In today’s Enquirer, Dan Horn wrote a totally one-sided story about Ron Brown:  ”Trashed houses land man in jail.” The story includes statements from the Department of Building and Inspections and Westwood Concern, but none from the accused himself, any of his family, nor his associates.  So we interviewed Stephen Dapper, a property rights activist who has been watching this situation develop and who is familiar with the details of Ron Brown’s situation.

”The Enquirer seems to think all of these violations happened because the neighbors are complaining,” explained Dapper, “but the only neighbors who complained are the Westwood Concern Citizens on Patrol.  They walk around Westwood poking into other people’s business.  These are the alleged ‘neighbors.’ His immediate neighbors never complained.”

Westwood Concern is a renegade community group founded by the divisive and usually incoherent Melva Gweyn.  When she was elected president of Westwood Civic Association, she blurred the lines between these two distinct entities.  The renegade Westwood Concern sponsors a Community On Patrol program.

Dapper takes issue with the fact that The Enquirer gave space to Westwood Concern, but not the property owners. 

“This is not the kind of thing most people would look out their kitchen windows and see,” said Dapper.  “Those who can see from their kitchen didn’t say anything about it.”

According to Dapper, Ron Brown had a collection of lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners in his yard, but they could not be seen from the street—only from a small portion of sidewalk frequented by Westwood Concern.  Dapper claims Brown kept the lawnmower collection because he happily fixed neighborhood mowers when they broke.

“Ron Brown kept lawns cut on the West side,” said Dapper.  With a large collection of lawnmowers, he could easily swap out parts whenever a neighbor in need stopped by with a broken mower.  Dapper also says there were some interesting items among Brown’s collection—like an original “Snapper” lawnmower.  It was rusted, and not working, but it was an original—which appealed to Brown’s idiosyncratic sense of collecting things.

“On the other side of the house,” continued Dapper, “he had at least 100 vacuum cleaners.  You couldn’t see those until they towed away his 1979 LTD Ford that he won.  It only had 18,000 miles on it.  He considered it a trophy.”

Dapper admits that an outdoor collection of vacuum cleaners is strange, but as a property rights advocate that is not something he thinks should be the business of snoopers like Melva Gweyn.  Dapper even hypothesizes that the lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners served another useful function:  protection.

“There have been five shootings in his neighborhood since this year, with two deaths,” said Dapper.  “ The way he had the sweepers and lawnmowers positioned made it hard to get to the back of the properties.  The only way into his house was through the front walkway.”

While some cite the “broken windows” theory for high crime, Dapper says that Ron Brown’s rental properties were empty because no one wants to rent in a high crime neighborhood where murders have taken place.  So the junk in his yard was a kind of security.

Not that it matters anymore.  Because there was too much “junk” on the property, the City decided to tear his house down.  What was wrong with the house?  Nothing, apparently.  It just had too much stuff in it, and around it, for the tastes of Westwood Concern.  It interfered with their walks.

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