Trailer Park Eviction Not Without a Hitch

As early as today, the locks could be changed on Bill Dickey’s mobile home. The 72-year-old could be given two weeks to clear out his belongings and leave the trailer park where he has lived for 22 years. Eventually, his coach could be razed or sold to someone else.

The reasons for Dickey’s eviction--which has become a cause celebre in recent months--can be seen as both petty and profound.

The dispute involves a long-stewing quarrel between Dickey, a World War II and Korean War veteran, and the property managers of the Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park in Thousand Oaks.

The upshot: A court settlement gave Dickey until Thursday to clean up his home, pay about $7,000 in back rent--checks Dickey says he sent but were not accepted--and sell the coach before moving out. He has been living in his recreational vehicle and staying with friends since October.

On Thursday afternoon, a group of volunteers who have flocked to Dickey’s cause, including Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, had tidied the property in an effort to help him sell his mobile home.

“He has lost his home, his investment, his roots and his peace of mind,” Zeanah said. “How can this happen in the city of Thousand Oaks?”

Depending on who’s viewing the situation, Dickey is either a hapless victim being booted out of spite, or a set-in-his-ways old fellow who resented park rules and flouted them, even when it hurt his best interests.

Dickey and the park owners have quarreled for years, beginning with a dispute over how he maintained his mobile home in the tidy park.

Larry W. Weaver, a lawyer for the park owners, said inspectors with the state Housing and Community Development Department cited Dickey for various health and safety violations four times between June and December 1996.

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Park owners went to court and eventually reached a settlement with Dickey in October 1997 that required him to move out, clean the place up, pass an inspection and sell the coach. Because Dickey owns the mobile home, he could move it to another park, if he had the money to do so.

In the last week, a buyer has stepped forward who is willing to accept the mobile home as-is and clean up the property. But the park owners object that the property still violates codes and the prospective buyer is two months short of 55, the park’s minimum age. They may exercise their veto power to stop the sale.

“I feel bad for Mr. Dickey,” said Weaver. “But who put him in this situation? I think he should look in the mirror.”

Dickey contends that he was coerced into signing the agreement and that city and other agencies that offered to help him haven’t followed through.

“Can you justify this to me?” asked the ruddy-faced Dickey before a Thursday rally in his honor. “Can you justify them taking my home, kicking me out and destroying all this?” he queried, pointing to his oil paintings, brass bed and double-wide coach. “All because of spite?”

Representatives from government and social-service agencies agree that Dickey should not be kicked out. And they agree that he should be able to sell his home and move on.

But they dispute part of his account. They say that the signed court document, plus a healthy dose of Dickey’s stubbornness and devotion to personal property rights, kept the retiree from acting--or taking help from anyone until it was too late.

Showing memorandums as documentation, they say Dickey was offered temporary housing in Santa Paula or Ventura, because Thousand Oaks’ affordable housing is booked. And they say he was offered a low-interest loan to make repairs.

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But Dickey initially refused the loan, and by the time he decided to accept it, it was too late because his house was going to be sold, and home rehabilitation loans can’t be used on homes for sale.

“It’s very clear to me, it is absolutely fact, that he was offered all sorts of different assistance over an 18-month period. I don’t believe he took any of it,” said city housing services Manager Olav E. Hassel, who has worked with Dickey for over a year to resolve his landlord-tenant dispute.

Hassel added: “He has not accepted responsibility [for his coach], but he should not be left destitute.”

Some residents, describing Dickey as a troublemaker, would be happy to see him sell his coach and go away.

“My main goal is to protect the residents,” said Charles Sallia, a park resident and area vice president of the Golden State Mobilehome Owners League Inc. “That man, honestly, I’ll be happy when he’s gone.”

Hoping to embarrass park managers into granting Dickey a reprieve, about a dozen supporters waved signs and protested his treatment Thursday. They also subjected lawyers and city officials to a barrage of phone calls, and whacked weeds at Dickey’s rundown home.

And city officials are petitioning the district attorney to get a new inspection for Dickey’s newly tidy home. Councilwoman Zeanah believes a judge would not approve if the mobile home park owners were to reject the sale.

That $40,000 sale is the easiest solution, said Councilwoman Linda Parks.

“It seems to me that cooler minds should prevail here,” she said. “There is a reasonable avenue available. Other than stubbornness, why would you kick out an old man? I hope this can be resolved.”