TENANT-ACTIVIST CLAIMS EVICTION IS RETALIATION

TAMPA - The Tampa Housing Authority wants to evict resident Connie Burton,
a longtime public housing activist, because her 23-year-old son was
arrested on drug charges three years ago.

Burton says she's being retaliated against.

"The only thing I've done is make serious criticisms of the overall
management of the authority," Burton said Monday before her trial opened in
Hillsborough County Circuit Court. "I believe that's why I'm here."

But attorneys for the housing authority told jurors Burton violated her
lease under the federal government's "one strike and you're out" drug
policy for low-income housing complexes.

The policy allows public housing agencies to evict a tenant if any member
of the household, or a guest, is caught using illegal drugs - even if the
tenant was unaware of the drug use.

Burton's son, Narada Burton, was arrested on a drug charge in April 1999.
Attorneys for the housing authority said Connie Burton should be evicted
because her son was on her lease at the time of his arrest.

However, Burton's attorney, Guy Burns, said her son hadn't lived with her
in nearly two years. He moved out in 1997, Burns said, but housing
authority employees "coerced" Burton into putting him back on the lease in
1998.

Both sides said he was added to the lease because he enrolled in an
employment program that required participants to live in Robles Park.

"She was told he would be fired if he wasn't on the lease," Burns said.

Burton's case has been pending for three years. The housing authority has
evicted dozens of other residents under the one-strike law. Burton's is the
only one to go before a jury.

Burns said he represented six other women whose sons were arrested in the
same sting as Burton's son. The housing authority allowed those women to
stay, he said.

Jerome Ryans, executive director of the housing authority, testified Monday
that the authority deals with each case individually.

He said the authority uses the one-strike law to evict people who are a
"nuisance and threaten the safety and enjoyment of other residents."

"Is the sole reason we're here today because she breached the contract, or
because she's a nuisance?" Burns asked.

About 40 public housing residents came to support Burton, who is resident
council president for the Robles Park complex. Burton has a Sunday morning
radio show on WMNF, 88.5 FM, during which she advises callers on tenant
situations. She is also active on several community boards.

The trial before County Judge Eric Myers resumes at 9 a.m. today.