Millersburg landlord singling me out.
I assisted a fired apartment manager 2 years ago and was singled out by the Landlady, (Mary Ellen Ryan) by being harassed the second day that I was helping him move out of the complex. That was when M. Ryan singled me out, and called the Police and she said she smelled marijuana by my apartment. She took the Policeman by my apartment and then confronted me with the accusation that I was smoking marijuana. I told her and the Policeman that I didn't smoke marijuana because I was under a Doctor's care at the Wooster Pain Management Clinic and they screen all patients with an urinalysis and I couldn't afford to be found ineligible for their care. The officer then asked me the name of the Dr., and the Officer responded that he had heard of him. Under interrogation by my Landlady and the Policeman, I decided that I'd relax and smoke a cigarette. So I got a cigarette out and the Officer asked what I was doing. I explained to him that I was on SSDI and being that my budget wouldn't allow me to purchase factory-made cigarettes so I rolled my own. The officer then asked to inspect the cigarette personally and so I handed it to him. He looked at it closely and smelled it. I told him that I used cheap pipe tobacco. He distinctly reassured the Landlady that was what he smelled by my apartment. It was clear that she wasn't satisfied with his opinion and she then threatened me saying that she would be watching and listening for any potential violation of the lease rules and then left me to help my friend. There are still two witnesses to this harassment and they can be called upon to make sworn depositions. Some few months went by and there was not anymore outright harassment issues. There were minor incidents but they are not very important or consequential. However, I was rankled as I learned about how she was refusing to make repairs for certain individuals. So when I learned that the government housing inspectors would be making an inspection of this complex for purposes of maintenance and services, I met them during this process and told them how the Landlady's husband had cut out my screen to access my apartment because of a defective door lock and it forced me to forego the benefits of fresh air. Then I accompanied them to an apartment where She was aware that a disabled man was unable to use his living room light switch because it was shorted out and threw sparks whenever he touched it. She told him that the tenant would have to pay to have it fixed because of the smell of smoke was so strong that the part-time maintenance man couldn't help. The Inspector agreed that was still the Landlady's responsibility to fix and maintain electrical problems, and that it was her problem and not his, especially because the faulty wiring was certainly a fire hazard. Then I accompanied them to an apartment where she was aware that a disabled woman had Black Mould on her wall and ceiling. Mrs. Ryan had denied correcting that problem. I was the only person who had the temerity to show them these sub-standard issues and they said that they were glad that someone had spoken up and informed them of these issues and wondered how many more incidents there were but people were too afraid to speak up about the sub-standard conditions. My having addressed these problems and reporting them to her superiors didn't go over well with her. A few months later she posted notifications that we would have to curtail any smoking in the building because of federal government guidelines that all government housing would become non-smoking facilities. They then placed a bench in the parking lot and designated that as the only place that you could smoke. There was no shelter provided whatsoever. There are numerous individuals who still smoke in their apartments. However, I am the only Registered Native American besides my Blood Sister in our county and being that I am American Indian, she has singled me out all the residents with an eviction warning. She Hand-Delivered a typed warning letter to me and didn't explain what it was, but simply walked away without any further explanation. I feel that she is a White Supremacist singling me out as a person of color and I am truly fearful that I will soon lose my housing due to her vendetta against me. I quit smoking months ago even though tobacco is an integral part of the Native Americans' Religion, but I can prove that there are white residents housed here that still smoke in their apartments, however being that I am a proud Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and registered there with official Identification #2678, that she has racially singled me out. There are no other people of color residing here. My name is William P Cartwright. My address is: 149 E. Jones St., #18, Millersburg, Ohio, 44654. My phone number is: (330) 231-4391. I'm certain that she plans to cancel my lease without any due notification so as to make an example out of me to further impress other residents of her sovereignty and to make an example out of me. She advised me to contact the office of any plans to move by April 1st. I'm sincerely afraid that I'll go and try to pay my rent, and she'll then inform me that she's cancelled my lease. I am permanently disabled due to a back injury and subsist on SSDI so I'm unable to find or pay for an attorney to represent me, regrettably. Please help me. I am afraid that I don't have very much time. Thank you.
Happened on February 15, 2019
Incident reported by target
Bystander Action? No
Harassment Types: Racial
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