1: nearly a full month after our civic leaders started sounding the alarm about COVID-19, the Douglas County courts are now starting to postpone any evictions for nonpayment scheduled from here on out until June 1.
It is unclear what this means for already scheduled evictions.

2: this comes after a month of advocates calling for our elected officials and our judicial system to take responsibility for the health and safety of every person in our community by halting evictions for the duration of this crisis.

3: a list of people who told us it was not within their power
Mayor Stothert, who later sent a letter asking landlords not to evict.
City Council President Chris Jerram, who said he wished it were and that he would support a moratorium.

4: Douglas County Board President Clare Duda, who expressed sympathy but that this was "absolutely" not within his power and have we tried the courts?
Governor Ricketts, who first asked nicely, then misrepresented an industry assn's stance on evictions...

...then spent some time researching his authority, then issued an EO that did very little except kick authority to the courts.
Chief Justice Heavican, who despite having "written the book on pandemics in 2018" (acc to the Gov.) expressed doubt as to the necessity of a moratorium,

...then left it to the county courts.
Presiding Judge Lohaus, who first said it was up to Heavican, then that they were bound by statute to continue, then after the EO that evictions would continue and now, here we are still with confusion about if evictions can happen this week

(missed some numbers) 7: our state senators convened only for a moment to pass an emergency appropriations pkg. Some have been stellar in this process. Others haven't.

8: this entire process has been absolutely devastating and I want to tell you why.
First, I honestly believed, despite all evidence to the contrary provided by my professional experience, we could agree that making people homeless during this was a bad idea.

9: I mean a bad idea not just in a moral sense but in a very real practical way this was a terrible idea because it meant more people less able to practice the things we needed to do as a community to get through this pandemic.

10: I thought that maybe with all this kumbaya talk of taking care of each other and looking out for service workers and our vulnerable neighbors that making sure people could stay in their housing would be part of all that.

11: I should have known.
Let me tell you why.
For the most part, landlords are the most needlessly aggrieved and jealous industry I've ever come in contact with. Every small ask construed as an attack on their personal liberties, every bad tenant universalized across the whole.

12: I should have known that a call for humanity would devolve into "BUT WHAT ABOUT US" as if a matter of life or death was in any way equal to a matter of finances. Because that's what it is.

13: in our calls for a moratorium we didn't even mention the fact that most evictions take place in low-income neighborhoods that will be devastated by COVID-19 and its consequences, or that most of these places have a record of unresolved code violations

14: we didn't even mention that some of the evictions scheduled after COVID-19 hit were for things like $159.65 in rent or a failure to purchase renters insurance or that 56 of the 61 restitution case this week were for nonpayment.
But sure, talk to me about foreclosure.