For disabled marathoner, saving home is toughest test

Tiffany Brown

Carlos Ramirez, whose health problems caused him to fall behind on property taxes, waits to be heard during the Clark County Commission meeting Tuesday in Las Vegas.

By Joe Schoenmann (contact)

Friday, June 5, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Because he finishes marathons despite being a hobbled survivor of strokes and heart attacks, Carlos Ramirez has been celebrated as the man who never gives up.

But in recent weeks, his spirit was finally broken — by the prospect of losing his home.

“It’s only a material thing, I know, but I worked so hard for it. I worked three jobs, I took a loan from an uncle, from my mom, from a friend,” he said. “Losing that would be one of the hardest things in my life.”

He was a mechanic for the county until his failing health prevented him from being able to use his tools, and in the past few years, he has fallen behind on his property taxes. He now owes his onetime employer $8,500, including $1,400 in late fees.

He laid out some of his problems before the Clark County Commission on Tuesday, pleading for help during the public comment portion of the meeting. It was a difficult public appearance for a proud man.

Ramirez, 56, moved to the United States from Mexico City in 1962, when he was boy, to be with his mother. She cleaned homes for a living and didn’t completely stop working until a year ago — at the age of 80. Ramirez, a self-taught mechanic, worked for cab companies, the School District and finally Clark County, where he ended up a senior technician.

He bought his 2,700-square-foot house near Alta Drive and Valley View Boulevard, not far from his mother’s home, in 1987.

His health problems began in 1996, when doctors discovered four brain aneurysms. While undergoing surgery to remove them, he suffered a heart attack and a stroke. He spent 3 1/2 months in the hospital and didn’t walk or talk for a year.

He later had another stroke. Then developed diabetes. His left arm now hangs useless.

“I can’t use it, not yet,” he said.

But he worked hard to get the rest of his body back.

First, he began taking water exercise classes for stroke victims at the YMCA on Meadows Lane. Then, when he could walk ably again, he started teaching water therapy classes.

About eight years ago, he began “running” marathons. Really he sort of hops and limps along with aid of a cane. He wears a sling to keep his deadened arm from swinging. He has entered seven half and four full, 26.2-mile marathons. He hopes to enter another one in October.

And he always finishes, even though it takes him 10 hours to cover the distance that others complete in two.

Ramirez has explained to countless people that he does it to show that there is always hope, that people can turn themselves from victims into survivors.

“He’s such an inspiration,” said Jack Omohundro. He and his wife, Judy, who had a stroke in 1999, met Ramirez at Sunrise Hospital and wound up joining his water therapy class.

But last week, Ramirez was weeping in the hallway of the Clark County Government Center.

“I don’t want to lose my home,” he said, then quietly scolded himself for his tears. “The stroke makes me unable to hold back this kind of thing.”

He received late notices from the Clark County treasurer in 2007 and 2008, then a letter in December 2008 about the potential loss of his deed. Panic set in when he received a certified letter in April from the treasurer. It spelled out that his home on Campbell Drive near downtown Las Vegas would be deeded to the county if his taxes went unpaid.

Why did he let the earlier letters go unanswered?

“I don’t know, I started to take over bills from my mother and I think I was confused; I didn’t realize,” he said.

He said he went to the treasurer’s office but didn’t get help, or didn’t get his message across, or was misunderstood. In April, he visited U.S. Sen. Harry Reid as part of team lobbying for heart attack, stroke and diabetes victims. He didn’t ask Reid to help him with his personal housing crisis, though.

“You go there to lobby for people with disabilities,” Ramirez explained. “It’s not the right thing to talk about yourself.”

Last week he appealed directly to the commissioners after waiting six hours for them to work through the rest of their agenda.

Afterward he met with Assistant Treasurer Rebecca Coates. She said later that Ramirez is one of at least 100 people every year who fall behind on payments because of health reasons.

She reassured him that no one would take his home, at least not right away. Notices have to be published, titles searches had to be done and the annual auction of homes on which taxes are owed happens in April.

So he has some time.

He may have some help, as well.

Las Vegas attorney Jay Brown watched Ramirez’s short, nervous speech, and when Ramirez walked by on his way out of the commission chambers, Brown gave him his phone number. He offered to pay off Ramirez’s penalties as long as he found a way to pay off the taxes.

“Couldn’t you feel the guy’s pain when he was up there?” Brown said. “Didn’t you see how hard that was for him? Wouldn’t you help him if you could? Well, I can.”

On Thursday, Ramirez’s home was deeded to the county, but he seemed invigorated. He said he would now tell his mother the whole story and see if a second lien could be put on her home to help pay off his taxes. He had a plan to sell all the tools acquired during his career as a mechanic, and he had applied for jobs at Smith’s, Wendy’s and Del Taco.

The marathoner who had hit the wall had gotten his second wind.

“I will do it. I will,” he said.