The Moral Impact of Evictions
It did not take long to impress upon me the dire need for Right To Council here in Springfield. Just within 15 minutes of witnessing eviction cases I heard heart breaking stories of loss and struggle. One after another citizens of this town were brought before a judge with no one to help them. No one to explain, negotiate or argue on their behalf. As an attorney representing the landlords or property management companies stood, smiling and laughing in a crisp clean suit, to witness and control the situation in the favor of their clients who couldn't be inconvenienced to put their fellow human beings out of shelter and stability in person. Heads of households disoriented in the wake of a streamlined and heartless proceeding. Mothers of children, widows, and victims of tragedy pleading to be given just a week more to make good on dues they owed as to retain a home for their families.
A fellow observer mentioned that this is the banality of evil. I can't agree more. That people who have the ability to choose to do good or evil sit back in comfortable complacency. Right to Counsel (RTC) has already been presented to city council Community Involvement Committee chair Callie Carroll and the councilor representing zone 2, Abe McGull. RTC has already been enacted in STL and KC, and in KC it brought down the eviction rate by 72% in the first few months of being enacted. Yet Carroll and McGull have sat back and done nothing. They have taken up very important posts in city government supposedly with the purpose of representing the people who voted them in but it would seem they care more about the business interests of a few who own land and properties within city limits and not the people trying to live and breathe life into it.
So if they won't take the reasonable action to give citizens a fighting chance and help them avoid being put out on the streets, then we'll make sure they can't ignore the issues at hand. This is a call to submit your personal stories of what undoubtedly have been the most trying moments of life. Not an easy task. But if you can submit your stories to Bit.ly/417EvictionStory we can present them to Callie Carroll and Abe McGull at the Town Hall meeting we're inviting them to in August. You can help us put the pressure on them to finally take action, and together we can make sure that no one in Springfield will have to stand alone in eviction court again.