here in our midst. And for many of us, they exist only a few blocks away, in places you would barely suspect.
The debate over what constitutes "affordable housing" has raged in Fayetteville now for over a decade, with most of the conversation having to do with the price of homes. While this is a laudable goal, very little public debate has dealt with rental properties, and ever increasing rents.
And one subject which is never touched upon is the subject of landlords who charge rent by the week, or on a month-to-month basis.
One converted motel in Fayetteville, for instance, charges $275 a month (plus $125 deposit) for a 15x18 ft. room, sans furniture. Naturally, being a former motel, there is no kitchen, though microwaves and hotplates are allowed.
Many older homes rent rooms by the week, to college students or industrial workers. For the most part, these are fairly decent places to live. But there are situations can only be described as unpleasant, and those are conditions that might be found in trailer parks which charge by the week.
While most trailer parks are well-kept properties, some are truly hellish places to live, and while moving in can seem like a good idea at the time, it doesn't take long before one realizes that one is in a financial bear trap.
A financial swamp - just blocks from the UA
Kevin and Mary (their names have been changed) are a young couple who have been living in a small trailer park located just a few blocks from the University of Arkansas. Residents of the park for the past six months, their rent is $165 a week.
Let's not gloss over that. It's not $165 a month. It's $165 a week, payable every Friday. That's $660 a month, except for months with five Fridays - then it is $825.
For this princely sum they have a two-bedroom trailer with all utilities paid - cable TV is extra. The owners of the trailer park insist on cash; checks and money orders are not accepted.
When they moved in, the trailer was roach-infested, and mildew had marred the areas under the sinks.
Mary said, "The light fixtures were also loose when we moved in."
When someone is between jobs, or has to move out from another place suddenly, such trailer parks can seem like a godsend. After only a short time, however, economic reality sets in.
Kevin said. "I bring in two hundred and fifty a week from my job, and we have food stamps." The couple have three children living with them in the small trailer. Even with food stamps, Mary said, "We usually have less than $20 left at the end of a week."
Kevin added, "At my last job, I was always having to get an early draw on my weekly paycheck, just to make ends meet." His new job does not allow this practice.
Kevin travels back and forth to his job on a small scooter.
They are quick to admit that the living conditions are less than ideal, and that the park is no place to raise children. In frustration, Mary pointed out that several of the other park residents are drug addicts.
Occasionally on the roads between trailers, drug syringes can be found on the ground. In fact, after Kevin and Mary moved into the trailer, they found a syringe under the cushions of their couch.
And, of course, others in the park are simply in the same boat as Kevin and Mary, people who had fallen on hard times, and now find themselves further trapped.
The day I visited them in the trailer, I had to be careful not to flush the toilet, as the park maintenance man had not yet been in to fix it since it had stopped flushing properly over a week before. There was also a small saucepan under the toilet to catch leaking water.
In addition to the faulty toilet, Kevin and Mary recounted how their smoke detector had stopped working, and it took several weeks to replace. Finally, a new one was simply placed on their doorstep, so they could replace the unit themselves.
Their ultimate dream - like that of so many other young couples - is to be able to save enough money so that they can find a nicer place to live. Their need for a nicer place to live may be more immediate than that of most young couples, however.
They recounted how sewage pipes from several trailers stick up out of the ground, and become clogged with toilet paper and excrement, and that children often play through the area, both before and after park management treat the area with lime.
They do not allow their own children to play around the pipes.
The writer pretends to be looking for a place to live
While taking pictures of various rent-by-the-week parks in Fayetteville, I visited the site with the open sewage. Sure enough, at least one pipe seemed to be clogged with toilet paper. As I came around the corner, putting my camera in my pocket, I walked - almost literally - into the park maintenance man.
"Can I help you?" he inquired.
"Why yes," I answered quickly. "I'm looking for a place to live. Do you have any trailers available?"
Two minutes later I was speaking with the manager, a heavy-set middle-aged woman. She explained the payment schedule to me, and how if my rent was late by a day, a daily charge would be put on my rent, until I was evicted the next week.
"That's okay," I said. "I think I may be able to work things out with my wife fairly soon. I don't anticipate being here very long."
I then found myself standing in a dark, dingy two-bedroom trailer, much like Kevin and Mary's. Even if one broke all the windows, and took off the doors, the trailer would still be as dark as a cavern. I have no sense of smell, so I can't report on that, but the signs of mildew stain in the bathroom and kitchen were evident.
In one bedroom, the door was only standing upright because a wire was affixed to the closet, holding it in place.
Possibly the most disturbing thing was the back door of the trailer; the lock was completely broken off, and it was only held in place by a wire holding it to the frame. One good tug or shove would no doubt give entry to anyone desiring to break in.
I told them that I might be back. On the way out of the park I noticed that there was no sign out front, advertising the park's presence. Under one streetlight was a video surveillance camera, the lens broken, and the wire
cut.
Before this article went to press, I spoke with the Code Compliance Division at Fayetteville City Hall, and learned that in the summer of 2007, the owner of this particular trailer park had been sent a certified letter which declared the park a "Public Nuisance."
The letter was never signed for or picked up.
After we spoke, city inspectors came out again and looked over the property, investigating plumbing and taking photographs for possible code
violations.
Of course, if pressed, the owner may simply decide to shut the trailer park down - thus throwing all of the tenants out on the street, forcing them to look for new homes.
For families who can barely save $20 a week after rent and groceries, this may be next to impossible. If they are lucky, they might move in temporarily with family or friends.
But if they are not so lucky?
This taking advantage of people when they are already down does not sit well with some in local government. Alderman Lioneld Jordan (Ward 4) had this to say when he read the interview with Kevin and Mary, and saw the photographs of the plumbing at the park:
"It is a sad state of affairs to think that anyone would be living in that kind of condition. We as a city must make sure that all citizens are cared for and are treated humanely. To have a decent place to live would be at the top of the list."
There are other places in Northwest Arkansas where landlords, eager to make a quick buck, see tenants as nothing more than income, and not as human beings.
For some it makes no difference that the tenants are Hispanics, or U.S. citizens down on their luck. For them, these individuals and their families exist only to be fleeced, whether the housing is adequate or not.
Fayetteville may have come a long way from the days when it was rumored that one trailer park in town put plywood down the center of a trailer and would rent out both halves - one half with a toilet, the other with a kitchen.
But not much more, evidently.
But perhaps things may turn around, with increased scrutiny on the part of the city administration and city council. As Alderman Nancy Allen (Ward 2), said about the situation, "This is shameful. In my opinion, a moral city can no longer turn its back on a segment of our population and just give lip service. It is time to back up the talk. I don't know the answers, but it is time to find them and take action. No one should be living in sub-human conditions. We must take an ethical stand and quit pretending the poor are invisible or wish them out of our eyesight."
In January, inspectors from the city of Fayetteville went out to the trailer park. The City informed the park management that, due to the obvious sewer water over flow problems, the situation must be fixed or they would risk having their water disconnected.
The manager indicated in a phone conversation to the city that the problem had been fixed. Nevertheless, city inspectors planned to revisit the site the next week.
As for Kevin and Mary? Their pipes were fixed, but they were then informed that they would have to clean their front yard or be charged $30.
The trash in the yard included the mess left over from fixing the sewage lines.
Life goes on.
Richard S. Drake is the author of a novel, "Freedom Run," and a history of
Fayetteville, "Ozark Mosaic: Adventures in Arkansas Alternative Journalism,
1990-2002."
Arkansas Free Press - February, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - 23:12:57
Matthew Petty: The taste of crow - it does a body good
I know one thing for sure - young Matthew Petty needs to be getting on YouTube tonight, promising support to the new mayor. I look forward to seeing that video, especially after reading pearls of wisdom like this on his website:
New Council Would Work Best with Mayor Coody - http://www.matthewpetty.org/blog?page=1
The taste of crow - it does a body good.
I have never seen any newly elected official shoot themselves in the foot - actually, both feet - as well as young Petty has in the past few weeks - and he hasn't even taken office yet.
******
There is no joy in Mudville: the Mighty Coody has struck out
Just thought I’d get there before anybody else did.
Oh! somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville -- mighty Coody has struck out.
*****
What’s Adella Gray gonna do now?
Well, maybe Dan can call or email her every so often and “suggest” how she should vote on issues, since he won’t be there to directly influence her any more. This is going to be tough!
****
Quote of the Day
He that lives upon hope will die fasting. - Benjamin Franklin
Yes, Dan Coody has been really good for me
If Dan Coody loses the election today, part of me will be sorry to see him go.
No, not the part that wants more open government, and less snobbishness on the part of our chief executive, but the part that helps to get my writing going every few days.
It’s awfully hard to get writer’s block with a man like Dan Coody in the mayor’s office.
In the past several years I have written thousands of words - on this blog, in articles, on Internet listservs, and in letters to the editor - about the Coody administration. I have interviewed several people on my show who have been critical of Dan Coody and his policies.
In short, Dan Coody has been good to me, personally. And how have I thanked him?
Well, some of my writing has been pretty good, I think. So it’s not like Dan hasn’t gotten something in return, in a lopsided sort of way.
******
And if Dan should win today?
If Dan should pull a rabbit out of the hat and win the election today? Well, while there may be great wailing and gnashing of the teeth, small, twisted part of me would look forward to Dan once again occupying the seat of power.
*****
Maybe we should all have followed Harlan Ellison’s advice
Harlan Ellison - one of the giants in my pantheon of great writers - once said that with people of Coody’s ilk, the solution wasn’t to adopt a tone of moral outrage, but to “Laugh the f*****s out of existence.”
In short, make them them figures of fun, to satirize them. Experience has taught us all that Dan hates to be laughed at, or not to be taken seriously. Perhaps if we wins this go around, that approach might be tried.
****
Quote of the Day
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace in a continual state of alarm (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing them with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. - By H.L. Mencken
***
This Month’s Holiday
Peanut Butter Lover's Month.
I love turkey, but I could eat peanut butter every day and never get bored.
Speaking of turkey, who are these bland folk who are pushing this white meat crap? Dark meat! Dark meat! Give me a drumstick, or give me death!
Sunday, November 23, 2008 - 18:22:35
Well, my neighbors are all heathens
Setting the scene: Tracy is in Dallas, and I’m relaxing, watching last week’s episode of Dexter, when a knock comes on the door. Naturally, the dogs - our very own Regiment of the Damned - begin a cacophony that could raise the dead.
I open the door to find two fresh-faced young men who tell me that they are from the Church of Latter Day Saints, and wonder if I have found Jesus Christ.
“Already found him,” I answer genially, as I begin to close the door.
But these two young men - who have a fine future as car salesmen ahead of them, I can already tell - aren’t about to let me get off so easily.
“What about your neighbors?” One makes the mistake of asking. “Would they benefit from our speaking to them?”
I laugh in encouragement. “Well, my neighbors are all heathens.”
I begin to close the door. “So you really can’t recommend anyone?” one persists, still holding out hope.
I laugh again. “My dogs need help, but that’s a whole other matter.”
It’s always odd how truly religious folk just don’t think that a “No Solicitation” sign really applies to them, isn’t it?
******
Quote of the Day
I see nothing wrong with giving Robert some legal experience as Attorney General before he goes out to practice law. - John F. Kennedy
Comedy Tonight: I should vote for Dan Coody because he wants a wood-fired hot tub?
Under the section of his pro-Dan Coody website - http://www.matthewpetty.org/content/environmentalists-dan-coody - Matthew Petty lists several of the reasons that Dan Coody “gets it.” While dismissing Lioneld Jordan’s telling the Sierra Club that among the things that he had personally changed to help the environment included mowing his lawn less and composting, young Petty writes a love sonnet about Dan Coody:
Dan, on the other hand, drives an efficient car, rides an electric bike, likes living in small homes, and is designing an off-grid house with a wood-fired hot tub.
Okay, I’m glad that Dan has the money to indulge himself. It’s at times like this that I have to actually consider that many of Coody’s really think that everyone has the money to do such things, and simply choose not to do them. Suddenly a lot of the snobbishness on the part of many Coody supporters begins to make sense.
And the paragraph concludes with a savage - all right, it’s more comic than savage - attack on Jordan.
Lioneld slugs Red Bulls and bottled water on the campaign trail, and Dan tried to ban bottled water from the city budget.
Doesn’t he know that Red Bull gives you wings?
And what’s up with “Dan tried to ban bottled water from the city budget?” Do I sense some revisionist history coming out of City Hall?
Young Matthew is also pretty darned upset that the Sierra Club endorsed Jordan, and not Ed Begley, Jr’s newest friend.
To insinuate that Lioneld is a better environmentalist because he has the Sierra Club's support is to ignore the expertise of the very active environmentalists listed above, including myself.
And the Washington County Green Party? Now the truth can be revealed!
(Also, the Washington County Green Party made their endorsements primarily on social and unionization issues, not environmental issues. I know because I was asked the same questions as a City Council candidate. As I said before, the Campus Greens endorsed Mayor Coody.)
Damn those social issues.
I’m not sure what “unionization” issues are - couldn’t you have just said union?
Well, if Jordan wins on Tuesday, I expect that young Petty will be YouTubing frantically that very night, pledging his troth to the new administration.
******
Quote of the Day
There is virtue in suffering, that there is a sort of psychic economy, whereby if you embrace success, happiness and comfort, these things have to be paid for. Hugh Laurie
Friday, November 21, 2008 - 17:44:34
Sarah Palin: A little too grotesque to be believed?
Well, isn’t this sort of thing usually done way from the fun and frolic of the other turkeys getting butchered? Is there something in the snow up there in Alaska?
Palin pardon amid turkey butchery
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has issued her traditional Thanksgiving "pardon" for one turkey - while other birds were slaughtered in the background.
The former Republican vice-presidential candidate was doing her governor's "duty" to save one lucky bird at a farm in Wasilla.
But in the video footage of Mrs Palin, a man can be seen butchering birds in the background.
Mrs Palin did not comment on the slaughter taking place.
To read more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7742689.stm
******
Quote of the Day
You will stay young as long as you learn, form new habits, and don't mind being contradicted. - Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 22:04:08
The Family Council: Onward to the Middle Ages!
I got my monthly newsletter from the happy folks at the Family Council (sometimes referred to as the Arkansas Family Council), trumpeting their success on the passage of Act One, the Arkansas Adoption and Foster Care Act. A joyful sound emanates from the words of Family Council president, Jerry Cox:
Now, Arkansas foster and adoptive children will be in safer homes. In addition, we have stopped gay activists from using our adoptive or foster children to advance their political or social agenda. On Election day, Arkansas joined California, Florida, and Arizona, who passed marriage amendments, that drove back the gay agenda. But Arkansas has moved ahead by joining Utah in reestablishing the nation’s most effective law banning gay adoption and foster care. From this victory, we must move forward.
Yeah, cuz you know, gay people don’t actually love kids. They’re just tools to advance a social agenda.
But wait! There’s more! Jerry assures us that gay activists in such places as Fayetteville and Little Rock have vowed to repeal Act One, to say nothing of the dreaded ACLU.
Not only that, but the newly energized Family Council wants all the bigots who voted for Act One to know that even more dangers loom on the horizon for the decent and of pure of heart. There’s those partial birth abortions, the threat of casinos in Arkansas, and - gird your loins - Jerry feels that gay activists may try to push that awful “hate crimes” legislation through the Arkansas state legislature.
And then, of course, there is the dreaded Equal Rights Amendment. I’ll bet folks at the Family Council have been slipping the ERA into Grimm’s Fairy Tales for years, terrifying thousands of kids every night.
And then there is the nosy Department of Human Services, which is always rewriting child abuse laws. Or, in Jerry’s panicked prose:
. . . we must be certain that parents don’t lose the right to spank their children.
The Family Council has also taken a stand on free-market capitalism - they like it, and so should you. Standing against the “Obama agenda” is also something that they’d like us all to do.
So yeah, heathen, health care is a Christian issue. So basically, keep things the way they are.
The Dark Ages are beckoning, even as we speak . . .
******
Arkansas Gay History
Those interested in gay history in Arkansas might be fascinated by this excellent website:
www.arkansasgayhistory.blogspot.com/
All manner of fine writing can be found there. I've contributed a few pieces from the Ozark Gazette, dealing with Fayetteville’s attempt at a Human Dignity Resolution, and our sad history of gay bashings. But there are lots better writers than me on the site - check them out.
*****
Quote of the Day
He who plants a tree plants hope. - Lucy Larcom
****
Forget the stupid sheep; this is what I want to see cloned
I’m sure everyone has a favorite creature from the past they’d like to see resurrected. Actually, I’d kind of like to see a sabre-toothed tiger, as well. Is that too much to ask? I think maybe Primeval has spoiled me for real life.
Regenerating a Mammoth for $10 Million
By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: November 19, 2008
Scientists are talking for the first time about the old idea of resurrecting extinct species as if this staple of science fiction is a realistic possibility, saying that a living mammoth could perhaps be regenerated for as little as $10 million.
The same technology could be applied to any other extinct species from which one can obtain hair, horn, hooves, fur or feathers, and which went extinct within the last 60,000 years, the effective age limit for DNA.
Though the stuffed animals in natural history museums are not likely to burst into life again, these old collections are full of items that may contain ancient DNA that can be decoded by the new generation of DNA sequencing machines
To read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/science/20mammoth.html?hp
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