Brookfield police Cpl. Jay First talks to Tommie Phillips
A contractor hired by Brookfield Township went to the home of Tommie and Kathy Norris Phillips on July 16 to clear away junk vehicles, but left with nothing after township officials learned the terrain of the property had been changed, and Tommie Phillips questioned the legality of them being there.
The episode was the latest in a long series of attempts to clean up the property at 8085 Warren Sharon Road.
The Phillipses and the township trustees signed a consent agreement in October saying that “inoperable, junk or unlicensed vehicles” be removed or put in a garage by the Phillipses by Nov. 1, 2019, or the township would have the authority to enter the property and remove them and to send the bill to the Phillipses.
A boat and a car were removed on Nov. 27, but employees of 82 Auto Wrecking, Brookfield, said the property was too wet to remove more. Winter followed and then the COVID-19 pandemic, delaying any other attempts to remove vehicles, said Brookfield Trustee Dan Suttles.
On July 16, Suttles and Code Enforcement Officer Pete Ross showed up at the property with employees of Giglio Inc. Phillips contended the township had jurisdiction to remove vehicles only up to three days from Nov. 27, while Suttles said officials believe the township had no deadline on which to act on the consent agreement.
After discussions with Brookfield police, Phillips agreed to leave the property for a while and said the township could remove items while he was gone.
However, when Ross and Tim Giglio entered the property, they found that the terrain had been changed and Giglio said he could not get a Dumpster up the hill where some of the vehicles are stored. He said he could remove the vehicles, but it would take a lot longer than what he expected when he submitted a bid for the project in November.
“There is no efficient way I can do this job,” he said.
Phillips said on July 31 that he had tried to level part of the property so he could build a garage, and rolled a bulldozer on its side in the attempt.
Suttles decided that officials should leave and consider their options. Suttles said officials are talking with attorney Jeffrey Goodman about ways to proceed, but expect to be back for another cleanup attempt.
The Phillipses said they have done nothing wrong; charged that the township is singling them out because they are an interracial couple; that officials are not going after other properties; and that neighbors want Black residents – Phillips used a racial slur to refer to Blacks – to move out of the neighborhood.
“He just feels like it’s a hate crime,” Kathy Phillips said, alleging that white boys in a car driving past the property recently threw a cup of ice at Phillips as he was mowing the grass, and that people have made racial comments to her when she walked across the street to get the mail.
“We don’t bother nobody,” Kathy Phillips said. “There’s a lot of ignorant stuff that’s happened.”
Suttles denied that any actions he has taken were racially motivated.
The Phillipses said they aren’t going anywhere, unless someone comes up with enough cash.
“If they want us out of here, they can buy the property,” Tommie Phillips said.
The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department filed a nuisance violation against the Phillipses over the condition of their property in July 2015. Each pleaded no contest, was fined $100 and put on probation. Subsequent probation violations resulted in Tommie Phillips spending 10 days in jail in June 2018.
