Does Mayor Meni-Know Best?

*Ex-mayor aide pushing for Bail
By Herald wire services - Monday, February 1, 2010 - Added 4d 8h ago
It’s been nearly two months since John Forbes, Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s former East Boston campaign operative, was arrested on federal charges of dealing Oxycodone and marijuana, and still no decision has been made on whether to allow him bail......

*Mayor Thomas Menino launches crusade to ban smoking in public housing.....By Jessica Fargen - Sunday, January 31, 2010

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Comment: Aren't illegal drugs supposed to be banned in HUD subsidized housing too?  I'd never know it.

Obama’s illegal immigrant aunt and BHA

*Obama’s aunti still freeloading
By Michael Graham - Op-Ed, Thurs, Feb. 4, 2010 - Boston Herald .... She is shamelessly - and happily - living in taxpayer-subsidized housing intended for citizens and legal immigrants.  Is there some poor American veteran living in a shelter because she’s got this apartment? Aunt Zeituni doesn’t care - why should she? Menino and the Boston Housing Authority don’t.
And now she’s back in court, using taxpayer resources............

Open-Ended Notices to Enter

MEMO TO: All Residents  DATE: January 26, 2010
FROM: Janet Hamilton, Property Manager  RE: Repair Work
Beginning the week of February 1, 2010 the maintenance staff will need access to your apartment for repairs to your medicine cabinet. They will begin work at approximately 9:00 AM and continue until all apartments in your building are completed. They should only need 15 minutes per unit. You do not have to do anything to prepare for this. You do not need to be home for this. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please call the Management Office at 781-871-2323 if you have any questions.
Corporate management of Rockland Place continues providing open-ended notices to enter residents' apartments.  So if you have a night job and sleep in the day,  management and maintenance may walk in your unit from February 1st thru _____?  Your guess is as good as mine.   So don't get too comfy in your subsidized home because Ms. Hamilton and Rockland Place don't necessarily have to comply with laws.

How Safe are your Children?

    Cornerstone Corporation manages Rockland Place Apts. in Rockland, Massachusetts as agents of First Hartford Realty Corp.   Residents were told that background checks would be performed through Strategic Information Resources, Inc. of Springfield, Mass. 

     So what is the point of background checks when ex-cons, sexual deviants, and drug dealers are allowed on this subsidized multifamily property?

  Timothy Dalton is a Level 3 sex offender at Rockland Place Apts. dba Spring Gate, with an address listing of 45B Hannah Way, Rockland.

Is Barney Frankly Speaking?

     Read the recent Boston Globe article:  In 2010, Barney Frank hopes to abolish Fannie and Freddie.
     In 2003, Massachusetts Representative, Barney Frank (D), stated Fannie and Freddie weren't in a financial crisis, and were financially sound.  Despite warnings, he saw no problem with these government-run lenders. (See video.)

Regulating Salt Intake

Have you heard the U.S. government now wants to regulate our salt intake?  I could see it now.  When property managers of HUD subsidized housing perform their annual, bi-annual, or monthly apartment inspections, they will now have the excuse to rummage through residents' cupboards to keep track of hidden salt containers.  Give me a break!

   I think before our government decides to regulate anymore of our personal lives, they need to effectively regulate the illegal drugs stored and sold on their subsidized properties.  If ever they succeed at keeping that promise, then maybe we can talk about government salt regulations.  No?

Fire at Spring Gate Housing Complex

Rockland Fire Dept. and Rockland Police responded to a couch fire at 177 Martha Drive, Apt. D, Rockland, Mass. around 8:40 P.M. Friday night, January 8, 2010.  Alarms sounded with smoke in hallway. Cornerstone Corporation's maintenance staff was notified. A Hanover ambulance left the renovated, government subsidized property at 9:00 P.M.

Murder in Rockland

A Rockland man who frequents Spring Gate Apartments allegedly stabbed a Hanover man to death at a boarding house on the corner of Union and Market Street in Rockland, MA.  Rockland Police visited the Spring Gate subsidized apartment complex, located on Martha Drive and Hannah Way in Rockland, shortly after the stabbing on New Year's Day 2010.  Rockland Place Apartments and this particular boarding house are known for renting to those involved in drugs and violence.
*Click here to read the news article

or read the story in The Patriot Ledger by clicking here.

 5 Union Street, Rockland, MA was previously a nursing home but now rents rooms by the week.  The building is believed to be owned by Empire, an affiliate of Weichert Realtors.
 In February 2009, Police say Hanson, of 148 Union St., Rockland, and her passenger, Curtin, of 5 Union St., Rockland, led police on a car chase through three towns after Hanson was caught shooting up drugs in her car and tried to stab a police officer with the needle.

Let's NOT Build More

How did crime and violence become 'the norm' in HUD, DHCD, and MassHousing financed multifamily housing complexes? 

September 2008, The Patriot Ledger reported some of the crime and violence in Rockland, Massachusetts with an accurate description of a multifamily apartment complex.  This wasn't the first and isn't the last incident of crime and violence on this 'newly renovated' subsidized property.  Some 'nonresidents' live with residents while management conveniently looks the other way.  And where are those promised security cameras?  Here is an excerpt from the published news story describing Rockland Place dba Spring Gate Apartments.

.....reported this year at the Spring Gate apartment complex, formerly known as Rockland Place, he said.

The 35-year-old housing development is home to 204 rental apartments, including 193 apartments for low-income tenants. For more than a decade, it has been a hot spot for crime in Rockland, including rapes, beatings, shootings and knife attacks.

On Aug. 26, two police officers were nearly struck by rocks at a back-to-school event at the Spring Gate apartment complex. In July, two residents were charged with beating another man with rocks.

“It’s an apartment complex, and any time you have an apartment complex with a lot of people squeezed into a tight geographic area, you’re going to have problems,” Lt. Barry Ashton said.
To read the entire Ledger article, click here.

Lt. Barry Ashton's comment offers little hope to good residents in this type of subsidized housing. It offers no solution or honest intention to deter crime at Spring Gate.  His apathetic attitude toward crime in Rockland Place and/or Spring Gate Apartments reflects that of corporate management, owners, and government officials. 

When laws and regulations aren't enforced, subsidized apartment complexes like Rockland Place dba Spring Gate harbor crime and imprison the innocent.  These mismanaged multifamily properties are allowed to become a neighborhood nuisance.  Corporate landlords may continue to benefit from running nuisance properties, but nearby homeowners suffer when their private property decreases in value.

Supplying more government grants and tax monies to non-compliant landlords is wasteful and does not provide safe, decent, affordable housing.  'Affordable Housing Certificates', issued directly to law-abiding citizens, could be a better way for HUD to provide safe, decent, affordable housing to the needy. These issued certificates could also provide the freedom to choose a respectable place of residence with more control and accountability.  If 'apartment complexes with a lot of people squeezed into a tight geographic area cause problems', building and financing more subsidized apartment complexes like Rockland Place and Spring Gate should be discouraged. 
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The Patriot Ledger - posted May 15, 2009
Hingham District Court
A charge of malicious destruction of property worth more than $250 against Armando M. Oliveira, 19, of 212 Martha Drive, Rockland, was dismissed by Judge Mooney due to lack of prosecution. The offense was alleged to have occurred July 9 in Rockland.

Charges of assault and disturbing the peace against Nilton Rodriques, 31, of 110 Martha Drive, Rockland, were dismissed by Judge Patrick Hurley. The offenses were alleged to have occurred April 16 in Rockland.