Twin Oaks is an affordable housing complex taken unlawfully through eminent domain by the Curators of the University of Missouri at its Kansas City campus. Its tenants have sought redress in state and federal court of curators' actions extending over eight years. Efforts to work through the system president, Dr. Elson Floyd, and his administration have failed to accomplish even minor progress on any issues.

The spokesperson for the Twin Oaks Tenants Collective, Paula Fesenmeyer, 59, a former tenant and business owner in the complex, is visually impaired. Paula Fesenmeyer said, “The curators, each state and federal court, and the U.S. Department of Education have denied my access to judicial process because they believe they are not bound to the constitutional requirement to accommodate people with visual impairments.” In her research, she found “this civil right is protected under the ADA, but because of the adamant refusals by Floyd, the curators, the state and federal courts and the United States Department of Education to allow the blind access to their programs,” the questions now must advance to the United States Supreme Court for testing.

Resolution of the lawsuit will answer many questions, the primary responsibility for which lies with Floyd and his general counsel Marvin E. "Bunky" Wright, of the University of Missouri in Columbia (MU). “When granted title to Twin Oaks through eminent domain, the university specifically declined to declare its public purpose, and the court ignored that legal requirement. Non-student residents were promised they could stay as long as they'd like, but the pledged environmental cleanup and renovations "coming soon" were never delivered”, Paula Fesenmeyer said.

“Market rents were charged, but the university ignored requests for information on the presence of asbestos. The city of Kansas City is currently trying to explain how its air quality inspector saw what he calls an "asbestos spill" in both buildings, exposing tenants and workers to friable toxins, but did not call for air quality testing, or fines. The City instead granted a permit to clean up allowing removal of the eight years of EPA violating evidence,” Paula Fesenmeyer further explained.

The tenants’ research revealed MU enabled itself to sell or lease out the development rights to campus land as just before the eminent domain award, it lobbied select State Senators to change the State law which had specifically limited itself from disposing of state campus land. Paralleling the tenants’ suit, the Missouri attorney general has been asked to explain how the constitution of the state, violated by this law, does not require MU to undo all its post 1998 real estate actions.

Paula Fesenmeyer reports, “the funds collected through unlawful activities by the curators must at least be returned to tenants, or sent to the legislature, lest the taxpayers be found to have been defrauded of their rightful share of state revenue. Bond holders and agents may have been harmed as the income they received for their investment in university facilities was derived in part from unlawful activity.”

Although the tenants’ lawsuit asserts that “the curators under obligation of acceptance of federal funds must provide reasonable accommodations of access to the disabled and access for the visually impaired to their programs and must include access to the school of law library,” Rawlings Hammett, a tenant, observed that “visually impaired students guaranteed federal funding for a free and appropriate education were not provided with pledged tutoring, readers, or note takers, but were encouraged to keep taking out private loans even as the university pointedly flunked them while continuing to accept the federal funds on their behalf.”

Time after time the tenants filed formal complaints with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights against the curators for clear ADA violations, housing code violations, environmental violations, unsafe and unhealthy conditions only to discover that the president of the board of curators, an alumnae of UMKC’s School of Law, is also the director of the Missouri Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. Commented Paula Fesenmeyer, “each and every complaint was returned insufficient evidence, case closed.”

No person in authority at the state and federal level moved to undue this conflict. State and federal courts have rejected the tenants’ and the blind students' representative even though federal civil rights law states anyone can sue to correct ADA violations.

Floyd refused to allow the tenants to present their redevelopment plan to the curators. It allows for the renovation of the buildings using state and federal tax credits for historic renovation, preserving for the diverse community of former faculty, seniors, disabled, working people, international students, families, and university staff, affordable, quality housing within walking distance of the campus. He rejected discussion despite the report of paid consultants and MU's concurrence that it was financially unfeasible to demolish the buildings and build new dormitories.

Frank Trantham, another tenant, noted that MU's plans were devised with the involvement and support of community based partners, almost three quarters of whom were employed by MU or paid to attend the meetings, while none of the Twin Oaks tenants was notified or represented.

At least four of the tenants suffered personal injuries due to lack of building maintenance. Their medical claims were rejected by thecurators, commenting…”old people just fall.....we self insure, and do not have to pay”.

Hans Fesenmeyer, 35, the legally blind son of Paula Fesenmeyer described as a "persistent eight year student of UMKC deep in debt from 'school loans,'" in insistence that "the truth truly matters" messaged "the wrongful operation of the demonic University System and its cowed partners,” an observer noted. Hans Fesenmeyer, who lived in an apartment across from his mother's was found dead on June 27, 2006 reportedly from a self-inflicked knife wound.

On July 25, 2006, MU, aided by state agencies and the county sheriff, unlawfully entered the apartments of the peaceable remaining tenants, forceably removed them, yet detained their property in the parking lot for more then two months. Floyd’s attorney finally relented and allowed re-possession of the goods, including the tenants’ computers, research, and exhibits for its lawsuit, but just in time for the tenants to miss the deadline for appealing the federal decision to decline accommodations or hear the case. The federal judge earlier had written, “You will never win.”

Floyd on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006, suddenly announced his resignation as president and acceptance of a similar appointment at Washington State University.

“While unlikely that Dr. Floyd's leaving will solve any questions, it certainly will not dim the tenants' resolve to win the buildings for redevelopment as affordable housing for non students and students alike,” Paula Fesenmeyer said. About her son, she said, "Hans' deliberate demise was meant to demand of everyone, 'The truth matters…Pay attention to what you are doing!'"

"Teaching and demonstrating irresponsibility may not be a crime, but it certainly will not go unanswered,” vow the tenants of Twin Oaks.

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