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WILKES-BARRE LANDLORD TO ADDRESS CITY COUNCIL ON AMENDING “ONE STRIKE” ORDINANCE
Thursday, April 23, 6pm, 4th Floor Council Chambers at Wilkes-Barre City Hall
WILKES-BARRE – City landlord Kelly Rafuse will propose changes to Wilkes-Barre’s “One Strike” ordinance to make it easier for landlords to comply. “There is a problem with crime in Wilkes-Barre, and the Mayor blames property owners. In truth, property owners and managers are on the front lines in this war. The city and the police should be working with us, and I have come up with some practical suggestions on how this could happen.”
Rafuse, along with her husband Steve Franco are co-owners of GPGH Management, which oversees 21 units in the city of Wilkes-Barre. One of their units was shut down under One Strike in March. The appeal hearing was last week, but as of this writing they have not yet heard a decision from the board of Code Enforcement.
“I started to bring up my ideas during the appeal hearing about how the city and landlords should be working together instead of on opposite sides of this war on crime,” Rafuse said, “I was told to present them to City Council, so that is what I plan to do. The city needs to codify some sort of blueprint landlords can follow that will discourage the bad element from moving in, and at the same time protect landlords from having their property seized due to the actions of others if that blueprint is followed.”
Some of those ideas include a tenant registry similar to the one used by Edwardsville, and a Drug-Free Living Space amendment added to rental leases. City Solicitor Bill Vinsko called that lease amendment a “brilliant document” during the appeal hearing last week. “The problem is we can’t actually evict someone on suspicion, even if that document says we can,” says Rafuse, “And we need to be able to call the police. Right now if you call the police and they come out and find drugs, they can take your property away for six months. Landlords are confronting potential drug dealers on their own. Someone is going to get killed.”
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1078 Wyoming Avenue, Suite 196, Wyoming, PA 18644
WILKES-BARRE LANDLORD TO ADDRESS CITY COUNCIL ON AMENDING “ONE STRIKE” ORDINANCE
Thursday, April 23, 6pm, 4th Floor Council Chambers at Wilkes-Barre City Hall
WILKES-BARRE – City landlord Kelly Rafuse will propose changes to Wilkes-Barre’s “One Strike” ordinance to make it easier for landlords to comply. “There is a problem with crime in Wilkes-Barre, and the Mayor blames property owners. In truth, property owners and managers are on the front lines in this war. The city and the police should be working with us, and I have come up with some practical suggestions on how this could happen.”
Rafuse, along with her husband Steve Franco are co-owners of GPGH Management, which oversees 21 units in the city of Wilkes-Barre. One of their units was shut down under One Strike in March. The appeal hearing was last week, but as of this writing they have not yet heard a decision from the board of Code Enforcement.
“I started to bring up my ideas during the appeal hearing about how the city and landlords should be working together instead of on opposite sides of this war on crime,” Rafuse said, “I was told to present them to City Council, so that is what I plan to do. The city needs to codify some sort of blueprint landlords can follow that will discourage the bad element from moving in, and at the same time protect landlords from having their property seized due to the actions of others if that blueprint is followed.”
Some of those ideas include a tenant registry similar to the one used by Edwardsville, and a Drug-Free Living Space amendment added to rental leases. City Solicitor Bill Vinsko called that lease amendment a “brilliant document” during the appeal hearing last week. “The problem is we can’t actually evict someone on suspicion, even if that document says we can,” says Rafuse, “And we need to be able to call the police. Right now if you call the police and they come out and find drugs, they can take your property away for six months. Landlords are confronting potential drug dealers on their own. Someone is going to get killed.”
END
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1078 Wyoming Avenue, Suite 196, Wyoming, PA 18644