I Wish This Story Was One Of A Kind
Seems to me this sort of thing happens with a painful regularity.
Navy veteran could be evicted for hanging flag
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — Edward Zivica, a 70-year-old who served in the Navy in the 1960s, faces a hard choice come Veterans Day next week: He can obey the rules and remain in his apartment complex, or he can follow his tradition of hanging the American flag outside his place.
The managers at his subsidized housing project here have given him notice he’ll be evicted if he again violates the rules against putting anything on the exterior walls.
That notice came after the flag went up Oct. 27 for Navy Day, one of several that Zivica marks by hanging it outside the community room near the main entrance. He’d gotten a letter from the management in June telling him to quit.
Zivica was in the Navy’s Submarine Service from 1960-67, according to the Eugene Register-Guard.
As usual there’s likely more to the story than readily available , but in THIS case the logic escapes me.
The downtown apartment complex is managed by St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County, which opened it in 2009 with Zivica as one of the first tenants. CEO Terry McDonald said the action wasn’t aimed at the American flag as such but rather at preventing a precedent that could lead to more-controversial flags or banners.
“If you’re going to live in a situation where there’s lots of other tenants, you need to follow the rules that are set up,” McDonald told KVAL-TV, which first reported the story.
Flying the American Flag on Veteran’s day could lead to more-controversial flags or banners?
The story adds one final odd head scratching twist:
After residents requested one, management has put up a flagpole. Zivica calls it “flimsy and cheesy-looking,” plastic with no lanyard to hoist the flag or lower it to half-staff. The small flag, he said, has faded to orange after less than a year.
H/T Mary Ripley via FB
Category: Geezer Alert!
As much as most people can’t find fault with flying the American flag, if this stipulation was in the lease, he agreed to abide by the property owners rules.
CI – it is in the lease, but this property is owned by a Catholic Charity – they are able to make their own rules and why is this such a roadblock? Seems completely uncharitable to me.
“Flying the American Flag on Veteran’s day could lead to more-controversial flags or banners?”
I mean really? Your the Catholic Church, not the government, not a typical HOA, you can completely circumvent the rules.
Nevermind the fact that the Navy and the Marines Corps are predominately Catholic.
That is why I truly despise HOAs. I, unfortunately, am involved with one on my rental property in FL. I get absolutely nothing for what I pay for. I do, however, get letters admonishing me for a small brown spot on the grass under the tree, or faded numbers on the mail box. Hmmppphhh. Worthless, petty bureaucrats.
As far as this sea faring man goes – fly your flag and piss in their eye. I seriously doubt that he will be evicted… there is still a lot of support out there for veterans.
Heck, I’m the oldest retired Navy guy in my neighborhood so I fly the First Navy Jack…on the front of my house…no one complains…though I live in Virginia and not Oregon.
Anyway…here’s a link to a little something to get the blood moving to help motivate against petty bullshit and the assault on Liberty…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu4emT6btH4
Retired Navy, spouting off.
from an article I read at FoxNews, mostly veterans live here and requested a flag pole put up. But it doesn’t have the hardware (pully’s etc) to fly a flag.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/02/navy-vet-gets-eviction-notice-after-hanging-american-flag-on-navy-day/
Melony #4: Thanks for the link.
@2 – “it is in the lease, but this property is owned by a Catholic Charity – they are able to make their own rules and why is this such a roadblock? Seems completely uncharitable to me.”
It is uncharitable, and not very good spirited….but exchange this flag for anything else, and the cries of assaults on liberty wouldn’t be heard.
A contractual agreement was in force and enforced. A function of liberty is the awareness to abide by your promises regardless of personal taste.
You are welcome Zero
Totally agree with the owners of the apartments and all of the homeowner associations that deal with this. There are clearly posted rules against flying flags and if a person doesn’t agree with them then he or she should live somewhere else. They are also right about setting a precedent. As we have seen elsewhere, if they let him fly a flag then every dickhole would want to fly communist flags, save the whale flags, plo flags and god knows what else and how could you stop them with the ACLU Jackasses ready to sue everyone under the sun?
Homeowners associations can have rules against flying a flag while allowing flying THE flag. They just don’t want to make the effort to stand by the distinction. Fine – their rules, but don’t try to tell me they had no reasonable alternative to being petty bureaucratic weasels.
Rules are rules. You make an exception for one, you have to make them for everyone. I stand by the HOA sadly. You can always move
As far as making exceptions, that depends on how the rule is worded. If they added a rule allowing only the national and state flags, for example, I don’t see why they would have to make any other exceptions.
I’m sorry but I’m so sick of people picking nits on shit like this.
#2, the Navy and Marine Corps are not predominately Catholic.
The reason the place has this rule is the same reason Coffee warns you that it’s hot, people are supremely stupid these days.
Oh and they have no decency.
Another veteran who thinks he can break the rules.
Sorry, but he agreed to those rules when he signed his lease.
Yes, I am a veteran of the US Navy. He needs to follow the rules or he gets to suffer being evicted.
Did he serve in order to create anarchy?
He needs to honor his word: He made an agreement to follow the rules when he signed his lease.
I live in an apartment complex managed by a corporation. The rules are iron-clad: no decorations on windows or doors viewable from the outside. No colored curtains or blinds; only white. Nothing except a name and/or number on the mailboxes. Nothing may be set outside the doors/in the halls of the apartment buildings. The list goes on. My agreement is 6 pages in single-spaced print. And yes, it does indicate that eviction is possible for violation of these rules.
I read and signed a lease before I moved in. I live in an apartment complex for conveience and security, and my individuality stays inside the door and away from the windows. The day that doesn’t suffice, I’ll become a property owner. The OWNERS of the property have every right to determine how THEIR property will be maintained.
[…] He Can! November 4th, 2011 There’s an update to the story about the Navy vet and his flag. Ore. building lets Navy veteran hang U.S. flag SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — A 70-year-old Navy veteran […]