Before We Vote

Are corporations and organizations indirectly purchasing the rights of individual citizens?  Which candidates and corporations benefit?  See who's influencing Capitol Hill in 2012, and which corporations/organizations support Democrats and Republicans almost equally.  Which Bills and which politicians are influenced by which individuals hiding behind these corporate names?  Shouldn't every American have the right to know?  Click on item 5 to read about the revolving door of influence.

1. Top 20 PAC Contributors to Candidates, 2011-2012
2. http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
3. http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php
4. http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=b
5. http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/index.php
6. Overall Information on Government 

Carvings, Dings, and Other Things

      If you're parking a vehicle overnight in the lots along Hannah Way and Martha Drive in Rockland, Mass., please be aware vehicles get vandalized on this mismanaged, subsidized property.  Lug nuts get loosened. Tires get slashed; hoods, trunks, and doors get dented and gouged. Who are the vandals? .... Perhaps slanderous strays who come out after day to spell, scratch, and carve foul phrases on cars?  Over the years, I've read some gruesome graffiti gouged into tenants personal property.  Last year, the property manager of Rockland Place simply advised residents to always check each one of their nuts before driving away.
     Early Friday evening, February 3, 2012, a noisy crowd gathered at 34 Martha Drive to witness another 'disturbance'. Some people grew distraught at the thought of this chaotic incident possibly turning into another blood bath like the violent slashing inside building 63 Martha Drive last year.  Officials from the Plymouth County Sheriff's Dept. and BCI (Bureau of Criminal Investigation) snapped photos and investigated.
     Promised on-site security cameras in common areas might help Management and local Police better define and resolve some of the ongoing safety issues at this troublesome housing complex.  In the meantime, Rockland Place dba SpringGate Apts. remains a liability, instead of an asset, to civilized citizens in the Town of Rockland.

YIKES!

First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a happy new year for 2012.   If you're living at Rockland Place Apartments dba Spring Gate Apartments, I wish you a better place to live before your suffering begins.... (or is it too late already?)
     I can't believe I was startled from my sleep again.  I had another nightmare where I thought I was living at Rockland Place Apartments in Rockland, Mass. YIKES!
     Strangely enough, most of my nightmares are reality-based.   Around 3:00 this morning, I dreamed of boarded up hallway windows with clouds of black smoke inside my apartment and hallway again.  Head-of-maintenance torched another building and displaced more low-income residents. She ditched the plumber's torch in a closet and took off out of the building while laughing at a 3-year-old girl who was terrified by the fire alarms sounding.  (The fire alarms worked appropriately in the nightmare.)
     Believe it or not, some of my ongoing nightmares are actually more pleasant than the realities of living in subsidized housing. At least in my nightmare, the unlicensed torch-bearer was fired from her job so she couldn't harm any other tenants. In reality though, this maintenance person was promoted to property manager.  YIKES again!
     I thought by now I'd be able to forget the chaos, the fires, and the property managers' abusive and unethical tactics at that subsidized housing complex. I guess I'm still recovering.  Living at Rockland Place dba SpringGate has been a costly, never-ending nightmare.  For some reason, corporate owners and management have little need to comply with laws and lease agreements; probably due to their powerful associations and substantial political campaign contributions.

The Business of Subsidizing Businesses

What's going on inside affordable housing complexes besides illegal drug deals?  Could money be laundered through subsidized housing and/or their businesses?  Under the following names, these businesses are not seen as being incorporated in Massachusetts.  So why is there evidence of commercial transport businesses and a storage facility inside a subsidized housing complex? Here are the newest business listings at the subsidized Rockland Place dba SpringGate Apartments, as currently listed at http://www.manta.com . . .


Mikes Towing
187 Martha Drive Apartment B, Rockland, MA 02370-2526
Mikes Towing in Rockland, MA is a private company categorized under Transportation. Records show it has 2 employees and was established in 2010 and incorporated in Massachusetts.
NAICS Code: 488999, All Other Support Activities for Transportation

Nunes Moving Service
74 Martha Drive Apartment D, Rockland, MA 02370-2537
Phone: (617) 959-4426
Nunes Moving Service in Rockland, MA is a private company categorized under Moving Services. Records show it was established in 2010 and incorporated in Massachusetts.
NAICS Code: 484210, Used Household and Office Goods Moving

Kevin's Delivery Service
83 Hannah Way, Rockland, MA 02370-2512
Phone: (339) 469-1715
Kevin's Delivery Service in Rockland, MA is a private company categorized under delivery service. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $60,000 and employs a staff of 1. Owner: Kevin Fitzpatrick Jr.  Records show it was established in 2010 and incorporated in Massachusetts.  NAICS Code: 484110, General Freight Trucking, Local

Workshop launches FOIA Blog: Exemption 10 | Investigative Reporting Workshop

Workshop launches FOIA Blog: Exemption 10 |
 Investigative Reporting Workshop

Are you able to help out?

Sexy Japanese Quail on Cocaine

Are you an American citizen who's struggling to survive?  Let's take a realistic look at what has 'changed' since President Obama was elected to office.  http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=b69a6ebd-7ebe-41b7-bb03-c25a5e194365

Mission Impossible?

HUD claims their mission is 'to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all'.  It's to be expected then, 'Affordable homes for all' does NOT EXCLUDE:  full-time employees of the corporate landlords who commit fraud, drug dealers, ex-cons, perverts, and practicing substance abusers.  What makes me say this? ...Because this describes some of the residents receiving affordable housing at Rockland Place dba SpringGate Apartments in Rockland, Massachusetts.  Some of the unethical or illegal acts on this property are assisted by authorities.
     HUD insists they are working to strengthen the housing market to 'bolster the economy and protect consumers'.  Huh?   Truth be told, most legitimate consumers are NOT protected in subsidized housing.  When legitimate tenants of the HUD-subsidized Rockland Place reported violations, and then, the ongoing retaliations by lobbying corporate landlords and management, HUD did not protect the innocent taxpayers, renters, or consumers.  Furthermore, the deceptive text on HUD's website misleads a consumer to believe they will be protected by HUD's rules and regulations and by state and federal law, but these are rarely enforced for consumers of subsidized housing.  Residing in this type of housing is truly a disempowering experience for legitimate consumers who, all too often, get treated with contempt and disrespect.  As one subsidized property manager explained, "We can do whatever we want."  AND   "You can lay on your back for repairs."
      I can recognize that subsidized housing bolsters and enriches those involved in certain corporate partnerships, but does it honestly bolster the economy?  The key word here is honestly.
        As far as,  'HUD utilizing housing as a platform for improving quality of life, and building inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination' ....  If you're able to imagine being wrongfully convicted and then having to pay rent to an abusive prison facility with corrupt guards in control, then you'll have a better understanding of the real 'quality of life' in subsidized housing. The type of subsidized housing, that exists on Martha Drive and Hannah Way in Rockland, has proven itself to be a nightmare, not only to the honorable American taxpayer, but to the truly needy and vulnerable tenants who become further victimized with a systematic approach to lose more American rights and freedoms through corruption, cronyism, and socialism.
        By the way, more subsidized housing is being developed in South Weymouth.   It all sounds so beautiful and wonderful and nice, especially when Americans are desperate for jobs and housing.  I have to wonder though .... Is creating larger developments really the best solution to resolve the homeless and unemployment crisis in the USA? Let's not forget, developers, corporate partnerships, and politicians have a tendency to make promises they don't keep, especially when big money is involved.  Usually, newly built, privately-owned; yet, government-financed housing complexes stay nice for 10-15 years. Then illegal drug deals and an increase in crime usually become major problems to frustrated residents who are too disempowered by large corporations, partnerships, and their powerful lobbyists.
       According to Thomas Grillo's detailed article in the Boston Business Journal:  Southfield will feature 2,855 apartments and homes and 2 million square feet of commercial and retail space. The development will also include more than 1,000 acres of parks and dedicated open space, a links style golf course, and a $20 million sports and recreation complex.  The $2.5 billion project is expected to result in 6,000 construction jobs, 4,000 permanent jobs and represents one of the biggest hubs of job growth and economic activity in the Bay State, the developer said. Governor Deval Patrick's administration has invested $45 million to construct the East-West Parkway, a regional transit improvement connecting Routes 3 and 18. Congress has pledged $8 million for other transit improvements. Southfield Highlands, the community’s first residential neighborhood near the on-site South Weymouth commuter rail station, is under development and is expected to result in 1,400 construction jobs and 80 permanent jobs.  Construction has begun on 226 units of studio, one, two, and three-bedroom apartment homes being developed by John M. Corcoran and Co.  Negotiations over the future of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, which was closed in 1997 by the Pentagon, have dragged on for more than a decade. South Shore Tri-Town Development, a semi-independent agency, was formed in 1998 to oversee development of the 1,400-acre site.  In 2002, the agency selected LNR Property LLC to serve as the master developer.
     Do American citizens, at least, have the right to know every individual name affiliated to these corporate names?  And, if not, why?

Gov't Funds Used to Offend Public Morality

    Though we may read several news articles and scandals existing in subsidized housing, I'm guessing much of the unethical and illegal conduct remains silenced and unpublished.  Certainly we heard of the tenant living in a subsidized apartment to be able to afford their Satellite Dish and cocaine habit.  Have you heard the one where subsidized property employees at Rockland Place or Spring Gate Apts. tear down posted anti-drug notices provided by HUD?  And, instead of owners having to comply with lease agreements in subsidized housing, Section 8 vouchers are unethically provided a tenant who reports crime at Rockland Place.  Let's not forget the recent scandal in regard to illegal campaign contributions paid by Mr. Winn, a housing developer in Boston.  (But, of course it wasn't to influence anyone with power, silly!)
     And now we read of a harassment claim being paid with housing funds in Chelsea, Mass. “Local housing authorities are expected to notify DHCD if state funds are being used to settle any legal matters,’’ said Deborah Goddard, general counsel of the state Department of Housing and Community Development.  Read details of the Chelsea Housing Authority sex toy scandal by clicking here.

More Links in a Blink

• Government Motors require consumers pay extra for spare change. ...Reuters
• Tragedy strikes Hyannis House Apartments.  The Nguyen's from Dorchester are involved with the ownership of numerous businesses including Hyannis House LLC. 
• Who rules the roost in Massachusetts courts? - Read investigational reports in CommonWealth.