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REGULAR MEETING February 25, 2019
<br /> and talked to the Code Enforcement Inspector and he said, Mr. Weiss, you're going to be out of
<br /> there before March 11th when we come back to reinspect, your landlord won't let us back in. This
<br /> has to stop. These landlords are taking rent money and not taking care of the property efficiently.
<br /> Thank you very much for your time.
<br /> Emily Dean, 815 Leland Avenue, South Bend, IN, stated, I do community outreach for the Near
<br /> Northwest Neighborhood. I am also a member of the St. Joseph County Board of Health. I am a
<br /> mother of two(2)young children. So,my interest in this specific policy is multi-faceted. I am here
<br /> this evening to state my support for the RSVP and encourage the Council to pass it. Through my
<br /> outreach work, I've had the good fortune to build lots of relationships with my neighbors in the
<br /> NNN. I get to learn what matters to them. The health and safety of their families is a common
<br /> concern and, a lot of times, this revolves around their homes. I have been in situations where I
<br /> have knocked on doors and people have immediately looked at me as someone who can help, so,
<br /> they invite me in to show me situations that I never dreamed would exist in the neighborhood, or,
<br /> anywhere. So, I have really come to see this as the way that renters are treated in this City as the
<br /> real issue for me,personally, and also in the work that I do. I have, on the flipside, experienced the
<br /> relief that people feel when they find themselves in a safe place. A lot of times, I find that it has
<br /> not always been that way. So, I have seen both sides of this. How great it can be to be in a good
<br /> situation and how frustrating and worrying it can be to be in a bad situation. So, this RSVP will
<br /> create a situation where tenants don't have to wonder or worry if their home is safe. It will also
<br /> create a way that landlords can learn and know what a safe and healthy home is and what they
<br /> should be providing for their tenants. While there are a lot of benefits to RSVP, I want to highlight
<br /> that it is a crucial part to the important work already being done to combat the crisis of childhood
<br /> lead poisoning in our City. We know these policies have worked to dramatically reduce lead
<br /> exposure in other cities. So, please, let's do it here. RSVP will ensure that our children, my
<br /> children, can play, learn and grow in safe places. We know that safe and healthy homes make
<br /> people healthier. This law will be transformative for so many. So, please, vote to approve RSVP.
<br /> Jeff Nixa, 730 Cottage Grove Avenue, South Bend, IN stated, I thank you for your attention and
<br /> endurance tonight. I've been a home owner on Cottage Grove Avenue for twenty (20) years. I
<br /> raised my two (2) daughters there with my wife Regina. You know the problems. You've heard
<br /> the problems. I'm surrounded by a lot of rentals and some wonderful landlords like John Horton
<br /> and his wife that own the Local Cup. When a toilet breaks in one(1) of his homes,he goes over to
<br /> fix it.That is real community and real partnership. I've also experienced some real shitty landlords.
<br /> What I want to focus on here,in the absence of this wonderful ordinance, and by the way I support
<br /> it and I'm thrilled, there is a weakness in the existing laws that many landlords have pointed out
<br /> that we already have. I tried many, many times to contact problem landlords and never once got a
<br /> call back or a letter back after sending letters to P.O. Boxes and phone calls to unattended
<br /> mailboxes. I finally, though, got ahold of the landlord that owned the property right next to my
<br /> house. I'm a brand-new landlord now, myself, because I bought the house next door. I couldn't
<br /> really afford it and didn't really want to buy it, but it was the only way I could figure out how to
<br /> break the cycle of irresponsible property management. The only reason I found that landlord was
<br /> because his cousin lived two (2) blocks down the street and knew I was complaining about that
<br /> property. I actually got ahold of this fellow. He lived in Illinois and didn't know there were any
<br /> troubles despite all the attempts we made to call. I tried to swallow, frankly, my anger and my
<br /> twenty (20) years of frustrations with all the other landlords. I invited him over to my home for
<br /> coffee and to talk about this purchase I want to make. There was a lot on the line because this was
<br /> not a listed property. This was a private sale and he could have walked away at any time, but I
<br /> really wanted to stop the craziness next door. I invited him over and started to talk to him about
<br /> my vision for this house,you know? I told him I wanted to replace the windows with more energy-
<br /> efficient windows, add more insulation, repair the window where all the heat was escaping, and
<br /> he stopped me right there. And he looked at me like I was the most naïve tree-hugger in the world
<br /> and he said,You need to stop thinking about this as a house, and you need start thinking about this
<br /> as an ATM that's going to pay you eight hundred and fifty dollars($850) a month,no matter what,
<br /> as long as there is somebody in there and they are paying rent. The conversation kind of went
<br /> downhill from there. It was a real heartbreaker but, I kept him in dialogue for about an hour, he
<br /> did all the talking,and he laid our spreadsheets in front of me. He really carefully maintained them,
<br /> showing line by line how carefully he calculated his income and expenditures. He basically said
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