ARNOLD — Jhon Rios stood at the lectern and gave a master class in taking on city hall.
“We just pledged allegiance to the American flag. I think America stands for justice. And we just heard people pray, and I think the Golden Rule applies very well to everyone,†Rios said, addressing the Arnold City Council and residents in attendance at a recent meeting. “I don’t think we have been treated justly with some of the processes that have taken place regarding our property.â€
Rios and his wife, Alicia, live in the Ozark Hills Mobile Home Park. Last month, I wrote about their battle with the city. The couple moved from Texas to Missouri to be closer to their daughter, who is in college. They didn’t want a mortgage, so they chose to live frugally. They bought a mobile home that had seen better days; it had been cited for various deficiencies under the previous owner.
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That owner made a few fixes. After Jhon and Alicia Rios bought the home, they got to work. They put on a new roof and siding and made electrical and plumbing improvements. They added new drywall and kitchen appliances. They added a car port. They made it the nicest mobile home in the park.
But the city cited them for not getting permits and warned that police would kick them out of the home if they didn’t move it out of Arnold. Then, when the Rios couple went to city hall to apply for permits, officials told them they couldn’t qualify because they did too much work on the home.
Yes, the city told them they made the home too nice.
Jhon Rios went to the Arnold City Council meeting at the urging of the mobile home park owner, Rob Rosenfeld, whose attorneys had been talking to the city about a reasonable path forward. On the council’s agenda that night was an item to go into closed session to discuss “litigation.â€
Rios showed up at the meeting and told his story.
“I came to apply for the permits, but he said when I came that there was no way they would allow me to get the permits and I needed to move within 10 days,†Rios said. “There was no documentation. There was no legal process. There was no paper trail. My question to you is: Where is the due process?â€
It was an effective speech.
After the meeting, City Administrator Bryan Richison reviewed the situation with the community development director. This week, the city’s attorney plans to coordinate with the building director and send a letter offering the Rios couple a path to an occupancy permit.
The city will send out inspectors again and might require some drywall to be cut back so the work can be properly inspected.
“If the repair work passes inspection and we believe the mobile home is safe to occupy, then we will issue an occupancy permit,†Richison says.
For his part, Rosenfeld is still circumspect of the city’s motives. He and other mobile park owners have been legally battling the city for the past few years. They believe the city is trying to run them out of business. Richison denies that.
For Rosenfeld, Jhon and Alicia Rios have been ideal tenants. As they started working on their home, other owners followed. Like any other neighborhood, fixing up one property can have a positive impact on those around it.
But instead of rewarding such behavior, the city of Arnold tried to punish it.
Officials’ actions “were terrible,†Rosenfeld says. “They used selective enforcement and made-up rules as a rationale ... to bully and intimidate Jhon and Alicia to literally uproot their home and get out of town, without any legal process, only verbal threats. Many people in that situation would not have access to attorneys and an interested reporter, and would just assume they had to comply with the demands of the city official.â€
The Rios family did not comply. They fought for their home. They pleaded their case to the public. Now they hope the city follows through on its promise.
“I am hopeful that the city is looking for a face-saving way out of this situation and it will be resolved in a reasonable way,†Rosenfeld says. “We’ll see.â€
The city of Arnold continues its war on mobile home parks. In this case, a couple renovated their home too well.
Another mobile home park owner accuses city of trying to run it out of business.Â
'They think we’re all riff-raff. Mobile home stigma is real,' says one resident of Jeffco Estates in Arnold. The city says it's not trying to force anyone out.