Reader comments
FLDS family sues to stop eviction

Joey | 6:25 p.m. Sept. 10, 2008

So Wisan says, since Jeffs evicted members of the church for infractions, it's okay if I do the same thing too.

zxcvbnm | 8:18 p.m. Sept. 10, 2008

THose poor kids....ex-flds wants to save those poor kids.
I guess those poor kids will have to pack their religious books and live in a tent in the desert.
I hear YFZ has some vacancies and the place is paid for free and clear.

interesting | 9:56 a.m. Sept. 11, 2008

I find it very interesting that a feduciary is charging $100/mo dues to each property held by the UEP. There is at least 300 properties contained therein. Why does a feduciary need $30,000 at least per month just to oversee things and make sure no one injures these people living inside these properties. Instead, it appears that he saw the value of the assets there in the UEP and became a second Warren Jeffs.

Comments continue below

Hmmmmm!!!!!! | 10:02 a.m. Sept. 11, 2008

Before Wison, Jethro and their lawyers, there wasn't fudiciary expenses, subdivisions, $100 monthly payments on an already persecuted, over taxed, under lawsuit after lawsuit people. Get a clew, the FLDS have had enough of the lies and folks like Wison who are "just trying to help"???

cpastre | 10:06 a.m. Sept. 11, 2008

Persecution Complex
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A persecution complex is a term within psychological discourse afforded to an array of complex behaviours that specifically deal with the perception of being persecuted for various possible reasons, imagined or real.

Steeds makes war on the FLDS | 10:14 a.m. Sept. 11, 2008

Steeds needs the 100 dollar fees to fight a "sociological and psychological war with the beneficiaries of the Trust," as he says one of his itemized billing statements to Wisan. This suggests that Wisan's real purpose is to destroy the FLDS, not to protect the trust.

zxcvbnm | 11:23 a.m. Sept. 11, 2008

Oh....the persecution complex definition was wonderful.
The real or imagined part is the real clincher.

Carolyn Flora and the rest of the book peddler hanger ons have the imagened persecution part of the complex. The FLDS carry on the real fear left over from 1953.......2008.....continual UEP manager mismanagement.
Can everyone sit down and resolve this mess to everyones dissatisfaction.....that is what compromise is about.
Give Walls her Million...pay off Wisan....tale the losses and go back to living a quiet life.
The book peddlers will go away when they have their money.

Gal50 | 11:31 a.m. Sept. 11, 2008

It seems that it is a wise move to distribute power in any group. In our constitution we distribute power to three branches of the federal government. The power to govern is also distributed among the federal, state and local governments.

The power within the FLDS always resided at the top. Previously, the top of the FLDS consisted of a group of men. Warren Jeff's father got rid of the group and took sole power. This move could work in the short term if the one leader was competent. Warren Jeff's father did an extreme disservice to the FLDS because the chance of having a series of strong leaders is remote. All it takes is one weak leader and the FLDS then faces destruction. That has happened and as a consequence, the FLDS now must deal with all of the consequences. It would be wonderful if the FLDS members could select a new leader, but they apparently don't have the power to do that.

The goal of the trust manager is to take power away from Jeffs and hand it back to the members. Unfortunately, there are snags like victim lawsuits and a lack of cooperation.

common sense | 11:54 a.m. Sept. 11, 2008

The 100 dollars a month is to pay for upkeep of the roads, and the water and sewer systems which are in poor shape.

washington county resident | 12:20 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

I seriously doubt many of the people that have written here have ever really been out to the Colorado City/Hildale area. If you had you might change your mind about the wisdom of the monthly assesment. That area has very FEW homes that look liveable and decent. There has been too many years of "lets build a house but not finish it so we won't have to pay taxes"! Someone needs to step in and try to fix the mess that Jeffs left behind. It's too bad the Steeds were given an eviction notice, but this could have been prevented, they were given the opportunity just like everyone else. Faith can be a good thing, but following the laws of the land is also a good thing.

zxcvbnm | 1:05 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

The don't finish the house so we don't have to pay taxes concept is not a new idea thought up by flds.
Many rural areas of this country survive on the same concept.
Look inside those houses and you just may find comfortable and clean living areas and the place has none of the expenses in your typical urban subdivision.
Just because the outside is not up to some asthetic minimum standard is no reason to condem the inside.
The flds have found a way to use a greater percentage of their earnings for their own wishes rather than give the money to a government.
The government servant has not become the master of their pocket books thru taxes for infrastructure.
If you back these people in a corner they can walk away from what you call shacks and there will be no market for the property.

interesting | 1:10 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

Well, hmmmm...roads, water, sewer....hmmmm, isn't that was the fuel tax and utiltiy bills are for? The $100 is to pad Bruce Wisan's pocket.

Northern Mojave County Resident | 1:12 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

Hmmmmm....the homes that are still being lived in by the FLDS members. It is not Wisan's job to "fix them up". It is his job to promote the security of the UEP memebers who have the right to live on UEP land. He has WAY oversteped his bounds. He has NO right to subdivide, etc. He is a feduciary, not the owner.

re zxcbnm | 2:47 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

"The flds have found a way to use a greater percentage of their earnings for their own wishes rather than give the money to a government.".....what?

well the flds don't have a problem TAKING money from the government now do they

common sense | 5:08 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

I was there less than a month ago. The only property that looked half way decent was Warren Jeffs house, which is being taken care of by someone?
There are houses started and NOT finished, with No one living in them. there are houses with people living in them who have started add-ons but not finished. The area isnt well kept, Weeds as high as your head.
And if you read what a fidicuary does and can do, Northern Mojave County Resident, you will see, YES he can sell the properties.

zxcvbnm | 8:19 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

The individual members of flds that qualify for government programs follow the same guidelines and restrictions as any other citizen.
Those "lost boys" qualify for government funds thru the private as well as government homes thru subsidized education they receive.
The Texas bunch has been investigated and found to receive no welfare payments.
Get off the bleeding the beast soapbox long enough and perhaps many on this blogg will see that their lives have been made easier by government checks.
Subsidized education, subsidzed home loans, subsidzed school lunches.......don't forget your stimulaus checks or single parent payments .......

x | 9:44 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

If the steeds lived in their home for three generations and have paid taxes, then there may have been some legal documents that states that the steeds have a life time use of the house. I wonder if the past people that were in charge of the trust, told some folks that their hunk of land was like a homestead instead and that they had a life time lease. I don't live there so, i don;t know. I know that my grandparents had a 150 yr old farm that was homesteaded and my family still lives there. A huge company bought all the land down the road that the farm resides on for the building off condo's. The company tried to take my family to court, to give them the homestead value of the land, kick them out to build condo's. My family won because of the 150 yr old homestead of considered as historical something for that area. If the trust can throw one family off the land for nonpayment of $100,there will be more if the people in charge of the trust can get his way.

realitycheck | 8:56 a.m. Sept. 12, 2008

if you people think Short Creek looks like YFZ ranch, you're sorely mistaken. Jeffs spent all the money on YFZ and ignored Short Creek for a long time.

The place is a dump. You have many unlivable halfway-built homes and some slum homes with 50 people living in them. These FLDS have grown accustomed to living in third-world conditions and now it's just their way of life.

They didn't seem to mind Jeffs putting them in that condition. And they continue to put their church above their own family. I guarentee even today they are giving all their money to the church. Suckered by "religious" con artists.

And these people ignored all of the legal proceedings until their properties started being taken. That's just ignorance. If they had attended a meeting, they wouldn't have this problem. But no - they hide all scared and cowering. Even the men are afraid to step up to their responsibility. Its really really sad.

I don't even know what to suggest to fix it other than the people stand up and be adults (if possible.) And I don't mean stand up to Wisan. I mean stand up to the FLDS leaders/con men.

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