Whoa. Where do I begin? John Donegan’s “Harsh realities” column (Nov. 21) has set my mind whirling. And not in a good way. His assessment of the Grand View Apartments situation is that rich owners of a lower-income property should be entitled to make a profit … and if the poor tenants can’t keep … well, too bad. Okay. There are a couple of problems here. First: $1,500 is not peon rent. In our area of low, low, low wages, it is substantial. Second, and most importantly: In order for a multi-family property to be in need of $2 million-plus in repairs and deferred maintenance, there must have been tons and tons of delayed problems and neglect by the landlords. These problems did not occur overnight. They took time to fester through years of turning a blind eye.
I can’t help but wonder, in your opinion, Mr. Donegan, what did these tenants do wrong? All I see is that they notified the landlords and the government agencies and the media about the horrific conditions in a timely manner. They continued to pay their rents and tried to live within the parameters of their terrible living conditions. They whispered softly and also hollered from the rooftops. They hoped and prayed.
What did the landlords do? They ignored them and their pleas and took in money they didn’t deserve. They threw up their hands and proclaimed that these lower-income residents should be grateful to live in vermin-infested hovels. The landlords probably sat in the safety of their secure homes that are equipped with proper heat and ventilation and declared, “Let them eat cake!”
Mr. Donegan, that is not capitalism, that is rip-off-ism. Should humanity lose and “harsh realities” prevail? Do you like a society where people paying $1,500 a month in rent are forced to live in the most horrible conditions in order to survive? Or worse … become homeless? I ask you, John Donegan, have you no heart?
Jacki Turner
Los Osos
This article appears in Holiday Guide 2019.
Well said Jacki!!! Hear, hear
NO ONE HELD THE RENTING RESIDENTS IN PLACE WITH A GUN TO THEIR HEADS.
Personal responsibility, everyone is free to try it (unless you’re an ILLEGAL INVADER, in which case too bad, so sad).
No guns. True. I owned a property management company in Downtown SLO many years ago and i know firsthand the hardships of finding respectable housing in our town. Hope you never find yourself in that position.
We will fortunately never need other peoples pity or pittance. WE have always worked hard (as people of color even), continue to stay educated beyond our degrees and do quite well for ourselves.
That’s the personal responsibility America affords everyone except the low bar setting slacker that made/makes bad life decisions from early on. WE’RE NOT YOUR KEEPER!
I am not heartless, but emotions don’t solve problems. I think my piece made it clear that I found the tenants’ loss of their homes tragic, especially coming during the Holidays, and in view of their reported inability to find other affordable housing. But the poor live under the same “laws of financial physics” that we all do, and this outcome was sadly predictable when the cost of repairs mandated made continuing in the rental business unsustainable. Living in that place must have been awful, but being homeless is worse, and their successful suit put them in a worse situation. As the old saying goes, “When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you do is to stop digging”. My guess is that when the tenants consulted their attorneys about filing a suit to correct the deficiencies in the apartment, they were accurately told that winning the suit would be pretty easy, since the problems were substantial and serious. Unfortunately, it seems that little thought was given to “what then?”. The tenants won the battle, but lost the war.
I agree that $1,500 per month is a lot of money, but around here it is pretty cheap for rent. And all the “humanity” and kindness in the world is not going to pay the landlord’s mortgage, taxes, insurance, employee salaries, nor is it going to somehow raise the $2.5 million necessary to fix the place up. As I said, we conservatives focus on what is involved in implementing a solution, while liberals just gush emotionally.