The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Evictions expose inequities, service gaps in Savannah
Complex’s displaced tenants struggle to find new places to live.
After reading the Savannah Morning News’ coverage of the Clearview issues, elected officials, nonprofit leaders and ordinary residents got involved. But the outcome for residents didn’t change.
Diane Washington told Savannah’s City Council what happened at Clearview “was a disgrace and a dishonor.”
“They’ve already been evicted. They’ve already been evicted. They have suffered. They didn’t receive no financial assistance. None,” she said at a Dec. 9 council meeting. “Those people had to rob Peter to pay Paul in order to get services from people in the community to be able to relocate. And that plays the hardship on him. And that’s a disservice to those people with children.”
Washington was speaking for the displaced tenants of Clearview, low-cost apartments slated for demolition in West Savannah.
The tenants received move-out notices in August, which gave the tenants 60 days to vacate the apartments many of them have called home for decades. An extension was granted until New Year’s Eve after public outcry, but it was revoked on Nov. 11, when the remaining tenants were served dispossessory warrants. A judge ordered writs of eviction a week later. By Dec. 18, Clearview sat nearly empty.
Nearly two dozen people were evicted, but only a handful were served writs of eviction by the sheriff ’s office. On Dec. 9, piles of belongings littered the vacant street. Porch lights were still on, doors still open and wreaths still hung on the empty duplexes, which cost less than $1,000 a month.
By Dec. 22, there were three tenants left: two with disabilities, and one with pets. Mayor Van Johnson said the developers committed to finding temporary housing for them in the next few weeks.
“That’s wrong. That’s totally, totally wrong,” Washington said of the evictions. “We didn’t owe any rent. We are working people.”
Savannah City Manager Jay Melder committed during the council meeting to helping the tenants and others who might be displaced by housing complexes being shut down. He also vowed to work with the city attorney to remove the evictions from the tenants’ records, a “Scarlet E” that stays on a Georgian’s record for seven years, effectively barring them from approval for most other rental units.
At a news conference on Dec. 22, Johnson said he and city staff met with developers the previous day and expressed their discontent over how the situation was handled. He said the city asked the developers to hire a local lawyer to ask the courts to repeal the writs of eviction on most of the tenants’ records. Some tenants were already in the process of being evicted due to nonpayment, according to court documents provided by Johnson.
Johnson also asked Cardinal Capital Management to provide monthly updates to the City Hall staff to ensure the development process is equitable moving forward.
After reading the Savannah Morning News’ coverage of the Clearview issues, elected officials, nonprofit leaders and ordinary residents got involved. But the outcome for residents didn’t change.
“You’re either the ‘haves’ or the ‘have nots.’ And unfortunately, we were all perceived as the ‘have nots,’” Washington said. “And situations like this will happen, and they should not have happened. And I felt like Savannah has let these tenants down because more services and organizations should have been provided to help assist these tenants with a smooth transition to relocate.”
Family Promise of the Coastal Empire aided Clearview households by helping find permanent and temporary housing for some. For those whom she couldn’t find new homes, Executive Director Katrina Bostick said Family Promise has put them in a hotel for the holidays.
She said that since the displaced tenants have evictions on their records, it will be “near impossible” to find them affordable housing in West Savannah, the community where Clearview is located.
“(Landlords) don’t know the circumstances behind the dispossessory. They just see the dispossessed. And that’s when the ‘Scarlet E’ comes on. How do I get rid of that? I can’t,” Bostick said. “So time was against us, and supply was against us. And these individuals were living in a housing complex where rents were under $600. You don’t find that anywhere in this community.”
Bostick explained how service gaps, particularly for the technologically challenged, elderly and mentally ill, lead to people falling through the cracks. It means you have to meet people where they are.
“We have two elderly gentlemen [who] we’re working with that have no cellphones, no house phones, no form of communication,” she said. “The only communication they know is face-to-face.”
There are resources for those people, but Bostick said Savannah’s nonprofit network is at capacity.
“With regard to our elderly population in our local communities and individuals [who] are suffering from mental health (issues) or substance abuse, those vulnerable populations ... there are agencies that could help in those particular areas,” Bostick said. “But we’re all stressed.”
Another roadblock is funding access. Most grants and emergency funds are earmarked for COVID-19related issues, Bostick explained, which means the funds they have for everyone else are smaller.
But sometimes traditional support networks fail.
Shemika Simmons works with A1 Runway, a business in partnership with national grassroots organization Black Votes Matter. On the first day of evictions, Simmons brought a U-Haul for displaced tenants to get their belongings, which were scattered on the cracked pavement under a sky pregnant with rainclouds.
Black Votes Matter focuses on education and mobilization. But Simmons said it will also go wherever help is needed. “That’s what makes us go everywhere, and we deal with all issues. And we deal with everything. There’s nothing that we don’t do.”
Simmons said the growing affordability crisis — which is spurring gentrification and displacement across the city — has reached a tipping point.
“I think something’s got to give. I know we’re growing. I know we’re a port city. I know that. Travelers love us. They love to visit the Hostess City of the South. But what about the people here?” she wondered.
“We put Band-Aids on our issues that we have here. But we do cater to people trying to relocate here and bring different factories here, expand the port expansion. We make all of those things a priority. Wemake our tourists a priority all the time. Because we want that revenue. What about the impoverished neighborhoods? What about those people? When are we going to win?”