Frazier Defends Slumlord on Condemnation

              Page 4
The Guilfordian
Friday, May 2, 1969
Frazier Defends Slumlord On Condemnation
By JEFF BLOOM
Is it legal and constitutional
to inspect and to condemn slum
housing? This is one of the
questions being used by Robert
H. Frazier, chairman of Guilford
College's Board of Trustees and
attorney for W.W. Horton of
High Point, who is the slumlord
of about thirteen houses on
Greensboro's Gillespie Street.
The city of Greensboro has
inspected and has gone through
the process of condemning some
of these shacks. The case
presently 7at point, the residence
at 305 Gillespie St., was
condemned at the first
inspector's hearing, but was
appealed by Frazier and Horton
and will now go to the Guilford
County Court.
According to Archie.
Andrews, of the office of city
inspection, if Frazier cannot get
the court to rule that
condemnation of property is
unconstitutional, he will
probably question the procedure
of inspection. But Andrews said
recently that he was sure that his
office has held to the set legal
procedures.
The decision to condemn a
house is made when it would
cost 60% or more, of the value
of the house to bring it up to
legal standards of health and
safety. Horton has argued that
he could fix these houses up for
less than that by his own
standards. One of the differences
between his standards and the
city's is hot water, which he
considers unnecessary in these
houses renting for about $50 a
month.
But then Horton has a
pioneer mentality himself. He
may not rough it like his tenants
are required to, but he goes to
collect their rent wearing a gun
in a shoulder harness and walks
up the street like he owns it and
the  people  too.  One time he
even told some inspectors to get
the hell out of there; as he
flipped open his jacket so that
the gun showed; and they did.
want?" And Mr. Gilcrest yelled
out, "You can just tell Horton
to go to hell!"
A few minutes later a couple
Sunday afternoon at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gilcrest of
Gillespie Street.
SEVERAL VISITS
I have visited Gillespie Street
several times. The first time, I
got out of the car and was
greeted by a few jeers from one
old man and cold stares from
everyone else. To say the least, I
felt unwelcomed by these people
who were so indoctrinated with
fear that it was pathetic. I was
afraid, too, but I walked up to
the house where the old man,
Thomas Gilcrest, was sitting
with his wife.
I asked Mrs. Gilcrest what she
was going to do now that the
houses were being condemned.
She replied, "I got to move; I
just don't know where to go."
Although weary and hopeless,
they showed a certain pride.
When I asked what they thought
of Horton and Frazier, she said,
"Just   what   do   these   people
more people came over, a Mr.
and Mrs. LeAnden Hearring.
They lived next door, but were
evicted and were relocated in a
housing project just up the
street. When I explained to Mrs.
Hearring that we were trying to
help the people here she
repeatedly said, "God bless
you!"
I asked her what she thought
of Horton and she went into a
rage: "If I ever get my hands "on
him!" They explained to me
that they had received a water
bill which they paid off, and
which, they said, Horton mixed
up with theirs. He tried to make
them pay this larger one, and
when they refused he-had the
water cut off and evicted them.
Mrs. Russell said that with
the help of the city inspector,
Andrews,   they   were   able   to
move into the housing project.
"This whole thing is a mess!"
she said, "It's unsanitary!"
Concerning Horton, she said,
"He's just not doing a thing
right." She followed up by
saying, and making- a point of it,
"But don't say anything bad
about Mr. Andrews! He has
really helped us." Her one last
concern was, "All I have to do
now is get my mother out of
here."
Further down the street three
women were sitting on the
porch. As I approached, one got
up and ran away screaming that
she did not want her picture
taken. When she found out that
I was not going to take her
picture she returned. One of the
other ladies, Mrs. Rosa Stine,
lived in this house. A widow, she
lived alone and was
self-employed as a baby-sitter. I
asked her what she thought of
these houses-^she answered,
"They aren't fit for nobody to
live in! —Except for the
rats—yea, the rats. They sure can
have them!" She went on, "We
got to pay so much for rent. But
we stopped. We don't pay it
anymore." Most of them have
become so fed up with Horton
and the houses that they went
on rent strike. She told me to
come in the house and take
some pictures. I walked into the
small combination
living-room-bedroom. There was
an old wood heater in the center
with a pot on top of it. To the
left of the door was a bed that
was made up neatly. Next to it
was a desk, and next to that, in
the corner, was a dresser with a
couple of bottles containing
flowers. On the wall was a
calendar with a picture of Martin
Luther King, the person they
could once look to for hope. I
might add that, although she was
not expecting me the room was
neat. The rooms, however, were
lopsided—one of the lesser
evidences   of   the   poor
construction.
Mrs. Stine told me to take
some pictures of the kitchen and
of the bathroom: "They're
really bad!" she said. These were
the only three rooms in the
house. In the small kitchen I saw
an old wood stove, and a small
porcelain sink that was falling
off the wall. There is no outlet
for an electric stove, and, of
course, only a cold water tap in
the sink. Her pride still showed
through in her care of this
miserable room. She would not
let me take a picture of the two
tables on which were a couple of
pots and pans, and because they
were "too messy." The
bathroom was unreal! The tiny,
unheated room held only a
broken toilet, and no shower,
bath tub, or wash basin.
I walked outside again and
talked with the lady who had
run off earlier. By now I was
accepted as a fellow human. She
said, "I've been trying to get
after that man (Horton) for
months to fix the water in my
bathroom. It runs all over the
place, that's why my water bill is
so high! We don't have no hot,
only cold! 'You don't need no
(Continued on Page 3)
A scene in the home of Mrs.
Stine—a Gillespie Street tenant.
A row of Gillespie Street shanties owned by W.W. Horton.
The residence of Robert Frazier—an attorney of W,W. Horton.