Eviction Without Representation
You might be surprised to know that there are people evicting me from my apartment at the end of the month. They’re elected officials and I can’t vote for them or against them.
Yeah, that’s right. I’m being evicted. My rent is paid. My place is clean. I don’t throw wild parties. My bills are up to date. But at the end of the month, I won’t have a place to live.
Town of Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton and the town's Board of Aldermen have decided that my landlord has broken zoning laws for what is considered a watershed farm. My landlord can’t vote for or against them either; her farm is in Chapel Hill, but neighboring Carrboro has extraterritorial jurisdiction over her land. I don’t really understand why. The legal matter is of little consequence to me, except when it comes to my living arrangement. (paragraph edited 12/8/2008) because of poor grammar and a broken link)
On December 13 of last year, I signed a one-year lease to live in a barn on this watershed farm. Two months ago, my landlord informed me of the ongoing litigation against her. She is obviously at fault for not mentioning it at the time of my signing the lease, or for the subsequent eight months. The town, which managed to learn about me, research my past, find and read my blog and gather my personal information from the University of North Carolina, is also at fault for not bothering to tell me. So all this has been going on since 2007, with my just being notified about it in the last two months.
Now, there are a lot of issues behind the picture I’m painting, but they really aren’t relevant to my argument. I’m leaving the area in December. I’m off to start my career and work on my thesis. But the town says I have to move at the end of October, meaning I get to search for an apartment in the middle of my last semester, move there, live there two months, then move again.
Mayor Mark Chilton is fully aware of the prospects for someone who’s looking for an apartment for two months in a college town. I appealed to his sense of decency by sending him a message asking him to allow me to stay for just two more months – two more months in a case that has been going on for than two years – to no avail. I reiterate the point I made in my email to him: everyone has been accused of wrongdoing in this case – everyone but me. What can the Town of Carrboro possibly accomplish at the end of October that it could not accomplish in January, aside from allowing the only person who hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing in this situation to finish his education without interruption?
I hate playing this card, but I’m a veteran. My service to my country forced me to leave grad school for a semester already. Mark Chilton expressed his sorrow to me, saying he is sorry I am in a situation I did not knowingly create. Well, Mark Chilton, I didn’t unknowingly create this situation either; it was knowingly created by those around me. No matter who’s right or wrong, every party involved dropped the ball on letting me know what’s been going on and I get to pay the price. I offered you the chance to assert local government to look out for the little guy and you decided to reject that offer.
Yeah, that’s right. I’m being evicted. My rent is paid. My place is clean. I don’t throw wild parties. My bills are up to date. But at the end of the month, I won’t have a place to live.
Town of Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton and the town's Board of Aldermen have decided that my landlord has broken zoning laws for what is considered a watershed farm. My landlord can’t vote for or against them either; her farm is in Chapel Hill, but neighboring Carrboro has extraterritorial jurisdiction over her land. I don’t really understand why. The legal matter is of little consequence to me, except when it comes to my living arrangement. (paragraph edited 12/8/2008) because of poor grammar and a broken link)
On December 13 of last year, I signed a one-year lease to live in a barn on this watershed farm. Two months ago, my landlord informed me of the ongoing litigation against her. She is obviously at fault for not mentioning it at the time of my signing the lease, or for the subsequent eight months. The town, which managed to learn about me, research my past, find and read my blog and gather my personal information from the University of North Carolina, is also at fault for not bothering to tell me. So all this has been going on since 2007, with my just being notified about it in the last two months.
Now, there are a lot of issues behind the picture I’m painting, but they really aren’t relevant to my argument. I’m leaving the area in December. I’m off to start my career and work on my thesis. But the town says I have to move at the end of October, meaning I get to search for an apartment in the middle of my last semester, move there, live there two months, then move again.
Mayor Mark Chilton is fully aware of the prospects for someone who’s looking for an apartment for two months in a college town. I appealed to his sense of decency by sending him a message asking him to allow me to stay for just two more months – two more months in a case that has been going on for than two years – to no avail. I reiterate the point I made in my email to him: everyone has been accused of wrongdoing in this case – everyone but me. What can the Town of Carrboro possibly accomplish at the end of October that it could not accomplish in January, aside from allowing the only person who hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing in this situation to finish his education without interruption?
I hate playing this card, but I’m a veteran. My service to my country forced me to leave grad school for a semester already. Mark Chilton expressed his sorrow to me, saying he is sorry I am in a situation I did not knowingly create. Well, Mark Chilton, I didn’t unknowingly create this situation either; it was knowingly created by those around me. No matter who’s right or wrong, every party involved dropped the ball on letting me know what’s been going on and I get to pay the price. I offered you the chance to assert local government to look out for the little guy and you decided to reject that offer.
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