Hitting The Skids On Way To ‘Skid Roadless’ Living

When the refurbished Commercial Building opened to low-income tenants two months ago, Mayor Jack Geraghty said its strict rules would help make Spokane “a Skid Roadless community.”

But enforcement of those rules has provoked a lawsuit alleging violation of tenants’ rights.

After “Bagpipes” scoffed at the litigation, Nancy Isserlis, president of the board of the Spokane Legal Services Center, responded: “If you had properly investigated the facts and allegations, … you would have found that even the Commercial Building’s attorney agreed that many of the rules and regulations which are supposed to govern the tenants’ behavior conflict with the Washington Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and … should be brought in line with the law.

“… the newspaper goes to great lengths to point out that the low-income tenants should be required to abide by the letter of the law but glosses over the overwhelming evidence that the landlord was flagrantly violating the law in order to promote a drug- and alcohol-free environment,” she said.

Ernest J. Chamberlain of Spokane said the Commercial’s rules concerning “no drugs, no alcohol, no prostitution” make life more difficult for drug dealers, junkies and prostitutes and “may help those who are … recovering from alcohol addiction to succeed.”

He said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which has withdrawn rent subsidies, should “treat what the Commercial Building on West First is doing as a pilot project in housing rehabilitation instead of a civil rights violation.”

Mick McDowell, who owns other low-income apartment units in Spokane, said the Commercial Building’s owners signed up for a program that has both advantages and strings.

“He (part-owner James Delegans) willingly took the money; he willingly took the opportunity to charge more than a third more than I’m charging at the Washington and the Sydney. That carries an obligation to serve a population the program is designed to serve, and that was defined upfront. It was not a surprise to Jim Delegans.”

Paula Campbell of Spokane said tenants who like the rules should file their own suit. “Those tenants have an equal right to life without fear of violence.”

, DataTimes MEMO: “Bagpipes” appears Tuesdays and Thursdays. To respond to issues raised on Tuesdays: Call 458-8800, category 9881, from a Touch-Tone phone; or sent a fax to 459-5098 or e-mail to celh27b@prodigy.com. Representative replies appear Thursdays. You also can leave Doug Floyd a message at 459-5577, extension 5466.