An Example of How Homelessness Can Happen

Comment: The article below is an example of one of the ways in which homelessness happens: low-income people--in this case the residents of a rooming house in Parramore--are forced out of housing that is affordable for them to make way for redevelopment--in this case a new publicly-financed arena for the Orlando Magic, a team owned by a billionaire. Often when this happens, the units lost in the community's stock of affordable housing are not replaced and the people who lived in them can't find new affordable housing, so they wind up on the streets. This doesn't have to happen, of course, but does because the powers that be usually don't give a damn about poor and marginalized people. Their concerns are doing the bidding of the wealthy, of business interests and developers and increasing the City's tax base since the more money a City government can spend the more power it has. The opportunity to raise more money is about as irresistible to government as free booze is to an alcoholic.

The City, to its apparent credit, does seem to want to make sure the residents of the rooming house don't join the ragged ranks of Central Florida's 9,000+ homeless. That is if we can believe City Attorney Mayanne Downs when she says "Our goal would be to leave each one of these residents better off than they are now." One usually doesn't expect a City Attorney to exude anything resembling compassion or concern especially in a redevelopment situation. Maybe the City is finally beginning to understand the social processes of homelessness, and figures it's easier to prevent it than to deal with it once it exists.

People, foolishly or not, usually do expect more from elected officials. City Commissioner Daisy Lynum in whose district the rooming house lies, given the chance to do the right thing--i.e., give a damn about the welfare of the low-income and marginalized people who can be found in abundance in her district--once again with her quote in the article provides plenty of ammunition to her critics and those who are, rightly in our view, cynical about politicians. Plumbing new depths of crassness, Lynum boldly (or was it just stupidly?) revealed to the Sentinel that she really doesn't give a shit about the soon-to-be displaced residents of the rooming house. Says Ms. Lynum, who, believe it or not, once was a social worker(!) for what was then called the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and later for the Orange County Public Schools: "They've had plenty of time to relocate. There's a lot of turnover of those tenants. Why would we pay to relocate someone who's been there two weeks?"

This is in keeping with Ms. Lynum's sorry record towards the already homeless. Last year she voted for the City ordinance that essentially bans sharing food with homeless people in public parks downtown and earlier this year she voted for the ordinance that further restricts panhandling. As far as she is concerned the homeless should just starve to death, preferably someplace besides downtown Orlando.

Maybe if those rooming house residents would wise up and hire Ms. Lynum's son, Juan, as their lawyer, she would care since the City by helping them would also be putting some money in the Lynum family's pocket.

And maybe it's nothing more than a coincidence that in the 1997 District 5 City Commission race, one of Lynum's opponents was none other than Charlie Jean Salter, owner of the aforementioned rooming house. Or perhaps it's not a coincidence. Perhaps Lynum is as spiteful, petty and mean-spirited as she appears to be, perversely taking out her dislike of a political opponent on the poor African Americans who have the misfortune to live where the City wants to build a facility to provide more entertainment opportunities for affluent white people.

--Ben Markeson


Homes stand in way of arena
City, property owners fight over land that is planned for stadium

Mark Schlueb |Sentinel Staff Writer
(published) November 12, 2007

Orlando Magic fans and executives celebrated when plans for a new state-of-the-art arena got the green light, but more than three months later, the city still doesn't own all the land where the facility would be built.

Smack in the middle of where the wooden basketball floor would be laid sits a small house, a duplex and a rooming house that are owned by the last holdout in the city's attempt to buy the real estate earmarked for the arena.

"Their view is that someday that property would be worth a whole lot of money. Our view is that today it's not," City Attorney Mayanne Downs said.

If the two sides can't agree on a price by Dec. 5, Orlando officials will go to court and ask a judge to allow the city to take ownership of the land and let a jury determine a fair price later.

Complicating matters further, the house and the rooming house are occupied by as many as 15 tenants. City leaders don't want a repeat of when they built the Magic's current arena. The displacement of dozens of renters fed years of mistrust among longtime Parramore residents.

"I feel like I'm in a spot," said Robert "Sarge" Kent, who said he is one of a handful of tenants who have lived in the rooming house for at least five years. "Where am I going to go? They don't care -- they have a roof over their heads."

The city bought most of the West Church Street property from Carolina Florida Properties a year ago. That 9.4 acres tucked in the elbow of Interstate 4 and the East-West Expressway went for $35.5 million.

City officials reached an agreement with the owners of one of the last pieces of land during a recent mediation session. The owners of E Sciences Inc., an environmental-engineering firm, will be paid $3.95 million for their building, land, relocation costs and other damages. The deal, which still must be approved by the City Council, would pay attorneys an additional $446,000.

Charlie Jean Salter and her family own the last of the property, which has been in the family since 1947. It's not clear how much the Salters want for the land, though some city commissioners said the price had gotten as high as $15 million.

According to city records, the Salters' two parcels were listed for sale at $7 million each in July, a month after commissioners authorized the use of eminent-domain court proceedings to take the land if need be. But in January 2005, the lots were on the market for $1.2 million each, records show.

Attorney Richard Milian, who represents the Salters, said recent negotiations put the price substantially lower than $15 million. Still, there is still "significant ground" between the Salters' asking price and the city's offer, he said.

A court hearing has been scheduled Dec. 5 to decide whether the city has a right to take the land because it would serve a public purpose. If that happens, jurors will decide its worth.

City officials said they hope the hearing won't be necessary and that they'll reach an agreement within 10 days.

Regardless of the price paid to the Salters, city officials' plan to relocate and compensate the buildings' renters will add to the cost. Downs said the city plans to meet with each of the tenants and help them find other housing. Longtime residents will likely be compensated, she said, though no details have been decided.

"Parramore is a very important part of this administration's mission," Downs said. "Our goal would be to leave each one of these residents better off than they are now."

Commissioner Daisy Lynum, who represents the district, said the city should let the court decide a fair price. And she doesn't support the plan to compensate the tenants.

"They've had plenty of time to relocate," she said. "There's a lot of turnover of those tenants. Why would we pay to relocate someone who's been there two weeks?"

Mark Schlueb can be reached at mschlueb@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5417.