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When I moved here eight years ago my neighbors were made up of fascinating people from all over the world. Five years ago the Mexicans, Hondurans and Guatemalans ran the legal immigrants off with excessive noise, littering, apartment-packing and parking space hogging.

Since then I have stood my ground by marching out to their lot parties and demanding they turn their music down (a few dozen times), called the police when they refused to (eight times), replaced five purposely flattened tires due to my popularity, watched two guys throw bricks through the window of a business across the street, saw another drive his car through the door of the sleazy bar next to it, answered police questions about a murdered illegal found in an abandoned apartment down the hall, witnessed how a variety of local businesses have morphed into used car lots or Hispanic eateries and have even been told I should learn Spanish.

Lately graffitti featuring the number 13 is going up faster than I can spray paint over it. On my way back home from Wardaddy's house Friday night a car "playing chicken" intentionally forced me out of a turning lane into the oncoming traffic lane (fortunately no other vehicles were in it). I recall seeing the laughing face of a young Hispanic man flash by and noticing he had a gold tooth.

I think I've done and put up with enough.

Sounds like you could pick up your "hoodlet" and plop it next to mine and no one would know the difference. Thieves, vandals, gangs, graffiti, mail tampering, building-frame vibrating "fiestas," masses of unsupervised niños, streets bumper to bumper with cars and trash, and authorities who want to do little more than make excuses for them.

I "have to" move because "my" property is being bulldozed, and I'd been frequenting Planning Commission meetings to get a handle on the time frame. I ran into a local home owner prior to one of the meetings who came to voice his opposition (mostly because the new construction required tweaking of zoning statutes). I mentioned I was moving and he started to read me the riot act ... "It's PEOPLE LIKE YOU who abandon your property and your neighborhood instead of fight ... blah, blah, blah" until I set him straight. Renters aren't afforded the voice of homeowners because they aren't seen as having a vested interest in their community. Thing is renters have a vested interest in their quality of life and to expect, in exchange for their rent, reasonably safe, secure, and somewhat peaceful surroundings. And this ain't it!