Ronald Ireland sits in a chair and enjoys a cigarette in front of his apartment facing 11th Street South at Oak Manor.

His “Vietnam Veteran” ball cap hearkens back to where he’s been. He’s taking a break from packing for where he is going.

“I’ve got to be out by the 1st,” Ireland says, noting that is when his lease expires. “I’ll go live with my daughter in Georgia … at least for a while.”

Ireland, 75, moved to Oak Manor in 2011 and is one of 18 residents still living in the 61-unit complex. The city council declared the property a menace to public health and safety in October and ordered it torn down “immediately” — though how immediately has not yet been determined.

Ireland isn’t waiting to find out. What’s more, he agrees with the city’s decision.

“If I had my druthers, they’d have torn it down when I got here 10 years ago,” he said. “If the management or the owner isn’t going to do any better than they have, then tear it down and start again. … I don’t understand how a responsible American could allow his property to get in such disrepair.”

Ireland said the “electrical is gross,” the plumbing is poor and the maintenance in general is “subpar.” Over the summer, the grass was only mowed once a month and would often get up to knee-high.

“The brick is good,” he said, looking at his apartment’s exterior. “That’s about it.”

Living in a building at the center of Oak Manor, Charla McCruter couldn’t disagree more with Ireland or the city.

The retail merchandiser has lived in the complex for two years and said she has homeschooled her two children there since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“I don’t know why they would want to tear it down,” she said, distraught. “I’m a hardworking person. I pay my rent. I’m not a derelict. … I really like this place.”

Besides, McCruter said, maintenance has always quickly responded to fixing issues in her apartment, and she contends the other structures at the complex “aren’t that bad,” with obvious exceptions. She pointed to a building adjacent to hers she said had been badly damaged by fire, admitting it was probably uninhabitable. A vacant building to her north, she noted, had several issues with leaking.

Across the parking lot, with hastily boarded-up windows, was another vacant building McCruter said a homeless man used to sneak into and sleep before he was “taken off to a halfway house.” His name was Dennis, she recalled.

If forced to leave, McCruter has no idea what she will do.

“This is really not a bad place,” McCruter said. “This is my sanctuary. No one has ever been disrespectful to me and no one has ever molested me or my kids.
“Where else do I get 5 acres all to myself?” she later asked. “Where else am I going to get a three-bedroom place to rent for $365 a month? And where I don’t have (any) neighbors?”

Known unknowns
She may have a while to figure that last part out, as city officials cannot put a timeline on what they characterize as “a very difficult situation” and “a big undertaking to tear down.”

The debate over the complex’s fate started in October, when it appeared on the derelict property docket at the mid-month council meeting. After a spirited discussion, the council voted 4-3 to demolish the complex due to uninhabitable conditions and high criminal activity. Mayor Keith Gaskin broke the tie in favor of demolition.

Robert Merchant, who lives in California, has owned the complex for about three years, and told the council via Zoom on Nov. 2 that he had spent $70,000 on roofs at Oak Manor since September. He asked for more time to make more extensive repairs, claiming the facility had fallen into disrepair when tenants stopped paying their rent during eviction moratoriums that spanned most of 2020 and part of this year. The council was unswayed, leaving the vote for “immediate abatement” in place.

Merchant has since sent a letter to City Hall outlining clearer plans and timelines for exterior and interior repairs, which the council will consider Tuesday.

Interim Chief Operations Officer Mark Alexander Jr. said the city “has no idea” how much it will cost if it ultimately has to tear down Oak Manor. It could hire a contractor or do the work itself. In either case, the city would assess a lien for the cost of the work against the property on the tax rolls.

“If we do that, there’s a real disincentive for payment of those liens because there’s not a structure on the property anymore to improve,” he said. “In some cases the demolition is favorable to owners, but you can’t rehab a building that isn’t there.”

Any effort to knock it down will be lengthy, Gaskin said, and will have to start with an asbestos assessment and possible remediation.

Relocating residents
Then there’s the question of what to do with the residents. Gaskin and many of the council members have said that they would like to help them move, but exactly how is not clear. City Attorney Jeff Turnage said the city can’t give direct financial aid.

“The Mississippi Constitution says you can’t make a donation, which is what that would be,” he said. “But we can call the housing authority, Habitat for Humanity, and any other (nonprofit) agencies that are appropriate. That is the aid that I would expect to see.”

Gaskin said he is committed to helping with relocation, but he isn’t sure what shape that would take. He would want to work with Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Stewart, since Oak Manor is in her ward, as well as Director of Community Outreach Glenda Buckhalter-Richardson, who works with homeless and displaced residents.

“(Richardson) helps people with those kinds of financial issues,” Gaskin said. “We also need to take an assessment of the situation out there, how many residents are there and what their situation is and what they are paying for rent.

“We will not tear it down while there are people with no place to go,” he added. “That will not happen.”

Gaskin said he will be similarly committed to helping relocate tenants in future situations where landlords have allowed properties to become derelict to the point of city-ordered demolition.
“If there is another situation similar to this one we will handle it in the same way,” he said. “We are very sensitive to people in those situations.”

Gaskin said he had not been out to Oak Manor or reached out to the residents, but he intended to do so soon.

Stewart said she has not spoken to the tenants there, either, but she also is committed to helping them.

“The owner said there are people living there paying $500 (a month),” she said. “Are there other places they can go for that? I don’t know yet.”

Whatever happens, Stewart said she would like to see that spot boast adequate housing of some kind.

“We would need to do research, see if the land there is stable,” she said. “There used to be a dump there years ago. When we had a gym over there it had cracks in the foundation because the ground wasn’t stable. If it’s stable enough, I would like to see more apartments, more housing there.”

The other council members The Dispatch spoke to — Ward 2’s Joseph Mickens, Ward 3’s Rusty Greene and Ward 5’s Stephen Jones — all agreed that the city needs to help tenants relocate, and all said they would work with any entities that could legally help find more housing.

“People deserve decent housing, especially if they’re renting,” Jones said. “The owner lives in California, and I guarantee there’s not anything like (Oak Manor) next to his house.”
Meanwhile, the residents of Oak Manor are left to wait.

“I haven’t heard a peep,” Ireland said. “Not from the owner. Not from maintenance. Not from the city. Nothing except for, ‘Hurry up and wait.’ It’s like being in the Army. If you don’t hear it from another soldier, you don’t know what’s going on.”

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