Plight of the displaced poor is our problem
Travesty. Inhuman. Heartless.
When online commenters sank their teeth into the article about the upcoming eviction of residents from Circle Drive Mobile Park in Hayden, blood bubbled up. Deep and heartfelt expressions of sympathy for the low-income residents were accompanied by unmitigated fury toward the property’s owner.
One basis of the country we’re living in today is this: If you own a commercial property and you figure out a way to legally make it more profitable, you have every right to do so.
This side of heaven, there is no tangible reward for generating far less revenue on your commercial property than it could otherwise make. Certainly, renting to people who can’t afford anything better might make you sleep well at night, but it won’t make your eventual retirement any cozier. And painting that property owner as a villain simply isn’t fair.
Nobody is celebrating the plight of the tenants who are in a bind with no immediate solution. Most of us harbor an innate but healthy fear of someday not having a roof over our own heads, and if we don’t think about that at all, there’s something seriously wrong with us. Compassion begins with feeling the pain of the less fortunate.
But one paragraph of Jennifer Passaro’s excellent reporting should be leaping out at readers, suggesting action rather than mere expression. Here it is:
“According to the Idaho Housing and Finance Authority in Coeur d’Alene, the wait for a Section 8 housing voucher is 30 months or longer. Once a family has a voucher there are additional wait times to get into approved apartments.”
Once you find yourself in a horrible housing predicament or headed for one, it could be three years before a door to affordable housing opens to you. In the meantime … good luck.
We see two options, but neither will be easy.
One is for people inspired to do something about property owners who remove trailers, RVs and other housing options for folks with little money: Figure out how to buy that property yourself. Then you can keep it as is or even improve it and lower rents.
The other option is more likely to succeed but will take financial wherewithal and political courage. That is, city councils and county commissioners putting their heads together and formulating plans for truly affordable housing.
Especially with property values skyrocketing, it is less and less likely that private investors will pick up this ball and run with it. Nor, some would say, should they. But private investors and developers possess expertise — and most of them, compassion, too — so they should be key participants in the planning.
Foes of government will object, of course. Some who abhor every property tax except the ones that benefit them directly will scream bloody murder. But for most of us, figuring out how to ensure the safety of our residents, and affordable housing is most definitely a safety issue, is at the root of good governance.
A new year is nearly here. Let’s stop complaining about the problem and start doing something about it.