When the City of Hollister condemned a hazard-infested house on
East Street nearly two weeks ago, 12 members of Ventura Palma’s
family didn’t just lose a home. They lost each other.
Two victimized families
– 18 people – suddenly had 72 hours, without previous notice, to
vacate their home. Some had lived there for eight years.
Second in a series on substandard housing in Hollister and the story of a family victimized by the inhuman conditions.
When the City of Hollister condemned a hazard-infested house on East Street nearly two weeks ago, 12 members of Ventura Palma’s family didn’t just lose a home. They lost each other.
Two victimized families – 18 people – suddenly had 72 hours, without previous notice, to vacate their home. Some had lived there for eight years.
Left with no choice, Palma’s tightly-bonded family scattered to several homes of friends and relatives, separated. Three stayed at the farmhouse of Sophie Smurthwaite, a Spanish-speaking liaison from a local Mormon church.
Building officials posted notices Jan. 24 proclaiming the house and its two illegal garage conversions as “UNSAFE TO OCCUPY.” Those same officials blamed the home’s wide-ranging unsafe conditions on a negligent landlord who lives in Salinas.
“It’s a strong case for a slumlord property,” said Tim Burns, Hollister’s code enforcement officer, hours before condemning the house.
Ray Proffitt, the city’s senior building official, said 27 East St. was the worst case of substandard housing he had seen in his four years working in Hollister. Building officials had inspected the premises and noted numerous health violations that included overcrowding, toxic mold on ceilings, extension cords lining the floors and even the skeleton of a pit bull in the basement.
But just as the events of Jan. 24 forced them apart indefinitely, the Palma family received a breath of unexpected optimism one week later.
“They’ve got a house!” said Smurthwaite late Friday night – a moment of euphoric culmination to a week of desperation, and failure, to find a willing landlord for the family.
Smurthwaite knew the family beforehand because five of them are fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hollister.
On behalf of the family, Smurthwaite called every local landlord that week, and each turned her down. The family was just too large, landlords said. And without credit or proof of citizenship, each landlord said the risk was too high.
One of those naysayers was landlord Miguel Flores, who eventually decided to give seven of the family members an unlikely break – a home, which they gladly accepted.
“I feel really good,” Palma said. “I feel happy we can be together again.”
A friend of Palma, Cecilia Ruano, had previously committed to renting the same downtown Hollister house from Flores. When she heard about the situation at 27 East St., she approached Flores about the possibility of Palma renting the house – instead of herself.
“Cecilia asked them to please give these people a chance,” Smurthwaite said.
Flores agreed – without credit history or proof of citizenship from a single family member – on one condition.
“He just wanted to talk to them and see if they’re good people or not,” Smurthwaite said.
As it turns out, Flores and Palma already knew each other from working together at Christopher Ranch, which helped ease the situation, Smurthwaite said.
When Smurthwaite told Flores and wife Graciela how the city condemned the family’s East Street home one week earlier, Flores expressed concern that the city may condemn his property, too.
But Smurthwaite walked the landlords through the house, she said, “to show them why they (the city) wouldn’t do anything.”
“There’s no way the city is going to condemn this house,” Smurthwaite said to Graciela Flores.
After nearly two hours of persuasion from Smurthwaite, the landlords agreed. Smurthwaite immediately rushed out with her own ATM card, along with a friend’s card, and promptly returned with the full deposit of $950.
At 10 p.m. the Mormon church reimbursed the $950 to Smurthwaite and her friend. And the next day at 9 a.m., the move began.
Rudolfo Hernandez, the eldest son of Palma, accompanied Smurthwaite with the first truckload. As they pulled away from their rented garage at Mini Max Storage, Smurthwaite said a long-awaited sense of relief had finally set in.
“I feel like, last night, I was finally able to sleep,” she said, smiling, her previous sense of urgency vanquished. “I was so worried about them, and the stress on my own family.”
The Mormon church paid another $950 that morning to cover the first month’s rent. And Mike Skinner, manager at Mini Max Storage, said he plans to give them a partial refund because the family had paid for an entire month.
Several church members helped the family on moving day, including Debbie Boothe.
“We always knew it (27 East St.) was a dump,” she said. “From time to time, they’d look for a place but just never had the income. They were sleeping on the floor, on top of each other.”
As of this morning, the family of Margarita Garcia – Palma’s daughter – who lived in the front garage conversion at the East Street home had decided to go back to Mexico for one year. Garcia, her husband Jose and their three children said they’re moving to a house they own there, which she said is in “good condition.”
“They don’t throw you out like that in Mexico,” she said.
Palma was the first in the family to immigrate to Hollister from Mexico eight years ago. She said the Sandoval family – who lived in the back garage conversion – are also probably going back to Mexico. Two or three different local landlords turned them down, according to Smurthwaite.
Smurthwaite said she hopes the Sandovals could one day move back to 27 East St., if landlord Pedro Lozano keeps his promise to repair the house and its hazards. The Sandovals, like Palma, had lived there for eight years.
Hernandez and Palma still blame the city for the family’s abrupt anguish. Both reiterated that Lozano was not at fault for the house being condemned. To them, according to Smurthwaite, the living conditions at the East Street home weren’t that bad.
City officials said they had no choice but to take immediate action Jan. 24.
“I can just imagine,” City Attorney Elaine Cass said, “if that property went up in smoke, or if a life was lost, you would hear questions. Why did the city not act?”
Officials contemplate the future
The City Council passed an ordinance Jan. 6 that penalizes landlords whose negligence leads to forced removal of tenants. The owner would be responsible for paying a relocation assistance fee to the tenant, which would include moving costs or the difference between the old and new rent.
But the two East Street families failed to qualify because the ordinance doesn’t go into effect until late February.
However, since the city condemned the premises, two separate agencies have considered legal action against Lozano. The city may file a lawsuit, according to Burns – although Cass, as of this morning, said she hasn’t made a final decision on the matter.
The San Benito County LULAC Council contacted the California Rural Legal Assistance Association also about possibly suing Lozano in Small Claims Court. LULAC held its monthly meeting the morning of Feb. 1 and discussed the issue.
“We’re going to support this all the way,” said Marland Holte, president of the local council. “We think we have a pretty good case against this guy (Lozano).”
The situation at the East Street home, Holte said, has shed light on wider local housing problems.
“There are lot of people who don’t have any housing,” he said. “There are a lot of situations in the county that people don’t know about. People would be amazed.”
Holte said several housing activists in Hollister have planned to meet sometime in February to discuss solutions to substandard housing and homelessness. Henry Sumaya, a member of the Mexican-American Political Association, said he’ll be at that meeting. He said building a homeless shelter should be a priority for Hollister.
“We want to develop a plan for the city in order to get ‘seed money’ (for a shelter),” Sumaya said.
Community awareness has escalated since the city condemned the East Street home, Burns said. Several other local agencies, including county code enforcement, have since received calls about housing issues in the community, he said.
“It was almost like putting a sign out that we’re ‘open for business,'” Burns said.
He said he’s anxious to get the new ordinance in place. The house on East Street, he said, was not an isolated case.
“I suspect it’s the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
