South Bend Common Councilman Henry Davis Jr. is blasting slum landlords as well as the City of South Bend for not cracking down.
Davis Jr. says many people in his district are forced to live in detrimental conditions and since landlords are not being held responsible, the city is subsidizing inferior, wasteful, and unsafe homes.
Davis Jr. called out Mayor James Mueller, among others, for boasting about investment in affordable housing while many are living in appalling circumstances.
The candidate for South Bend Mayor spoke in front of Beacon Heights Apartments, on Tuesday, calling for an audit and investigation of irresponsible landlords along with the city’s lackluster response.
Below is the full statement from Henry Davis Jr.
Housing is a fundamental human right. Individuals should not be forced to live in conditions that are detrimental to their growth. Since landlords are not being held responsible, the city is subsidizing inferior, wasteful, and unsafe homes. As a result, federal, state, and municipal tax money are all contributing to the creation of heinous burdens for the residents of South Bend. The ongoing misuse or abuse of these funds have made life unbearably difficult for our most vulnerable inhabitants – our children. Although our current mayor boasts about his massive investment in affordable housing, many of our most vulnerable citizens are still living in appalling circumstances.
“I am dismayed and saddened by the lack of support from our elected leadership, state legislators
and federal government. For over a year, I’ve been asking for support and help with our city
departments to find a solution and they have failed to deliver an adequate response.”
South Bend has several subsidized housing units within the city’s limits. Regardless of whether
they’re single-family houses or apartment buildings, the poor people who live in them should not
be forced to live in homes without heat, running hot water, or lead-based paint. Several of these
apartments have bed bugs, mice, and roaches. These individuals have a right to live in clean,
well-maintained housing, and it is the city’s job to keep landlords responsible.
3 comments
“Housing is a fundamental human right.”
FALSE! Housing is produced via the labor of other human beings, and NOBODY has an innate right to anyone else’s labor! That’s called “slavery” and I seem to recall Henry Davis proclaiming to be against that a couple times…
Yes, it’s slavery…or at best government enforced indentured servitude.
Americans have the right to an even playing field…not the right to an insured outcome. Endeavor and prosper, dither and despair.
Too bad that so many of these hard working property owners can’t be bothered to fix up their houses to be fit for human habitation.