Fighting Floyd Squires
The City of Eureka and its residents take on an infamous slumlord, and the slumlord fights back
(April 8, 2010) For a neighborhood watch meeting there were an awful lot of official types in attendance. On Wednesday, March 31, a small group of Eureka neighbors were joined — in City Council chambers, appropriately — by City Councilmen Jeff Leonard and Larry Glass, Assistant City Manager Mike Knight and EPD Lt. Murl Harpham, among others. The issue at hand — 833 H St., a dilapidated apartment building owned by notorious local slumlords Floyd and Betty Squires, who were also in attendance.
Neighbors of the crumbling eyesore say their wranglings with the Squires — Floyd, in particular — date back at least seven years. Their requests for a neighborhood watch meeting started in April 2003, prompted, says neighbor Mary Boughton, by the squalid, trashy condition of the place — garbage strewn about, abandoned vehicles, broken windows with glass shards pointing toward the sidewalk — not to mention countless police and fire calls. The neighbors eventually got their meeting, in August of 2003, and they’ve held others since. But the problems have continued. “It’s been an ongoing thing,” Boughton complained.
Indeed it has. At least 15 code enforcement violations have been filed on the property since 2000, when the Squires purchased the building. And the H Street building is hardly an anomaly. As the Journal was going to press, Eureka City Council was set to adopt at its Tuesday night meeting a resolution imposing liens and fines on nine Eureka properties, six of which (including 833 H St.) belong to the Squires. Among the City building and safety codes infractions on those six properties: water leaks, deteriorating floors, rotten wall coverings, inadequate heating facilities, cockroach infestation, broken glass, general dilapidation and “maintaining a junk yard condition.” (For a sense of scope on Squires’ landlord history, see “A Tenant’s Nightmare,” April 25, 2002.) All told, the Squires owe $78,523 in unpaid fines to the City, which may explain the interest of those City officials who attended the recent community meeting.
Leonard said the gathering felt a bit like déjà vu. “It’s the same exact meeting that we had in 2004,” he said, “same building, same problems, same neighbors, same complaints.” According to Knight, the City provides ample opportunities for landlords to avoid liens for unpaid fines, which he described as the final, reluctant step in a lengthy process of warnings and citations. In a recent letter to Floyd Squires, obtained by the Journal, Eureka Plans Examiner Brian Gerving reminded him that he’d been notified of violations repeatedly by certified mail, and that while various permits had been obtained over the years to correct those violations, they have expired, one by one, with no repairs having been made. On Jan. 24, 2007, the City began assessing an administrative citation of $350 per day on 833 H St. Unpaid fines for that property alone have now reached $34,918 and counting.
When the Journal contacted Floyd Squires Tuesday afternoon, he adopted a remarkable line of defense — outright denial. “I’ve never had any fines on anything,” he claimed. Then, reconsidering, he said there was one, “many, many years ago [for] something like $1,700.” Regarding 833 H St., Squires said he’s done an immense amount of work there, installing new windows, doors and heaters, all of which was signed off on by City inspectors. When told of the liens set to be assessed Tuesday night he said, “This is news to me.” When asked about his reputation for spending more money fighting the City in court than it would cost to simply repair his properties Squires said, “I don’t fight citations in court. Never have.”
In fact, he was in court just last week, arguing with the City over another of his properties — 315 C St., a former warehouse illegally converted into apartments and deemed by inspectors to be inappropriate for human habitation. There’s also an active lawsuit in the court of appeals regarding failure to correct cockroach infestation at 117 and 119 5th St. “There are so many cases, so many violations, I could easily keep a small law firm busy doing absolutely nothing but trying to get all of Floyd Squires’ buildings into safe and sanitary conditions,” City Attorney Sheryl Schaffner said last week. “And I don’t have that luxury. I just tackle the ones that seem to be screaming for attention. And he’s threatening to sue me and others for harassment for doing that.”
That’s the latest twist. Late last week, Floyd Squires’ lawyer, Gary Floyd, delivered a draft lawsuit to City Hall, threatening to sue Glass, Gerving, Knight and Deputy City Engineer Gary Boughton. Gary Boughton is the husband of Mary Boughton, the H Street neighbor leading the uprising there. (The neighbors have threatened a lawsuit of their own, against the Squires for nuisance abatement, and they have reportedly obtained the pro bono services of local attorney Peter Martin.) Squires alleges that Gary Boughton used his position in the Engineering Department to gather attendees for the March 31 neighborhood watch meeting, and that city officials have been badgering him without cause.
Given this threat of legal action, not only are Squires’ claims of ignorance on these matters incongruous and frankly baffling, they’re also demonstrably false. He was in court last week, Schaffner confirmed, so he can hardly deny fighting citations there, or, for that matter, the very existence of such citations. As for his assertion that Tuesday night’s lien assessments were news, that too can be disproved; they were discussed at the neighborhood watch meeting. “I observed him being informed of it,” Schaffner said.
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19 Comments
Comment / By abdul / April 9, 8:26 a.m.
FAn elderly couple aged 85 and 97, who had just moved to the North Coast from the Bay Area, needed a place to rent for 1 month. Floyd Squires pounded an apartment door on 2nd and C streets in Eureka, early in the morning last week at 3:00 a.m. in the morning while it was pouring down rain.
The wife answered the door wondering if it was one of the homeless people. Shocked to see it was not a homeless man, but Mr. Floyd Squires in his drunken demeanor forced open the door and pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the woman, and told her to move aside and let him come in and sleep. She told him, no and she would call the police. His reply was, “Go ahead, I own them all in this town.” He pointed the gun at the husband and told him if his wife did not do what he said, he would kill him.
The wife had no choice and let Mr. Floyd Squires into her unit.
Wanted to ravage her in front of her husband, but both managed to escape and head over to Denny’s for the rest of the night.
To be honest, the courts, county and city are afraid of this man. They know that when an officer serves him papers he is carrying a canceled weapon and it not afraid to use it.
Comment / By General Basem / April 9, 8:59 a.m.
If he was carrying a canceled weapon then there should have been no problem. He would be a threat to no person.
Comment / By Jeff Leonard / April 9, 9:55 a.m.
UPDATE: The City Council voted unanimously to assess liens against several properties owned by Floyd Squires.
In the past, Floyd has ignored the threat of liens being filed against his properties. Most liens only need to be paid when the property is sold. Floyd doesn’t care because he has no intention of selling anything.
The liens we filed Tuesday are different. These liens will be immediately added to his property taxes and paid through his property tax bill.
We’ll see what happens. Floyd may continue to ignore our enforcement actions, but his indifference will cost him money.
Comment / By Hank Sims / April 9, 9:59 a.m.
Thanks for the update, Jeff.
Comment / By Charles E. Smith / April 9, 2:30 p.m.
The fact is, neither the city (including the city council), county nor the courts have the has the balls to do anything about this man. But, who will supply housing to those that need it at his prices. Landowners will not rent out to the druggy, alcoholic, prostitute, criminal, and scum of this county, then none other Floyd Squires. Eureka get’s wonderful image that it gets by the crap it allows making this their business. During the last earthquake, his building was condemned, but out of some miracle it was saved. My god, in any normal society, it would have been torn down. Eureka get’s wonderful image that it gets by the crap it allows making this their business. But, thank you Mr. Leonard for your input. I won’t be casting my ballot for you in your county election.
Comment / By Anonoymous / April 10, 4:51 p.m.
How does Floyd Squires get away with this kind of behavior? It seems like Eureka is Chicago in the 1930’s and he’s Al Capone.The story about the elderly couple is frightening.I’ve heard similar stories so there has to be some truth there. It feels like he’s holding Eureka hostage and we can’t do anything about it. Buildings that he owns and then let’s them get delapidated is ruining neighborhoods and businesses. How long do we have to wait until something is done? It’s been going on for years and he just plays the court for recreation of his ego. He fancies himself as an attorney AND a gangster. God help Eureka.
Comment / By Charles E. Smith / April 11, 10:58 a.m.
It’s called, getting someone in their who can actually do something, and not sit on their hands all day twiddling their thumbs all day. The buildings might be “Historical”, such as the Lloyd building, but look at it, use some common sense.
A few years ago, when I lived in over near 7th and A in eureka. We had a problem tenant move in and setup a drug house. The property-owner – not Squires did nothing. We got the signatures together and told him, if they are not out of there, we will each take you to small claims court. Within a week, they were gone.
I did run for city council a number of years back, but since moved overseas where the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Coming back to Eureka last year and looking at how it changed – same, same. I said to myself, there is no future here, no life, no progress. Anyway, I am out of here, and enjoy your “community”.
Comment / By Mary Shively Boughton / April 12, 9:11 a.m.
If the D.A. is going to use our tax money to prosecute drunk in public instead of SWAPing these out then its too bad the first story wasn’t called in to EPD. Floyd doesnt have the police dept ‘in his pocket’ unless he isnt reported.
Tenants who were loosely organized decided to stop paying rent because their complaints (although cited and fined by the city) did not bring the desired results…Floyd evicted them.
Unfortunately, tenants are unrepresented (so far) they don’t understand that when a landlord pressures them to testify against another tenant he shouldn’t be delivering the summons himself. They don’t understand that he can’t evict them if their complaint is illegal housing in the first place.
Wonder why people would accept these conditions looking inside a place like this ‘who would sign a lease’? Ask instead what are the alternatives, and maybe ask why the tenants dont think they deserve better because I know they do. Don’t call the Tenants lowlifes!
As a community we need to work for affordable housing like calling the school board and asking them to support a Public/Private partnership for sliding scale housing at the Jacobs Education/Zoe Barnum (surplus property) site.
As for the upcoming election use your votes to select another DA, get Allison Jackson back on C.A.S.T. and Kathleen Bryson who has the business experience to run the D.A.s office effectively.
Squires getting foreclosed on 833 H isnt the end of the story…
Comment / By Kathy Anderson / April 12, 9:43 p.m.
Squires gets his rent paid by Humboldt County welfare. At Blue Heron the rent is $675. to $1,000. for a room with a bathroom, NO KITCHEN! Why does the county allow this? There is not enough affordable housing and if Squires gets shut down the homeless population will grow exponentially. Tent Cities are growing in popularity across the nation (see Pacific Coast Homeless report) and for all practical reasons this area is perfectly suited to camping. Tribes with teepees, huts and white man in tents survived and flourished here many years ago and with modern outdoor gear we can consider a campground as transitional sheltering until more appropriate housing can be made available. The elderly are the fastest growing group of the homeless population. We must do the right thing and put our resources toward homes for ALL. Peace, Love and a Tent. The county has had plans for an affordable, compassionate and practical campground since 1993-4. Instead of following the plans of Bonnie MacGregor and The Homeless Task-force from 1991-93? which included The MAC, campgrounds and jobskills training, the current plan of paying large amounts of money to local motels and other “flop houses” has been the counties “superior” plan. We could have been a leader in effectively meeting the needs of affordable housing during this economic crisis. Instead we are like every other mean city that treats its poor with disdain and criminalizes them for a profit.
The times they are a changin and those who have assisted in the oppression of the poor will eat the bitter fruit of their labors.
Comment / By Nancy / April 14, 9:54 a.m.
I don’t rent from Lloyd Squires but I am glad that I do not. He is a person that does not care for anybody but himself. For years I have heard about him and he has gotten away with everything that is possible. There are many people that are responsible renters and take care of where they live as it was there own place. He makes all of the rest of look like irresponsbile people. I am sure if Lloyd Squires would act like a human being and not someone that was in it for the money that he could find some empathy for the people that he rents for. Lloyd you have used the poor for your advantage for to long. It is time for you to stand up and be a landlord that cares for your tennants and not the almighty buck that you want.
Comment / By ALEXANDER A. BREWER, IHSS / April 14, 5:38 p.m.
this is alexander. To be honest, do not afraid of them because he is a sumlord in CA. i am not afraid of him at all. he fuck up my live from him. he almost kill me when the roof fell on me. he is a sick man. i been honest to u all who live in CA
Comment / By scott / April 15, 6:07 p.m.
By my math, $350 per day for three years and two months, roughly, is about $414,000. You site the unpaid fees as $35,000. Has he, indeed, already paid $380,000? If so, the unpaid fees are only 9 % of the total. Or, is the reported unpaid amount incorrect? And if so, if he has not paid the majority of his fees, why has the city not been enforcing the fines? What good are rules and laws if they are not enforced?
Comment / By SUEANN / April 16, 12:27 p.m.
ITS TRUE I ALREADY WITNESS @ ALEXANDER BREWER’S HOME WAS SO TERRIBLE INSIDE OF HIS HOME WAS DAMAGE FROM THE ROOF FALL FROM BEDROOM AND LIVINGROOM AND BUT IN KITCHEN AND OTHER MORE ROOM ANYTIME WILL FALL AND ALSO THEIR FURTUIRE R DAMAGE FROM RAIN. AND THERE IS TOO MANY MOLD ROUND THE HOUSE AND OUTSIDE WAS SO MESS NEVER CLEAN UP… AND THE OWNER SHOULD PAY THEIR DAMAGE AND FURTIURES……..
Comment / By ALEXANDER A. BREWER, IHSS / April 18, 5:39 p.m.
Thanks for the update, Sueann. And here is the picture what he did to my life…. http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=oq
Comment / By Anonymous / July 13, 1:06 p.m.
Mr. Squire’s days as an oppressor of Humboldt County’s poor and downtrodden are numbered. A metaphorical hurricane is blowing his way that will put him out of the rental business.
Comment / By Anonymous / Sept. 17, 10:24 a.m.
Then please tell us he’s going to jail after that…Putting Him out of Business is never going to correct all the wrongs he has done.
Comment / By trisha / Oct. 11, 12:11 p.m.
f*k flyod he is at peice of sh i cant beleive that people would actually rent from him, he is so damn nasty, and betty isnt helping herself she is just as bad… floyd needs to loose his places and all the tentants need to sue his old ass
Comment / By trisha / Oct. 11, 12:21 p.m.
my husband’s sister used to rent from squires when she was prego yrs ago he busted into her apartment when he was drunk off his ass busted into her apartment and in the process pushing her against the wall she almost miscarried her baby…. this asshole needs to be put in jail or something he dont deserve to be a landlord. the county is hella stupid to for letting this go on as long as they have.
Comment / By Derek / Oct. 27, 2:40 p.m.
I currently rent from Floyd and Betty Squires and I can say I have lived at 833 H. Street and it was one of the worst places I have seen since I drove through Chicago. Cockroaches infested the whole entire building. The hallways were filled with trash, gang members, drug dealers, and guns being fired in the hallway to name a few. Every time it rained the walls would pour down water from the appartment above me, my drywall in my kitchen fell off and it was just horrible. Even after going down to the land lord they still refused to fix the leaks. I had enough and moved into another Squires building because I didn’t have enough money for a deposit on another place and have lived here for about a year and a half. The Eureka City Council was over the other day and had a warrent to inspect the structure. When I saw the police with them I knew they meant business. I was forced to let them in my home and I felt my privacy was invaded. I think there were 9 people in my home and they were taking pictures of my place and walking around looking at my place. I felt very uncomfortable and I still feel like that to this day. I don’t know if what they did validated a search warrent or not but why wasn’t I notified about this at least 24 hours in advance? Is what the city council did legal? Either way I don’t want to live in a Floyd Squires building and I think I should sue the city for invasion of privacy.