Smoke & Mirrors on the Rental Industry

I was able to get the list that Mayor Ireton put up on the City Website of Property Owners who refused or did not respond to request for inspections. I have it attached at the bottom of this post.

So they were unable to perform 143 inspections. It appears to me that over half of them they were unable to get a response from for one reason or another.

The other issue is that Mayor Ireton makes it seem that all of these property owners are Members of SAPOA [Salisbury Area Property Owners Association]. My understanding, from having discussions with members of SAPOA, is they do police their own. They are also known for helping out other members when needed. Unfortunately not all Rental Property Owners are members of this group; it is difficult for SAPOA to police those who are not members.

The major issue I have with Mayor Ireton over this, is his Slum Property of the Week feature on the City Website. I do not feel this provides a healthy service and it diminishes the image of the city.

I also feel his singling out of Stu Leer on a particular property was unfair. Mayor Ireton claims the property is drain on City resources based on Code Violations and calls for service. The code violations happened before Mr. Leer purchased the properties. The other point that Mayor Ireton misses is that Stu Leer purchased that property because it was a problem and it was his intention to bring it up to code because it was devaluing neighboring properties.

I keep hitting home that point about Mr. Leer as an example because Mayor Ireton's fixation on this issue is borderline unhealthy and he is creating an atmosphere of deception to drive home his political agenda. Certainly we all would like to see more people own homes. We also have to face reality and the situation of our city.

We are a blessed to have a growing university. With that naturally comes a demand for temporary housing. We also have to understand that every city has a need for people to rent based on economic situations. Not everybody has the ability or desire to own a home. That needs to be understood as well and unfortunately I believe Mayor Ireton cannot see the forest for the trees.