With another to begin it was...

February 3, 2013

Last Winter's End...

I've been attempting for some time now to draw attention to what I've seen happen to a home owner in Sacramento county’s Arden Manor neighborhood after a fire destroyed most everything he had including over 100 years of family treasures along with his life’s work as a photographer and journalist. Not withstanding is the fact that the house was severely damaged and then torn down by code enforcement who are guilty of some very shady maneuvers along with a serious conflict of interest on the part of one officer and his wife – also his supervisor at code enforcement – and a business they have an interest in that got the contract for an unnecessary haz mat clean-up because they falsely claimed there was asbestos in the house. This man, who was five years from retirement, had planned on getting a reverse mortgage to support him in as a supplement to his social security. The economic downturn had left him unemployed and with no insurance  and even though he was slowly getting the property cleaned up and trying to line up the needed materials for rebuilding the county spent 16-months harassing him and wearing him down until they tore down his family home. It’s a crime that this happened and trying to get anyone to help has been futile.

I know a lot about this situation and the pain he’s been put through because I am that man. And if it didn't happen to me I may not believe it just hearing about it. But it is true and somehow I’m going to expose this to the world. I've been beaten down and trampled on enough and I want justice to happen before I’m forced to do something foolish when I've lost all hope. I've been maligned and slandered, accused of a number of untrue “crimes”, lied to, lied about and generally treated like the scum of the earth when what I was guilty of was being the victim of a fire. I’m left a homeless bum with no job, few clothes, a fraction of my belongings and now no chance of much of a retirement.

Fortunately there are some fantastic neighbors living around my property who have been a great help and who are cool with me staying on the property – first, in a tent and the past month or so in a used motor home I was able to acquire.

My health has suffered through all of this as I suffered a broken neck and hip when I was younger and the hip was replaced 24-years ago but now is starting to fail. And the living arrangements have aggravated my arthritis especially in the extremely cold winter nights lately. Luckily I’m single and have no children. Its just me and my English Shepherd XZ but I had to give my other dog, Shadow, up for adoption because it was just too much for me.

While this mess wouldn't have been nearly as devastating 20-years ago at 58 its extremely tough to start all over again. And I suppose that since I have kept my spirits up through it all and maintained a sense of humor – that’s my shield from the pain! – people assume I’m doing better than I am. But I’m not doing well at all and I’m so full of anger that if something doesn't happen soon to lift my spirits I may go postal. I have little left to loose and not much of a future to look forward to so… Its not a very healthy situation.

I’m behind on taxes and the property is due to be sold at auction February 25 but the letter sent by the tax assessor says they want a minimum bid of $78,500 for an empty lot in a neighborhood where houses are going for a little over $100,000 I doubt there will be many interested parties bidding on it. If they would have left the house there it would possibly sell but with the damages – mostly the roof and all the sheet rock and the stucco that needed to be replaced - $45-50,000 would be more likely.

Ten or twelve years ago downtown Sacramento City code enforcement tore a man’s house down and attorney Andrea Miller handled that and got the guy – Mario Marino I think was his name – and I had contacted her and thought she was going to take the case. But she said her law firm had a conflict of interest since they had some kind of county contract so she couldn't help me. And with no telephone and only a bicycle for transportation I’m having trouble finding someone else to take the case,

Yet I see ridiculous cases like a burglar getting shot in the commission of a crime receiving some mega amount of money for his injuries and I have to wonder what is wrong with this country?