Injustice Hit Home
Raymond Harrison, Esq. bought a new condo unit from a developer and moved into his condo home in March of 1986. It didn’t take long for Ray to experience injustice as a condo homeowner. He had just begun his law practice and had to get to the bottom of many legal and governmental injustices facing all condo owners. Because he, along with his friends and neighbors in the condominium were not being treated fairly, he had additional motivation to make changes for the better in Rhode Island government because injustice hit home for Ray.
Discrimination on a Weekly Basis
Ray’s condo was built on former apple orchard land and more condo buildings were being constructed after he moved in. The condo developer was also building single-family homes on a public road on the same former apple orchard land right next to the condo property. From his condo home, Ray watched the Town of Smithfield pick-up trash from the single-family homes every week, but the town didn’t pick-up trash from the condo homeowners. How could the town treat condo homes differently than single-family homes for a town service that condo homeowners were paying taxes for? What Ray saw every week was discrimination, and there was no doubt about it in his mind.
Work to End Government Discrimination
Ray knew that it would take a lot of work to attempt to end discrimination against residential condos in Smithfield. He also knew that it would not happen without a leader who was committed to work for as long it would take to end discrimination on trash pick-up. Ray made the commitment to lead the crusade for all of the condo homeowners in town. He created the Smithfield Condominium Association in 1987, which included all of the 880+ residential condo homeowners. Working as an unpaid condo activist, Ray began by visiting every condo community in town.
Unpaid Condo Activism
Ray knew it wouldn’t be easy to end discrimination against condo homeowners by their town government. On Saturday mornings, he began by knocking on front doors and asking homeowners “Who is the President of your association?” Ray would continue until he found out who the association President was and then he would knock on the President’s door. Sitting down with Presidents and other board members, usually at their dining room tables, Ray shared his vision of ending discrimination. The message was simple — we are paying for trash pick-up services that we’re not getting. It took a lot of time on a lot of Saturday mornings, but Ray persuaded the board members of all residential condos in town to join the Smithfield Condominium Association.
Smithfield Condominium Association
This 100% volunteer political action group came together in 1987, meeting regularly in Ray’s law office at that time on Putnam Pike in Greenville. It was helpful in many ways for Presidents and board members of many different associations to discuss issues they all had in common. Ray was the President of the Tamarac Condominium Association and confirmed with other Association Presidents that we had strength in numbers. Our strength could be exercised at election time because we estimated having at least 1300 eligible voters in our group. We also had strength because real estate taxes paid by condo homeowners was considerable and was increasing year after year. Ray came up with a plan to end discrimination against condo homeowners on trash pick-up and created a confident spirit for Smithfield Condominium Association members.
How Did Discrimination Happen?
Ray never forgot some Rhode Island history he had learned from his uncle on a Thanksgiving Day in the early 1980s. His uncle, serving on the South Kingstown planning board, described offers made by condo developers to the town. In exchange for approval by the town for the ability to build more units per acre than zoning allowed, developers would make the condo property private, depriving unit owners of many important town services. Condo developers also reminded town officials, who were wary of ever-increasing public school expenses, that there were few if any children in condos at that time. Unfortunately, these dynamics, which were quite popular with condo developers in the 1980s, were at play in Smithfield.
The First Condo Crusade Action
The first condo crusade began when Ray walked into the Smithfield Town Hall and requested to be placed on the agenda of an upcoming town council meeting as President of the Smithfield Condominium Association. There would be many town council meetings with condo association representatives present in the council chamber, while Ray made our case to the five council members. At the beginning, we didn’t know how long it would take, but Ray believed that if we never stop fighting for our rights we would be able to end discrimination by the town on trash pick-up. There are times when there is an opportunity for a person to become a leader, to bring people together to make changes for the better in government. Ray volunteered for the job in 1987 to be the leader of all Smithfield condo homeowners to end discrimination on trash pick-up.
Discrimination Continues in Rhode Island
The purpose of this blog is to help condo homeowners who are still paying for private trash pick-up through condo fees in cities and towns that provide trash pick-up to single-family homeowners. Discrimination against condo homeowners continues in East Greenwich, Lincoln, Bristol and West Warwick, to name a few towns in Rhode Island where change for the better may be made. This blog provides a tutorial on how to begin a condo crusade in your city or town. Check back for more blogs in the future providing a “how to” guide to end discrimination against condo homeowners. There are opportunities for condo executive board members to become leaders of condo crusades today. If this blog inspires you to think about becoming a leader, you may contact the original Rhode Island Condo Crusader, Raymond Harrison, Esq. for help. Ray has been a volunteer mentor to many board members over the years and is available to talk to you about trash.
