The social justice campaign that powered Mayor Quinton Lucas into office now hopes to continue their momentum and turn protest into municipal policy.
To wit . . .
AS EXTREME WINTER COLD CONFRONTS KANSAS CITY, ACTIVISTS FOCUS THEIR ARGUMENTS AGAINST UTILITY BILLS AND LANDLORD HVAC TACTICS!!!
The argument might resonate with Kansas City voters who will be coping with higher heating bills no matter their demographic.
A few more things to consider . . .
- Behind the scenes, this debate threatens to start another fight betwixt Council Lady Shields Vs. Mayor Quinton Lucas -- If she decides to take up for landlords she could kill the legislation with help from her "biz friendly" voting bloc.
- Again, our Conservative friends note this progressive legislation might actually backfire and hurt low income residents as many "home providers" could cut their loses and exit the KC market given the regulatory crackdown.
- The compromise is a wash that might offer both sides a win - Gutting the legislation of enforcement funds would basically make it a useless piece of paper given that a lot of the demands for reform are subjective and HOME PROVIDERS HAVE MADE PROGRESS IN THEIR QUESTIONS OVER SECURITY CONCERNS that would prevent them from tenant screening.
Nevertheless, we can't deny that there have been some heartfelt arguments in this case.
Here's the latest . . .
PUBLIC SOCIAL MEDIA TESTIMONY FROM KC TENANTS
We're close. Really close.
On Monday the KCMO City Council's Housing Committee will deliberate our Tenants Bill of Rights again. We are optimistic that the package will be passed out of committee and advanced to City Council as soon as Thursday December 5. Join us: KC Tenants Bill of Rights in Housing Committee #2.
Every component of our Tenants Bill of Rights is connected to a story from our base. Here's Diane's story:
My name is Diane Charity. I am a leader with KC Tenants. I have been a community activist for over 30 years. Our KC Tenants Bill of Rights would change my life in two main ways.
First, I've been scammed on my utilities. The place I live got tax credits to put solar panels on the roof. They advertised that utilities would be $30 a month. To my dismay, my utility bills have been close to $200 a month, sometimes as high as $350. This causes me to go broke by the fifth of the month. I'm forced to work multiple jobs and take money from my family to make ends meet. When I asked the manager about the discrepancy, she told me that the solar panels didn't have to work, and I'd have to deal with the bills.
Second, my privacy has been violated. Just a few weeks ago I got a phone call while I was in a meeting. It was my manager, something about the furnace. Now, I've been requesting repairs on the furnace for five years and I've never gotten a response. BUT all of a sudden she called to say she was about to enter my unit. I said... hell no! You're not going in there without any notice and definitely not without me being there. I rushed out of our meeting and put an end to this. I wish I could tell you this was the only time this has happened, but it's not. They do me and other tenants like this all the time. The little indignities stack up. Would you all live like this? I don't think so, none of us should have to.
KC Tenants Bill of Rights would change all of this mess. It requires landlords to provide a utility estimate at the time of advertisement. Second, the Tenants Bill of Rights requires affirmative consent from the tenant before landlord entry into the unit, except for emergencies, or if the landlord gives over 48 hours notice and the tenant agrees to the date/time, the persons to enter, and the reason for the visit.
I urge a YES on the KC Tenants Bill of Rights package. We need our rights, and we need FULL funding for enforcement.
###########
You decide . . .
Put your money on the legislation being "gutted" there are few landlords who could live up to these demands.
ReplyDeletestand up kc pulled the same thing, even used the same font. Since then there have been massive layoffs among local low wage workers and a lot more kiosks. The activists are nowhere to be found.
DeleteKiosks are good for replacing workers but they also help customers, they improve accuracy and speed things up.
DeleteAs for higher rents, they're going up anyway. This is just one of the reasons.
Diane Charity, another worthless gibsmedat negro.
ReplyDeleteYep, she is. Now that shes retired she thinks this is a good use of her time. Thank gawd for life cycles. Everything old shall pass away.
DeleteThis person's written lease likely contained a landlord entry provision, setting out when the landlord could enter the tenant's space and for what purposes. The time to object to it was when signing the lease.
ReplyDeleteSwallow the rest of her story with big grains of salt.
Progressives always leverage hatred for "The Man" in order to acquire power personally. Organizations like this, do nothing at all for every day people trying to get by and lower costs. Those same people are co-opted into initiatives that in the end, help a few on the inside, in the "Circle Of Trust" and leave the rest, on the downside of advantage.
ReplyDeleteWe JUST saw, how initiatives like this, that create great sound bites and "Rah Rah Power To The People" levers for politicians to manipulate, actually turn out on a National Level.
"You can keep your doctor and your costs will go down."
Most, did NOT keep their doctors and costs went through the roof.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/11/10/aca-architect-the-stupidity-of-the-american-voter-led-us-to-hide-obamacares-tax-hikes-and-subsidies-from-the-public/#16c7b0117c05
This is just ONE example of what happens when Federal and Local Governments, under the aegis of power hungry Progressives, lie and effect legislation that is designed, from it's inception, to acquire power, money, sinecure by way of ill informed voters who are in the end, euchred out of cash and an affordable future.
Politicians are for the most part, lying their fuckin asses off for a living with the help of the media, who, lie their fucin asses off, for a living.
More Government Control over the private sector, in the end, makes rich countries, like Venezuela and America, poor countries where Kelptocrats and Plutocrats run the show, while you eat beans out of a can in a tin shed.
Buy a house. Then you got no one to blame but yourself when repair and maintenance expenses start rearing it's ugly mug.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand what her problem is. There is a glut of nice studio apartments for $1000 to $1500 a month available.
ReplyDeleteSmiling Selfie Q must be thinking... My god what in the hell have I gotten myself into.
ReplyDelete"a community activist for over 30 years"
ReplyDeleteDiane Charity
As I see it there in itself is a part of the issue. 30 years spent protesting about everything and anything it would appear isn't something that will pay the bills or support one in life. From her complainings it appears to me she would have been better off in getting herself a career and a good job over being an activist where she could then afford to pay her bills and not be borrowing money from her close family and friends. With said career maybe she could improve her current living conditions and get out of the rut she claims is cause d by everyone else but her.
I am so glad I live out in country. When I was ready to. Hilda’s my house I went to the county and asked what the zoning laws were. The guy actually said “we don’t care if you live in a dog house, the only thing we inspect is the septic tank”. It’s not hard to live a life with freedom from government intrusion, you just have to want to. If you live in a city stop complaining that others are always telling you how to live. You accepted that intrusion when you decided to live there
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteGotta be an easier way to make a buck than renting to "community activists" -- sell your properties and invest in stocks
Excellent point Dave.
ReplyDeleteThis, in my opinion, reflects, once again, on the public education available here in America. We have "Dumbed Down" our curriculum in order to "give everyone a trophy" to such an extent, that an ever larger portion of Americans are unable to rationally extrapolate cause and effect with respect to initiatives proffered up by unscrupulous politicians and "Community Activists".
Your run of the mill, garden variety, self described, self appointed "Community Activist" sent back in time, to the 1980's would be laughed out of the room with such preposterous proposals, which, at the time, any 8th grader could see, would disrupt and wreck a for profit model that awards the lessee, privilege and station, by way of an agreed upon contract from the lessor.
The difference now, is that there is a far larger segment of the population, uneducated, naive and motivated easily by the pretense, that the only thing keeping them from running General Electric, is, "The Man". Wet by every rain and blown by every wind, these myopic, public educated pea brained knobheads, breathlessly anticipate the election of Bernie and "Free Everything" before the world ends in 12 years. Americans, are stupid and "Activists" only have to be a little smarter than the idiots they pander to.
Disputes naturally arise on an ongoing basis, in any business relationship and the relief available, is sought, by way of the courts, suspension of payment and pressure from the appropriate stakeholders. The blanket, diktats now insisted upon, by ultra liberal, Socialist/Progressives are a sure fire recipe for local rents rising, just like Health Care costs went up and local landlords shifting away from the market, which, in turn, will force the costs of rents even higher.
EXCELLENT POINT DAVE THANKS CHUCK LICK MY ASSHOLE DAVE BE RIGHT OVER CHUCK
DeleteAnd the big question is who told them to move into shitty rental houses and apartments?
ReplyDeleteTheir choice, their problem.
The upending of the rental market will benefit those that can most afford the rent, not those that can least afford the rent. The owners of the properties will continue with existing tenants but will pursue selling the homes otherwise. The multi-family rentals will continue to be an option but the high quality requirements of the "bill of rights" will increase the rents. Unfortunate, but maintenance is expensive.
ReplyDeleteRight on Dave! 30 years in "activism" and what does she have to show for it personally? In 16 years I bought a decent house and paid it off completely.The painful reality is that she is an oddball, a weirdo with skewed priorities who wasted her time.
ReplyDeleteLucas wasn't swept into office running for "social justice".
ReplyDeleteFirst smiley selfies Lucas made promises to everyone who asked him pretty much anything.
Then he ran against loser Jolie Justus, queen of the secret no-bid contract for the $1.5 billion airport project.
Now the chits are coming due.
It's going to be a very long four years for KCMO residents.
When you set the thermostat at 80 degrees in the winter, what do you think the gas bill will be. When you set the air conditioning at 68 degrees in the summer what do expect the electric bill will be? The landlord does not control the thermostat and water usage.
ReplyDeleteYes, the landlord took 5 years to respond to her complaints about the furnace, but stops him cold when he wants to work on it. What was she hiding in the apartment? Drugs? Guns? Panties? We want to know!
ReplyDeleteReally the only out of control utility is the water bill, or these losers bitching about that?
ReplyDelete1:29 is right, I drive throughout the hood daily and during winter the front door is wide open, same for summer, these scum waste more energy then they’re worth. They deserve all the high bills they get for being stupid.
KC Tenants Bill of Rights would change my life...
ReplyDelete-> The utility bills are your utility bills. The utility companies are the better resource for estimates of the monthly bills, not the landlords.
-> The landlord calls on short notice to address an issue with the heater and the tenant isn't cooperative? Work with the landlord and the maintenance staff to address the issues. Few if any maintenance staff work on set schedules so flexibility is important to addressing issues, be it a home owner or a home renter.
I don't understand how a tenant bill of rights would address either of the two highlighted issues. Frankly, I don't see how either of the two highlighted issues are issues...
Free Shit Army assemble!
ReplyDeleteDiane Charity sounds like a dumbass deluxe. She should be grateful someone will rent to her nagging ass.
ReplyDeleteThe Tenant Bill of Rights wont make housing more affordable. If that is the goal, this is a waste of time. Diane Charity take several seats and shut the fuck up! If youre still renting at your age, sounds like misplaced priorities in your youth. You burned through your younger years trying to keep pace with people who dont like you. Its the Black ghetto way...nothing to show for your existence except wrinkles and complaints. Nobody will remember you a year after you're dead and gone. Ok Boomer!
ReplyDelete^^^ and, strangely enough, no one will remember you either. Weird.
ReplyDelete^^and not strange at all... no gives too fucks about what you think is weird or wether you're alive or dead. Life goes on without without your approval. Not weird, bizzaro. Fact.
DeleteWhat the heck does ok boomer mean?
ReplyDelete