Within 24 hours of the eviction, park amenities were fenced and locked. The residents protested over the weekend; the news cameras showed up. The residents protested the following weekend; news crews did not show. But I did, and I have been following the story ever since.
I actually stopped at the park before the second protest. I went into the office run by United Community Management. I stepped up to the window and said that I was interested in writing about the eviction. The manager, Susan Martorano, wrote down a name on the back of her business card. "Here's who you need to contact," she said.
In the parking lot I introduced myself to Ray. He had been in the office asking about handing over the title to his home. We started talking and then Ms. Martorano came out.
SM: "Please don't harass my residents."
ME: "Ray, am I harassing you?"
RAY: "No" (he winked at me)
SM: "You have to speak to Gary Bitner about it."
ME: "Got it, but that's not the story I want."
As Susan took the last drags of her cigarette, I said goodbye to Ray, wished him good luck, and then got in the car. Then I devised my own plan of how to get into the park. I read every on-line article and perused all the comments. I clicked deeper and deeper and finally found Kathy. She had commented on an article which led me to her Facebook page, where I messaged her, and became her friend. I met Kathy at the first protest...and that's where my blogging began.
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| Kathy Maynard with 2 of her 11 birds. Photo: Ginny Dixon |
September 23: "Eviction at Seminole Estates: The New Homeless"
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| Donna and Troy at the second protest. |
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| Joan sits in an office addition that is no longer standing. |
October 15: "Update on Seminole Estates: One Month Later"
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| It is actually here with Madame Michelle that I first practiced my rusty French. |
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| Diane's strength and passion is inspiring. |
November 4: "Seminole Estates: Evacuation Begins"
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| Raw emotion in an abandoned house. |
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| Skirtless at Seminole. |
I did contact Gary Bitner. Bitner handles P.R. for the Seminole Tribe of
Florida (STOF). As of Thanksgiving, Bitner reports that nearly 200 residents of
the Seminole Estates applied for the $3,000 grant being
paid by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to year round residents with
household income under $40,000. Twenty residents have
been paid with the remainder of applications in process, to be paid once
mobile homes are relocated or abandoned.
For residents who stay beyond
December 31st, rents will go up by $100 every two months. Bitner
calls this an "effort to motivate residents to move out in advance of
the closing of the park
on June 30th." I don't see this as an incentive. I see it as more of a punishment. There are no amenities. The community is trashed. Plus, many of the people who are not motivated to leave simply can't afford to. They are financially strapped, family-less, or sickly. The increase just adds insult to injury.
I asked if there were plans to evict the residents of the
Seminole Park across the road. Several residents at the Estates told me that their neighbors got their notices too. I know that misery loves company, but this news is unfounded. Bitner says he knows nothing of any plans to evict the residents of that mobile home park which is also on land that is a part of the Hollywood Seminole Reservation held in trust by the U.S. Department of the Interior. I drove by last week and residents were setting up Christmas as normal.
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| Scenes from Seminole Park across the road. |
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