Texas Statute Paves Way for Highway Robbery
Last Friday, the ACLU and the ACLU of Texas submitted a brief to the Texas Attorney General’s office arguing that a District Attorney in East Texas should be barred from using money unfairly taken from motorists under Texas’s asset forfeiture law to defend herself from a lawsuit brought by motorists who claim that their property was taken illegally.
The District Attorney, Lynda K. Russell, is accused of participating in a scheme in which police officers routinely pulled over motorists in the vicinity of Tenaha, Texas without cause, asked if they were carrying cash and, if they were, ordered them to sign over the cash to the town or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes. The seizures were purportedly made under Texas’s asset forfeiture law, which enables authorities to seize the profits of crime without a conviction. However, authorities had no evidence that plaintiffs were engaged in any criminal activity. None of the plaintiffs was arrested or ever charged with a crime. In a CNN.com article, David Guillory, one of two lawyers representing the plaintiffs, estimates that authorities in Tenaha seized an astounding $3 million between 2006 and 2008, and that in about 150 cases – almost all of which involved African-American or Latino motorists – the seizures were illegal.
District Attorney Russell argued that she should be able to use these funds for the “official purpose” of defending herself from charges that she threatened motorists with criminal charges if they didn’t hand over their money. The irony is rich, given that the purpose of the asset forfeiture law is to make sure that criminals don’t benefit from their crimes. Furthermore, Texas law prohibits the D.A. from using forfeited assets for this purpose.
According to state legislator John Whitmire, police agencies across Texas are wielding the asset-forfeiture law more aggressively these days to shore up their shrinking operating budgets. In Tenaha, the facts show that it was African American motorists who were forced to pay the price for the economic shortfall. Similarly, near the Mexican border, Hispanics allege that they are being singled out by local law enforcement. Yet again, it looks like people of color have come to bear the brunt of unfair and illegal enforcement of policy. What’s more, this is not the first time that the use of asset forfeiture as a law enforcement tool has been criticized. The practice received considerable attention in 2000 and 2001.
Although the ACLU opposes the use of forfeited assets to pay for District Attorney Russell’s defense, the ACLU has also argued that she should receive skilled government legal representation. In a disturbing refusal to accept responsibility for the D.A.’s actions, the Attorney General and the county both refused to represent Russell. Left unchallenged, this position is a threat to the civil and constitutional rights of all citizens. When a public official violates constitutional rights, the government must be held accountable. Otherwise, a dangerous precedent is set whereby government may excuse itself from overseeing the people it empowers and finances to act on its behalf. Either the county or the State must step up and take responsibility for Russell’s actions in Tenaha.
October 16, 2009
October 7, 2009
The Brazosport Facts: Finding A Silver Lining - One Year After Ike
Photo: Dan Dalstra, Brazosport Facts
Debra and Paul Furrh and their daughter, Maddie, examine a hole in their wall at their Lake Jackson home a year after wind from Hurricane Ike knocked a large tree through the house.
Debra and Paul Furrh and their daughter, Maddie, examine a hole in their wall at their Lake Jackson home a year after wind from Hurricane Ike knocked a large tree through the house.
One Year After Hurricane Ike
By Nathaniel Lukefahr
Ray Wilkinson plans to begin today shooting the breeze with passers-by from the porch of his new Arizona home. It’s the same thing he did almost every morning during a 30-year stay on the Surfside beachfront. He’ll do the same thing today, but the former islander does not expect the day to end the same as it did last year.He’ll do the same thing today, but the former islander does not expect the day to end the same as it did last year.
Without a car and unable to get a lift off Surfside Beach because he many times had refused help from police, Wilkinson rode out Hurricane Ike’s howling wind and powerful storm surge from an apartment on Fort Velasco Drive. As the storm began pushing water over the roadways and flinging objects through the air, Wilkinson left his porch and moved inside, attempting to find peace amid the fury by resting in bed.
“The storm got to shaking the house so bad that I got out of bed and laid down on the floor,” Wilkinson said. “There was nothing else I could do.”
Wilkinson emerged from the apartment hours later to find the island battered and many buildings severely damaged or destroyed, but he walked away unscathed. In the days following, the former Marine would become a local celebrity for riding out the storm with beer and cigarettes.
But things can change drastically over the course of a year, even for an old carpenter set in his ways, Wilkinson said from his new home. The change of scenery helped Wilkinson curb his drinking and smoking habits, and he began receiving treatment for a hip problem. And the celebrity is no more, Wilkinson said.
“When I went through that, I realized I had had enough,” Wilkinson said. “I like privacy just like you do and anyone else. I get tired of repeating it to people all the time. Would I advise anyone else doing that? No. Would I advise me doing it? Didn’t intend to.” “But it happens,” he said. “That’s the best way I can put it.”
THE DEVASTATION
Ike’s 110-mph wind and 20-foot storm surge pummeled the Texas coastline early Sept. 13, 2008, causing more than 800,000 insurance claims totaling more than $10 billion in damages, according to the Insurance Council of Texas.
First responders determined 20 people died in the Category 2 storm, but none died in Brazoria County. Coastal towns in counties most affected by the storm — Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston and Jefferson counties — suffered major losses, according to the insurance council.
Every structure in Quintana suffered some damage from the storm, while Surfside Beach sustained $7 million to $10 million in damages and 20 homes were either pulled into the Gulf of Mexico or destroyed. One of t he homes lost at sea was a blue beachhouse managed by Brooks Porter.
Once Porter was able to make it through the debris cluttering the front row, the only proof the 1,100-foot rental home had existed was three small pieces of siding resting on the ground and one damaged piling. “Everything else was completely gone — no bathtubs, no couches, no nothing,” Porter said.
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THE UNEXPLAINABLE
One year after Ike’s storm surge pushed almost 7 feet of water into Anchor Church in Surfside Beach, twisting the building 8 degrees and causing severe damage, congregants still can’t explain a mystery within.
Congregants found flood damage almost to the top of the church’s doorways, fallen walls and a refrigerator and freezer, table and chairs, and desks had been thrust outside. But a set of books in a bookshelf about 4 feet high were untouched.
“I thought, ‘Well, maybe the pressure of the building would not let it come in,’” Pastor Gaylan Jones said with a laugh. “But that isn’t so, because you could see how it was totally washed out everywhere. It’s kind of unexplainable, but we had the books to prove it.”
The church was condemned and since has been demolished, Jones said. Now, congregants meet in Richwood for praise and worship every weekend, but the pull of the ocean is too strong. People were saying, ‘Let’s look for something over the levee,’ but after we got off, people began to say, ‘We miss the beach.’” Jones said. “We checked around and asked how many want to go back and it was just about unanimous.”
Plans are to take $400,000 of insurance money and rebuild the church when this year’s hurricane season comes to a close, Jones said. But there will be one change.
“I guarantee you that it won’t be on the ground,” Jones said.
Members must replace most of the items that were inside the church when water pummeled the building, but the books that survived the storm unscathed come as proof that miracles do happen, he said.
THE EVACUATION
For Jim Andreas, the hurricane brought out the good in people, showed him others cared and was a way for community members to get together and work through problems as a group, not leaving one person to fend for himself.
Andreas, like about 1,200 Brazoria County residents, evacuated his Freeport home on a bus to a Bell County shelter through the 2-1-1 service for people who have medical needs, don’t have a vehicle or don’t have money to travel. There, Andreas says, he felt treated like an equal and made many friends.
“When we got there it was more like, ‘God, am I in a major hotel?’” Andreas said. “That’s the way they took care of us. It was a lot more than I expected. The people up there — I’ll walk there if I have to go to get back to that place.”
Andreas evacuated for Ike and for Hurricane Rita, and said there’s no way to compare the two evacuations.
“The first time we went it was just a terrible situation because of the trip, not because of where we were,” Andreas said. “It was the 24 hours I was in a school bus in clothes and stuff that weren’t meant for that type of trip in a non-air-conditioned school bus.”
But the trip during Hurricane Ike was about six hours, and when he got to the final destination, it was well worth it. “The second trip was fantastic,” he said. “It was well-planned and they got us there in a comfortable situation as quickly as possible.”
Andreas has registered for the 2-1-1 service again and says he won’t think twice before evacuating if another storm comes Brazoria County’s way. “I’ve already got my plans right here in front of me,” he said with a laugh.
READY TO GO BACK HOME
Paul and Debra Furrh have marked this Thanksgiving as a return to normality. After months of arguing with insurance companies and waiting on trustworthy contractors to become available, construction on their Lake Jackson home is under way and could be finished by the start of the holiday season.
The roof is on, the rafters have been fixed and the trees are gone, but work on the interior has not been completed yet, Paul Furrh said.
“It was a long, drawn-out ordeal that took a long time to finish,” Paul Furrh said of dealing with insurers and contractors. “I’m tired of the whole thing.”
The home suffered severe damage during the hurricane when a tree fell and snapped a water line, leading to flooding and eventually gutting the majority of the house.
Since then, the couple and their five children have been living in their Surfside Beach vacation home, which they were surprised made it through the storm. Debra Furrh said the family is thankful for its second home, but after one year, it’s getting a little cramped.
The Furrhs provide legal assistance to low-income families who have suffered loss in disasters such as hurricanes, Paul Furrh said. The destruction of their home has helped them relate to clients.
“It’s been a long year,” he said. “I’m much more sympathetic than I ever was in my life to my clients after having my life disrupted. It’s just not an easy thing.”
THE REBUILDING
Lake Jackson Public Works Director Craig Nisbett was shocked when he saw what Ike left in its wake a year ago. More than 80,000 cubic yards of trees and other organic debris were scattered everywhere, blocking roadways and hindering attempts to get municipal services back online.
“When I first saw it, I said, ‘My goodness, how are we going to get all that picked up?’” Nisbett said.
It took about 4,000 truckloads, or three days’ worth of trips to the city’s waste site, to clean it all up.
Mike Sorrell, owner of debris removal company Mike Sorrell Trucking & Materials, was tasked with cleaning what the storm left in its wake along Brazoria County’s coastal communities and Bluewater Highway. Mangled tree limbs, home debris and dead animals were all over the coastal area, and crews removed them with bulldozers, excavators and front-end loaders.
Sorrell had a special request from county leaders to create a makeshift path down Bluewater Highway so sheriff’s deputies could reach the Treasure Island subdivision near San Luis Pass.
“I took a ’dozer through and around the washed-out areas to make us a path,” Sorrell said. “It was nasty — a lot of dead hogs and dead birds.” The hurricane knocked out power to many cities for as long as three weeks, but the county’s industrial backbone quickly stepped in to help them out so they could run essential services. Dow Chemical Co. offered generators to Surfside Beach and Lake Jackson, while BASF loaned equipment to the same cities, Freeport and Demi-John Island.
“It was a need,” BASF Freeport site General Manager Art Colwell said. “We live in this community. It’s your family and it hurts, so you want to do what you can to relieve that.”
THE LESSON LEARNED
Even with all the destruction and the exhaustive work to put everything back together, area leaders say the storm has a silver lining: Teamwork and determination can overcome any obstacle.
After crews worked to remove debris, repair infrastructure and replenish the beach, Surfside Beach and Quintana officials reported strong spring break and Memorial Day attendance.
“I think it looks better than it did before,” Sorrell said. Ray Wilkinson, the man who faced the hurricane head-on and survived, agreed, even if he’s not there anymore.
“Even before I left it was coming back pretty good,” he said. “It will be there in no time.”
Facts reporter Erin McKeon contributed to this story.
Nathaniel Lukefahr covers coastal communities for The Facts. Contact him at 979-237-0151 or nathaniel.lukefahr(at)thefacts.com.
BY THE NUMBERS
Key numbers in Hurricane Ike recovery:
800,000
Number of insurance claims filed in Texas as a result of Ike
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$10 billion
Total amount of damage from Ike as judged by the value of insurance claims.
---
$7 million per day
Amount FEMA has disbursed in Texas since Ike made landfall early on Sept. 13, 2008. That amounts to about $2.5 billion total.
---
$1.15 billion
Amount FEMA spent on debris removal statewide.
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$21.4 million
Amount FEMA has given Brazoria County for debris removal.
---
$4.04 million
Amount FEMA spent in Brazoria County to replace buildings and the equipment within.
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$16.7 million
Amount of FEMA money awarded to Brazoria County homeowners.
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$189.56 million
Amount of FEMA housing money distributed in Galveston County since Ike.
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$28.63 million
Amount of assistance Brazoria County businesses have received since Ike.
---
$242 million
FEMA funds received by Galveston County businesses.
--
$637 million
Business assistance statewide from FEMA.
Sources: FEMA, Insurance Council of Texas
State of Texas Sued Over Food Stamp Delays; Applicants Wait 6 Months When Federal Regulations Say No More Than 30 Days
TEXAS SUED FOR DELAY ON FOOD STAMPS
Applicants waiting months for a process feds say should take 30 days
To get more information about Health and Human Services programs that provide food and other assistance, call 2-1-1 or 1-877-541-7905.
AUSTIN - Rachel Cavazos is getting close to desperate. A pending divorce and no full-time job have left her struggling to feed her four children. She applied for food stamps in April but is still is waiting for approval. "It's very upsetting. It's very frustrating," the 32-year-old Houston woman said. "It's very hurtful, especially when somebody doesn't give you the benefit of the doubt. The help is not for me. It's for my babies. I don't want my children to suffer."
Cavazos is one of thousands of Texans waiting for food stamps, demand for which has spiked in recent months. The long wait has prompted some advocates to file a class-action lawsuit to try to force Texas to comply with federal regulations requiring that most eligible applicants be certified for food stamps within 30 days. "There has been a long-standing delay in certifying people for food stamps in Texas," said Texas Legal Services attorney Bruce Bower, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit. "The food stamp benefit is 100-percent federally funded. All that Texas has to put in is one-half of the cost of administration. ... It's up to them to figure out how many people they need to administer the program in accordance with federal guidelines."
The Legislature authorized the state's Health and Human Services Commission, which administers food stamps, to hire 656 employees starting Sept. 1 to help determine applicants' eligibility. "We have an obligation to do better for Texas, and we're trying," agency spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said, "but adding workers is a long-term solution because of the length of time it takes to train workers. So, it doesn't provide the immediate relief we need in a short-term situation like a hurricane or what we hope is a temporary downturn in the economy. Workers are coming in early, staying late and working weekends to try and catch up."
Critics counter that the number of new employees will not substantially change the ratio of recipients per worker - roughly 779 today. "This lawsuit is the direct result of the Legislature's unwillingness to provide adequate funding for the state's eligibility system," said Celia Hagert, a senior policy analyst at the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities, which tracks issues important to lower-income Texans. "We have urged the state to address the crisis in our eligibility system for years and are hopeful that legal action will bring about the needed fixes."
So far this year, the percentage of applications that took longer than 30 days to certify has ranged from 19 percent in January to 37 percent in July. Two years ago, 2.3 million Texans depended on the food assistance program. Today that number has grown to 2.8 million. More than 364,000 Harris County residents were on food stamps last month, about 63,000 more than in July 2007. The average Harris County family receives $324 worth of food aid per month. People are eligible for food stamps if their income falls below the federal poverty guideline, which this year is $14,570 for a family of two; $18,310 for a family of three; $22,050 for a family of four.
Donna, a 66-year-old Houston woman with health problems and no insurance, renewed her food stamp application in early June. Recipients must reapply every six months. She still is waiting to get help for food purchases. "I have just been doing without," said the woman, who asked that her last name not be used. "I am not trying to get myself put forth in front of the line over somebody else. I'm trying to speak out for the masses. It's very frustrating dealing with them."
Food stamp applicants should document their paperwork, said Jeff Larsen, a staff attorney for Lone Star Legal Aid. Some lose valuable time because the agency cannot account for their applications, he said. Sending the request by certified mail or from a fax machine provides a valuable record, he said. Cavazos is trying to keep a positive outlook, despite the hardship. She has no vehicle. She cleans houses for $40 a job whenever she can find work. "I am very blessed," she says.
gscharrer@express-news.net
Applicants waiting months for a process feds say should take 30 days
To get more information about Health and Human Services programs that provide food and other assistance, call 2-1-1 or 1-877-541-7905.
AUSTIN - Rachel Cavazos is getting close to desperate. A pending divorce and no full-time job have left her struggling to feed her four children. She applied for food stamps in April but is still is waiting for approval. "It's very upsetting. It's very frustrating," the 32-year-old Houston woman said. "It's very hurtful, especially when somebody doesn't give you the benefit of the doubt. The help is not for me. It's for my babies. I don't want my children to suffer."
Cavazos is one of thousands of Texans waiting for food stamps, demand for which has spiked in recent months. The long wait has prompted some advocates to file a class-action lawsuit to try to force Texas to comply with federal regulations requiring that most eligible applicants be certified for food stamps within 30 days. "There has been a long-standing delay in certifying people for food stamps in Texas," said Texas Legal Services attorney Bruce Bower, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit. "The food stamp benefit is 100-percent federally funded. All that Texas has to put in is one-half of the cost of administration. ... It's up to them to figure out how many people they need to administer the program in accordance with federal guidelines."
The Legislature authorized the state's Health and Human Services Commission, which administers food stamps, to hire 656 employees starting Sept. 1 to help determine applicants' eligibility. "We have an obligation to do better for Texas, and we're trying," agency spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said, "but adding workers is a long-term solution because of the length of time it takes to train workers. So, it doesn't provide the immediate relief we need in a short-term situation like a hurricane or what we hope is a temporary downturn in the economy. Workers are coming in early, staying late and working weekends to try and catch up."
Critics counter that the number of new employees will not substantially change the ratio of recipients per worker - roughly 779 today. "This lawsuit is the direct result of the Legislature's unwillingness to provide adequate funding for the state's eligibility system," said Celia Hagert, a senior policy analyst at the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities, which tracks issues important to lower-income Texans. "We have urged the state to address the crisis in our eligibility system for years and are hopeful that legal action will bring about the needed fixes."
So far this year, the percentage of applications that took longer than 30 days to certify has ranged from 19 percent in January to 37 percent in July. Two years ago, 2.3 million Texans depended on the food assistance program. Today that number has grown to 2.8 million. More than 364,000 Harris County residents were on food stamps last month, about 63,000 more than in July 2007. The average Harris County family receives $324 worth of food aid per month. People are eligible for food stamps if their income falls below the federal poverty guideline, which this year is $14,570 for a family of two; $18,310 for a family of three; $22,050 for a family of four.
Donna, a 66-year-old Houston woman with health problems and no insurance, renewed her food stamp application in early June. Recipients must reapply every six months. She still is waiting to get help for food purchases. "I have just been doing without," said the woman, who asked that her last name not be used. "I am not trying to get myself put forth in front of the line over somebody else. I'm trying to speak out for the masses. It's very frustrating dealing with them."
Food stamp applicants should document their paperwork, said Jeff Larsen, a staff attorney for Lone Star Legal Aid. Some lose valuable time because the agency cannot account for their applications, he said. Sending the request by certified mail or from a fax machine provides a valuable record, he said. Cavazos is trying to keep a positive outlook, despite the hardship. She has no vehicle. She cleans houses for $40 a job whenever she can find work. "I am very blessed," she says.
gscharrer@express-news.net
Kemah homeowners face losing Ike-damaged property - Galveston Daily News
The Galveston County Daily News
Homeowners face losing Ike-damaged property
By Rhiannon Meyers
The Daily News
Published October 4, 2009
Manuel Chavez Jr. sleeps on a mattress on the floor of a house Hurricane Ike flooded a year ago. There are holes in the roof where a tree fell through, leaving blackened tufts of insulation poking through the ceiling. There is a spider-web pattern of fissures in the floor where an uprooted tree cracked the concrete foundation. Drywall hidden behind a layer of gray stucco is moldy and rotten. The air-conditioning doesn’t work. Kemah city officials told Chavez he can’t live in these shabby conditions. He must repair his house and elevate it — or he must leave. Officials in Kemah and Clear Lake Shores warned the owners of at least seven other storm-damaged houses they must repair or demolish their properties.
But Chavez and others said they can’t afford the repairs. The flood of federal dollars that was supposed to help needy people repair and rebuild their hurricane-damaged houses haven’t arrived. Though the federal government set aside $3 billion to aid recovery from hurricanes Ike and Dolly, some people who need help the most can’t get it.
Coming To A Head
In the past year, officials in Kemah and Clear Lake Shores have allowed people to live in conditions the city never would have permitted before Hurricane Ike. But some people have done nothing to repair their houses. The situation is coming to a head, building inspector Jack Fryday said. Clear Lake Shores officials notified the owners of two houses they are living in substandard conditions, Fryday said.
In Kemah, at least six Spanish-speaking families, including Chavez and his elderly parents, have sought help from Lone Star Legal Aid to try and hold onto their houses, which they have been unable to repair or raise, Fryday said. Kemah eventually will set a firm deadline by which residents must repair, and in some cases elevate, their houses or must demolish them, City Manager Bill Kerber said. Kerber said he knows not all Kemah families can afford the repairs. Kemah referred residents who asked for help to area charities or church groups, but some residents never asked for help, he said.
Besides, they should have had flood insurance before Hurricane Ike, Kerber said.“The federal money is slow coming in — we understand that,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is that these people, whoever they are, decided to build in a flood plain and build in an area that is below base flood elevation and they got caught up in the system … and it’s unfortunate.”
Not Targeting Poor
Some people might not be able to afford to meet those standards and won’t be able to afford to live in Kemah, but the city is not trying to force out its poor, Kerber said.“I’m so tired of that crap — I really am,” he said. “It’s like we’re the bad guys. We’ve done everything in the world to try to help these people. I’m sorry they’re poor. I’m sorry that they don’t have any means. We tried to guide them in the right direction to those programs that are, unfortunately, late.
“But everybody wants to put the bad-guy thing on us. Like we don’t want the poor Mexicans or the poor blacks, and we only want the rich people and the Tilman Fertittas. That is absolutely ludicrous.” Fertitta is the CEO of Landry’s, which has invested millions in the city, including its landmark Boardwalk. A city is not protecting residents if it allows them to live in substandard and unsafe conditions, Kerber said. But Chavez said he doesn’t know what he’ll do if the city gives him the ultimatum to demolish. He already applied for a demolition permit for his house to buy time with the city. The permit expires in January. After that, the city could start condemnation procedures, or it could give residents more time to repair and rebuild their houses. That decision will be left to the city council, Kerber said.But, he added, Kemah can’t wait forever for those repairs to happen.
Help Slow To Arrive
In the meantime, there is a “major lack of resources” in Galveston County to help the neediest victims of Hurricane Ike, Brittany Rodriguez, Recovery for Ike Survivors Enterprise spokeswoman, said. The organization, which is operated by Lutheran Social Services, has been charged by the Federal Emergency Management Agency with finding Gulf Coast hurricane victims and connecting them with services or resources near their homes. The case management program is a first for FEMA. The agency gave Lutheran Social Services, which is based in Austin, and other organizations $24.3 million to hire case managers from area charitable organizations, including several in Galveston County. The case managers so far have found 548 Galveston County people who need help with everything from patching a hole in a roof to building an entirely new house, Rodriguez said. New cases come in daily, she said.Unfortunately, financial help in Galveston County is scarce, Rodriguez said.Local charities are stretched thin, she said. Federal dollars that are supposed to help people repair their homes won’t arrive for months.“One of the hardest things for case managers to do is having to contact people and say, ‘We’ve got your case, but there’s nothing we can do for you,’ which I’m sure is frustrating to people,” she said. “We want to help everybody. Our goal is to help everybody get back to their pre-disaster lives, but the resources aren’t there.”The situation should improve when the first round of federal Community Development Block Grant money — $1.3 billion already approved by the state — trickles down to Galveston County, Rodriguez said. The city of Galveston, which has hired a consultant to divide the money among needy homeowners and renters, could start helping people make repairs by January or February, city spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.Galveston County may not be able to help people make repairs until the spring at the earliest.
They Must Leave
Every day that ticks by without help, Mark Holland inches closer to losing his childhood home in Clear Lake Shores. He collected $15,000 in insurance money, but it wasn’t enough to repair the brick home that filled with 5 feet of water during Hurricane Ike. He said he’s fighting the insurance company for more money. Holland lived with his brother in a travel trailer in front of his home until Clear Lake Shores told the brothers the trailer had to go. Leaders of the small town, taking pity on the Hollands, allowed them to keep the trailer until Oct. 31, but the brothers moved out anyway, City Manager Paul Shelley said. Since they couldn’t afford to repair the house, Holland built a temporary house — a small plywood storage shed with a loft and enough room for two beds, a desk and a few chairs. Without windows, the shed is stuffy and hot, even with the wide barn doors flung open. There’s no bathroom, so the brothers trek inside to use the moldy shower or the toilet.The air is thick, and it smells like rot and mold inside the darkened house. When neighbors complained about the noise from the generator the Hollands use to power a computer and cell phone chargers, the brothers muffled the sound by operating the gas-powered machine inside the gutted house. Every time they have to use the bathroom, they run inside, shut off the generator and throw open the doors of the house to ventilate the carbon monoxide.“I’ve got to tell them to leave,” Fryday, the inspector for both Kemah and Clear Lake Shores, said. “They’re just one step above being under a bridge.”
No Solutions
But, Holland said he can’t afford the repairs. He said he called the program run by Lutheran Social Services for help, but he hasn’t heard back. Rodriguez said while the organization’s goal is to contact clients within one or two weeks after they call, some case managers, especially in Galveston County, have been taking up to six weeks to return calls. The organization is working on fixing that lag time, she said. But even if the Hollands were assigned a case manager, the help they need to rebuild the house isn’t available.Fryday said he explained to the Hollands the city can’t continue to allow them to live in such unhealthy and substandard conditions.“What kind of solution do you have?” Fryday asked Holland.“The only solution I have is to put a bullet in my head,” Holland answered.
Homeowners face losing Ike-damaged property
By Rhiannon Meyers
The Daily News
Published October 4, 2009
Manuel Chavez Jr. sleeps on a mattress on the floor of a house Hurricane Ike flooded a year ago. There are holes in the roof where a tree fell through, leaving blackened tufts of insulation poking through the ceiling. There is a spider-web pattern of fissures in the floor where an uprooted tree cracked the concrete foundation. Drywall hidden behind a layer of gray stucco is moldy and rotten. The air-conditioning doesn’t work. Kemah city officials told Chavez he can’t live in these shabby conditions. He must repair his house and elevate it — or he must leave. Officials in Kemah and Clear Lake Shores warned the owners of at least seven other storm-damaged houses they must repair or demolish their properties.
But Chavez and others said they can’t afford the repairs. The flood of federal dollars that was supposed to help needy people repair and rebuild their hurricane-damaged houses haven’t arrived. Though the federal government set aside $3 billion to aid recovery from hurricanes Ike and Dolly, some people who need help the most can’t get it.
Coming To A Head
In the past year, officials in Kemah and Clear Lake Shores have allowed people to live in conditions the city never would have permitted before Hurricane Ike. But some people have done nothing to repair their houses. The situation is coming to a head, building inspector Jack Fryday said. Clear Lake Shores officials notified the owners of two houses they are living in substandard conditions, Fryday said.
In Kemah, at least six Spanish-speaking families, including Chavez and his elderly parents, have sought help from Lone Star Legal Aid to try and hold onto their houses, which they have been unable to repair or raise, Fryday said. Kemah eventually will set a firm deadline by which residents must repair, and in some cases elevate, their houses or must demolish them, City Manager Bill Kerber said. Kerber said he knows not all Kemah families can afford the repairs. Kemah referred residents who asked for help to area charities or church groups, but some residents never asked for help, he said.
Besides, they should have had flood insurance before Hurricane Ike, Kerber said.“The federal money is slow coming in — we understand that,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is that these people, whoever they are, decided to build in a flood plain and build in an area that is below base flood elevation and they got caught up in the system … and it’s unfortunate.”
Not Targeting Poor
Some people might not be able to afford to meet those standards and won’t be able to afford to live in Kemah, but the city is not trying to force out its poor, Kerber said.“I’m so tired of that crap — I really am,” he said. “It’s like we’re the bad guys. We’ve done everything in the world to try to help these people. I’m sorry they’re poor. I’m sorry that they don’t have any means. We tried to guide them in the right direction to those programs that are, unfortunately, late.
“But everybody wants to put the bad-guy thing on us. Like we don’t want the poor Mexicans or the poor blacks, and we only want the rich people and the Tilman Fertittas. That is absolutely ludicrous.” Fertitta is the CEO of Landry’s, which has invested millions in the city, including its landmark Boardwalk. A city is not protecting residents if it allows them to live in substandard and unsafe conditions, Kerber said. But Chavez said he doesn’t know what he’ll do if the city gives him the ultimatum to demolish. He already applied for a demolition permit for his house to buy time with the city. The permit expires in January. After that, the city could start condemnation procedures, or it could give residents more time to repair and rebuild their houses. That decision will be left to the city council, Kerber said.But, he added, Kemah can’t wait forever for those repairs to happen.
Help Slow To Arrive
In the meantime, there is a “major lack of resources” in Galveston County to help the neediest victims of Hurricane Ike, Brittany Rodriguez, Recovery for Ike Survivors Enterprise spokeswoman, said. The organization, which is operated by Lutheran Social Services, has been charged by the Federal Emergency Management Agency with finding Gulf Coast hurricane victims and connecting them with services or resources near their homes. The case management program is a first for FEMA. The agency gave Lutheran Social Services, which is based in Austin, and other organizations $24.3 million to hire case managers from area charitable organizations, including several in Galveston County. The case managers so far have found 548 Galveston County people who need help with everything from patching a hole in a roof to building an entirely new house, Rodriguez said. New cases come in daily, she said.Unfortunately, financial help in Galveston County is scarce, Rodriguez said.Local charities are stretched thin, she said. Federal dollars that are supposed to help people repair their homes won’t arrive for months.“One of the hardest things for case managers to do is having to contact people and say, ‘We’ve got your case, but there’s nothing we can do for you,’ which I’m sure is frustrating to people,” she said. “We want to help everybody. Our goal is to help everybody get back to their pre-disaster lives, but the resources aren’t there.”The situation should improve when the first round of federal Community Development Block Grant money — $1.3 billion already approved by the state — trickles down to Galveston County, Rodriguez said. The city of Galveston, which has hired a consultant to divide the money among needy homeowners and renters, could start helping people make repairs by January or February, city spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.Galveston County may not be able to help people make repairs until the spring at the earliest.
They Must Leave
Every day that ticks by without help, Mark Holland inches closer to losing his childhood home in Clear Lake Shores. He collected $15,000 in insurance money, but it wasn’t enough to repair the brick home that filled with 5 feet of water during Hurricane Ike. He said he’s fighting the insurance company for more money. Holland lived with his brother in a travel trailer in front of his home until Clear Lake Shores told the brothers the trailer had to go. Leaders of the small town, taking pity on the Hollands, allowed them to keep the trailer until Oct. 31, but the brothers moved out anyway, City Manager Paul Shelley said. Since they couldn’t afford to repair the house, Holland built a temporary house — a small plywood storage shed with a loft and enough room for two beds, a desk and a few chairs. Without windows, the shed is stuffy and hot, even with the wide barn doors flung open. There’s no bathroom, so the brothers trek inside to use the moldy shower or the toilet.The air is thick, and it smells like rot and mold inside the darkened house. When neighbors complained about the noise from the generator the Hollands use to power a computer and cell phone chargers, the brothers muffled the sound by operating the gas-powered machine inside the gutted house. Every time they have to use the bathroom, they run inside, shut off the generator and throw open the doors of the house to ventilate the carbon monoxide.“I’ve got to tell them to leave,” Fryday, the inspector for both Kemah and Clear Lake Shores, said. “They’re just one step above being under a bridge.”
No Solutions
But, Holland said he can’t afford the repairs. He said he called the program run by Lutheran Social Services for help, but he hasn’t heard back. Rodriguez said while the organization’s goal is to contact clients within one or two weeks after they call, some case managers, especially in Galveston County, have been taking up to six weeks to return calls. The organization is working on fixing that lag time, she said. But even if the Hollands were assigned a case manager, the help they need to rebuild the house isn’t available.Fryday said he explained to the Hollands the city can’t continue to allow them to live in such unhealthy and substandard conditions.“What kind of solution do you have?” Fryday asked Holland.“The only solution I have is to put a bullet in my head,” Holland answered.
September 28, 2009
Avoiding Disaster After a Major Disaster Hits Your Home
Guest Column:
Lewis Kinard, Supervising Attorney, Centralized Intake Unit & Disaster Outreach, LSLA
http://lewiskinard.blogspot.com/
As Lone Star Legal Aid continues to work with people impacted by Hurricane Ike, we see far too many preventable problems. In some cases, pre-disaster preparation could have saved a lot of stress and strife after the storm. But a number of the problems we see now, a year after Ike, relate to efforts to repair homes damaged by the storm. They are too often very avoidable.
No one questions the desire to quickly get back to pre-hurricane living conditions. That sense of urgency, together with the emotions that well up after a serious threat like Ike, can cloud one’s judgment. People who normally make sound decisions are likely to have a few moments of weakness or drop their guards when they encounter strangers who seem outwardly very genuine and sincere with offers to help get life back to the way it should be. Rest assured, the most untrustworthy scam artists are the ones who have polished their sales pitches and worked on their smiles.
We at Lone Star Legal Aid offer these tips to help people in their efforts to recover. Keep the list somewhere safe or give it to a family member or friend who may need them and pull it out when considering any major home repair project. Help us prevent home repair contractor fraud and contract disputes before the money is gone.
1. NEVER give your FEMA number to anyone besides FEMA or your insurance company; treat it like your Social Security Number.
2. Get all estimates in writing, and get several.
3. Remember your right to rescind a contract when the seller came to your house to get you to sign
4. Check out the people who give you estimates (BBB, references from several months ago (not just down the block that day), court records, criminal records, etc.);
5. Insist on a simple, plain-language contract that you have read and understand before signing.
6. NEVER give a down-payment; instead make progress payments to cover the work as you are satisfied with it. Best: pay half when the work is half done and the other half once the contract is completed to your satisfaction and all sub-contractors and suppliers have been paid.
7. If the contractor uses sub-contractors, require releases from the subs and suppliers before you pay the final half of the money. If not, they can put liens on your home until they get paid.
Almost every problem related to home repair contractor fraud or substandard performance could be prevented or controlled by following Rule #6. If you never give up control over the money, the legitimate contractors will understand; the shysters will be discouraged; and hopefully, the work will be completed to your satisfaction.
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