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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

MRS. CRAVITS

Please click onto the comments for the post. I dragged a SPIFer over here to be educated.

35 Comments:

Blogger Bob said...

From: Jeanne Weigum Date: 2007-04-10 09:42 (UTC) Short link

The quality of a whole neighborhood is impacted by a single blighted
property. We have a situation right now in my neighborhood that is
interesting and telling.

For several years I suspected the house, 168X Hague (no secret what the
actual number is, but actually there is. There IS no house number on the
structure.) was a trash house. Trash could easily be seen through the
window. The garbage sat in an unemptied can on the boulevard for at least 6
months. I tried to move it but it was too heavy for me to even pull. The
garage door was broken and open and the garbage spilled out. A new porch
was built a few years ago but never painted.

Then a dumpster appeared and the garage disappeared. I saw the woman I
believed to be the owner a few times after that but then she and her car
disappeared too. No building permit has ever appeared on the structure but
gradually over the last several months the place has been gutted in the most
unceremoneous of manners. Plaster, lath, windows, lamp shades, etc. have
been heaved out the windows. Actually most of the window casings have
been removed leaving gaping holes for wind and weather to waft through.
Some of the siding has been removed and that may well be lying in the piles
around the yard also. All and all a huge mess.

Flotsom blows about the neighborhood and there seems to be no end in sight.

Today I called the building inspectors and discovered many permits have been
pulled, although none are visibly posted. It is considered a vacant
building, not surprising since there are no windows. The inspector said
they would check on the progress of the work and look into the litter and
general disorder.

Permit and code inspection? Boy am I for that.

Jeanne Weigum
Living near a trash and trashed house in an otherwise lovely area of Merriam

ParkFrom: Nancy Osterman Date: 2007-04

Sounds to me as if some property owner had the misfortune of having a bad
tenant that left his/her home quite damaged and trashed, good thing the owner
is a responsible person taking on his responsibilities and pulling permits that
will allow him/her to make the needed repairs. You should consider yourself
fortunate that the city doesn't own the home or it could set in a boarded up
vacant condition for many more years.

This seems to be the issue I have been hearing quite frequently is that the
tenant is never held responsible for their behavior or the damage they cause to
a person property and/or business. I think someone should suggest to some
official figures that some changes should be made in enforcing some laws on
tenant behaviors and the damage they tend to make. Just a suggestion....

I have read many comments on housing/code and permit issues at;

http://ademocracy.blogspot.com/


From: mitch berg Date: 2007-04-10 23:50 (UTC) Short link

So, other than a bit of "flotsam" er, flotting around
the neighborhood, your problems is...what?

That they've followed all the city's byzantine
requirements for paperwork, but haven't *posted* it
for neighborhood busybodies to read at their leisure?

That the owner has cleaned out the trash and is in the
middle of the (hideously expensive) process of
rehabbing the property, but they're not being
"ceremonious" about it? (What, they should follow the
Martha Stewart standard?)

And for this, you use a public forum to (in effect)
attack and defame the owner (punctiliously copying
your ward heelers as you do it)? For doing the right
thing, but not doing it as neatly as you'd prefer?

Are we sure we want to use this forum as a vehicle for
defaming the neighbors of people with outsized
political clout?

Does the owner of the house have some means to defend
themselves, their efforts and their reputation?

Should't you stick to throwing bar workers out onto
welfare, Jeanne?

------

To answer Tim's question yesterday - all I know is
what I hear from my landlord friends. The laws are
designed to protect tenants at the expense of
landlords. Chuck and Gloria are landlords themselves,
but they're fairly quiet about the laws involved.

All I hear is that it's very, very hard to evict
someone, no matter HOW awful a tenant they are. Drug
dealing? Trashing the place? No matter - evicting
them is an expensive, protracted process.

(And Gloria? For purposes of this discussion, it
doesn't matter if the laws are local or state.
Chuck's original remark was that city code enforcers
might (in theory) tell a landlord to just, *poof*,
evict a bad tenant. Easier said than done, it would
seem).

Mitch Berg
The Midway


--- Jeanne Weigum jw ( at ) ansrmn.org wrote:

> The quality of a whole neighborhood is impacted by a
> single blighted
> property. We have a situation right now in my
> neighborhood that is
> interesting and telling.
>
> For several years I suspected the house, 168X Hague
> (no secret what the
> actual number is, but actually there is. There IS
> no house number on the
> structure.) was a trash house. Trash could easily
> be seen through the
> window. The garbage sat in an unemptied can on the
> boulevard for at least 6
> months. I tried to move it but it was too heavy for
> me to even pull. The
> garage door was broken and open and the garbage
> spilled out. A new porch
> was built a few years ago but never painted.
>
> Then a dumpster appeared and the garage disappeared.
> I saw the woman I
> believed to be the owner a few times after that but
> then she and her car
> disappeared too. No building permit has ever
> appeared on the structure but
> gradually over the last several months the place has
> been gutted in the most
> unceremoneous of manners. Plaster, lath, windows,
> lamp shades, etc. have
> been heaved out the windows. Actually most of the
> window casings have
> been removed leaving gaping holes for wind and
> weather to waft through.
> Some of the siding has been removed and that may
> well be lying in the piles
> around the yard also. All and all a huge mess.
>
> Flotsom blows about the neighborhood and there seems
> to be no end in sight.
>
> Today I called the building inspectors and
> discovered many permits have been
> pulled, although none are visibly posted. It is
> considered a vacant
> building, not surprising since there are no windows.
> The inspector said
> they would check on the progress of the work and
> look into the litter and
> general disorder.
>
> Permit and code inspection? Boy am I for that.
>
> Jeanne Weigum
> Living near a trash and trashed house in an
> otherwise lovely area of Merriam
> Park
>
>
>
> Jeanne Weigum
> Merriam Park, Saint Paul
> More info: Info about Jeanne Weigum:
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/contacts/jeanneweigum
>

12:43 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

I went over and interviewed the workers at this home folks. Black guys. They told me the police have been called on them too.

The home has scaffolding up and it is in a OBVIOUS STATE OF REPAIR.

I informed them of the neighbors concerns. And I left them the "A Democracy News Letter".

I told them if they have anymore problems to get in touch with us.

Jeanne, where I come from we are not afraid to go and ASK a neighbor what is going on. Geeeesh, it's people like you that have assisted an out of control code enforcement.

Try being a good neighbor!

12:55 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

Funny how Bob 'lifts' posts from SPIF and then post it here and respond to the post like these people participate or even know about this blog. They don't and they don't care. You're winning a fight without an opponent. In the real world I still see you getting your asses handed to you.

There are about 40 posts on this on SPIF. Without Bob ignoring his own rules about civility, Bill Dahn, the inability to post anything without signing your real name, and a more informed audience, I'd say that SPIF is doing A-OK. Or, should I say E-OK?

12:51 PM

Heard this from SPIFers before and here you are.You are here because you won't get the news here from any place else.

Saint Paul Issues and Forums is a cesspool it isn't representative of the CITIZENS of Saint Paul as the SPIF doctrine suggest.

NOW, I brought this issue over here because Jeanne is an example of the kind of citizen who through fear starts trouble for others they may not deserve.

1:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is no peace with these neighbors at any price!

Listen to these remarks coming from a good neighborhood. Now shut your eyes and imagine it is the East Side or Frogtown or the North End area. Now inagine black people out in the front yard barbequeing and making a little noise, maybe a profanity or two for good measure. Now imagine the "East Side mentality" rather than the politicaly correct Merriam Park. Now imagine Kathy Lantry getting a complaint in her office and BINGO, there's an all out assault on the house by code enforcement officers accompanied by "giant" policemen wanting to come into your house without a warrant and make up code violations.

You now have another homeless family, but the hell with them, we're talking houses here. Now you have another vacant building that needs a code complaince to the tume of $50,000.00. so the landlord goes to work getting the work done and the neighbors are still calling around to city departments making complaints.

A lot of these neighbors don't want renters or minorities in thei neighborhoods period.

So what if the landlord decide he will jsut leave the house empty for 3 or 4 months or a year unbtil he can find a good tenant aceptable to the neighbors? No good....the city still comes after him for having a vacant house and makes him do the $50,000 code compliance jsut because he has the house sitting empty. They rewuire this before they even see the inside of the house!

You just cannot win because the city has the odds against you so much. I often wonder why anyone would even try, and maybe that is why all the landlords are leaving the city and all the old rental properties are now sitting empty and forclosed.

1:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We have the dirt and we have the truth and that is why people like you come here. You wanna know how close we are to unraveling your profitable little sham against the poor.

1:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read both SPIFy and Ademocracy/Landlord Central and I feel both are so far from the real world both are unbelievable. Each of you are locked in your little world.

It's just fun to see you guys duke it out.

Come on - don't you think there is a middle ground here somewhere?

2:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read SPIF for one reason and one reason only.

The site keeps me informed on what the Democrats are planning next.

I understand your fears Jeanne.

I don't blame you, your husband should have gone over there and found out what was going on then made suggestions to these workers that would keep the neighbors happy.Tell your husband to put his pants on.

2:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't people realize that causing a problem for your neighbor is not in the best interest of anyone. The cost of the complaints are also going to reflect a cost for taxpayers, can you imagine what it would be like if everyone started to call the police and/or housing code everytime a neighbor has a small issue, I can picture it now a neighbor has a family gathering in their backyard so you call the police, the next day theirs some extra trash waiting for the trash man that doesn't arrive for a couple of days so now housing gets that complaint. Now thats what you really call neighborly love! Then do you really think your neighbor is going to give a shit or call the police if they see someone breaking into your house?

3:05 PM  
Blogger Nancy Osterman said...

It is a shame that society has come to this... A neighbor calls the police because a few black men are hard working trying to make an honest living. She should be happy that the work is getting done on the home rather then interupting the progress. I remember when we were working on the house on Jessamine it was the same issue, we had one neighbor a few houses away that I went to school with she was a bitch then but grew into a bigger one and joined the block club. She wasn't well liked in school by others and I guess this was her way to take out her frustrations. Actually I think her nose became flatter just from having it stuck against her windows so often to keep track of what the neighbors were doing. Well anyway whenever we would work on the house we were almost gaurenteed that officer friendly or not so friendly would pay us a visit, usually a little later housing officials would be next to interupt our work. Then of course the city added the time of day we were allowed to work which was 9-5.

So from experience I know how difficult one neighbor can tend to make life for someone if they don't care for you personally.

3:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Middle ground? Truth, honesty and a respect for the civil rights of ALL people would be a good start. That's what we are about here and it is interesting that you think this positiion is so far from the real world that we are unbelievable

3:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeanne has a point we should all let government solve all are problems and make government as big as we can support with tax after tax after tax.The reason I believe this is because government is so efficient.Sounds rediculous doesn't it?
Can't anyone solve problems anymore with out the help of government?
Jeanne tell your husband to get a set.

4:26 PM  
Blogger Nancy Osterman said...

Well now the reason behind many of the issues according to someone at EDemocracy is that the sitiuation in this particular home is that the owner hadn't displayed the permits in the window properly...well the earlier complaint said there weren't windows in the home, so I would assume that would make it rather difficult to display them in a window, yet they feel that would of solved all thier questions about the property.

5:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just see a lot of effort here going after SPIFers. I never, ever, read anything on SPIF about A-Democracy. It almost as though Ademocracy doesn't matter. It doesn't.

Speaking of racists, look at the ad next to yours in the Watchdog Bob. The 2029 one. If you can't see any problems with it, your whole schpeil on race is as phony as that publication.

5:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sooooo.....they do read the Watchdog huh? Even the ads! I wonder if they patronize any of the advertisers?

5:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is never anything on SPIF about us because they are afraid to death of us. Against what they say their own philosophy is about wanting to have people participate, they exiled us to Bob's bolg cause they don't like it when someone speaks the truth and it isn't what they want to hear. They want Democracy over there, but they only want the Democracy that benifets them and them alone. Thee is no roon foe a "different" idea, way of thinking, and most of all, something the challenges the "status quo." That's not Democracy to me, it's.........

I can't think of the word cause I am a retard. Could someone help me out?

6:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So are we going to see the photos of Jessamine or not Bob. I think people want to see what Repke and others are talking about when they speak of landlords who want to maintain substandard housing and the need to Demo houses.

6:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes I have been waiting to see what the city considers in need to be demolished. I am new to the area and would hate to buy a home only to find that the city has a different idea of what I can and cannot safely live in.


I was referred to this site from some co-workers a while back when I first moved to MN and started looking to buy a home, they felt I should see what St.Paul offered when it comes to living standards and treating citizens equal. Being that I am from a different ethnic I no longer feel I would be welcome buying a home here even though the realestate agent I have been working with assures me I will be fine.

I appreciate the information I have been getting from your blog as I could not afford one of those code compliances I keep hearing about. Some of the homes I have been looking at don't have anyone living in them currently so I am wondering if I were to buy if the city would see my ethnical background and enforce all those codes on me to get rid of me.

6:27 PM  
Blogger Nancy Osterman said...

Bob I have noticed a few requests to see some of the pictures from Jessamine, if you need some photos I know there are plenty of them available for you.

6:56 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

Hi All,

I will summarize Nancy's story and post some photos late tonight or early tomorrow morning.

I will also link Nancy's blog.

8:10 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

5;13, the AD you reference is a JOKE...Humour..Funny stuff...

Give it a break.

Just about every race was represented at my home on Easter.

It was so crowded here if one person moved others had to move to let people get around.

Ask Bill Dahn, he was over. We all know now after he was called a liar for years that he was telling the truth all along. I think you could take his word for it.

8:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A joke?
Like Imus? Limbaugh? Lott? Franken?

Seems like the kind of joke only white, uneducated, rarely showered men can understand.

I guess I don't get that sense of humor and as far as asking Bill Dahn anything- you got to be kidding, right? The guy is illiterate in every sense of the word.

Doesn't surprise me like all of the above names you try to laugh it off instead of being man and standing up for what's 'right'.

You guys can have Saint Paul. Well, you could but, since all incumbents seem to get re-elected constantly, you won't.

9:01 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

From: Jeanne Weigum Date: 2007-04-11 10:18 (UTC) Short link

My how this discussion has morphed! FYI, the former owner of this property
was a caucasian female.

The only workers I have seen on the property were caucasian females.

When I wrote the post I had no idea either gender or race had anything to do
with the issue. I believed the issues were:
1) a vacant house that was open to the elements and totally unsecured from
vandals or the elements.
2) a gutted house with no evidence of a building permit.
3) extremely slow and unprofessional work.

I still think these are the issue.

Jeanne Weigum
Hanging out in Merriam Park waiting for the snow. waiting. waiting waiting
wa w

9:18 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

Jeanne posted the above statement at SPIF.

I am confident Jeanne isn'tpredjiduce. She must be color blind she didn't even notice those black guys working at the house.
:-)

You will also notice she had no thought or comment about showing a little neighborly respect to go as far as to walk up to this house and say "Hi" how's it going what's up.

All we ever get out of these government types is denial and no consideration for anybody other than their own self interest.

I sure am glad you are not my neighbor Jeanne.

9:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

She's like so many of the others over there, they lie through their teeth and when they get caught they just start back peddling to save their ass. You see with Democrats they're all about words. They think as long as they say it, that something magically happens to "make it so." What a hypocite.

9:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What you are saying is exactly why some of these neighborhoods are in the position they are in. They have sat by for years either being too much of a coward or not having the social skills or just think they are too "elite" to talk to anyone, so they go get gopvernment to solve the problem and when it turns to shit, then they want to blame the property owner. Most of us uneducated and unshowered type knew 20 years ago that everything government gets involved in turns to shit. They deserve the neighborhoods they have and the misery they have brought onto themselves.

9:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah like the East Side and Frogtown!

12:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To 9:01 pm
To the nice person that kept Bill Dahn's name in everything, that Bob posts.

I never went to college, and maybe
not as educated as "U",
but I'm one of the common people, and not a Dem-o-Whatever?
As I grew up in St.Paul,
Bruce Vento was a man to look up to.
Now that Bruce, a commoner that worked at Northern States Power aka NSP - aka - Excel Power Co. is dead.
He worked with asbestos, and died from 'asbestos poisoning from working at a common job at NSP.
So the "Good" people in life, seems to be the "hard working" -- un-educated people.
So if I am a person that care for something besides money and power, I feel common and not a money grabber or a raciest.
You all tell me they don't want to here about what - Thune - Repke - Norm Coleman - Christ Coleman - Pappas,
and a line of others, how they all turn their backs on us common people.
So I won't.
I will say that someone out their is afraid, of what I know about dirt in all phases of government.
A vote for -
Thune is a VOTE for a GAYS taking your job, and for GAY marriages and so on.
Your jobs are all going to DFL Mafia - Union and their workers, they are taking all the jobs.
If you are not part of what they call a union shop, the Democrats turn their backs on us and we are left out in the cold.
So a vote for a commoner, is a vote for U.
Be proud to be who U are, and NOT one of them.

Bill Dahn
www.billdahn.com

8:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill
U or you don't need a good education, that is why Thune hired Chuck Repke as his aid.

8:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

8:34
You (or 'U') meant 'aide'. Rite?

Bill,
What he hell do you have against gays? You're a bigot. But, I guess you found a blog that appreciates your veiwpoint. I said a long time ago, if only Thune would set up a real debate, the public would see what you are about and laugh you into the hospital where you belong.

Unions don't employ millionaires. They're city workers, nurses, delivery drivers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, pipefitters, cops, firefighters, water department, secretaries, bus drivers, teachers, janitors and so on. Those, my friend, are some of the hardest working people you're going to find.

What exactly is your job Bill Dahn? When was the last time you held a job? How about the last time you held one for four years? It's been more than twenty years hasn't it?

Being educated is not about degrees and diplomas, its about being informed and able to function in a normal manner. That, Bill Dahn, doesn not have.

5:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

5:14 PM

If Bill is not going to be grown up maybe you could.

I do not disagree with what you said and do agree 100% with it, but I disagree in who you said it.

It needed to be said, but...

5:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have nothing against anyone, but the city government for all they covering up of their butts.
Onion worker work hard for their money, but for the incumbent DFL'ers that control the city code "Gestapo" agents used torture, murder, indiscriminate arrests when they use police with warrant's to take these people's home out from under them.
They do through people out with just the cloths on their back and no where to go, no money in their pockets.
Then these homeless people end staying at Dorothy Day Center or sleeping under bridges and along the river.
Now for what we want too, to debate Thune.
I and my backer have enough for me to ask and debate, with my good buddy St .Paul City Councilman Dave Thune.
Thank You Chuck Repke, for you acknowledging that I was "begging" the City of St.Paul for help for years.
How about that "poor" old lady that Bob Johnson knew, "She" begged the city for help till the day She Died.
Shortly after her death, her long time fiance took his own life.
What does this tell all of the people of the world, "To Bad" So Sad -- No help for U.
Is that because her name was not Chuck Repke, and the B--- Buddy of Dave Thunes





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See what's free at AOL.com.

7:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So you haven't had a job? I mean, since you are going to be representing the real people, shouldn't you have a track record of working and taking care of your family like we do everyday?

You say you don't have anything against anyone but you just accused people of murder and being Nazis. Your previous writing about gays were so offensive that you couldn't have made it worse if you were wearing a white hood.

Go get help.

5:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What's the matter Bill? Cat got your tongue?

1. Do you have a job?
2. Have you kept a job for more than four years in the last 20 years?
3. How will your self-admitted mental problems affect your work and decision making on the council?
4. Do you know how much the city operating budget is?
5. With a 9.9% set cap on taxes, with the current bugdet, what are your funding priorities and what will be cut?
6. Are you able to hold office?

Most of us work jobs for years we hate so that we can provide for our family.
How can you represent us when you've spent most of your time on the government dole?
What do you know about trying to raise a family in this city today?

You really want to run for office, you have to answer those questions. You want to play and get some attention, then keep doing what you're doing.

11:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill Dahn works daily for free. Donating his time to help feed the hungry at the food shelves.

If it wasn't for Bill I personally know of 3 families who would not of had an Easter feast.

Bill may not be as well educated as Dave Thune, however, he has one thing going for him that nobody else on the council currently has. HE IS HONEST!

11:57 AM  
Blogger Bob said...

At the time of this post July 7th. 2007, this home in question here is near completion and in beautiful condition.

11:58 AM  

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