2006 Article on Housing Issue and other Topics by a Mayor Candidate Named Bill James

It is time to change the way we deal with out of town and absentee landlords. The rental business in this town is a multi million dollar a year business; with in a lot of cases, little or no concern for previously established, safe neighborhoods. Last year the City collected 1,920 rental fees and this number has almost doubled since 2001. The availability of Section 8 rentals within the community is perpetuating the community’s reliance on an overly generous welfare system, in some cases 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th generation dependence and this is making it unaffordable for the working man to rent at a fair rate.

Section 8 rentals are advertised at between $1,000 and $1,300 a month plus utilities for a three-bedroom residence, while the non-section 8 rentals for similar properties go for between $700 and $800 plus utilities. We in the Independent party realize that legally we cannot stop these investors from making Section 8 homes available, but we do pledge to hold them accountable for the actions of their tenants and the failure to upkeep their properties.

What we have to, as a City, is aggressively encourage, promote and assist in home ownership and make every attempt to lawfully slow the ever increasing numbers of rental properties in the community and to encourage the zoning and planning boards to discontinue the practice of allowing the conversion of single family properties into duplexes and duplexes into triplexes. What we should be doing is encouraging the need to turn these properties back into single-family homes through tax incentives.

The Independent team believes we have reached the point where we are well above the normal standards as it relates to the availability of affordable housing within a community and to continue to standby without addressing this situation in an aggressive manner will surely be detrimental to our neighborhoods of the future.