BOSLEY PRAISES SETTLEMENT OF LAWSUIT – 2 May 1996 P-D

St. Louis Mayor Freeman R. Bosley Jr. told residents of the Shaw Neighborhood on Wednesday night that a recent settlement in a lawsuit sent a message about people determined to protect their neighborhoods from decay.

“No longer will people in neighborhoods tolerate people who own property and who don’t take care of property,” Bosley told about 120 people at a town hall meeting at Mullanphy School, 4221 Shaw Avenue.

Two weeks ago some Shaw residents and a landlord settled a suit out of court with an agreement that includes a promise for a code of conduct for tenants, keeping property in good repair and a $1.1 million judgment.

At the town meeting, Bosley heard Joyce Potter complain about young people throwing trash in her front yard in the 4100 block of DeTonty Avenue.

“I’ll pick up a lawn bag full in the morning and another at night,” she said. “There’s Frito wrappers and toilet paper. I ask the teens to pick up their trash, and they dump more.”

Bosley promised to spend $1 million for 18 recreation sites in the city, one of which, he said, will be at Mullanphy School.

Gina Ryan, president of the Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association, said she was pleased to hear the mayor’s comments.

`Obviously a lot of people have concern about rental properties, about absentee landlords and about people who don’t take care of their property,” she said.

SUIT CLAIMS VICTORY FOR CITY LIVING – SHAW RESIDENTS, LANDLORD REACH ACCORD – 21 Apr 1996 P-D

Some Shaw neighborhood residents — supported by the city — and a landlord have reached an agreement that backers call a grass-roots victory for people determined to protect their streets from decay.

“We do need to be listened to, and we do need to be heard when we have problems,” said Terri Merideth, who has lived in Shaw for 16 years.

The agreement, approved Friday by St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr., applies to a landlord who allegedly let his buildings fall into disrepair. The landlord also allegedly rented apartments to people who menaced neighbors.

A suit filed in the matter in 1994 had been set for trial Monday.

Instead, the landlord, John W. Gorecki of Des Peres, agreed to:

Include in his leases a code of conduct for tenants. The code – perhaps the most important part of the agreement – bans illegal drugs from Gorecki’s buildings targeted in the suit. It also prohibits loitering, excessive noise and overcrowding. Violations can lead to evictions.

Screen his tenants in accordance with the city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Office or hire a screening service acceptable to both sides.

Keep his rental property in good repair.

Pay a total of $10,000 to the four plaintiffs. His insurance company will pay a total of $20,000 to them. The plaintiffs also plan to seek $1.1 million from another of Gorecki’s insurance companies; the $1.1 million judgment is part of the agreement.

Supporters said the agreement could be a model for many neighborhoods. Circuit Attorney Dee Joyce-Hayes said that, so far, the Shaw case is one of a kind in the city.

“It’s the first time a neighborhood has taken hold like this and gone after a derelict landlord,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful. I think it’s a big red flag for all the other delinquent landlords.

“We all know that crime grows in neighborhoods that are deteriorating and drops in neighborhoods, like this one, that are fighting the battle,” she said. “It just takes some dedicated people in the neighborhood and a few lawyers willing to give some of their time.”

Gorecki was unavailable for comment. One of his attorneys, Samuel Vandover, said the city had insisted on the tenants’ code of conduct as part of the agreement to end the suit. He said Gorecki would do his best to abide by the agreement.

`A Strong Signal’

Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. said in a statement Friday that the case “isn’t about bad landlords, it’s about good neighbors.”

“Good neighbors, with the city’s help, will always prevail over the few irresponsible property owners that plague the city.”

Anna Ginzburg, head of the city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Team, said the case is “a strong signal to property owners that they will be held accountable for keeping their buildings safe and clean.”

Gina Ryan, president of the Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association, said “We do not look for opportunities to start lawsuits unless everything else has failed.” She added that she and half the neighborhood’s other residents are renters.

“We are sure that more owners will become better managers as a result of this court settlement,” she said.

When the suit was filed in July 1994, part of Shaw was a battleground between residents and Gorecki. Residents, with help from the city, filed the $2 million suit, which focused on three of Gorecki’s buildings: two two-family flats in the 4100 block of Shenandoah Avenue and a four-family flat in the 4200 block of Russell Boulevard.

Police had been called to the buildings many times in the two years before the suit was filed. Rock-throwing, fighting, loud music and intimidation of passers-by were reported. Three children and an adult were wounded in May 1994 in a shooting in front of one of the buildings on Shenandoah.

Vandover, the landlord’s attorney, said the problems resulted more from tenants’ visitors than the tenants themselves or the condition of Gorecki’s buildings.

`Fight As A Group’

Residents nearby acknowledge that within a few months of the suit’s filing, Gorecki improved the buildings’ conditions and got better tenants. Merideth, block captain of the 4200 block of Russell, said settling the suit is “a real exciting step forward” and a victory for city living.

“When we get landlord problems, it’s good to have the law on our side,” she said.

Merideth teaches at St. Margaret of Scotland School, in the middle of Shaw. She said the neighborhood is worth fighting for.

“Neighbors cooperating is the key,” she said. “You need to fight as a group, not as individuals. Shaw is willing to do that. It is dear to our hearts to see this kind of city living work.”

Edward M. Roth, a Shaw resident and the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said conscie ntious landlords should not see the suit’s outcome as a threat.

“To the incorrigible few, however, this case demonstrates the extraordinary financial risk they can face when they are unresponsive to community needs and they allow their properties to lurch out of control and become chronic threats to neighborhood safety and peace,” Roth said.

Katherine Heidenfelder, one of the plaintiffs, said the case was much more than an effort to settle “some petty grievance.”

“My hope is that, as a result of this suit, landlords will apply the `golden rule,’ managing their properties and selecting their tenants as though they, themselves were living next door.”

LANDLORD BATTLE ADVANCES – JUDGE WON’T DISMISS SUIT BY SHAW RESIDENTS, CITY – 4 Oct 1994 P-D

In a struggle that could spread across the city, the Shaw neighborhood has become a battleground where St. Louis officials and residents are fighting a man they claim is a bad landlord.

The suit against the landlord, John W. Gorecki of Des Peres, is the first in which the city and neighborhood residents have joined forces. If successful, more suits could be filed.

On Monday, lawyer Edward M. Roth, who is representing the residents, said their cause got a boost last week when Circuit Judge Michael P. David rejected Gorecki’s request to dismiss the suit.

Roth said the judge’s ruling “marks the beginning of the end for real estate speculators who try to suck the life out of city neighborhoods by neglecting their properties and allowing them to become staging grounds for outrageous conduct.”

Gorecki was unavailable for comment. His lawyers declined to discuss the allegations.

The suit seeks $2 million from Gorecki and focuses on three of his buildings: two two-family flats in the 4100 block of Shenandoah Avenue and a four-family flat in the 4200 block of Russell Boulevard. All are in the Shaw neighborhood.

The suit seeks a ruling on the extent to which landlords can be held liable for their tenants’ behavior. The Shaw residents want David to bar Gorecki from renting to tenants who cause trouble. Gorecki, in papers filed with the court and at meetings with Shaw neighborhood leaders, has contended that he was unaware of his tenants’ conduct and shouldn’t be held liable for it.

A Shenandoah resident, who declined to give his name, said Monday that the 4100 block has been quieter since Shaw residents filed their suit in July. Outwardly, the block shows more restoration than decay.

Roth said the suit was unusual in that it focused on the behavior of tenants rather than the physical condition of rental property.

Shaw residents allege that “Gorecki properties have been the site of grossly disruptive and menacing misconduct.”

Fighting, rock throwing, loud music and intimidation of passers-by are among the incidents, the suit says.

Gorecki’s tenants have caused problems at the three addresses for two years, the suit says.

Tenants began leaving Gorecki’s building in the 4100 block of Shenandoah after a shooting in front of it in May wounded three children and an adult. A reporter who visited the buildings Monday couldn’t determine whether anyone lived there.

Gorecki had argued, unsuccessfully, that the city had no claim against him and lacked the legal capacity to sue. He had claimed also that he couldn’t be held responsible for his tenants’ behavior.

Stephen J. Kovac, the associate city counselor handling the city’s end of the suit, said David’s decision to allow the suit against Gorecki to proceed could mean more action against derelict landlords.

“This public-private partnership holds great promise for neighborhoods as an effective and efficient way to maximize city resources,” Kovac said.

Roth said David’s decision could be a potent weapon in the fight against landlords who “have either showed contempt or shrugged their shoulders in response to neighborhood complaints.”

MAYOR BACKS SUIT AGAINST LANDLORD – 10 Jul 1994

Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. is putting his support behind Shaw neighborhood residents who filed suit Friday against an absentee landlord.

The neighbors claim that the landlord’s tenants engage in “grossly disruptive and menacing misconduct.”

The suit, a joint effort by the city of St. Louis and neighborhood residents, was filed in St. Louis Circuit Court. The suit seeks punitive and actual damages against John W. Gorecki of St. Louis County. He owns two, two-family flats in the 4100 block of Shenandoah Avenue.

Gorecki couldn’t be reached for comment.

Bosley said in a statement that the mayor, city and neighborhood residents “will not tolerate absentee landlords who do not screen their tenants, who do not establish and enforce rules governing tenant misconduct, who do not monitor their properties or maintain their properties’ appearance and who fail to promptly and effectively respond to disruptive and outrageous conduct occurring at or on their properties.”

The plaintiffs in the suit are Shaw residents Katherine Heidenfelder, her two children, and Ralph Frach. The Heidenfelders and Frach live in homes adjacent to properties Gorecki owns.

Heidenfelder and Frach allege in that suit that “Gorecki properties have been the site of grossly disruptive and menacing misconduct.” They charged that there have been many incidents of fighting, rock throwing, loud music and intimidation of passers-by.