his column can be found at
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22mike+royko%22%2Bchicago&spell=1
from: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0417pythias.html
Woman could end up on streets
Home being lost to Tempe cleanup
Alia Beard Rau
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 17, 2003 12:00 AM
Brigitte Powers is a recovering drug addict. Until two months ago, she was homeless.
But the 38-year-old could end up back on the streets, a casualty of Tempe's attempt to clean up Apache Boulevard and a non-profit organization's willingness to cooperate.
"I don't know if I'm coming or going," she said. "I just keep packing and unpacking."
The fourplex in which Powers lives at 1131 S. Butte Ave. was one of three properties targeted by Tempe's slum inspection team. In March, city and county officials noted 150 code violations.
The Knights of Pythias, a non-profit service organization, owns the property. State leaders said they had no idea how bad the apartments were.
"The local guys did not tell us what was going on," state Grand Chancellor Galen Gudenkauf said. "As soon as we heard, we went up there looking for an answer, and we ordered the property boarded up as soon as was legally possible."
Three of the four apartments were emptied quickly and boarded up. But Powers refused to go without a fight.
Inside Powers' warm, dark apartment, bags and boxes are piled on the concrete floor and in front of the broken front door. She moved in four days before the scheduled inspection and said she was never told of it. After the inspection, she said she was told to get out immediately, her $400 April rent was refunded and she was offered an additional $100. When she refused, a note threatening to turn off water and power was left on her door.
"For a charitable organization, they are not being very charitable," she said. "All I want is for them to file a legal 30-day notice for me to leave and pay to relocate me to an apartment for 30 days."
A hearing this week in Tempe Justice Court was postponed because the landlord didn't show up. It is rescheduled for Tuesday.
Trustee Jeff Gudenkauf, Galen's son and a Nogales city councilman, said the fight with Powers will cost at least $600 that could have gone to charity.
"We realize the apartments should never have been rented and we gave the tenants a full refund of their rent," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, she's squatting."
He said the city offered to find Powers another apartment and moved her to a hotel, but she was back in the apartment later that same day. Powers said the offered hotel was full of the drugs she's trying to avoid and it didn't have a kitchen.
Tempe neighborhood services specialist Ron Coleman said the city is willing to help Powers find housing, but will stay out of this fight.
"That's a state Landlord-Tenant Act issue," he said.