City uses “international code” to evict widow from her house

By Rebekah Maxwell 

Oh, America. A nation of pioneers and rugged individualism, founded by fearless folk who were willing to brave all of nature’s cruelty, forgoing city comforts and amenities, to settle the untamed land. Just for a place to call their own. Their property. Their home.
Until we discovered that the government, not the property owner, actually owns all our property…and they dictate what you can do with your home. Because they say so.
A widow in Florida is facing eviction, of the home she owns free and clear, because she’s choosing to live “off the grid,” without using the city systems of electricity and water. The city says her self-reliant lifestyle makes the home “uninhabitable,” and cited “international property maintenance code” to justify throwing her out of her own home.

As WND reports:

Widow Robin Speronis of Cape Coral, Fla., is among the growing number of Americans who happily embrace this “alternative lifestyle” known as “living off the grid.” Robin doesn’t have a refrigerator, oven, running water or electricity at her modest home.
Most of what she owns was free, donated or bought for next to nothing.
She cooks on a propane camping stove, and her electronics run on solar-charged batteries. And when Robin needs water, she collects it in rain barrels and uses a colloidal-silver generator to disinfect it.
“My message was to create, so I created a happy place … a place where I get up, and I’m like this is beautiful,” she told WFTX-TV in Fort Myers, Fla.
Unfortunately for Robin, her decision to talk to a local TV station about off-the-grid living put her on the radar of the city of Cape Coral.
The very next day, authorities tacked a notice to vacate the property on her door, despite the fact she owns her home, and is up-to-date on her taxes.
“A code-enforcement officer came, knocked on the door then posts a placard that says uninhabitable property, do not enter,” she told the TV station in a later interview.

The city’s code-compliance manager told the station the home was tagged because it doesn’t have running water or electricity – but neither is mentioned as a requirement in the code cited by the city on the notice.

(You would think the enlightened government officials would be more tolerant of Mrs. Speronis’ “alternative lifestyle.”)

Instead, city officials cite “international property maintenance code” as a justification for the eviction.

The ‘international property maintenance code’ is a lengthy set of regulations published by the International Code Council which, although not law, are “available for adoption and use by jurisdictions internationally.”

Because I guess “Nor shall any person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” is just too passé. Or is that part of the Constitution that evolved again? Turn your back for one second, and suddenly centuries of private property law are usurped by international policy. Not sure what the “due process” of “international law” is, or how a city government is empowered to enforce it, but they’re going to have to prove it.

Because Mrs. Speronis is not backing down without a fight.

A local attorney has decided to represent Speronis for free, according to WFTX-TV.
Cape Coral told the station if Speronis can prove she can sustain her life and the home without running water or electricity, they may be able to come to an agreement.
“I’m going to bring this to the attention of anyone who will listen until justice is served,” she said.
Living off the grid is less about pinching pennies, and more about principle for Robin. She vows to fight any future legal challenges by the city.
“I’m prepared, and if that challenge comes up, we’ll deal with it,” says Robin. “And if my Father in heaven wants me to be the test case for something, I’ll be the test case for something.”

And if the city’s trying to use “international law” to force widows out of their own property for being frugal and self-sufficient, then a test case, this most certainly is. Because if we’ve already abolished private property in America, in favor of international/government ownership, someone better call the Marxists and let them know they’ve won.  

oped: I do believe it is past time for our elected officials to take a course in US History 101...Just because one is born of elite or attends so called elite Universites does not make one smart or all knowledgeable of all things in life nor does it make one a expert on what is best for mankind in general...they need to take a lesson from one of our little known founders:
Jim Bridger, mountain man extraordinaire, was born in 1804 in Richmond, Virginia. In 1812, Bridger's father moved the family to a farm near St. Louis, Missouri. Ten years later, at the age of 22, young Bridger began his life as a trapper by joining the expedition led by William Ashley and Andrew Henry up the Missouri River as a beaver trapper. Along with Bridger on the expedition went three other future giants of the frontier -- Jedediah Smith, Thomas Fitzpatrick and Hugh Glass. Jedediah Smith, who was known for reading his Bible around the campfire, gave Bridger a nickname which would stick for life. He called him 'Old Gabe' because Bridger, with his self assured manner, reminded him of the angel Gabriel spreading the word of God. The party travelled in keelboats some 1,800 miles up the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Jim's education grew by leaps and bounds as he found out how to survive on the land. He came to know the uncharted lands like the back of his hand. 


Jim Bridger had undoubtedly found his niche. He would spend much of the next 60 years at the head of groups of trappers and fur hunters for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, of which he was a founder, and the American Fur Company. In 1842, however Bridger and fellow trapper Pierre Luis Vasquez set about building a settlement on Black's Fork of the Green River in what is now Wyoming. The settlement, known as Fort Bridger, would become a vital stopping off point for wary travellers on the overland trail west. The travellers found in Jim Bridger an excellent host. One diary reported the following about the man behind Fort Bridger: " He was excessively kind and patient with me in laying down the route to Salt Lake, taking the trouble of drawing a chart with charcoal on the door, pointing out a new line that had never been attempted, which would be a short cut of thirty miles."

That account underscores Bridger's vast knowledge of the west. According to Captain John W. Gunnison in an 1834 report, " With a buffalo skin and a piece of charcoal he will map out any portion of this vast region with wonderful accuracy. His renown in the area of plotting and charting maps grew. In 1851, he was assigned by the United States Government to draw the official maps that established the tribal boundaries according to the Fort Laramie Peace Treaty.

By his mid thirties Jim Bridger had grown into a fine specimen of a man. He stood at just over six feet, had a lean, muscular physique and sharp facial features. According to an 1837 copy of the Cincinnati Atlas, "His cheekbones were high, his nose hooked or acquiline, the expression of his eyes mild and thoughtful, that of his face grave almost to solemnity." 


The highlight of the trapper's year was the annual rendezvous. Bridger richly enjoyed such get togethers. He was a natural fireside entertainer. He would amaze his listeners with stories about his adventures and the sights he had seen. Bridger had the ability to mesmerize Indians as well as white men with his tales. On one occasion a Captain Howard Stansbury was amazed to see him keep a circle of Sioux and Cheyenne intrigued for over an hour with a tall tale that was told completely in sign language.

Bridger kept himself busy trapping and scouting after Fort Bridger was established. He laid out a stage route west from Denver for the Central Overland and Pike's Peak Express Company. He also guided 300 prospectors to Montana goldfields. He also spent some time as a guide for the U.S. Army in their quest for hostile Indians.

One day while scouting ahead of an army column near Tongue River in Wyoming Territory in 1865, Bridger pointed out some smoke rising at a distant point. The Captain, however, saw nothing, even with the aid of field glasses. As they advanced other scouts began reporting an Indian village with campfires up ahead.

Just two years later, however, failing eyesight caused Bridger to retire from his position as an army scout. He purchased a farm in Kansas City, Missouri and settled into the life of a farmer. He died there in 1881. He was 77 years of age.