November 5, 1999

Even though all the hubbub about the coming new year (remember, I promised not to use the "M" word) hasn't given me any anxiety yet, what really freaked me out this week was when I agreed with an ordinance proposed by the Berkeley City Council!

The ordinance would legally allow the city to place signs on the front of properties that are rundown or in violation of building codes, revealing the names, addresses, and phone numbers of their landlords. Primarily these would be investment rentals of absentee slumlords who could afford to fix the problems but callously leave their renters to endure disgusting, dangerous, and unhealthy conditions while they themselves live elsewhere in comfort, if not luxury.

It's such a simple and just solution; why don't we do this in Fairfield? For years now, local officials have been diverting property taxes that could fund basic public services and the schools into the endless loop of redevelopment. This redevelopment has prominently included the permitting of slumlords' delinquent utility bills, third world-level living conditions, and housing code violations.

Of course we the people carry the non-payers because without water, sewer, and garbage service the health of hapless residents and their neighbors is at risk. It's understandable in an emergency, but some of these overdue bills have spanned many months during which the out-of-town owners keep getting their rent checks. This happened with the Ellsworth Court slum before the city bought the property from the well-off owner for a tidy sum.

Worst of all, the most destructive aspect of redevelopment is the actual bailing out of slumlords after they've wrung out as much rental income as possible before neglected maintenance renders their buildings uninhabitable. At this point, the system produces the ultimate irony: Because the redevelopment agency will purchase abused properties at unjustifiable prices after failing to enforce real estate codes, residents end up having paid these owners to ruin property values while school facilities also become blighted by lost maintenance revenues.

And to think that a few years ago a Fairfield school board member owned one of the rental dumps on San Marcos Street. This is why bonds don't pass and wouldn't be needed anyway, if not for public "servants" playing Monopoly with very real tax dollars they treat as play money.

© 1999 Cynthia Hahn