Description

Dear Mayor and Canton City Council Members,
My name is Gonzalee Jones. I live at 818 11th St NW. I have owned this house since 2012. The criminal activity in this area has been out of control. When I first purchased this house, it was on the demolition list; just as a few other houses in this neighborhood. I did the required work to have it removed from the list. The abandoned houses are what made this neighborhood a prime target for crime. There were homeless people living in them who constantly sought ways to make money. The crime rate dropped off drastically once they tore these houses down, but The Memorial Pole across the alley (on Jones Court) in my backyard continued to be a major attraction for friends of the deceased.

At that time, I was married, and this was a rental. I ended up having to put up a privacy fence in the backyard due to the activity that occurred in the alley of Jones Court. My tenant would call and complain that people were sitting on the backyard stairs smoking and drinking. I finally put up a privacy fence to keep them out.

Someone was shot and killed as a group was hanging out, as they often did. The pole is a Memorial for Someone else, so they gather there on his birthday and day he was murdered. I didn't see the Young Man get shot. I heard it and looked out the window, and saw everyone running. I ran outside to check on the person who had been shot. I held His hand and Prayed for Him as He was dying.

I said that to give You an idea of what I deal with here. The house behind me, located on 10th Street, was empty as well. It had a detached garage that sat maybe 3 feet from my garage. One day, someone decided to park a stolen car in this abandoned house's detached garage and set it on fire. I got woke up @ 3 a.m. by someone banging on my door, telling me the house behind me was on fire. When I looked out my window, I saw a huge fire, and it did appear to be moving in my direction. I'm a single dad, so I had to rush upstairs and wake my 9 year old and 15 year old sons up to get out of the house. My garage was damaged, and the Fire Department had to break in my garage to verify that nothing was still burning.

The City ended up coming after me for not repairing my garage, and gave me a time limit to have it repaired. I had an estimate for $10k, which I couldn't afford. My homeowner's insurance had expired. I didn't realize it, because I had it on autopay. I didn't even realize the money was no longer being deducted. When I contacted the mortgage company that owned the property, they gave me the run around and kept transferring me to different people. Ultimately, they told me it was my fault for not having insurance and that they weren't responsible. I couldn't afford to hire an attorney, and no one would assist me and speak with them.

Not only did they tear my garage down, but they tore part of the fence I put up to secure the back of my house. I lost so much behind someone's crime and someone's property, then to add insult to injury, I'm charged $7k for the demolition. Can someone please help me. I'm a single dad, I pay $900/month in child support, and I rarely receive the $50/month I'm supposed to receive for the Child I've had full custody of since he was 1. The Fire Chief says they should be liable, but I can't get anyone to enforce their liability.