Volume 1:1 - 24 July 2000
Theater of the Absurd. Unregulated freedom means anarchy and absolute order means despotism. A free society seeks to achieve a compromise between these two extremes. Then a substantial amount of individual liberty may simultaneously subsist with public order. Denying a few anarchistic residents their power and consistently challenging an oligarchic administration will eventually destroy absolutism. Apparently, the spirit and drive of the original gray panthers died. Perhaps the Council House panthers should stop surrendering to an oligarchy and sharpen their claws. They can then democratically reassert their civil rights. The spirit of the original panthers may then return to haunt a new generation of aggressors. Nmesis [015].
Full Text - [Theater of the Absurd]
Shadow of Shabbat (or Sabbat). Saturday, a great shadow descended over the laundry room as an obese woman clad only in a sheer nylon nightdress lumbered in. This grotesque apparition contrasted greatly with the woman present at the time. Since then male residents have renounced all sexual intimacy because the experience caused instant impotence that not even Viagra can overcome. If Mitchell doubts these statements then he should take this specter home for the weekend. His failure to enforce the house dress code deserves that type of punishment. Moreover, it will cost the directors dearly. They must now dip into their $260,346 slush fund (Council House Endowment Fund) to pay for sex therapy for male residents who experienced this gargantuan phenomenon. Nmesis [001]
Collective Arrogance. Recently, about two hundred nonresidents held a bar mitzvah in the combined dining room and lounge. They held a religious ritual that some residents found distasteful and imposed their exclusive criteria upon all residents. By that they violated federal law. The directors must realize that they lost the privilege to operate Council House as an exclusive Jewish establishment the day that they accepted millions of taxpayer dollars: money that most residents paid to the US government over many years. They also agreed to conform to federal law regarding race, religion, national origin, and freedom of expression. The people who attended the bar mitzvah did not meet those criteria and probably could afford to pay for one of the many facilities that cater to religious functions exclusively. Perhaps they should in future use them instead of disturbing the quiet enjoyment of senior citizens in a retirement home. Nmesis [002]
Nutrition Program. This program is an economical and psychological failure. It is a drain on the resources and energies of the management. It also has turned into a financial burden for a vast majority of residents living with dreadfully small budgets. It has been a psychological dud since they imposed it upon the residents who, almost unanimously, detest it. The food is bad and the ambiance in the dining room is an experience that most intelligent people would avoid if they could. They designed Council House for independent living. That means accommodation for seniors leading an autonomous life by looking after themselves and cooking their own meals. Otherwise, why did they build kitchenettes in the apartments? Logical argument implies that once residents reach the stage of their lives when they can no longer fend for themselves, they no longer qualify for residence. Felippe Jacques [003]
Noise Violations. Some residents repeatedly create noise during the quiet hours. They impinged upon the rights of other residents and destroyed the quiet enjoyment of their apartments. Other residents can hear them from each end of the building and across several floors. Moreover, Robert Cowdin consistently fails to enforce house noise-abatement rules, apparently on the instructions of Mullen and Mitchell. None of them have recorded many complaints over an eight-month period as directed by HUD and they have taken virtually no action on them. By that they have consistently violated federal and municipal laws. Nmesis [004]
Full Text - [Life in a Seattle Squirrel Cage]
Residents' Association. Residents must remove the pandering pygmies that have appointed themselves officers of the self-serving glee club that poses as a residents' council. They must replace this phoney association with a registered residents' association using the HUD model. Democratically elected directors will then act in the interests of all residents instead of the select few who have repeatedly seized power then acted solely in favor of the administrator and the directors. A lawfully constituted association duly elected by, of, and for the residents will allow them equally to express themselves without coercion and ostracism. Nmesis [005]
Full Text - [The Mullen Legacy]
False Police Report. Mary Lou Saul, her husband Duneer, and Grace Burton, contacted the Seattle Police Department and falsely claimed harassment. They tried to suppress freedom of expression by a resident journalist who holds an international press card. Moreover, they did this despite an attorney telling them not to break the law. They violated the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Subsequently, they conspired to file a false police report violating both state and federal laws. They could face severe civil and criminal penalties. Burton evaded police charges by using her imminent move to a much warmer clime as an excuse. The residents' council must rid itself of its secretary, Mary Lou Saul, who, apart from conspiring to file the false police report, has kept inadequate meeting minutes and refuses to give residents copies of them. In addition, she has administered fraudulent elections arbitrarily to appoint residents' council officers contrary to HUD directives. Nmesis [006]
Job Opportunities. Council House managers treat gray panthers as feeble-minded morons unable to decide for themselves. However, many residents have worked in the professions and have come from educated backgrounds. Their impoverishment does not mean that they have lost their minds or their initiative. Apparently, administrators fear people with equal or superior intellect to themselves and do not employ them. Instead they employ disabled people almost exclusively. They pay them cheaply (if at all) and use barter and favoritism that adversely affects other residents. Oligarchically, they coerce employees to do their bidding in fear of losing favor and by that contravene federal employment laws. The directors must employ people on merit using educational and experiential criteria and not primarily for their disabilities. By law, they must advertise all available positions, give all residents the opportunity to apply, and treat all applicants equally. Nmesis [008]
Parking. The Council House interim administrator has ordered, not requested, residents to remove their cars to allow parking lot resurfacing. The notice bore the salutation "Attention Residents" which immediately translated in the minds of several people to "Achtung Rezidenten!" The order increased parking fees by 100% supposedly to cover the cost of resurfacing the lot. It also imposed additional licensing and maintenance requirements. Unconstitutionally, it ordered residents to use their cars at least once a week. This impinges upon personal freedom of choice. Therefore, some residents intend to delete that clause from the parking agreement that they sign. Nmesis [009]
Racial Discrimination. Several Council House directors met as a search committee to discuss hiring a replacement administrator for Mullen. They voiced concerns about advertising nationally because it would result in black people applying for the position and conspired to exclude them. They designated the building as Jewish. By planning to manipulate employment criteria they violated both the spirit and intent of federal equal opportunity laws. Those laws preclude discrimination in both housing and employment. They require the directors to advertise in a way that provides equal opportunity to all qualified applicants notwithstanding race, color, creed, national origin, gender, age, or familial status. This means that any qualified resident may also apply for the position. Residents should remain alert and report any discriminatory or ethnically preferential policies to the authorities. The directors must by law make their selection based on merit without ethnic or racial prejudice. They must advertise nationally for a competent, permanent administrator or management company according to HUD regulations and publicly show that they have complied with all state and federal laws. Nmesis [010]
Noise Abatement. One expects government-sponsored servants paid $53,100.00/year to reduce noise pollution in response to complaints. Yet Mullen and his clone Mitchell have done nothing to abate the noise nuisance. In contrast, other managers have taken immediate action to abate both internal and external noise pollution. Clyde Stafford, Manager, Emerald City Disposal, rescheduled his garbage trucks from nighttime to daytime; Fally Tyson, Owner, The Madkin (apartments next to Council House), disconnected a battery to stop repeated sounding of an automobile alarm; and, Leon J-cks-n, Maintenance Manager, Council House, stopped his men creating garbage disposal noises during the quiet hours. These people met their responsibilities by acting upon a first request. When will the directors order the administrators to follow suit? Nmesis[013]
Full Text - [Life in a Seattle Squirrel Cage]
Matter of Perception. Most of us, at one time or another, have dreamed, imagined, wished and even fashioned in our minds what our old age would be. However, without exception, we were unable to foresee the future accurately. No one can honestly say: "I planned to spent my last days in a low income housing facility." Life's inevitable reversals of fortune have lead us here. Unfortunately, those reversals also have the strange ability to lead some people to think that they do not deserve what they receive: that they should remain eternally grateful. This perception pushes the individual into intellectual apathy, supineness, resignation, and involuntary silence. Even when this silence prolongs injustice or abuse. Poverty and old age are not and should not be perceived as a character flaw. They rank as circumstances not predestination and form part of life's contingencies. Avoid passivity and face your present. Felippe Jacques [014]
Complaint Procedures. Most residents know about the phony mullenium claim that "my office door is always open to hear complaints" that Mitchell reiterates. They know that it really means "come into my parlor said the spider to the fly and I will intimidate you." HUD regulations require the directors to publish a description of the system employed for resolving resident complaints and the administrator must post complaint procedures or make them readily available. However, the directors have neither promulgated procedures nor followed the HUD directive that requires them to report resident grievances. Instead, the administrator follows the first bureaucratic rule of risk management and conceals the complaint filing procedures and directors' particulars. Residents may wish to call them directly with their complaints or send them an email message. If the directors hear about myriad problems at Council House first hand, and not after mullenium doublespeak, then they may do something about them. Residents should not hold their breath waiting for a reply because the directors will not consider that any response will promote their self-interest. Nmesis [011]
Full Text - [Life in a Seattle Squirrel Cage]
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