City officials may reopen the debate about a controversial rental housing inspection program.
The program has been broadly praised for decreasing the amount of unsafe housing in the city.
The number of complaints about bad housing has dropped from about 2,000 in 2003 to fewer than 500 last year.
The amount of substandard houses also declined to 705 units last year.
But a city advisory board plans to consider revising the Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy program at the prompting of Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan, who questioned the program’s costs.
Why would Nancy question costs of a program that helps poor people
and not question the costs and voted for
a most likely fraudulently marketed Aquatic Center?
…City staffers, including Engineering and Inspections chief Butch Simmons, have argued the pro-active inspection approach is necessary to root out the city’s slums...
But Vaughan wondered whether the program, which will cost the city about $980,000 this year, is worth the cost.
“I just don’t know how well our money is being spent,” Vaughan said. “Why not just wait for the complaints?”
On Thursday, the advisory board appointed a subcommittee to review the issue and report back to the City Council later this year.
Who is on the advisory board and subcommittee?
The program has drawn the ire of property managers and landlords, who have argued it is a waste of city resources to inspect the quality units along with blighted properties.
Like the property managers and landlords that have donated to Nancy and Don?
On Thursday, the rental advisory board members debated the idea of going back to a complaint-driven system…"
Amanda Lehmert
Greensboro News and Record, July 10, 2010
Nancy Vaughan 2009 Real Estate Industry Contributions
10/05/09 $100 Wade Jurney Real estate-development
09/29/09 $100 David R. Howard Real estate-development
09/23/09 $75 Amy Barakat Cook Real estate-development
09/23/09 $200 Randall R. Kaplan Real estate-development
09/18/09 $100 Arthur Samet Real estate-development
09/15/09 $1,000 William M. Kotis Real estate-development
09/13/09 $100 Kelly R. Marks Real estate-development
09/11/09 $250 Frank Auman Real estate-development
08/15/09 $200 Amy Barakat Cook Real estate-development
07/23/09 $100 Chuck Forrester Real estate-development
06/11/09 $250 Frank Auman Real estate-development
06/11/09 $50 Amy Barakat Cook Real estate-development
06/15/09 $100 Stephanie Koury Craft Real estate-development
06/10/09 $125 Brad Deaton Real estate-development
06/10/09 $125 Dana S. Deaton Real estate-development
06/15/09 $100 Kelly Koury Harrill Real estate-development
06/15/09 $100 Lisa Koury Johnson Real estate-development
05/29/09 $100 Milton S. Kern Real estate-development
06/02/09 $100 Edmund W. Koury Real estate-development
06/15/09 $100 Ronald W. Mack Real estate-development
06/15/09 $100 Mo Milani Real estate-development
05/25/09 $250 Jerone D. Pearson Real estate-development
06/11/09 $100 Michelle W. Porter Real estate-development
05/27/09 $250 Norman Samet Real estate-development
05/27/09 $250 Sylvia Samet Real estate-development
06/15/09 $100 Stephen D. Showfety Real estate-development
06/02/09 $125 Leslye Tuck Real estate-development
06/02/09 $125 Marshall Tuck Real estate-development
06/15/09 $100 Ashley Koury Vanore Real estate-development
Don Vughan 2010 Real Estate Industry Contributors
Dawn Chaney Chaney Properties
George Carr Beacon Management
William Cassell Cassell Properties
Seth Coker Signature Properties
Ronald Fields Ronald Fields & Co
David Hagan Hagan Properties
Marc Isaacson Real Estate Development Attorney
John Jobe Jobe Properties
Robert Rapp ARAPPCO
Michael Shiftan Devcon Resources
Norman Samet Real estate-development
Sylvia Samet Real estate-development
Sandy Sandler Sandler Properties
Bruce Sandler Sandler Properties
Marshal Tuck Samet Corp
Thomas White Alliance Management
North Carolina Home Builders Association
http://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/cf_pdf/2010/20100428_83999.pdf
15 comments:
Matt Brown gave Don campaign money in 2008
http://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/cf_pdf/2008/20081031_69959.pdf
And Roy Carroll
and Milton Kern
and Paul and May Mengert, of Association Management Group.
and Lee Porter, of Birch Management
and Len White of Allinace Management
and NC Realtors PAC
More on Don from 2008
http://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/cf_pdf/2008/20080717_67174.pdf
Frank Auman Signature Properites
Robbie Perkins
Richard Beard Commercial Real Estate Broker
James Black Alliance Commerical Properties
Chester Brown Brown Investment Properties
Stephanie Craft Koury, where all the swimmers are going to stay
Carl Essa commercial Real Estate
Richard Grubar CB Richard Ellis
Kelly Harrell Koury
David Howard Windsor (real estate)
Maurice Hull Real Estate
Lisa Johnson Koury
Edmund Koury
Ronald Mack Koury
Mo Milani Koury
Ron Rothrock Samet
Arthur Samet
Stephen Shavitz Triad Commerical Properties
Steve Shofety Koury
Dwight Stone Builder
Wiley Sykes Developer
Ashley Vanore Koury
Tom White Alliance Management
Seems pretty obvious why Nancy voted for the Aquatic Center.
It's all about retaining political power.
The poor in the projects didn't give any money to the Vaughns to stay in control of the purse strings, so the rich get a pool for their kids to be paid for by everyone, and the low income folks get more unregulated mold and mildew for their kids to breath.
Don and Nancy want to screw the bottom rung of our community to satisfy their friends.
Where is the future mayor Robbie Perkins the real estate guy on this?
Isn't it funny how the "Liberal Progessives" are soaked in special interest money?
How many of the real estate folks are TREBIC members?
Nancy's willingness to revisit and perhaps revise an approach to this issue after hearing concerns about a complaint-driven system is a statement of her modest, diplomatic and alturistic character, and she should be applauded. I know her very well, and I know she would never allow low-income people to get the short end of the stick...and that 'special interests' would never influence her decision-making process. Greensboro is lucky to have her in public service.
100 dollars here and there in campaign contributions is hardly enough to 'influence' or change one's sense of what's right and wrong for the overall community, especially our most vulnerable, get real people! Creating additional resources like an Aquatic Center, which only adds appeal to the city, does not equate with a dismissal of the sub-stanard housing program. As the program has already seen so much success and the number of sub-standard housing units has dropped significantly, as mentioned above, it's only natural to consider trimming funding for the program or taking an alternative approach, yet that does not mean the program would come to a halt or no longer be effective. christie
Nancy entered public service defending homeowners in a modest neighborhood from the very same real-estate developers you now claim to be influencing her decisions--doesn't make sense.
"100 dollars here and there in campaign contributions"
It's when the 40 $100 contributions are bundled together that makes them effective, which is essentially what TREBIC facilitates.
"it's only natural to consider trimming funding for the program or taking an alternative approach"
Fix something that's not broken?
Sounds moronic.
More people will die with a complaint driven system than without one.
Simple fact.
Your response?
Still not convinced that $4,000 would have any impact on her sense of civic duty, especially considering she entered public service fighting these very SAME contributors! Sounds 'moronic,' your response?
Who suggested 'fixing' something that's not broken? Evidently the program has been very successful, and has fewer needs than previously, so perhaps revisiting the funding requirments makes sense, no? Unless you think unbridled spending for whatever program that happens to be on the table is the intelligent way to go...
Two-thousand 'complaints' to only 500? So there was obviously a complaint system already built-in, and perhaps she assumed it was working! Yet Nancy has already said publicly that after listening to concerns about a complaint-driven system, she is willing to take a second look. Don't know many politicians who would respond similarly...
You quoted her as saying only that she isn't sure about how well [our] money is being spent, does that mean she wants to do-away with funding all together or cut the program and let people 'die?' A bit dramatic, no?
And why confuse this issue with support for an Aquatic center? Sounds like a smear campaign to me.
So I suppose all the people listed above are 'progressive liberals' making fast and furious telephone calls to pressure Nancy into making a swimming pool for their children a higher priority than sub-standard housing in our city--absurd! Certainly all these 'rich' folks already have a swimming pool for their kids! It's so easy to point fingers, take things out of context, manipulate reality, ignore past records and grease the wheels of the conservative propaganda machine; taking cues from the highly respectable Fox News?
"Still not convinced that $4,000 would have any impact on her sense of civic duty, especially considering she entered public service fighting these very SAME contributors! Sounds 'moronic,' your response?"
I realize nothing I am going to say will convince an advocate of something other than what's being advocated.
That being said, if one looks at the contributions of Nancy and Don, and most of the other Council Members, they will find the opposite of the marketed myth portrayed.
"grease the wheels of the conservative propaganda machine; taking cues from the highly respectable Fox News?"
I don't watch Fox News.
I am not a Republican.
I am advocating for not killing poor people.
I believe Nancy will now not choose to gut RUCO more than it already has been.
On the swimming pool, I believe it is fair to say that it is hypocritical to borrow $20 million, and then turn around and look for cost cuts that would benefit donors.
And I think Nancy has come to question the initial position for good reason.
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