It's the evil landlords!

The mayor's office threw one by midtown residents recently when they supported the purchase of the Georgian Court apartment building at 400 East Armour. They failed to mention anything to the City Manager's Office, or the City Council. Normally the purchase of a building and the announcement of extensive renovations would be met with enthusiasm, but in this case the new owner intends to make the entire building Section 8 low-income housing. It's a great deal for the new owner because they get to use project-based Section 8 funding to pay for a major part of the renovations. They get a renovated building for a fraction of the price, and get to collect market rate rents based on the Section 8 subsidies that will be provided by the Housing Authority. Of course the new owners, and members of the mayor's office don't have to live anywhere near Armour Boulevard, an area already populated with a significant amount of government-subsidized housing. It's no coincidence that in recent years the area has also been plagued by a significant amount of crime. Donovan Mouton, aide to Mayor Barnes said recently that "we don't think the problems on Armour are because poor people are living there." He blames the landlords, not the residents. Umm... Okay. Thing is, most people aren't looking over their shoulder for a landlord when they're walking down Armour Boulevard after dark. Unless they happen to be late with their rent.