BEDŘIŠKA BETWEEN 1997-2010
In 1997 the finnish houses have been sold by company OKD to the city of Ostrava, district Mariánské hory a Hulváky. Contract was signed by mayor of the district Liana Janáčková herself. The contract did not include the land, the land was merely lent to the district. A contingent contract about the land where the sold houses stand was part of the contract itself. The contingent contract stated a contract about the land has to be agreed upon within the first year of the original contract being registered.
Yet the contract about the land has been signed much later, in 2017. The land was bought for 14,5 million CZK (about half a million euro), according the mayor Janáčková in 1998 the same land was offered for 7 million CZK.
Until about 1997 residents of Bedřiška used to be mainly non-minority people. The council of Mariánské Hory a Hulváky made a decision to intentionally relocate people in almost all case from very problematic and disorderly communities from other city districts, mainly Romani people. From 2002 to 2010 Bedřiška was mainly associated with negative phenomena like theft, drug abuse, extensive littering, damage of public property and assaults. Some of the Bedřiška residents began to show first signs of dissatisfaction with the state of things in Bedřiška, they tried to figure out how to change it.
THE YEAR OF MAJOR CHANGE 2010
In March of 2010 an arson attack occurred on Bedřiška. However it was not a racially motivated attack but a result of ongoing conflicts between neighbours. This event was another important impulse initiating large number of the residents in participation on major transformation of Bedřiška, in the following weeks the face of Bedřiška and life of it‘s people changed significantly.
In April of 2010 the people of Bedřiška founded a voluntary group helping organizing activity in Bedřiška, facilitating communication between residents, organizing regular meetings, helped with legal advice on rental agreement, debt, distraint, family law etc., and organized free time activity for Bedřiška residents, especially children, funded by residents themselves.
At the same time the residents of the area organized clean up of the public spaces, even paid for an excavator and extra waste disposal services to remove the garbage, as the city provided services (3 waste containers from the district and 5 from municipality) were not enough. In the following years there were no more problems with litter, since then the residents keep taking care of their environment, including the public spaces.
THE PEACEFUL LIVING SINCE 2010
The former lack of trust between the neighbours on Bedřiška was going away as they worked together. Further organising of collective activity and work with active participation of large number of the residents helped with mutual understanding and communication. The residents back then set further goals for themselves to achieve and to keep peace in their area.
More significant problems and requests of the residents were discussed on regular meetings, lesser conflicts mediated with participation of some of the leading members of the voluntary group. Significant number of the residents also participated in solving ongoing problems with petty crime and other issues with the city police and the state police. The residents accepted they have to actively take care the property of the city preventing any further damage to the property. The residents kept paying off their debts to the city regarding the rent and the waste disposal services. Vast majority of residents nowadays pays the rent and the fees and the taxes without any problems.
Bedřiška was no longer a place for a loose group of strangers as it became a place for community and this is the reason why the people who had been the most problematic did not stay.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMUNITY CENTER (opening on 23 November 2010)
After the arson attack in 2010, residents at their first meeting, initiated by Mr. Kumar Vishwanathan, elected a local council and identified the establishment of a community center as one of the key prerequisites for improving living conditions in the locality, especially for local children, as they believed it could significantly help reduce youth crime. At that time, there was increasing discussion about demolishing Bedřiška, with the first building slated for demolition being a brick apartment building from 1902 on Bedřišská Street, according to the decision of the district town hall of Mariánské Hory and Hulváky. The local council, and later the leadership of the civic association to which the council transferred its activities after its establishment, decided to request custody of this building in order to establish a community center for residents. At the proposal of the civic association’s leadership, residents took a conciliatory step and cleared the entire building of accumulated waste through self-help.
After many months of hesitation and persistent pressure from the civic association, the district agreed to provide part of the building for the establishment of a community center, but only on the condition that it would not be operated by the local civic association. Instead, its operation was to be ensured by the organization Bílý nosorožec o.p.s., which at that time was beginning to provide outreach services in the locality. The leadership of the civic association accepted this condition, and partial repairs of the building were initiated. Subsequently, apartment units on the upper floor were renovated, and a community center was established on part of the ground floor, which is still operated in Bedřiška by the nonprofit organization Bílý nosorožec. The community center was officially opened on 23 November 2010 in the presence of the leadership of the district, the City of Ostrava, representatives of the Police of the Czech Republic, the municipal police, the civic association, the nonprofit organization Bílý nosorožec, and other residents of the locality. In the early stages, residents themselves also participated in the activities of the community center; over time, however, its activities were limited to those provided by the operator’s staff, mainly in the field of education.
THE PRESENT DAY OF BEDŘIŠKA
The houses in Bedřiška, since being taken over by the district of Mariánské Hory and Hulváky, where Mayor Ing. Arch. Liana Janáčková has governed since 1990, have been under constant threat of demolition. Despite collecting rent from tenants, the district invested only minimal financial resources into the maintenance and repair of its property in the area for many years, exclusively for emergency repairs. This fact, together with the devastation of houses by some maladjusted residents, under the silent observation of responsible district officials, contributed to the loss of several houses in Bedřiška during the current leadership’s tenure. However, the condition of the houses apparently did not deteriorate as quickly as the district leadership had hoped, because the majority of residents maintained their Finnish houses through self-help and at their own expense, often even against the will of responsible officials. Otherwise, how can one explain the negative decisions on residents’ requests for permits for more extensive repairs, such as window replacement, insulation, heating system replacement, and similar works? Despite the property manager’s objections, some residents carried out these repairs themselves and at their own expense. Subsequently, under pressure from residents and other objective circumstances (fire inspections, technical reviews, etc.), the district began repairing the Finnish houses over the past approximately three to five years. It paid for new roofs, built new chimneys, replaced floors, installed new electrical wiring in some cases, and built new bathrooms in others.
All the more incomprehensible, then, is the current decision of the district leadership to evict the existing residents, without allocating municipal apartments to them, and to demolish the Finnish houses. According to current information, the decision to demolish is not supported by an expert assessment of the condition of the houses; the houses do not endanger the lives or health of residents, and no public interest has been defined that would justify such a step by the district. The only argument presented is the exceeded service life of the houses. Yet the service life of other buildings in the district has also been exceeded, and they are nevertheless expensively renovated. Is the district leadership acting as a proper steward of public property? Hardly. Rather, it suggests the conclusion that the district leadership is grossly violating its duties in the management of entrusted property.
According to the zoning plan, the area is designated for the construction of similar types of housing, i.e., family houses made of lightweight materials, considering the subsoil conditions in the locality. The decision to evict residents and subsequently demolish the houses comes at a time when the district has no meaningful project prepared for the revitalization of the area, and as the mayor herself admits, solutions for the area will only be sought after residents are removed and demolitions carried out. At present, it is therefore completely unclear whether construction will be carried out by the municipality or a private developer, or whether any construction will occur at all. It is also not excluded, and indeed is more than likely, that the area will be cleared of residents and buildings at the municipality’s expense, and the land will then be sold to a private investor at a much higher price.
In this context, it is impossible not to recall other areas in the district of Mariánské Hory and Hulváky that were affected by similar decisions in the past. One example is the houses on Šimáčkova Street, where residents were evicted with the promise that they would return after revitalization or the construction of new houses; the houses were demolished, and nothing new has been built there to this day. Another example involves two entrances on Knüpferova Street, where residents were also evicted with a promise of return after revitalization or reconstruction of the apartments. Today, the district leadership is considering their sale or conversion into social housing, and the public promise of return for the original residents was withdrawn in recent weeks. Here as well, further damage is occurring, whether in lost rental income or property that is not properly secured by the district. This conduct also does not exemplify how a city property manager should act.
Another recent and significantly negative example of the district’s handling of municipal property is the sale of houses at the so-called Red Cross site in the very center of the district. According to arguments from responsible representatives of the district office, a student campus was to be created there very quickly. According to information from the new owners, even in the original project submitted to the district before approval of the sale, student housing was to be created only in the houses on Hany Kvapilové Street, while the other houses, after renovation, were intended for standard housing with base rent of approximately CZK 145 per square meter (CZK 5,800 for approximately 40 m²). Moreover, part of the renovation costs, such as window replacement, is to be transferred to new tenants.
It is also necessary to mention the case of the house on Báarová Street, which was originally to be renovated for socially vulnerable people. Today, part of the district leadership, their acquaintances, and relatives of those acquaintances live there, and it is evident that their social situation is more than adequate.
From these examples of handling municipal property, together with other steps taken by the current district leadership—such as the closure of primary schools and libraries, demolition of a swimming pool, the planned sale of land at U válcoven for truck parking, the sale of the former Matrosovova primary school building, and many others—it is clear that the decisions of the current leadership do not serve the interests of district residents, especially those in Hulváky. It is evident that these short-sighted decisions lead to depopulation of the district, which the mayor claims she wants to stop by evicting current residents from Bedřiška. As stated on TV Polar by Deputy Mayor Patrik Hujdus, residents are to be relocated outside the district, while negotiations with private owners would transform Bedřiška into a place for residential housing for “functional young families.” In the context of the aforementioned actions of the current town hall leadership, this intention is highly untrustworthy. Also in play is the city plan titled “Lesopark Benátky,” which mentions Bedřiška as a planned residential area, yet even this plan does not clarify who would build there or for which group of people the housing would be intended.
It is clear that Bedřiška must undergo changes. However, it is unacceptable that current residents—some of whom have lived here since the very beginning, that is, since the 1950s—and who through their efforts transformed the area from a socially excluded locality into a pleasant place to live, should be excluded from the transformations that undoubtedly await Bedřiška by decision of the district leadership. Such arrogant and undoubtedly inhumane conduct by the current town hall leadership belongs to the past and should no longer be tolerated in a modern society.
There is constant talk of inclusion and integration, strategic plans are created to achieve at least some lasting results in this area, and significant financial resources are allocated each year from the state budget and from city and municipal budgets to achieve this goal. Bedřiška is an exceptional example of how this goal can be achieved solely through the effort and willingness of residents to change things for the better, often despite those who should be helping them. It is a sad fact that the district of Mariánské Hory and Hulváky overlooks this progress and that the district leadership continually engages in defamation of Bedřiška and its residents. Even sadder is the fact that the district did nothing to support the long-term efforts of people to improve living conditions in Bedřiška and is now attempting to destroy what others have built. Demolition and sale of neglected municipal property, whose degradation was caused by the district leadership’s own inaction, are two things that the current district leadership uses almost perfectly within its powers.
For this reason, the residents of this locality, as on several occasions in the past, are determined to defend their home, from which they are to be forcibly evicted, by all lawful and available means. A small source of hope for them is the statement of the current Mayor of Ostrava, Ing. Tomáš Macura, that the City Hall, as the property owner, supports preserving housing for the existing residents of Bedřiška, supported by reconstruction and modernization of the existing houses or by the construction of new buildings.