Posted on 04/03/2007 6:15:39 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
Community Sues To Oust 3-Year-Old
Child With Drug-Addict Mom Lives With Grandparents
POSTED: 3:04 pm EDT April 1, 2007
LARGO, Fla. -- A Florida homeowners group wants 3-year-old Kimberly Broffman to take her Big Wheel and hit the road.
They've banded together to oust the toddler from their Tampa-area community, which bans residents under 18.
The child's grandparents, Judie and Jimmy Stottler, admit Kimberly's been living there in violation of homeowners' association rules for three years. They said her mother has a drug problem, and isn't capable of caring for the child.
The grandparents said they live on a fixed income and can't afford to move until they sell their house. So far, there have been no takers to buy their house, even after they lowered the $189,000 asking price by $10,000 six months ago.
They also said they can't afford to hire an attorney.
Judie Stottler supports the family with her $18,000-per year dishwashing job because Jimmy Stottler is disabled and is unable to work.
Judie Stottler's friends told the St. Petersburg Times that they are worried.
"It is so ridiculous that this has gone so far," said Keith Tinsley, a cook who works with her. "She's trying her best to sell her house. It's like they are trying to force her to put Kimberly in foster care.
"These people keep batting her down and batting her down. They're just mean."
Judie Stottler said she is scared that she wil lose her house before she is able to sell it.
"We don't have any family to take us in," Judie Stottler said.
The Lakes homeowners association filed suit to oust Kimberly last month.
Bravo. I hadn’t thought of the Green Machine in years. Not that I ever had one. We had to play with broken glass when I was a kid. One summer we had a stick. That was great, until the homeowner’s association took it away from us.
Nah.. the hand break is like the extra safety mechanism on the Colt Series 80 1911's. You don't really want it, it degrades performance. You want the lean and mean original.
They don't NEED any, they have written contracts. Which, I might add, the grandparents in the story apparently agreed to.
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The child NEEDS to be with the grandparents
Then the grandparents NEED to move or make other arrangements for her care.
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what do they want to put her in a foster home?
No, I imagine they want to live in the community under the rules everybody in the community agreed to.
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Yes...that IS what they want.
Since you're apparently psychic, would you mind giving me tomorrow's winning lottery numbers?
You said: It is really sad our older folks are removing themselves from everyone’s life. You would think older folks would enjoy youth around.
The will sow what they reap for the young will not care about them when they want free medical care and to be taken care of when they are older and will get what they deserve.
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Sadly, this country has grown to ignore its seniors. (I am not yet one, but the time is getting closer.) We don’t venerate them the way many other cultures do. Instead, we warehouse them in nursing homes, etc. The sense of family that was largely in place just a few generations ago has deteriorated. I wonder how much support the members of this community get from their children and grandchildren?
While I don’t think I would choose to live in such a community, these folks bought property wanting to avoid the presence of children yelling and screaming and riding their Big Wheels all over. FR usually celebrates property rights of all kinds, as well as freedom in general. The mother in this case knew or should have know what she was buying. The HOA has waited around 3 years to act, which sounds pretty reasonable. Meanwhile, it looks like every relative this woman has is living with her, and not helping out.
My first thought was to be humane and cut them some slack... the house is for sale. But, then again, this has been going on for 3 years. Perhaps the house is way over-priced i.e. its not really for sale. Anyway, hard to tell what's going on.
In my opinion, anyone who would want to live in a neighborhood that has a Homeowners’ Ass’n is an imbecile.
The problem is the local authorities that allow these things to go in in the first place.
And since they are in the *wrong*, the Stottlers decided to run to the press hoping to sway public opinion with a naked appeal to emotion.
I’ll fix this for you
And since they are in dire straits, the Stottlers decided to appeal to the public for help with an impossoble situation and potentially raise awareness of their property for sale.
I just cannot understand why anyone would willingly agree to limit their personal property rights just so they can live in a neighborhood with an HOA.
I don’t think HOAs should be outlawed, it’s your right to organize and join one. However, signing a contract that says I cannot put up a flagpole in my front yard, or that I must mow my lawn every 6 and a half days, or that if I have a fence, it must be a certain style and color, and I can’t work on my car in the driveway...it’s ridiculous.
It depends, there are thousands of them that you don't read articles about because they are not run by petty nazis. That being said, I generally agree with you. I live in one now, but that is because 60 houses share a lake, and it is pretty important that there be rules governing lake use, pollution, the maintenance of the dam, etc.
And these are the same people foaming about how America isn't as much of a Christian nation as it should be. The thing about leaving a guy in a ditch on the Sabbath comes to mind here.
I didn’t write that last sentence, mama...go look again....no, I;m not pshyic and yes, you have no heart.
You people are nuts......you are comparing illegals to these grandparents taking care of their grandchild who NEEDS them? I must be on DU and not know it.
And now I’m wondering if someone in the neighborhood is hoping to get that home at a fire sale price, thinking the couple will sell at a loss in order to keep from having the little girl placed in foster care.
You said: Do you really think sending a 3 year old to a foster home is better than leaving her with the grandparents? I can’t believe we are talking about removing a child from the only family she has to satisfy HOA regs. This country’s soul is ill...
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I am surprised to see this sort of statement on FR. This mother moved to the community prior to having a child, knowing (or being charged with the knowledge) that children were not allowed. She did not have to move there, but she did. THEN she decided to have a child (while apparently unmarried, her choice, her responsibility), prior to selling this home with the anti-child restrictions. I don’t think it is fair to blame the property owners who bought their property reasonably expecting not to have children living in the area. I don’t agree with their choice, but it was THERE choice to make.
I believe that's an option, not a requirement. They can go that high without losing their exemption from school taxes.
It is really sad our older folks are removing themselves from everyone’s life. You would think older folks would enjoy youth around.
The problem is that we are encountering a generation in which many threw out traditional roles in order to do their own thing. Many didn’t parent their own children and they’re certainly not going to put up with other people’s children.
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