[Mpls] Demagogic language used/ Smallstakeholdersbruised/Neighborhoods lose

[Bill Cullen]

My gut told me to stay out of this; I wish I had.

The last thing I want to do is defend Gregge Johnson.  I don't know him, but
I do know his properties.  He is a bad property manager.

I want to make a few more points and then drop this emotional thread.

Dennis wrote:

I don't doubt for one minute that some absentee landlords actively recruit
level II sex offenders in my neighborhood - Jordan.  Otherwise,
statistically, it's an impossibility that six of them would be living in two
houses next to each other, in the same neighborhood.

Bill responds:

This doesn't prove landlords are recruiting level IIIs.  A few years ago I
purchased a very tough building in St. Paul.  The previous landlord used a
non-profit called "project hope" to source tenants.  Project Hope recruited
me to continue with this relationship.  I welcomed their applicants to
apply, but was insistent that they meet the criteria.  In short order they
realized that none of their clients would meet my criteria and they now take
their applicants to someone else.

Tenants with shaky pasts must work hard to find a landlord willing to "give
them a chance."  It doesn't surprise me that few landlords are willing to
take a chance on level III's.  This MIGHT explain why so many end up renting
from one (or a few) landlords.

The only way to learn why this is happening is to put the key people at the
table to discuss it.

Dennis wrote:

If you think that there is such a thing as a substandard property that IS
NOT part of a neighborhood's problem, then I submit you don't have any
"sub-standard" properties in the neighborhood in which you live.

Bill responds:

Like Dyna's house?  Come on, we all know houses that -- to quote Merriam --
"fall short of the standard or norm".  Yet, those houses are occupied by
good people that are an asset to the neighborhood.  I have many near me.

Jon wrote:

I've yet to see one person lynched, raped, whipped, castrated, murdered
etc., because someone thought they were a slumlord or wanted to justify
their treatment of said slumlord.

Bill Responds:

I was assaulted in my parking lot two years ago.  I was hurt badly.  The
police made an arrest and charged the individual.  This guy jumped me
because I told him to park his car in a parking spot and not in the middle
of the driveway.  He justified his actions to the police by calling me a
slumlord.  Which I am not.  In another example, a landlord was murdered by
one of his tenants 1-2 years ago.  I unfortunately cannot find a reference,
but will if I am challenged.

How many people must you know before you acknowledge your demagogic
language?  It stuns me that two landlords have said slumlord is offensive
and you choose to dismiss us.

Jon wrote:

To be clear, it is not a term bantered around lightly or used on anyone who
displeases us.  We have a lot of good property owners and we praise and
support
them.  We have a number of struggling property owners who we work with both
out front and behind the scenes to try and get them the help they need or to
find a more viable option for them and the community.

Bill Responds:

I am glad to hear this.  Is it new?  I owned rental property in Jordan and
never heard of JACC's efforts to work with landlords.  A year ago, I gave up
on the North side and sold everything.  There were multiple reasons I left,
but Poor Property Managers like Gregge Johnson was one of them.

Regards, Bill Cullen
Whittier Landlord