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Posted on 11/09/2006 11:14:11 AM PST by weegee
Nov. 9, 2006, 12:02AM Safety rules target rentals
Council votes to require all city apartment owners to comply with security measures
By ALEXIS GRANT and MATT STILES
• Property taxes: The council voted to cut the city's tax rate by a quarter cent, a $2.50 annual savings for the owner of a home with $100,000 taxable value. The rate will drop from 64.75 cents to 64.5 cents per $100 valuation.
Owners of apartment complexes with high crime rates could be required to comply with safety measures recommended by Houston police as part of a program Mayor Bill White said Wednesday was one of his administration's most significant policy changes.
Despite concerns expressed by some property owners and City Council members that the program unfairly holds owners responsible for crimes committed by residents, the City Council voted 12-3 to approve the ordinance.
"There has to be some shared responsibility with the apartment industry in making sure that we do what we can to prevent crime," White said.
Requirements could include improving lighting, hiring security guards or installing surveillance cameras, depending on the security shortfalls identified in a police department inspection, which will cost owners $400.
Those who fail to comply with orders for security measures could be fined $2,000 a day.
The cost of improving security could cause economic hardship for owners of apartments that serve low-income and minority residents, Stephanie Richardo, who manages an apartment complex in southwest Houston, told council members during a public session.
Much of the rise in violent apartment crime has occurred in Richardo's neighborhood, where an influx of Hurricane Katrina evacuees filled many buildings to capacity.
With those crowded quarters and the city's shortage of police officers, about a third of the more than 320 homicides this year occurred at apartment complexes.
"Do you feel badly that you asked the apartment owners to take in the Katrina victims without knowing their criminal histories?" Richardo asked. "Why are you now inflicting further possible damage to the same owners?"
Officer Douglas Anders said investing in safety will help owners make their properties more desirable to tenants, and the recommended security measures are already in place at most complexes.
The ordinance probably would affect about 10 percent of the city's more than 2,000 apartment properties, he said.
Police plan to identify problem properties by comparing per-capita crime rates to the city average, which have not yet been computed.
The formula does not take into account whether complexes are located in high-crime areas, which was one of the objections of the Houston Apartment Association, said President Jerry Winograd. He and fellow members worked with the city to create the program.
Council members Michael Berry, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs and Addie Wiseman voted against the measure.
"What we don't want to do is discourage investors from going into high-crime areas and improving the neighborhood, because we're going to blame them for what is in fact a neighborhood problem and not a landlord problem," Berry said.
Houston PING
How about purchasing handguns?
Maybe they will catch some of those evil smokers too. /sarc
I want security cameras INSIDE the police station. Cut down on abuse charges and prisoners being given street clothes with which to escape.
Hah! No doubt, this is what Houston's Democrat Mayor White calls a tax break for the middle class.
The cost of onerous new regulations for security measures will be passed along by apartment owners to their tenants, most of whom are lower and middle class.
So homeowners save $2.50 per year and renters pay $25 per month more in rent. I love how Mayor White is always looking out for the little guy.
Blame the GOP. We didn't run a candidate against this Clintonista. Next he may be headed for a Senate run.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
And for a small fee or if they use a police dept approve contractor, the recommendations won't be too burdensome.
Sounds like a racket to me!
What an idiot. Sure he isn't Lee Brown incognito?
Raise the rent.
I "like it" how the Houston police have the autority without court order (just powers granted them by city council) to enter any apartment for inspection.
Why does this only apply to apartments? There are people who rent homes too. And why not those who own their properties?
Because I griped on a couple of the libertarian pings I wanted to mention how much I appreciate this list and what a good job you do selecting 99% of the time.
If they all refused and took the fines to court, the city could not get away with this. If an apartment complex offers extra security that's great but it is the police themselves that need to be patroling these highers crime risk areas more. IMO. So is the response going to be to drastically raise rent to meet these requirements and bring in renters that are a lower risk and can pay more? What will the city do about housing then?
I have news for you HPD doesn't fight violent crime. They write revenue tickets. I know several women who were violently carjacked (one kidnapped at knife point), both PRE-Katrina. The cars were recovered with evidence (IDs, cellphone calls, fingerprints) and the men were identified but the city refused to pursue the cases.
This is the trend across the country.
In New Jersey a judge ruled that the police could not be held accountable for not responding to a 911 call where a man observed a woman (who was later murdered) being abducted by 2 men. The judge said that there is no guarantee of protection by the police.
In Seattle bars and nightclubs are being hassled into being "accountable" for any crime committed in a one block perimeter of their venue. Again, city streets are the POLICE'S responsibility.
You have 3 police unions in Houston. Good luck getting them to do their job as PEACE KEEPERS and not PROCEDURAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.
I'm sorry. It takes awhile sometimes but our police show up. They also watch and patrol.
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