scott.carroll@heraldtribune.com
MANATEE COUNTY -- When the county started slapping condemnation notices on trailers at the
Trail Motel and Mobile Home park, its residents, who were threatened with eviction and deportation,
thought they had nowhere to turn.
A couple of months ago they were right.
Back then Gulfcoast Legal Services couldn't help because of the $1 million a year it got in federal funding.
The funding came with strings attached: Gulfcoast was forbidden from filing class action suits
or helping undocumented residents.
Because of those and other restrictions Gulfcoast took a big risk last year and decided to forgo the
federal money beginning on Jan. 1.
Turning away the money allowed Gulfcoast lawyers to file suit on behalf of the Trail residents, claiming the county's
actions were discriminatory and illegal. The suit has bought the residents time to find other housing and prodded the
county into taking the unprecedented step of offering them money to help them move.
"This is a first test for Gulfcoast, and they've been very effective," said Greg Schell, an attorney with the Lake Worth-based
Migrant Farmworker Justice Project, which is also involved in the lawsuit.
"We would not have gotten involved if Gulfcoast hadn't stepped forward."
Gulfcoast Executive Director John Cunningham said the agency decided to seek other funding so it could help residents
like those at Trail -- poor, Hispanic, unfamiliar with the legal system, and unaware of their rights. Gulfcoast is based in
St. Petersburg and has offices in Clearwater, Sarasota and Bradenton. Those areas are experiencing explosive growth
among Hispanics, Cunningham said, and many are in desperate need of legal counsel.
Many Trail residents are here legally but so fearful of authority that if lawyers trying to help had been forced to ask
for documentation it would've scared their clients away, Cunningham said.
That isn't a problem anymore, he said. "We're trying to represent people without regard to their country of origin."
Joan Mahon, a social worker who has been assisting Trail residents, said Gulfcoast has given them hope. Before
the lawyers stepped in, chaos and fear reigned at the dilapidated trailer park, she said.
In addition to the condemnation notices, representatives from the firm buying the trailer park told residents they
would be deported or lose their children if they didn't move, Mahon said.
"They lived in fear every single day. They were scared, confused. The threats were coming from so many different
directions that they didn't know what was what."
While life at the park is far from ideal -- sewage spills are common and there is no management to fix things or handle
unruly residents -- the 100 or so people still living there are hopeful.
"I see them smile now," Mahon said. "They're grateful that they're not on the street, and they realize without Gulfcoast
none of this would've happened."
County Commissioner Jonathan Bruce said that even though Gulfcoast is suing the county, both sides have the same
goal: ensuring that Trail residents live in a safe environment.
"I respect the fact that Gulfcoast is giving these folks legal representation, that somebody is looking out for them,"
Bruce said. "There are some horrendously dangerous situations in there. The common position is that we're going
to do what we can to help those folks."
Last summer Bruce balked when Gulfcoast asked the county for $18,000 to help renters fight illegal evictions.
Bruce, a landlord with more than 100 rental units in the county, criticized Gulfcoast at the time for helping deadbeat
tenants manipulate the system to "delay the inevitable."
Gulfcoast got the $18,000, only after agreeing to help more homeowners and fewer tenants.
Bruce said Gulfcoast's current efforts are "an entirely different matter" that won't affect the agency's chances for future
county funding.
Cunningham said he expects to have another funding "battle" this year, but his group will continue to help people in need.
"We're representing those that have a serious problem," Cunningham said.
Last modified: February 15. 2004 12:00AM