Protestors criticize city over sewer damage.
Nearly eight months have passed since a clogged City of Santa Fe sewer line sent a torrent of sewage and wastewater flooding into Robert Wilson's home on Juan de Dios Road [Outtakes, June 28:
]. Nearly eight months later, the devastation still remains.
The home's only real sign of habitation is an inflatable mattress on the floor, where Wilson has been
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sleeping since July. Most of his worldly possessions are gone. The interior walls and floors are still stripped bare. There is no heat or tap water. But the city hasn't forgotten about Wilson.
"I'm still getting a sewer bill every month," he says with a tired smile.
Since the Feb. 2 incident, Wilson says multiple phone calls to City Manager Asenath Kepler and City Attorney Frank Katz have either gone unanswered or have been referred to the city's insurance company.
Wilson's neighbor Nina Hart-a musician whose home was also severely damaged by the flood-also implored Mayor David Coss and City Councilor Chris Calvert to help. In response, Calvert says he and City Councilor Miguel Chavez are co-sponsoring a resolution at the Sept. 27 City Council meeting that would allow the city to apply for a grant to improve the city's antiquated sewer system.
"There's not a whole lot we can do after the fact," Calvert says. "But hopefully we can do some things within the city so that this type of situation doesn't occur again."
The city's otherwise tepid response prompted Hart to organize a small protest (complete with signs like "Santa Fe, the
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Shitty Indifferent," a trumpet player and a toilet removed from Hart's home) in front of City Hall on Sept. 26 to call attention to Wright's plight in particular.
"It just points to the level of frustration that has accrued throughout this process," Hart says of the protest. "I feel like the city doesn't know its head from its tail…I don't know how else to impress upon them that something in the process is not working."
There is one other way; Hart filed a lawsuit against the city earlier this year. The suit was settled in June for $55,000, at least $20,000 less than Hart estimates it will cost to repair the damages.
"It's sort of beyond words that people could be treated like this by the city," Hart says. "We tried the legal thing, and it still wasn't fair. There really hasn't been any justice."
Wilson-a flight instructor who has spent considerable time away from work trying to rebuild his home, brick by brick, by himself-says he can't afford to sue the city unless a lawyer takes his case on a pro bono basis.
Wilson says he received a letter last week from St. Paul Travelers (the city's insurance company) offering to settle his claim for $22,600 in addition to approximately $22,400 the city paid a contractor to clean up the initial mess left by the sewage break. The offer-which Wilson has not yet accepted-falls at least $30,000 short of the estimated cost to restore the home to a semblance of its original state.
"You try to prepare yourself for the worst so that when it comes you can accept it," Wilson says. "But…this [offer] is almost worse than going back to square one. It will take me 10 years to save up that kind of money."
The problem, Katz says, is not with the city but with a state law that caps the dollar amount of property damages that can be recovered from a single incident where a municipality is at fault. The cap is set at $100,000 regardless of how many people are affected.
Wilson and Hart say they were initially offered $60,000 and $40,000, respective to the amount of damage each of their homes incurred. But after Hart's $55,000 settlement, Wilson says the amount offered to him was reduced to $45,000. Katz says it's his understanding that Wilson is still eligible to recover up to $60,000 in damages but cautions there is only so much the city can do to help Wilson receive compensation.
"I don't blame either Mr. Wilson or Ms. Hart for being really unhappy," Katz says. "It's an awful thing that happened, but I think their frustration with the city is somewhat misplaced. It's not anything the city can change-it's a state law that needs to and should be changed."
It's a tough argument for Wilson to swallow.
"At one time that law was intended to help people," Wilson says. "Now they're just hiding behind it."
In the meantime, Wilson and Hart have relied on friends to help them through the ordeal. Wilson has stayed with friends, at the Holiday Inn and even slept in his Toyota pickup before returning to his gutted home. Hart is paying discounted rent to stay at a friend's loft while another friend is hosting a benefit concert to raise funds for Hart and Wilson on Oct. 15 at Club Alegria [Outtakes, Sept. 13:
].
Hart says it will be at least two months before she can move back into her house. Wilson says it will probably be a year before his home will be completely repaired if the current insurance claim offer remains the same.
"The whole thing is really, really stressful," Wilson sighs. "Some days you can fight from dawn until dusk. Other days it's hard to move, it's so draining."
