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<< Previous   of   Next >> Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) The McManus Mansion sits at 2528 E. Grand Ave in Everett.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, August 22, 2008 Everett landlord now says he won't house sex offenders After neighborhood outcry, plans change for boarding house By David Chircop, Herald Writer EVERETT -- Worried residents in Everett's Riverside neighborhood got an answer to a question they've asked for months. Mike Westford, the landlord who hangs the Ten Commandments from several boarding houses in the city, says he will no longer rent rooms in the McManus mansion to registered sex offenders. "Mr. Westford intends to use the property to house no more than eight disabled adults, and his attorney has indicated that none of those disabled residents would be sex offenders," city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said Tuesday. Earlier this summer, Westford's business partner bought the now neglected E. Grand Avenue home that was built in 1893 for the prominent banker and state Sen. J.E. McManus. A high-risk sex offender just out of prison moved into the 16-bedroom house shortly after the house was bought in a foreclosure sale. The 28-year-old man was convicted as a minor for raping a younger boy and molesting two others. His stay at the house was short lived. After less than a month at the house, he was busted for drinking alcohol, a violation of his parole, and sent back to jail. Residents said the man was mostly quiet, except for one weekend when he had visitors and blasted music. "It's a quiet neighborhood and we hope to keep it quiet," said Katrina Lindahl, who walked her dog, Harry, past the mansion Thursday afternoon. Lindahl, a neighborhood organizer, said residents on the block will be watching the house closely to make sure its owners follow city codes. In previous interviews, Westford said he might rent rooms in the house to sex offenders, but said his main focus was helping recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. Westford and his business partner Alex Thole could not be reached for comment. Drug addicts and alcoholics are considered disabled and protected from housing discrimination under the U.S. Fair Housing Act. Westford rents rooms to 48 registered sex offenders in a cluster of rental houses in the Bayside neighborhood near downtown Everett. Those tenants also include recovering drug addicts or alcoholics, Westford has said. Deputy city attorney David Hall said sex offenders are not protected by fair housing rules, but could be if they are also recovering addicts. A 2006 state law on public notification and placement of sex offenders, included a provision that prevented local jurisdictions from enacting zoning rules that restrict where registered sex offenders can live. The rule followed moves by Monroe, Steilacoom and Issaquah to create their own zoning rules strictly limiting where sex offenders live. Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said his office has heard from several concerned residents who live near the McManus mansion. "Basically we're going to focus on the question: Is there more we can do?" he said. "It clearly is an issue of great concern among our residents, and we want to be as responsive as the law will allow." Stephanson's office and the Everett City Council next week are expected to begin appointing members to a 15-member task force to examine sex-offender housing. The panel, which will include employees from several city departments as well as neighborhood and business leaders, will be given the job of creating a report on sex offender housing to send to state lawmakers. Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.

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