Thread: Businessman Evicted in Favor of Spanish Speaking Tenant

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/aug/05/ ... -05sgfcol/

Tom McKenna is a longtime Stuart businessman who speaks only English.

He says that's why he's being kicked out of the storefront on South Dixie Highway where he has run Seacoast Water Care for seven years.

"I don't know how else to put it," said McKenna, 51.

I'm not sure I do either.

On July 5 — the day after Independence Day — McKenna received a letter from landlord Ivan Munro telling him to consider another location.

Munro said in his letter he wants to have "quality tenants serving the Spanish need in the area."

"I guess I don't serve the 'Spanish need,' whatever that means," McKenna said.

"I have plenty of Spanish-speaking workers come in here to buy water for their landscaping crews," he said. "And people in the neighborhood use the vending machines out front to fill their water bottles for their homes."

The building is on the east side of Dixie Highway, south of Indian Street in Golden Gate. Directly south of McKenna's store, across Southeast Ellendale Street, is a Texaco gas station where men, most of whom speak primarily Spanish, gather to wait for someone to hire them for day labor.

The population of the Golden Gate neighborhood east of McKenna's store also has become mostly Spanish-speaking.

To McKenna, that's irrelevant, as it should be. A customer is a customer is a customer.

But all the signs for the check-cashing store and the Mexican restaurant that share the building with McKenna are in Spanish.

Apparently the signs for Seacoast Water Care don't fit in. They're in English.

Munro pretty much admitted that's one of the reasons he wants McKenna to move.

"I can have a vision, can't I? And his business just doesn't fit there," Munro said. "He's not a good tenant, that's my opinion. He's been late on the rent."

Munro said he had other problems with McKenna: a forklift that was never moved from the front of the store and salt and other supplies in messy piles in an unprotected side yard facing Dixie Highway.

But what Munro said about prospective tenants is the real clincher.

"Mexican people come in, you know they're going to stay. You know they're going to pay the rent," Munro said.

I guess seven years in the same location isn't staying power.

And as far as the rent goes, don't rent to mainly English-speaking guys like McKenna — if you follow Munro's business model.

Munro is a private business owner, and he can do anything he wants with his property including fulfill his "vision."

But there's a double standard, and I don't think Munro is a villain as much as he's the symptom of a bigger societal ill: Try telling a minority business owner to leave so you can bring in a quality tenant to serve the need of the English-speaking population.

You'd have activists organizing protests so quick it'd make the annual snowbird migration seem slow.

I think he is a villian -

Try telling a minority business owner to leave so you can bring in a quality tenant to serve the need of the English-speaking population.

You'd have activists organizing protests so quick it'd make the annual snowbird migration seem slow.

Maybe someone should try it.....I'm sick of these double-standards!

NOW THIS IS A LAWSUIT. This is discrimination PERIOD. He needs to find a good southern lawyer who knows his business and takes them all the way to the Supreme Court if need be.

Since when is speaking your own language in your own country a detriment. Since they have let illegals by the hoards come into this country.

Folks I see violence coming and I hope we are prepared because it doesn't look like our politicians are going to do the job for Americans. I don't own any weapons and I hope I never do.

We had an old beat up van go by our house the other day. The side door was slide open. The mexican in the back actually got up and looked over the roof to see inside of my neighbors garage (which the garage door was open). There is no way they live in this neigborhood. I'm very watchful now.

I'm ready with my camera to take pics of vehicles, license plates, and faces that don't belong in here.

Munro said in his letter he wants to have "quality tenants serving the Spanish need in the area."

OMG - what can we do to help this man get justice? This is appalling!!!

Originally Posted by IndianaJones

Munro said in his letter he wants to have "quality tenants serving the Spanish need in the area."

OMG - what can we do to help this man get justice? This is appalling!!!

I doubt he wants any help according to what he said:

I asked him why he didn't get an attorney and fight.

"After this? I don't want to be here," McKenna said.

I don't blame him.

Originally Posted by Rattler

Originally Posted by IndianaJones

Munro said in his letter he wants to have "quality tenants serving the Spanish need in the area."

OMG - what can we do to help this man get justice? This is appalling!!!

I doubt he wants any help according to what he said:

I asked him why he didn't get an attorney and fight.

"After this? I don't want to be here," McKenna said.

I don't blame him.

It doesn't matter he needs to sue the wallet off of that guy. Move anyway since he was evicted but let the landlord pay heavily for what he did. It needs to go to court and be in the news so that it sends a clear message to these people.

There was a similar sorta thing happened here a while back. A white American contractor was low bidder on a job advertised for bids and went into contractual agreement with one of the local Indian tribes for some dirt work.

They hammered him purely for being non Indian and white. He took them to court and sued the living h$ll out of them and won. That is a case that never made the news.

Heaven forbid a white American would ever be the victim of racism in this predominately white society. As is obvious by the lack of coverage , the media deal is lopsided and thrown.

As is a popular thread - 'Only whites can be racist.' -

Didn't you know that?

I found two articles about it in our local media. They only ran the story a day and then pulled it from the websites and archives. I think they got threatened for it but hey , who's to say?

I wanted to post it here but it is totally gone from both archives. They have all their other news stories from months ago still open to public scrutiny.

Obviously they got a spanking.