NOISE Report - March 18

Three landlord registration and inspection ordinances are before city council, to determine how the city will deal with landlords with code violations. City officials have been looking at housing policy since the events of Yale Park last September, when 500 refugees were displaced due to squalid conditions.

Pah-Booay-Too spoke out in defense of her community.

“The landlord take advantage of my refugee community, because he know we don’t speak english and we don’t know what is our right. I hope that the city council can do something for my refugee community.”

Public testimony from opponents and proponents lasted for nearly four hours, Tuesday, March 12th.

Councilman Vinny Palermo of district 4 suggested laying over decision.

“I don’t agree with any of the three we have now. There needs to be changes, and I think it’s going to take some time. People need to be educated on who they can reach out to, or where they can find this information from, and that truly makes a difference.”

City council intends to give themselves more time to reach a compromise on the costs and under what conditions should a property be inspected.

However, unless a new ordinance is introduced, the public does not get another opportunity to speak on the record for these items.  

City council committees are closed to the public, which is an arrangement that council president Ben Gray maintains.

You can watch the full live stream of the council meeting in three parts on the NOISE Facebook.

What’s up this weekend?

Saturday, March 23, the Hope Hero Conference welcomes everyone for a free, family-friendly event recognizing heroes in the community and for Vanessa Ward’s birthday at 6001 Fontenelle Blvd. Doors open at 8:30 am with continental breakfast and registration. Lunch will be served. Closing at 4:00 pm with community comments.