European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 20, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes sunday you Enber 20,1994 leaving Italy May be  Bureau Gaeta Italy sailors and their families of the guided missile Cruiser Belknap formerly stationed Here left be Hind More than friends when they de parted Europe recently. Many also left behind a healthy chunk of change in the form of a refunded de posits High Utility payments and rent. It Cost us Over$700 just to leave said Lisa Hodge Inan interview before departing Italy. He husband Petty officer 3rd class Andy Hodge is As signed to the Belk Nap. The Telephone  company gets you Wenzlick the electric company the landlord even the Navy tried to get us on the leaner furniture she  Belknap had been the flagship for the 6th Fleet until it was replaced earlier this month by the miscellaneous command ship la Salic. The Belknap left Gaeta on nov. 10for Norfolk va., where it is scheduled to be decommissioned in  said her husband had to ask a supervisor for help when furniture con tractor officials tried to charge the couple a cleaning fee for six pieces of leaner furniture about $20 apiece. Her husband offered to re clean the furniture to meet standards but was told to pay up. While his supervisors cleared up that problem they weren t Able to Stop the landlord from charging the Hodges $145 the equivalent of two weeks rent for the extra seven Days they were in the apartment. Michaela Wenzlick another Belkna spouse said she was charged for two weeks rent because the new tenant she found for the landlord could t sign the rental papers until three Days after the Price to pay Navy from Page 1 added ceiling fans window screens air conditioning is nonexistent and Micro wave ovens to the apartments housing military families. A self help store was made available and Community groups schedule regular cleanups. The Navy has wanted to move out of the towers for several years but  find existing housing that met Navy standards. Contractors who could build the housing also were difficult to locate. The new Corri Unity comple planned by Navy officials would in clude housing child care facilities schools a Hospital a Navy Exchange and a commissary As Well As All family or service oriented organizations. However the construction plan shave suffered numerous setbacks and contracting delays. Even though a con tract has not been formalized the Navy has set a target Date of 1997 for the first group of houses to be ready for occupation. About 900 government leased hous ing units including those at the Tow ers Are in the Naples area and another 40 Are near Gaeta where the . 6th Fleet flagship is Home ported. Most of the leased units not in the towers Are scattered throughout the outskirts of Naples and Gaeta in Small residential areas called  Marcos Are slated to become mini american neighbourhoods com plete with playgrounds and barbecues. Each housing unit will be equipped with fans screens microwave ovens and Access to 110-Volt Power. Someday even have closets and Cable Televik  .-.". " " Many of the changes resulted fro suggestions made during a Naples Community forces forum in june. Community representatives identified prob lems and possible solutions during the three Day event. Although the housing office offers a House showing service forum participants complained that most houses were too expensive had faulty door Sand windows and lacked basics such As climate control screens insulation an closets. They also said military Mem Bers often were shown houses that Hada history of problems. We re going but and soliciting bet Ter Quality housing Brown said. Well advertise in newspapers fliers television whatever we have to to find what we re looking for. The houses Are out there. We just have to let the local Community know we want  before the Homes will be approved for rental they must pass a Navy inspection to ensure they include the Basic amenities such As doors and win Dows that work and Are not Security risks. A ". V. -. Brown admits that drastic changes must be made before Naples earns it designation As the european housing showplace which it recently received. As a european showcase site Naples will be one of the testing Sites for what Ever new housing projects the Navy is considering. A slightly higher funding priority often accompanies the show Case designation Brown said. And the Naples area May Benefit from being a priority of the chief of naval operations adm. Mike Boorda Brown said. It May take us three to five years Tobe the Navy s showcase in Europe Brown said. But we re on the move now. Just have some patience. Well get  15th of the  of these incidents will be investigated fully said Harry Brown director of housing for Naples and Gaeta. Som of these concerns have been brought to my attention already and i m looking into them. What should be happening is a housing representative should be giving proper counselling to the member and negotiating on his behalf with the land rd.",. A  Bills also Are a Bone of Conten Tion with Gaeta residents who say Many Are being charged 40 percent in tax on top of their Bills. They say housing officials Don t Tell All service members to put utilities in their names to avoid the extra tax assessed to landlords who own More than one piece of  faces similar problems Accord ing to Brown who has begun a massive reorganization of both housing  Only will housing become its own department giving it a direct link to the commander but it also will take Over Al types of housing including Bachelor quarters. The two offices will operate under the single housing  change is expected to provide a More consistent service for single and married personnel. For example Brown said there used to be separate Loaner furniture inventories that did not always provide furniture of equal Quality. The one Stop shopping concept will apply to All housing needs. Customers at both housing offices will each be assigned Counselor to help with rental negotiations Utility hookups and any problems. The current system has a different person performing each Job. We re Cross training the entire office so we can better meet the customer s needs and be user Friendly Brown said. Families from Page 1 in the letter. My wife had to borrow the Money to move because the army would t move her. Since then she s had to go on welfare. I know i was wrong for my adulterous act but the military tried both me and my.  real trial of the Johnson family and others like them came after the serv ice members were court Martiale. The were left sorting through the financial and emotional wreckage of suddenly los ing their main source of income while atthe same time being evicted from the Wpm Blike Security of a military Community. Arguments abound from both sides on whether the military should be responsible for families after their sponsors Are convicted. The commandant of the fort Leavenworth institution said he occasionally receives letters or phone Calls from distraught families spelling out what harm he is doing by keeping a son or husband in prison. I guess it s hard for them to under stand that i have no real control Over an inmate s release army col. Herber Tillery said. The military he said is no different from the civilian world in this aspect. If an employee of a major corporation goes to jail the corporation does t then take care of the family. They have to Fen for themselves Tillery said. On the other hand he said the Mili tary has a real affection for its families so it s hard to see them  a prison spokesman army staff sgt. . Capple said that in his six years of working at Leavenworth he has noticed that married inmates Are far More concerned about their families than them selves. " " v they worry More about their family s " Well being than even their parole Date he said. Recent record show Capple said that about 300 of the 1,350 inmates receive some sort of pay or allowance which stops at a enlisted inmate s expiration of term of service or parole whichever comes Tillery  has a More Down to Earth response to the Issue. The reality is that one Way or another tax dollars Are going to be spent for a lot of these families either through the military or the welfare system he said. It s sad but  about a third of All enlisted inmates families end up on welfare said Carolyn Dock president of a support and advocacy group for inmates and their families citing figures her group has  son pfc. Todd Dock received a death sentence for the 1984 murder of Agerman cabdriver in Mannheim Ger Many. In 1989, that sentence was com muted to life. There s a huge disparity Between the Well being of officer and enlisted families Dock said. Most of the time she said enlisted pay and allowances Are stopped or reduced the Day the convening authority signs off on the record of trial usually 30 to 45 Days after a conviction. But an officer s pay is usually no stopped until his appeals process runs out even if he s on parole by then. So an officer s pay usually continues for Toto three years after a conviction she said. Their families might face a reduction in their lifestyle but they Aren t left  this disparity is an Issue her group members opposed to the maltreatment of service members is tackling Dock said  Sydney Hickey spokeswoman for the National military family association said the services have made some strides by approving transitional assistance which gives full pay allowances medical care and counselling to families  who have been court Martiale and convicted of Domestic Vio Lence and sexual abuse within the family. But the assistance approved oct. 1and retroactive to april 1, is available in Only Domestic violence cases. In another court martial conviction the family is left with Only what their identification cards will get them medical care and Access to the commissary and Exchange stores. Family members Are allowed to keep their id cards until the inmate is discharged either through expiration of term of service or when court appeals run out. Expanding transitional benefits toothed situations requires some thought on what makes military families different from civilians convicted of crimes Hickey said. A lot of times military families Are not considered residents of the state they Are living in and Are therefore not eligible for social service programs. To get them they have to establish residency and the there s usually a waiting period she said. In that instance i could see that the Law should be changed to give military families immediate Access to state  Between the treatment of officer and enlisted families should also be looked at Hickey said. Noting that she had not been aware of the pay differences Hickey said other possible disparities should be studied including How much time is Given for leaving family housing and whether children Are Al Lowed to remain in base  any Issue that we try to change we look at disparities and ask the defense department for its justification she said. Usually there is no justification other than tradition or dollars and the Dollar argument does t Cut it with , Hickey also commented that determining benefits for families of Mili tary members convicted of crimes is not a Clear Cut Issue. ,. There comes a Point when you have to ask Why a family should get extra Bene fits just because they re military Hickey said. Family member Becky Carr said she does t want special treatment. But she wants to be treated fairly. When Carr s first husband died on Active duty the army Bent Over backward to take care other and her children she said. But in Carr s opinion the army turn edits Back on her and the children when her second husband Giovani an army staff sergeant was convicted last february of adultery and assault at fort Bliss Texas and sent to prison for four years with the loss of All pay and allowances. It was like we were convicted too she said. His unit would t help with any of the paperwork i needed done and i was first Given 72 hours from the Day he was convicted tar get out of family housing. But later they gave me 30