Tell these people "It is Clinton's fault." and see if that makes them feel better.........
February 22, 2004
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Homeless vets live their days in the Pipe City Hotel
Jackson County and a landowner are at odds over use of commercial property as a camping ground
By PAUL FATTIG
Mail Tribune
Old Glory waves above the doorless trailer in the bone-chilling wind sweeping across the Agate Desert in White City.
The flag was erected by Warren and Frank, two homeless Vietnam veterans who call home the Spartan trailer parked amid scattered concrete culverts and old metal pipes.
"I’m real proud of having served my country," stressed Warren, 55, who was in the Navy for four years, beginning in 1968. "I got an honorable discharge. We all did.
"We made some bad choices after we got out but we’re proud of having served our country," he added. "You make sure you put that in there — please."
Frank, also 55, joined the Army in May 1968, and was discharged Dec. 5, 1969.
"Ran out of Medford," is how Frank bluntly described what led him to the site.
"I drank so they kicked me out of the Dom," he said of the nearby Department of Veterans’ Affairs facility known as the domiciliary.
"I went to Medford and stayed there but you can’t camp out in Medford," he added. "So this is my shelter now."
Welcome to the Pipe City Hotel.
The two, who declined to give their last names, are among three veterans living on the property. Veteran Glenn Hubbard lives in a culvert behind the trailer. Frank’s girlfriend, Mary, lives in the trailer.
For some three decades, the site, also known as Tube City by locals, has been used by some folks as a place to sober up or camp when they are down and out. Many are veterans.
The problem is that the eight-acre parcel bordering Agate Road and Leigh Way is zoned commercial, not residential. No camping is allowed.
Property owner Jim Bennett was issued two citations on Jan. 9, charging him with violating three sections of two Jackson County ordinances for not booting out the homeless. The laws make it illegal for people to live on sites zoned commercial.
The only exception are properties where motels or related businesses have been approved, explained Mike Kuntz, Jackson County manager for code enforcement.
Bennett could be fined up to $600 for each of the three counts, Kuntz said. Bennett will have the opportunity to present his case before a county hearings officer March 9.
"In the realm of code enforcement, we don’t see this very often," Kuntz said.
Bennett, a partner in Cornerstone Real Estate in Medford, bought the property five years ago. The developer, citing the growth in White City in recent years, said he plans to build a motel, restaurant and shopping center on the site.
He has other projects now under way along South Pacific Highway in Jackson County and in Weed, Calif., to complete before beginning on the White City property.
"I know there is an ordinance against them staying here," Bennett said while visiting the White City property last week. "I’m not trying to defy that ordinance.
"But the human aspect, coming out here and telling these people they can’t stay here, is very difficult to ignore," he added. "Where do they go from here?"
A Navy veteran who served from 1958 to 1962, Bennett feels a strong bond with fellow veterans, no matter what their lot in life. His father was a veteran of World War II; a brother a helicopter pilot in Vietnam.
"These guys, with what little they have, are just as much Americans as the richest person in this nation," he said. "These guys served. Some of them fought for our country."
Unfortunately, they sometimes fight among themselves, observed Terry Baldridge, manager of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department substation in White City for the past 10 years. The unincorporated community has no police department.
"We’ve had some pretty serious assaults, a lot of intoxication problems over there," she said. "There are issues with sanitation.
"We’ve had a lot of complaints from local businesses. Customers have been hassled at local businesses. There have been shoplifting problems."
At times, as many as eight people have been camped at the site, she said.
"It’s a tough situation for everyone," she said.
The homeless counter they are unfairly blamed for all crimes in the area.
But Judi Burns, a member of the White City Community Improvement Association, said Tube City long has been a problem in the area. She is the business manager for the association’s Cascade Bingo Hall adjacent to the homeless site.
"They don’t have any rest rooms or Port-O-Potties," she said. "There is a lot of drinking over there. We’ve had car clouts."
A founder of the association and a local resident for 30 years, she is quick to observe that local residents have been working hard to build a positive reputation for White City.
"It’s a sad thing," she said of the homeless plight. "But I don’t think Mr. Bennett would want homeless people living next to him. I wish someone had a solution."
As a businessman, Bennett understands the concern of the local business community. He has looked into building subsidized housing elsewhere but recent federal budget cuts have eliminated that solution, he said.
"I’ve tried to do everything I could to get these guys into a house but I can’t find a way to make that work," he said.
He periodically receives calls from the sheriff’s department when there is a problem on the property.
"I’ve been out here a couple of times," he said. "But I inherited the situation. I’m trying to help them (the homeless). I’m not sure what can be done."
Bennett is concerned about the future of the homeless veterans when they can no longer stay on the land.
Booting homeless people from one place to another won’t solve the problem, he said.
Bennett, who has been removing old pipe and other debris from the property, reiterated he finds it difficult to simply kick them out with no place for them to go.
"I came out here one time three years ago in the middle of winter — it was cold as hell," he recalled. "There were people sleeping in these pipes.
"Well, I had a rental property down in Talent where people had moved out and left four or five mattresses in the basement. I was going to haul them to the dump but decided to drop them off here. I felt good about what I did. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything wrong."
The trailer was brought onto the property by a local good Samaritan, he said.
"Someone called me up and asked permission," Bennett said. "I told them, ‘I can’t give you permission because I didn’t want to be responsible.’ "
But he didn’t tell them "no," he said.
Frank walked behind the trailer to show where he and Mary, his girlfriend, lived before the trailer arrived.
He pointed to a rusting metal pipe, perhaps five feet high and a dozen feet long. They used it as a shelter for nearly four years, he said.
"That was our home right there in that tube," Frank said. "God looked down at us and gave us this. It had to be something high above that brought it."
The Earth-bound savior came in the form of a lumber company trucker who brought the trailer, he said.
Staying in a nearby concrete culvert about four feet high is Hubbard, 50, who said he spent 16 years in the service, including hitches in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
He said he was injured in the service and was honorably discharged in 1987. He spent 18 months at the domiciliary.
"But they are pretty much phasing out long-term treatment over there so here I am," he said.
Several empty bottles of Magnum 40 stand near his culvert.
"I got a couple of sleeping bags in there and collect empty bottles and cans," Hubbard said. "I pretty much eat just canned goods."
He goes to the Medford Gospel Mission a couple of times a week to check his mail.
"I just try not to get in a rut," said Hubbard, who is an outpatient at the domiciliary.
The homeless veterans muster at a campfire in front of the trailer at night for heating and cooking.
"We sit around and get warm," Frank said. "The trailer doesn’t have any heat or anything."
Summer time is pleasant enough but the winter winds can have a bite, he allowed.
There are rules. "WIPE FEET BEFOR ENTERING. NO DRINKING BEER OR SMOKING INSIDE HOUSE," reads a sign in front of the trailer.
While life may be difficult, the bond between veterans helps them survive, said Warren, who said he was a machine gunner wounded while on river patrols in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Like Frank, he spent time at the domiciliary before ending up at Tube City.
"That camaraderie is still there," he said. "If you are doing bad and I’m doing bad, we’re gonna do bad together because we’ve been together before.
"It ain’t pretty but it works," he added.
Getting a job is difficult because of their circumstances, he said.
"How would you feel if I showed up looking like this for a job interview?" he asked, then answered, "That application would go straight into the trash can, no matter what my qualifications are."
Warren does have a job delivering papers for the Mail Tribune in the White City area. He rises in the predawn each morning to deliver papers on his bicycle.
"Tell ‘em I need a raise," he said.
Meanwhile, the homeless veterans acknowledged their presence has put Bennett in a bind.
"Here is one man doing more for vets than most people ever consider doing," Frank said. "Most people don’t see homeless vets. He sees us and is trying to do something."
"And now he has to pay the fines for helping us," Warren said. "Would you let someone live on your property if you had to pay a fine for it? That takes a lot of character."
Looking at the flag before leaving, Bennett could only shake his head.
"This is the best they’ve got and the only thing they’ve got," he said. "Now I’m supposed to take that away from them."
Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at
pfattig@mailtribune.com
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[ 02-22-2004, 09:47 AM: Message edited by: Straydog ]
Underserved Vets... timely article.
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