The serial slumlord saga continues
The Chron's Matt Stiles has more on state Rep. Hubert Vo's apartment buildings. When the city first ordered repairs at one of his apartment complexes, Vo didn't comply fast enough, so the city was forced to hand out misdemeanor citations:
City officials first issued warnings to make repairs at that property, but later issued misdemeanor citations when the work was not done quickly.
Vo, who hired contractors to address those issues after the city's inspections, said Wednesday that he was not aware of the conditions at his complexes but that he took full responsibility for them.
Ignorance is not a defense. In fact, it tells us a lot about his character, that he would say he was unaware of such living conditions. He ought to be ashamed of himself, he ought to apologize to his tenants, and he ought to be making some sort of restitution.
And Stiles learned that one of the ladies in yesterday's story received a suspicious phone call:
Also Thursday, a resident quoted in the Chronicle report complained about retaliation for speaking out.
Residents who complain about conditions generally are protected by state law against retaliation by their landlords.
The woman, Tomasa Compean, said Thursday morning that she was afraid the complex management was trying to force her out.
She said she received a phone call from someone who asked for her by name, and then asked if she was looking for an apartment to rent. She said she questioned the caller and was told the management of her apartment complex had passed on her phone number.
"I don't want them to do that. Why are they calling other apartments? If they want me to leave why don't they tell me themselves? I'm not going to leave. I've lived here 18 years," she said.
Later in the day, Vo's campaign denied any retaliation and said the management had agreed to complete the repairs next week.
"I also want to assure you that I have informed all my employees that there will be no retaliation against anyone who has pointed out problems to you or anyone else," the statement said.
Meanwhile, the city has ordered repairs at another of Vo's properties, with a one-month completion deadline.
Conditions are so egregious, even the Chron's editorial board has harshly criticized Vo:
"It's not my intention to have those apartments like that," Vo told the Chronicle. From a veteran apartment owner, such a statement would be doubtful. From a civic leader who is advising others on how to clean up their properties, it is ludicrous.
Vo's GOP opponent in the November election, HISD trustee Greg Meyer, criticized Vo for waiting until the apartment conditions became public before promising to deal with them. At least Vo is realistic enough to admit that the disclosures are "going to kill my reputation" and says he wants to move on and repair the damage.
If he's serious, Vo has a very busy summer ahead of him. He must tackle two levels of damage: the physical condition of his properties and his tattered political image. For starters, he should issue a complete list of his apartment holdings and detail which apartments are in need of repair and what he's doing to make them sound. He should also pay rebates to the unfortunate tenants who have been living for years in substandard conditions.
At the conclusion of that process, the legislator should apologize and promise to be a responsible property owner henceforth. It might not salvage his political career, but it would go a long way toward restoring his honor.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: Democratic consultant Mark Campos calls out the local left blogosphere over its relative silence on the Vo slumlord matter:
Commentary has noticed that local Dems have been eerily quiet on the not so good run that Harris County Dem State Rep Hubert Vo has received in the Chron. There is another Chron article today plus an E-Board special. It seems like on the internet yak-off lines, local Dems have a take on every thing. In fact, most go out of their way to let you know their opinion on all kinds of stuff. Commentary has not heard a single peep coming out of the local Dem camp on this matter – nada – silence. Then again, what can you say?
While we don't put ourselves in any "camp," this little blog has said that the living conditions are deplorable, and has applauded Matt Stiles for bringing attention to them (and hope he and TV news types following his lead are able to expose others, because there surely are others). There's not much more to say.
Blogging is a hobby for most of us, and as I've noted here and elsewhere, our blogging subject matter is necessarily selective for a variety of reasons. There is only so much time in the day, after all. Early on, at least one progressive blogger did blast the hypocrisy of Hubert Vo, a darling of the local left blogosphere, turning out to be a slumlord. Another progressive blogger came around belatedly, in response to the Campos blast.
Maybe other local progressive bloggers are otherwise too busy to comment on the topic. Certainly, we are resistant to the notion that we must offer an opinion on any/every controversial topic (although I would note that the blog in general hasn't been hesitant to criticize pols of either party, even some who are known readers of the blog like Chuck Rosenthal and Ed Emmett. As we've noted before, our lack of personal/professional ties to pols, PACs, or consultants leaves us free to call 'em like we see 'em on the basis of transparency, good policy, and good government). Indeed, we try not to have an abundance of posts that are simply blockquotes and a one-line "Nuff said" or "Stay tuned" or "We'll see what happens" -- it's easier just to link to people who have something more to say in our local blogtalk, or to assume local blog readers are smart enough to find blogs addressing topics that interest them.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/11/08 05:09 AM | Print |
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
ADVERTISING
DISCLAIMER
All content © 2004-09, blogHOUSTON and the respective authors.
blogHOUSTON.net is powered by Nucleus.
Site design and Nucleus customization are by Kevin Whited.