Yes, arrest owners of KC's blighted houses
Living next door to a blighted house with broken windows, foot-tall weeds and peeling paint in Kansas City can be financially draining — and exasperating.
Property values take a hit while the blood pressure of responsible owners rises as they deal with City Hall’s bureaucracy, trying to get someone to take these code violations seriously.
Thousands upon thousands of these cases are on the city’s books, often because people won’t appear in housing court, because they game the system to get extension after extension to take action, because they can’t afford to make the fixes or for a host of other reasons.
Now the city staff has added a get-tough approach that makes sense — arresting offenders.
The city’s plan is methodical: Send out warning letters to property owners with maintenance code violations. Try to work with these owners to get something done. And if those steps don’t prompt results, get tough. Police now are arresting some of those with the most warrants issued against them.
The city wants to hold scofflaws accountable for the problems they cause their neighbors, says Mike Schumacher, an assistant city manager. That’s a positive, necessary attitude.
If the tactic works in the long term, it would result in more and faster home repairs or, in some cases, the demolition of structures too far gone to save.
A sign that City Hall is capable of acting on behalf of responsible homeowners and landlords would also build confidence among residents.
Finally, it also could be another signal that Mayor Sly James’ administration is focusing on improving basic services for neighborhoods, as it has promised. In recent weeks the mayor has announced more spending for road resurfacing projects. On Wednesday it announced the demolition of 1,000-plus dangerous buildings in the next two years.
As we’ve seen before, the city has a tendency to rev up a new policy on blighted property, and then lose interest. That should not happen this time. It won’t if James, City Council members and the city staff properly make the initiative a high priority.
George Hunsucker
Northland
9 months agoWhat the star needs to do as a public service is to print the mug shot, address and number of alledged violations of every offender that is arrested.
Maybe then these slum lords would do the responsible thing and either keep-up their property or sell it.
I anxiously await the first printing of mug shots!!!! I nominate yt as the lead person for these columns!
David Fruits
9 months agoYeah, I’m sure they fear getting their reputation tarnished in the paper.
George Hunsucker
Northland
9 months agoOK David, what is your eloquent solution for these people?
PLEASE don’t say more govt. something….
Phil Cardarella
8 months, 4 weeks agoActualy a lot of these houses oare foreclosures. They are in such bad shape because the banks refused to renegotiate the loans and kicked out the people who lived there.
How about we arrest the local bank managers? Put their mug shots out. Or issue warrants for the CEO’s?