LEGGETT,
LEVENTHAL
FIND
$700,000
IN HHS
SOFA CUSHIONS
We have no money, they say. They try to deny disability benefits to disabled police officers, they've cut disabled transportation in half, and - still my favorite - literally took the dentures away from low-income senior citizens.
They need a waiver to break the law so they can spend less money on education now and in the future.
They're about to complete a dismantling of the Ride On bus route system, even while claiming they will boost mass transit use as they approve every project their developer buddies bring before the council dais.
But developers and the special interests have proven to be high-maintenence relationships for Ike Leggett and the County Council.
Keeping the cash flowing, even as they claim there's no money for roads, schools and public safety, is a major challenge. Or is it?
"We just don't have the money." Well, it's true. But they make money by shifting funds from basic services like snow removal, police and fire, libraries, and transportation to political pet projects run by organizations with strong ties to the politicians, and to developers.
The Webb Tract (almost $200M cash) is one poster child for that technique.
Now, here's another:
I have some surprising news for you. Did you know that you are now the proud owner of an apartment building in Takoma Park?
Well, ok, the decision was made for you. But... it's yours! Purchased with $700,000 of your taxpayer dollars. Isn't it great that we have these superior minds, enlightened leaders, who can make all the decisions that we, the unwashed masses, simply don't have the ability to comprehend?
Now, we have no money, right? So Leggett and Leventhal, we're to believe, went through the sofa cushions at HHS and - golly gee - all those quarters added up to $700,000!
It's enough to make you want to buy stock in CoinStar!
“I am proud that we are committing County resources and efforts towards Housing First and the project we are opening today,” said Leventhal.
But they're not done! HHS will also be "funding case management services."
Many residents who have foreclosed homes, have been laid off from work, and in some cases, don't know where all the meals are coming from this week... ...wish that they could make money appear like Leggett and Leventhal. But they don't have the ability to shake citizens upside down until the last coins drop out of their pockets like our county elected officials do!
What we have here is four more apartment units off the market and in the hands of government. For those of you with the misfortune to only learn about the economic theories of Karl Marx and Keynes in school, let me explain what that does: 4 more units off the market makes every other unit still on the market worth more. So what Leggett and Leventhal do in these cases, is to actually increase the cost of housing by driving up prices using taxpayer funds. It's outrageous.
Leave the foreclosed properties to the market, and for far less than $700,000, the government could have assisted a private investor to buy and renovate the property.
I've heard about, but not read, a Gazette story on "workforce housing" (that phrase is so 2006) at King Farm. It talks about an IT employee moving in. Last time I checked, IT and tech people earn higher than average salaries. Our county government has no business subsidizing self-sufficient wage earners to live near their work, when cheaper homes are available elsewhere in the county. And yet, here are more housing units off the market, and in government hands.
Now the county could lower the cost of housing by reducing its immoral, Draconian property taxes. Mr. Leggett and Mr. Leventhal have defiantly refused to do so.
Why? What do they prefer about their affordable housing "plan?"
I'll tell you.
By having government use your money to gobble up homes, they can drive up prices as they reduce supply. As prices rise, less working people can afford housing in the county. And that means... ...more people dependent on Government for housing.
Isn't that clever?
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