Newsletter about the City Council meeting of December 7, 2010 - Addendum on the Rental Property Task Force Recommendations

The third departmental report of the evening's agenda was the issue of recommendations brought forth by the Rental Property Task Force. This task force was proposed by Hank Guess at the City Council meeting of July 20, 2010. The Following is a summary of what was introduced at that meeting.

***Alderman Guess at the end of the meeting brought up the subject that he stated he has heard at neighborhood meetings. The issue of Landlords and Tenants. We hear about the conditions that tenants live in and the issue that they have with landlords. It appears that many times the police department has to intervene and rectify the situation with those tenants. He asked Manager Berry to appoint the appropriate staff necessary to take a look at the issues and concerns that the people and the community have with regards to landlords and tenants, just like we're doing with the pools and come back with some recommendations... Most of the issues deal with the tenants and once they are in there it takes some time to get them evicted. And generally that falls upon the burden of the police department. Hopefully there is something we can do that will help in that type of situation.

Manager Berry stated that City Council looked at that issue a year and a half or two years ago. They will certainly revisit that again. It's not easy. It is a very difficult issue to deal with. You have federal housing laws. Mayor Wright added that it is frustrating for other tenants to have a bad tenant and you can't get them out. Alderman Guess stated that it seems like a revolving door and there must be some kind of way to stop that revolving door. It does put a burden on the police department....

Alder Fox asked if he was talking about tenants or absentee landlords? Alderman Guess said he thinks it is both. Alder Fox stated that they have looked at the landlords and that's a problem ... Manager Berry stated that they would be glad to revisit it again, but there is no silver bullet. To do what other cities have done (That they've looked into) was going to be a costly, burdensome program. Alderman Guess said that he has heard that some communities require a background check on tenants.

Announced at the City Council Meeting of September 7, 2010 - RENTAL PROPERTY TASK FORCE - (Terms expire December 6, 2010)
Objective: Recommend approaches to City Council which will assist rental property owners in knowing and responding to illegal and nuisance behaviors being perpetrated by tenants. Recommend approaches to assist neighbors of rental property in reporting problems and understanding the City and rental owners’ response to concerns. Recommendations should be as simple and straightforward as possible and take into consideration impact on city staff and property owners, and the rights of citizens who rent property. This objective is to be completed in 90 days and will be assisted by City staff and the analysis of crime and nuisance data. Council announced the people who will fill these positions.

(From this meeting 12/7/2010) - Rental Property Task Force Recommendations - City Council formed the Rental Property Task Force in September 2010 to research rental property issues and to determine if additional rules and regulations were needed to address those issues in the City of Hickory. The Task Force met on several occasions during the past three months, whereby General Statutes and the City’s Code were studied and reviewed along with researching other municipality’s rental property issues.

After Reed Baer's presentation, Alder Fox asked if a grace period would be allowed for "Chronic Violators?" Captain Baer stated no grace period will be given. Alder Patton asked to see specifics relating to chronic violators. Alderman Guess interjected a proposed amendment that he would like to see the Task Force come back in six months to reassess the situation. He also interjected that he would like to see an additional officer added to Code Enforcement. Alder Patton said that this would allow this department to be proactive, instead of reactive, and this would put the commitment behind Code Enforcement to clean up the neighborhoods. Alder Fox added that she agrees with what has been said, because these properties effect all of the folks who live around them. Alderman Guess stated that he wants someone (hired) who can devote themselves to this issue (code enforcement). The Mayor stated that he would like to see more information and does not disagree, but he would like to see a stronger case built to see what we get from that, that we are not getting now. He added that he had no basis to agree to this proposed amendment. Alderman Meisner stated that is why he would like to see a recommendation come from staff. He stated that he would like to see the City Manager, Police Chief Adkins, and Captain Baer come forward with recommendations. The motion set forth by Alderman guess was voted on and Alderman Guess, Alder Fox, and Alder Patton supported it, while the Mayor, Alderman Meisner, and Alderman Seaver voted against it. Therefore the motion failed.

An alternate motion was put forth by the Mayor to reconvene the Task Force in 6 months and Captain Baer have come forward with recommendations detailing costs and whether it is the top priority by the end of January. Alderman Seaver stated that this could not be done immediately, because it would take a mid year budget amendment to do that. Alders Fox and Patton stated that this is done all the time. The Mayor interjected that he did not have time to consider this, but amendments generally come from staff -- doesn't have to, but generally does. Alder Fox stated that this issue has been around for years. It is something that maybe we have chosen not to deal with, but it is an issue that is out there that people deal with every day. Alder Patton added that if you lived next to this that you would want the issue to be dealt with. Alder Fox added that the Council chose not to go with the more complex ordinances,. they chose three fairly simple steps to an issue that is not an overnight issue. The issue that she has dealt with in West Hickory has been there since she has been in on Council and it's not going away. The Mayor stated that he doesn't disagree that it is an issue, but we have lots of other issues. Alderman Seaver stated that we need to see how the Code enforcement Unit has done this year and see what recommendations may come out of that we have not heard that. The Council voted 5-1 (Alder Fox voted no) to accept the task force recommendations with the addition that the Task Force will reconvene in six months (Alderman Lail was absent).



The Hound did not fully grasp this issue as Alderman Guess presented it in the beginning. It appears that we have shortsighted interests that are protecting a cabal of rental property owners who are worried about being held accountable for all of their properties.

The largest property owners in the area think that each property that they own should be looked upon as an entity in and of itself. They don't want to be held accountable for their properties as a collective. If they own property in a run down section of town that has several strikes against it, they don't want those strikes lumped in to have a bearing on their upscale properties in the "nice" part of town.

Those of you who have read this blog will understand that my issue with Code Enforcement and the nuisance ordinances is the arbitrary nature in which they have been enforced. Middle Class home owners and small business owners do not receive the same consideration as the heavyweight developers, the real estate brokers, and other connected people receive, because these business owners will call in their markers to extend and delay the process to their benefit, while no such consideration is given to those less fortunate.

This arbitrary nature of enforcement has been a pet peeve of all those associated with the Hound. We have seen it time and time again. There is a feeling of a loss of confidence in the leadership of this community that festers underneath the surface. When those who pass laws do not administer those laws with equality of justice it hurts class, race, and other cultural relations within the community. That is why the city is having a hard time filling positions on Boards and Commissions, because the average citizen feels that they have no real input into the system. They feel disenfranchised.

There have been too many of these task forces and commissions where the city staff has gone against the majority's will or the will of the people. There have been too many instances where these issues get pushed to the back burner, if the recommendations do not fall in line with the priorities set forth by the Mayor and City Manager. There have been too many instances where these commissions are stacked with people who are placed in their position not to find the best answers, but instead to carry out the personal wishes of the Council member that they represent.

There was a certain member of this Rental Property Task Force that did not want to set forth any recommendations. Basically, that is currently what would be coming forward from this process at this time, if not for the firm stand taken by Alderman Guess, Alder Fox, and Alder Patton.

Some people believe that the Chronic Violator ordinance set to go into effect on January 1, 2011 will take care of this issue. If in six months the statistics come back and the issues are still not settled, will those who have stood against doing something proactive regarding out of control properties finally confess that they are wrong about their direction, which is no direction, and admit something needs to be done? Probably not, they will probably say that it needs to be given more time, because these egos don't ever want to admit that they might be wrong.

The main issues involving these properties are not the nuisance code violations related to physical property. The main issues are the criminal element. There are drug, domestic violence issues, vandalism, and other criminal aspects associated with most of these properties in question. These aren't nick nack paddy whack issues. These are properties where landlords are not putting a check on reckless, out of control behavior. These are hardcore issues of properties that are dragging down neighborhoods and communities. How would you like to live next to one of these properties?

This is the exact same issue as when the City created the Drinking Ordinance and told the Drinking Establishments (Bars) that it was their responsibility to police the parking lots of their establishments and know what their patrons were doing outside (and even off) of their properties. If a bar owner can be held accountable for his patrons outside of the establishment, why can you not hold a landlord responsible for his tenants behavior on the owners property or when they are disturbing their neighbor's peace?

A landlord is no different than a bar owner. They are both business owners. You are providing a service and/or good for your customer. This shows the mentality and mindset of double standards that are practiced in this community. How is being a slumlord supposed to be more prestigious than owning what some might consider a honky-tonk? Why don't we create an ordinance to zone the ghettos or are these already unwritten zones that have fostered these areas within our community based upon wink and nod governance?

This type of implied acceptance of problem properties is having a negative effect on properties in Kenworth, Ridgeview, Green Park, and West Hickory. The majority of landlords have been responsible with their properties. The numbers are showing that a few rental property owners are having problems at multiple properties, because they ignore what is going on at their properties, which are their responsibility. There really are no valid excuses. These people don't secure their properties, because they are cheap and they just don't want to pay the cost to properly maintain their business.

There have been too many people in this community who have benefited from insider politics. Getting a scoop and running with it or using inside information and personal relationships to their advantage without regard to adverse effects to the community at large.

I would just like to understand what the Mayor, , Alderman Seaver, and Alderman Meisner are thinking. Nothing that Alderman Guess proposed was outlandish. Alderman Guess praised the Code Enforcement team. What he wants to do is let them be more proactive towards nuisance problems, instead of waiting for neighbors to have to call up with a complaint, which can lead to hostility. I don't think that Alderman Guess is proposing that Code Enforcement go snooping around seeking to find petty physical property violations. I think many of us know where the problem areas are. I think that Alderman Guess, as well as Alders Patton and Fox see this process as a conduit to help restore neighborhoods that are hurting and have been hurting for a long time.

One of the issues that truly has me perplexed is the Mayor, Alderman Meisner, and Alderman Seaver stating that they generally don't make mid year appropriation amendments to the budget unless the issue is brought to them by staff. Why do we have a City Council? Because this sort of ideology basically renders the Council to a ceremonial status. Logically if City Staff is there to bring all issues forward and the role of the Council is to rubber stamp what "Staff Recommends," then we don't need a City Council or a Mayor!

We don't need an impotent City Council. We need a vibrant City Council. I understand that the Council should be appreciative of City staff, but the Council is in charge and that is what most of the citizens of this community expect. They expect the Council to take an active role in solving the issues that effect them on a daily basis and believe me if you live next to one of these rogue properties, then you want the Council member from your ward to have input on this issue.

That is really something that upsets me about Mr. Meisner's and Mr. Seaver's position on this issue. There are known problems in the Highland area and in the Kenworth and Green Park areas that need some resolution and these men punted on the issue, when it directly effects their constituents. What is behind that? There has to be something behind that!

The Council hired the City Manager and the City Manager is the boss of the City Staff. The City Manager serves at the pleasure of the City Council who serve at the pleasure of the citizens of Hickory. How did everything related to governance ever become so perverted around here. What we see now is that when Council members want to hide behind an issue they point to the city bureaucracy. When they don't want to make a decision, they point to city staff. Well, in the end you cannot hide behind the decisions that you make. In the end, you will be accountable for decisions that are made or are not made, because it is my argument that this mentality is a big part of the reason why nothing ever gets done around here and that is a big part of the reason for the stagnation we see in this community. The art of "Pass the Buck" has been perfected in the City of Hickory!

It was insinuated that the Mayor needed time to study this issue; when, as Alder Fox stated, this issue has been going on for years. Alder Fox is completely in the right here. What the Mayor was saying is that this issue blindsided him and it wasn't discussed at the meeting before the meeting and he wasn't going to make a decision in this arena at this moment. The Mayor had been put on the spot and that was obvious, but it is now clear that he stands on the side of rental property owners who don't want to be held accountable for their properties.

I would like to thank Alderman Guess for bringing this issue forward and Alder Fox and Alder Patton for taking a firm stand on this issue. This is leadership. You may think that this issue doesn't effect you and it may not today, but with the way that the current economy is suffering and the change in the nature of the make-up of our community, it could honestly effect you at a point in time in the near future.

What if you have been living somewhere for years (say 20) and a rental property owner takes over a foreclosed property next door and puts just anybody in there. What if drugs start being sold out of that property or the people who rent the property are irresponsible and/or rowdy? What if 50 strange cars start coming by your house every day? Then this issue will come to bear; and if you don't understand it now, you will understand it then. This not only effects your peace of mind, it effects your property value and therefore your investment.

I think that Council members need to divulge whether they are rental property owners or not before they vote on this issue, so that the public can see whether they have a conflict of interest on this issue or not. It is time that the Council starts representing the community that put them into office, instead of what benefits their own personal interests!

Why We Must Act! - Citizens for Equity in Government

“USA Today Response; At Expense of Quality of Life”
November 23, 2010

Lack of leadership and sensitivity has lost Hickory millions of stimulus dollars for jobs and economics for continuous growth in these economic hard times in a city that has always thrived. Money that could have gone to weatherize and retrofit homes and funds for jobs rebuilding poor neighborhoods in their communities lost and the City Manager‘s office and City Council representation continue to turn a blind eye.

City staff as well as the city council has proven incapable of making the decisions to ensure a just and healthy community. The current city council:

AQUATICS
• Taxpayers dollars spent on a pool survey were the results were not used by council.
• Taxpayer’s dollars spent on a consultant group with no background in aquatics.
• Free advice from experts in Aquatics not used.
• Grants for pool repairs not applied for (Virginia Graeme Baker)

As IMPORTANT as it is the pool issue should not have been part of The USA Today article

ECONOMICS
• Have not heeded advice for local news outlets on “Economic Rebound in Our Area”.
• Would not accept suggestions on job creation and development by local non-profit.

This list could go on ad-infinitum. This does not take away from the fact that Hickory is and has always been a great city. Something drastic has happened that is called incompetent leadership.

We are glad the mayor “stood in” at the pool in the USA Today article, it is a simple reminder that the pools are merely a mirror into a number of other issues in our city government. We are faced with the need for good jobs and economic development, effective education and the nurturing of our children; and electing and holding accountable our city officials for their part in decision making that affects the citizens of this city.

Making sure that elitism and discrimination are not the continuous by product of decision making.

All this is said to give this advice – “never ignore the will of the people.” The people (citizens) spoke in the pool survey and community meetings that cost taxpayers approximately $30,000 and council ignored the voice of the people, who elected them to be their voice and representation in city government.

“I've stated time and time again; we have seen, ineffective leadership from the elected officials that we have put in office and we have not seen any accountability be placed at their feet. It is most certainly time to hold their feet to the fire. And if they don't deliver, then it's time to kick them all out of office.”
(The Hickory Hound) Dec 1, 2010

“An All American City deserves First Class Leadership” (Hickory Hound)

We are “One City, One People, United for the good of all people”

Why Do Mexican Workers Head North?

Nearly 23,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since a US-backed military crackdown on cartels began more than three years ago. The report said 2009 was the deadliest year in the drug war, with over 9,600 people killed. The death toll is on track to be even higher in 2010. Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, speaks with reporter Charles Bowden, author of Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields, concerning the current state of affairs in Mexico.

NAFTA's Ultimate Effect on Mexico - Interview with Reporter Charles Bowden



Timothy Wise: Mexican agriculture was undermined by NAFTA and companies like Smithfield



The promise was that NAFTA would allow Mexico to export goods instead of people. Manufacturing has created very few jobs, because it has destroyed the Manufacturing economy by allowing foreign investment to come in and buy up and put local Mexican companies out of business. It has also decimated Mexico's agri-business. Corn tariffs were dissolved and wholesale prices went down 66%, but this has not translated to the wholesale market. 2.3 million people have left agriculture since NAFTA. These people have come to America. That is where the illegal immigrant problem has come from.

IT IS TIME TO RE-EXAMINE NAFTA!!!

Ross Perot debates Al Gore in 1993 and once again is prescient about what has happened. If you want to know where that Mack truck came from that hit our economy, then watch this historic video.

Gold $1,413.70 - Silver $29.40

Gold to Silver Ratio down to 48.08x. The Gold to silver ratio was over 60x up until last year.

Silver Bells, Silver Bells - It's the Bankers or Us

It is time to blow up the fiat currency system created by the World's central banks. Look at the articles that we have seen over the last few weeks. The brazen arrogance of the Federal Reserve. This is a lawless organization foisted upon America in 1913 through a corrupt process.

Several pieces of the puzzle fell in line created by the global system of the time. First, the global bankers met at Jekyll Island off of the coast of Georgia in 1910.

Planning of the Federal Reserve System

At the end of November 1910, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department A. Piatt Andrew, and 5 more of the country's leading financiers, who together represented about one-fourth of the world's wealth[citation needed], arrived at the Jekyll Island Club to discuss monetary policy and the banking system, an event led to the creation of the current Federal Reserve. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the 1910 Jekyll Island meeting resulted in draft legislation for the creation of a U.S. central bank. Parts of this draft (the Aldrich plan) were incorporated into the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. On November 5 - 6, 2010, Ben Bernanke stayed on Jekyll Island to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of this original meeting.

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913
The Federal Reserve Act (ch. 6, 38 Stat. 251, enacted December 23, 1913, 12 U.S.C. ch.3) is the Act of Congress that created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States of America, and granted it the legal authority to issue legal tender. The Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson.

For nearly eighty years the U.S. had been without a central bank since the charter for the Second Bank of the United States was allowed to expire. After various financial panics, particularly a severe one in 1907, some Americans became convinced that their country needed some sort of banking and currency reform that would, when threatened by financial panics, provide a ready reserve of liquid assets, and furthermore allow for currency and credit to expand and contract seasonally within the U.S. economy.

In the election of 1912, the populist-leaning Democratic Party won control of the White House and both chambers of Congress and that year's party platform stated strong opposition "to the so called Aldrich bill for the establishment of a central bank." However, the platform also called for a systematic revision of banking laws in ways that would provide relief from financial panics, unemployment, and business depression and protect the public from the "domination by what is known as the Money Trust."

This is history from long ago, but as you can see the Federal Reserve Act was passed on December 23, 1913 two days before Christmas when many of the Senators were not even in town. It was also passed after The Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII) to the United States Constitution established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote.

The amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which Senators were elected by state legislatures. It also alters the procedure for filling vacancies in the Senate, to be consistent with the method of election. It was adopted on April 8, 1913.

And as one reads, it was passed and signed by Woodrow Wilson even after he and the Democrats ran in 1912 on a platform opposing Aldrich's plan of a central bank. In 1913 the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution was passed making Senators directly elected by the people of the State they represent. That was not the intent of the Founding fathers and many people believe that these two acts enabled the Federal government to lose its checks and balances with the States and begin the journey towards the giant monolith it has become today.

Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment - by Thomas J. DiLorenzo:

S.J. Res. 35 reads: "Resolved . . . . The seventeenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed." That's Section 1. Section 2 reads that "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years . . ."

This was the original design of the founding fathers; U.S. senators were not directly elected by the voting public until 1914. Thus, S.J. Res. 35 proposes a return to founding principles and is therefore a most revolutionary idea. A good overview of the history of the Seventeenth Amendment is Ralph A. Rossum's book, Federalism, the Supreme Court, and the Seventeenth Amendment. Rossum correctly points out that the system of federalism or "divided sovereignty" that the founding fathers created with the Constitution was never intended to be enforced by the Supreme Court alone. Congress, the president, and most importantly, the citizens of the states, were also to have an equal say on constitutional matters.

The citizens of the states were to be represented by their state legislatures. As Roger Sherman wrote in a letter to John Adams: "The senators, being . . . dependent on [state legislatures] for reelection, will be vigilant in supporting their rights against infringement by the legislative or executive of the United States."

Rossum also quotes Hamilton as saying that the election of senators by state legislatures would be an "absolute safeguard" against federal tyranny. George Mason believed that the appointment of senators by state legislatures would give the citizens of the states "some means of defending themselves against encroachments of the National Government."

The Federal reserve has been allowed to become a separate branch of the Government with unfettered power or check and balances. This has allowed the Federal Reserve, holding the purse strings, to become the most powerful organization in the Federal System. Look at the information that has come out over the last few days.

Fed aid in financial crisis went beyond U.S. banks to industry, foreign firms - Washington Post - 12/2/2010

The financial crisis stretched even farther across the economy than many had realized, as new disclosures show the Federal Reserve rushed trillions of dollars in emergency aid not just to Wall Street but also to motorcycle makers, telecom firms and foreign-owned banks in 2008 and 2009.....

The Fed launched emergency programs totaling $3.3 trillion in aid, a figure reached by adding up the peak amount of lending in each program.

Companies that few people would associate with Wall Street benefited through the Fed's program to ease the market for commercial paper, a form of short-term debt used by major corporations to fund their daily activities...

Foreign-owned banks also benefited from the Fed's commercial-paper facility. The Korean Development Bank, owned by the South Korean government, used the program to the tune of billions of dollars, including a $407 million short-term loan on a single day. Many foreign banks, including the French BNP Paribas, the Swiss UBS and the German Deutsche Bank, took extensive advantage of various programs. Even a major bank in Bavaria benefited, as well as another one headquartered in Bahrain, a tiny island country in the Middle East....

Sanders, for one, said these banks got off easy while receiving extraordinary aid. In rescuing these firms, the Fed never required them to lend to small businesses, modify the mortgages of homeowners or invest in a way that would create jobs.

"We bailed these guys out, but the requirements placed upon them had very little positive impact on the needs of ordinary Americans," Sanders said.

Fed Withholds Collateral Data for $885 Billion in Financial-Crisis Loans - Bloomberg - 12/1/2010

The Hound says listen to Max Keiser. Buy just a little. Take down the derivatives market and the Fiat Currency Empire. It is us versus them. Is it fair for the Banks to hold us hostage, when it was our money that they were bailed out with.

If you buy silver, you will help dry up the market and force the banking cartel to cover their short positions. The price of silver will begin to escalate. This movement will feed off of itself. The banks have shorted silver to the extent that they are in positions several times the multiple of the physical silver stock available to the world.

What the banks have done is unethical and illegal. It is time that their bluff is called. If the stock market is going to crash, which it will anyway without real economic growth and tangibility, then let it crash. It is time to regain control of our currency and exposing the fractional reserve, fiat system is the best way to do this.

Only the ignorant are powerless. It is time to educate yourself about what I am speaking of. Don't take my word for this. Learn that true power comes from mass. The American people are not powerless, if they work together under a common focus and objectives.