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| Is The Genesee County Land Bank Flint's Worst Slum Lord? |
| Yes, they have bitten off more than they can chew |
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17% |
[ 6 ] |
| No, they are just trying to take over all the property in Flint. |
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26% |
[ 9 ] |
| RECALL DAN KILDEE - Lets Clean Flint Up. |
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55% |
[ 19 ] |
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| Total Votes : 34 |
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LakeWoman50
F L I N T O I D
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| Is it just me or is apparent that The Genesee County Land Bank and Dan Kildee have become Flint's biggest slum lord??? They own houses that are falling in, they own lots that are unmowed. They spend money on downtown projects but could care less about the neighborhoods in which people live. Am I off base here? Does other people see this as a problem to? |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:49 pm |
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Public D
F L I N T O I D
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You are off base.
The mission of the Landbank is to prevent slumlords, speculators, and chronic decay. They are structured so that we have recourse, accountability, and community input on what we do with these now PUBLIC properties. Could they do things better? Yes. Could they do things faster? No doubt. But we are talking about decades of market-driven deterioration. The Landbank, at minimum, is the stop gap we need against this phenomenon. But they are more than a stop gap. They are envisioning new ways in which neighbors connect to each other by working with all neighborhoods. And acting on those ideas.
Do we want local jobs for local people? Hell yes. Could the Landbank do more to ensure this? Probably. But the solution is not to tear down this inclusive, progressive, and accessible citizen-based structure. And certainly not the man who made it possible. Don't complain. Get involved. Dan is extraordinarily willing to meet with regular citizens about their concerns and ideas.
You do not have any where the same voice with Uptown Developments – who is just as guilty, if not much worse, of not insisting on local work in their rebuilding efforts. You do not have the same voice with out-of-town slumlords, who would dominate and strangle the future of land use is this area if an entity like the Landbank did not exist.
Be patient. Be informed. Be active. This in an opportunity to shape our community as a community. Do not fall for anyone's (esp. the Mayor's and his bought surrogates' ) myopic, politically or personality-oriented agendas or smears. The Landbank is a treasure we may not reap the benefits from for years and years from now. That's OK. Because it prevents us from sliding further backwards down into the dog-eat-dog world of personal land leveraging, exploiting, pillaging, and abandoning by people who couldn't care less about the future of the entire community.
This is no time to turn our noses up or backs on the Landbank. It's time to own it – as a community That is, after all, the very point of its existence.
http://www.thelandbank.org/ |
_________________
http://www.toomuchonline.org/index.html
http://www.hr676.org
http://www.pnhp.org/publications/the_national_health_insurance_bill_hr_676.php |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:12 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Public D schreef:
You are off base.
The mission of the Landbank is to prevent slumlords, speculators, and chronic decay.
They
CONTRIBUTE
to it!
Go look at 200 and 204 West Dartmouth - they've been empty and boarded for years, but the owners still mow the grass. Now look at 208 West Dartmouth - it's owned by the Land Bank. Compare them.
Look at 2226, 2230, and 2310 Proctor, all owned by the Land Bank. Empty for years, unboarded, unmowed, windows including frames gone, trash in yards.
If you don't want to look for yourself, contact me. I'd be glad to take you around.
Two weeks ago, I asked a lady from the Land Bank about the houses on Proctor, the next block over from us. She rather angrily told me to mow them myself.
In my opinion, they DELIBERATELY ignore certain areas of Flint. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:51 pm |
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Steve Myers
Site Admin
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Slumlords and speculators pay taxes, the Landbank does not.
The Landbank needs to go and all its properties needs to be tuned over to HUD where they should have been in the first place. |
_________________
Steve Myers |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:59 pm |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Public D schreef:
You are off base.
The mission of the Landbank is to prevent slumlords, speculators, and chronic decay.
In other words another feel good liberal program gone astray. Even if the Land Bank was clearly successful there are some moral issues of a governmental entity profitting off of home confiscations. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:08 pm |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Steve Myers schreef:
The Landbank needs to go and all its properties needs to be tuned over to HUD where they should have been in the first place.
I disagree. I think they should be auctioned off to the highest bidder. With most if not all profits returned to the former homeowner. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:11 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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It would have to depend on why the former homeowner abandoned the house.
Not land bank, but figure this out.......
The house next door to me, privately owned by someone in Detroit, is in decent shape. There's a tree that should come down & the interior could stand painting, but otherwise it's ok. BUT - someone stole the water meter & broke off the pipe coming into the house from the street. The owner refuses to repair it, so it sits and rots. This person bought the house, and just lets it sit there. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:22 pm |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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| If it wasn't for the Land Bank... there would have been essentially no demolition in the City of Flint for the last 4 years. They have been paying the City to demolish their properties. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:24 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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Just reading this irks me. I understand what Dave is saying. Consider these ideas, alter or add your own:
1. To own property in the City of Flint, one must reside in the City of Flint or within Genesee County and maintain the property. Violations punishable by fine of $___. Multiple violations punishable by fine of $___ and jail(?).
2. Malicious destruction of, or theft of parts from, property shall be punished by fine AND jail, AND thief shall assist certified contractor to reconstruct the destruction. Thief or destructor shall provide costs for parts and labor.
3. From the date property reverts to the land bank they have one year to sell, or demolish.
4. From the date property reverts to the land bank they have the responsibility for external maintenance. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:52 pm |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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| I think an easier solution would be to simply charge (fine) the land bank for mowing their properties but that would involve code enforcement which is something it seems "only" normal cities do. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:06 pm |
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Public D
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Steve Myers schreef:
Slumlords and speculators pay taxes, the Landbank does not.
The Landbank needs to go and all its properties needs to be tuned over to HUD where they should have been in the first place.
Dave, we've all seen those properties. Did you know who the owners were before the Landbank posted their sign on the door? They don't pay taxes because that's where they get much of their funding to enact the limited number of projects they're able to. It's not enough, to be sure. Audit the shit out of them if you like. But you'll find that the spending, and more importantly the approach, is sound. It's not what anybody wants to hear about their own block, but you really do have have to step way back and look at a bigger picture. It's the only way the bigger solutions to such big problems will ever happen.
Steve, I will never understand your love-affair with non-local control. HUD? Are you nuts or Don Williamson? Good luck as a local politician and/or Walmart t-shirt salesman. |
_________________
http://www.toomuchonline.org/index.html
http://www.hr676.org
http://www.pnhp.org/publications/the_national_health_insurance_bill_hr_676.php |
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Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:43 pm |
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LakeWoman50
F L I N T O I D
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The Land Bank owns a house near my moms house on the East Side of Flint.
The house is:
1.) over grown with grass and weeds.
2.) Half burned out
3.) Wide open to the elements and little children
4.) back yard is a dumping ground.
I have contacted the Land Bank and get "Oh well Miss maybe you can clean it up and contact the city to board it up" This is bull shit and needs to stop, if ole Dan Kildee is the master of cleaning up Flint he needs to practice what he preaches. At least when the slumlord owned this house it never looked this bad.
quote:
Dave Starr schreef:
It would have to depend on why the former homeowner abandoned the house.
Not land bank, but figure this out.......
The house next door to me, privately owned by someone in Detroit, is in decent shape. There's a tree that should come down & the interior could stand painting, but otherwise it's ok. BUT - someone stole the water meter & broke off the pipe coming into the house from the street. The owner refuses to repair it, so it sits and rots. This person bought the house, and just lets it sit there.
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Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:10 am |
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LakeWoman50
F L I N T O I D
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I agree with you Dave, they need to be fined or taken to court, they are Flint's worst slum lord. Even though they are doing some downtown work or helped with it, it doesn't change the fact that our neighborhoods are filled with land bank owned properties that are eye sores.
They
CONTRIBUTE
to it!
quote:
Go look at 200 and 204 West Dartmouth - they've been empty and boarded for years, but the owners still mow the grass. Now look at 208 West Dartmouth - it's owned by the Land Bank. Compare them.
Look at 2226, 2230, and 2310 Proctor, all owned by the Land Bank. Empty for years, unboarded, unmowed, windows including frames gone, trash in yards.
If you don't want to look for yourself, contact me. I'd be glad to take you around.
Two weeks ago, I asked a lady from the Land Bank about the houses on Proctor, the next block over from us. She rather angrily told me to mow them myself.
In my opinion, they DELIBERATELY ignore certain areas of Flint.
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Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:12 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Public D schreef:
Dave, we've all seen those properties. Did you know who the owners were before the Landbank posted their sign on the door? They don't pay taxes because that's where they get much of their funding to enact the limited number of projects they're able to. It's not enough, to be sure. Audit the shit out of them if you like. But you'll find that the spending, and more importantly the approach, is sound. It's not what anybody wants to hear about their own block, but you really do have have to step way back and look at a bigger picture. It's the only way the bigger solutions to such big problems will ever happen.
The "bigger picture" I see is a rehabilitated central core surrounded by a wasteland. If that's the land bank's "approach", then they're doing a great job. There are ordinances on the books requiring property owners to maintain their properties. It's time to enforce them and assess penalties regardless of who owns them. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:31 am |
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Demeralda
F L I N T O I D
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The bigger picture, IMO (and sorry to take this off track) is that Dan Kildee seems to enjoy the prestige and/or political connections from that job and doesn't seem to be working that hard at it.
I don't know for certain -- I don't know how hard one could really work at that job (I seriously could see myself personally going to some of these properties and cleaning up trash), and he seems like a nice enough guy, but every time he's talking or others are talking to him, they're talking about his eventual bid for governor. Seems he's a lot more worried about that than fixing up Flint. |
_________________
I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing. - Mae West |
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Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:01 am |
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