City Hall Punishing Landlords For Tenants’ Crimes
By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, WalterMooreForMayor.com
If you’re simple-minded -- like me -- you think that criminals should be arrested, prosecuted and punished.
The people in City Hall, however, are much more sophisticated than you and I. Rather than going after the criminals themselves, they are attacking . . . the landlords where the criminals live? Are you kidding me?!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
The L.A. Times reports that City Attorney Delgadillo has filed yet another lawsuit against the owner of an apartment building whose tenants are engaged in crime. That’s right: the same city that brought you the ban on silly string, and has now banned smoking in parks, has decided that gang bangers don’t kill people, BUILDINGS kill people! Right!
The article also says this landlord is just one of 69 landlords against whom the City Attorney has filed or is thinking of filing charges.
Excuse me for asking, but if the police and the City Attorney are unwilling and unable to arrange for new housing for the criminals in the Graybar Hotel, then what in the heck is a landlord supposed to do to evict them? Hire a rival gang?
This is another example of City Hall’s failure to prioritize. City Hall should focus on prosecuting the criminals, not suing the hapless deep pockets around them. This also exemplifies City Hall’s hostility to business owners and property owners. Why would anyone open a new business here?
And what’s next? A lawsuit against the grocery stores that sell them food? Against the gas stations that sell them gas for the getaway car? How about the clothing stores that sell them apparel in gang colors?
As I’ve written before, over 999 people were shot in the City of L.A. in the first six months of 2007. Furthermore, we have our own personal Darfur, insofar as certain gangs are engaging in “ethnic cleansing” of various neighborhoods, most recently Canoga Park. We need to focus on combatting the gangs, not running up the legal fees of their landlords.
If you want a Mayor who will steer the City in a common-sense direction, who will focus on punishing criminals rather than their victims, chip in for the campaign, would you? Click here to contribute.
