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Many signs of a festering feud

A woman who says she has been harassed airs her views on her front lawn.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published November 12, 2006

A city ordinance lets residents place signs in their yards, but free speech has it limits. Only one sign is allowed, its size is restricted, it cannot carry a commercial message and it must be clear of the right of way.

Linda Golden has 26 signs in her front yard. They sprout from the ground and sit on plastic chairs in her quiet Pinellas Point neighborhood. And they point to an ongoing feud.

"So many followers to doing evil. Run me away? I declare I am not going no where," one says.

Another points to what Golden sees as the futility of her complaints to city officials. It says she has taken her problems to the community police officer, assistant police chief and City Hall and made countless police calls.

Department records show 34 complaints connected to Golden over the past 10 years, said police spokesman George Kajtsa. The 54-year-old woman, who lives in the 2500 block of 65th Avenue S, says that some neighbors started harassing her soon after she bought her home about 12 years ago. They didn't want any more black people in the neighborhood, she says. A sign in her yard complains about racism, hatred and prejudice.

During an interview at her dining room table, Golden accused her neighbors of knocking down her hanging plants, turning over her lawn chairs, killing her lawn, chipping paint on her newly painted home and terrifying her mentally retarded 24-year-old son.

The trouble seems to be confined to Golden, a next-door neighbor and another who lives across the street. Police say there is an ongoing criminal investigation.

The city has told Golden that her forest of signs is a code violation and that she must remove them by the end of this week. Golden, who has had her signs up for three weeks, seems ready to acquiesce and meet the city's deadline.

Barbara Hawkins, president of the Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association, said she learned about the dispute from the city staff.

"It sounds like the Hatfields and McCoys," Hawkins said. "It's not anything violent or physical or anything. An upturned trash can? This is irritating 'gotcha' kind of stuff. If they confronted each other directly, it could get hostile."

The most recent incident involving police occurred in September. According to a police report, August L. Martens, 58, who lives across the street from Golden, complained that someone threw an unknown substance on his grass. Martens has not returned phone calls, but a woman who answered the door at his home said the matter is under investigation. Golden's next-door neighbor, Michael Showerman, 42, did not return calls. He and Golden filed injunctions for protection from each other.

Police Maj. Reggie Oliver said Golden contacted him. "We were supposed to meet. ... There was some confusion as to where." The meeting never took place.

Golden, who works in customer service, says she is fed up. "I'm tired of the harassment, hatred and I don't want to say it, jealousy. They know I took pride in the way my place looked," she said. "They would snatch my hanging plants and spray my rose bushes with some chemicals. The grass, they actually spray gas. You smell the gasoline." She said police told her they could do nothing without proof and suggested that she install surveillance equipment.

Neighbor Jim Brown, who said he is a retired New York City police officer, said he has never seen any harassment. "I think it's all in her mind," said Brown, who is black.

Alphonso Brown, 26, who is no relation and is also black, lives at the other end of the street. Neighbors once signed a petition complaining that his family slammed their screen door, played loud music and had too much company, he said. They started "lightening up a little bit when they found out my mother is a teacher," he said by phone from Atlanta.

Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this story.

[Last modified November 11, 2006, 19:40:36]