Thursday, October 27, 2011

How to play the City of Greensboro for chumps, by the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board

Lying by omission

One lies by omission by omitting an important fact,
deliberately leaving another person with a misconception.

Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.

…Propaganda is an example of lying by omission.

Wikipedia

"Editorial: The RUCO shuffle

Last summer, the Greensboro City Council effectively let the clock run out
on a successful and proactive rental unit inspection program
by not lifting one finger to defend it.

The council tabled a vote on a motion to support the program, called RUCO,
or Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy,
the day before a legislative vote in Raleigh and did not revisit the issue.

...For whatever reason,
the majority on this council simply lacked the will to fight for the policy.

What was the reason?

Why would the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board
not want to share the "why" there was no "will"

That has become unmistakably clear during the current campaign,
in which many of the incumbents have revealed, finally,
their lack of enthusiasm for RUCO.

Why won't the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board
tell its customers the reason for City Council's "lack of enthusiasm for RUCO"?

District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny said at a candidates forum...
that “RUCO has brought us up where we needed to be.”

Who does Zack work for?

How many apartment units does Zack's employer profit from?

Who has Zack's employers donated to?

Then he added that the process was flawed.

What industry group has Zack received most of his campaign donations from?

...District 4 Councilwoman Mary Rakestraw said she wanted a process
driven by “a complaint basis”
and said that “99.9 percent” of landlords
are people who want to provide safe and affordable housing.

Why?

Her opponent, Nancy Hoffmann, said RUCO was effective but said,
somewhat cryptically,
that she acknowledges “another point of view” from landlords.

Why?

At an Oct. 17 debate, Mayor Bill Knight replied,
“It is not the business of the City Council to run state legislation, in my opinion.”

Of course, the mayor was more than happy to “run state legislation”
when it involved changing whom the city attorney reported to.

Agreed.

Later, Knight admitted opposing RUCO outright,
because “our landlords do a great job” (as if that were the question).

Knight’s opponent, Councilman Robbie Perkins, was barely more convincing,
saying he supported RUCO,
but not explaining why he didn’t fight harder for it
before it was overturned in the legislature.

Why no mention of Bev Perdue signing the law?

The problem with all this hemming and hawing is that RUCO was working.

It reduced the number of housing units in the city with code violations
from more than 1,600 in 2003 to fewer than 700 in 2011.

Ms. Dellinger [Koury] moved to eliminate 2% sampling on multifamily property,
seconded by Mr. Sims.

The vote was tied 6-6.

(Ayes: Dellinger, Nelson, Placentino, Chaney, Sims, Perkins.

Nays: Akin, Rotruck, Cannon, Giles, Tuck, Smith.)

The vote died due to lack of a majority."

MINUTES OF THE GREENSBORO RENTAL UNIT COA
ADVISORY AND APPEALS BOARD REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 14, 2010

It also decreased overall housing complaints by 77 percent.

So, obviously, it needed to be stopped.

Why did who wanted RUCO stopped?

Didn't TREBIC want RUCO eliminated?

Why is there no mention of TREBIC in the editorial?

At this point, the damage is done but, whoever is elected,
the new council should be held accountable for making what is left of RUCO
as effective as is legal and practicable.

If Robbie Perkins voted to limit RUCO three times,
shouldn't somebody say something about why?

And for addressing directly why the program
was allowed to die on the vine in the first place
rather than be maintained and improved.

If NAI Piedmont Triad, owned by Robbie Perkins, is a Silver Member of TREBIC,
which worked to gut RUCO, does Robbie have a conflict of interest
as the Greensboro City Council Liaison to the RUCO Advisory Board,
which NAI funded TREBIC to eliminate
along with other political contributions by landlords etc...,
which the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board refuses to acknowledge?

Most disconcerting is the loss of the most attractive feature of RUCO:
the chance to diagnose violations before they become health and safety hazards.

If Robbie Perkins supported RUCO,
why would he vote to eliminate sampling inspections of multifamily properties?

Still, some insist that RUCO ought to focus only on known “problem areas.”

Thankfully, we don’t apply that same illogic to restaurant — or elevator — inspectors.

Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board

If some of Greensboro's largest landlords
are both TREBIC Members and Robbie Perkins Campaign Contributors,
how is Mr. Perkins not publicly saying one thing
while doing another behind closed doors
with tacit blessings from Greensboro's paper of record?


















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