Article published Feb 25, 2004
County OKs fund to help residents

By KRISTI CECCAROSSI

Tenants of the Trail Motel and Mobile Home Park got a boost Tuesday, when the County Commission agreed to give residents money to move from the condemned 14th Street West site.

The commissioners approved up to $1,000 in moving expenses and utilities and up to $2,400 in rental assistance per family for 100 Trail tenants.

The next, and more challenging, task is to find affordable housing for the tenants. Still, Joan Mahon, an advocate for Trail residents, lauded the board's unanimous decision.
"It's tremendous," she said, during a celebratory lunch with about 25 tenants at Trail. "The county has never done anything like this."

Trail resident Martha Lainez added, "We can all breathe better now."

The board's vote gives the soon-to-be evicted tenants at Trail immediate support, but it also sets up an emergency housing assistance fund.

The ongoing situation at Trail prompted the commissioners to create the emergency fund, which will also be available to the homeless and others in jeopardy of losing their homes.
Precisely where the money will come from and which department will administer it has yet to be determined. Over the next few weeks, county staff will work on the details, the commissioners said.

On Dec. 29, the county told residents of Trail they had to repair their trailers or move out by Jan. 30. Building Official George Devenport condemned many of the trailers as "unsanitary and unsafe."

Gulf Coast Legal Services then took the county to court on the tenants' behalf, arguing that the residents weren't given proper notice. Federal Judge Richard A. Lazarra ruled in their favor, allowing them to remain in their homes until the end of this month.
In the meantime, the county created the emergency fund to help put Trail residents in safer quarters.

Commissioners Pat Glass and Amy Stein chided Gulfcoast Legal Services Tuesday for interceding in what they argued was the county's commitment to helping Trail residents. Even as the board approved the emergency fund, they lashed out at Gulfcoast lawyers.

"Our staff was already working with families (at Trail)," Stein said. "Instead of encouraging more of them to work with us, (Gulf Coast) responded by dragging us to court on a frivolous claim."
"Our goals," Glass said, "were to do the same thing."

After the meeting, Mahon said that when the attorneys got involved they saw no signs that the county was trying to help tenants.

"The perception of residents and us, as advocates, was that no one in the county was working on this," she said.