Everyone deserves ethical treatment

I would like to thank the Coloradoan for its prominent coverage of the story about the North College trailer park residents who are being forced to relocate because of the North College Marketplace Shopping Center.

When discussions regarding the North College Marketplace began last spring, I became concerned about the tenants of the trailer park. As the coordinator of the Center for Justice, Peace and Environment, or CJPE, I spoke to City Council members about it. The impression they had was the residents were transient single men, typically living there only a few weeks, who would be satisfied with assistance (up to $2,000) that would be offered by the Urban Renewal Authority and the developers.

On Oct. 26, I visited the trailer park with a CJPE volunteer to see who was living there. We met no transient single men but a community of families that watched out for each other. They were very concerned because earlier that same day they had been served notice by the owner, stating they had to move out by Nov. 30 for the North College Marketplace Shopping Center. The 24 neighbors ranged in age from 3 months to 60 years. Three families had lived there a duration of 2½ to 5 years. Four other families, which included six children, had moved in between April and September. And though the leases were month-to-month, they said they were told verbally they would have 18 months before they would have to vacate. The landlord disputed the tenants' accounts of the situation during the council meeting.

In addition to worries about the move and the loss of their community, the tenants were not advised of the compensation plan available to them. A significant hardship was imposed upon the members of this community, which could have been entirely avoided had their landlord been honest with them. One family could have moved before their baby was born and before the semester at Colorado State University started. Another family could have avoided changing their daughter's kindergarten three times in one semester. Yet another family could have avoided changing junior high schools twice in one semester for their seventh-grader.

After the original Oct. 26 notice, the landlord served the tenants with additional eviction notices, allegedly for not paying November's rent. The neighbors have all stated they offered to pay their rent but that their landlord refused to accept it.

Some have argued that this is a private issue between a landlord and his tenants and that with the month-to-month leases, he was operating within the limits of the law. However, when the city engages in land transactions that force people to relocate, the council needs to ensure that people are given adequate time to move. As a community, we need to progress beyond what's simply legal and strive for what's ethical.

Following the compelling testimony of the neighbors before City Council on Nov. 18, the city agreed to make the relocation funds more flexible, the developer donated $200 in King Soopers gift cards to each family, and the North Fort Collins Business Association offered to give the children winter boots and coats.

The North College neighbors represent for me the face of gentrification in Fort Collins. I suppose many of us will be debating for years the pros and cons of the North College Marketplace. What should never be debated, however, is that we all matter.

Cheryl Distaso is the coordinator of the Center for Justice, Peace and Environment.