BIG MA , TH,EA IMAL TAME
lWO BL C ENTREPRENEURS TACKLE A WHOLE DUSTRY
e4
y Terry eDy
Eight months before three tots
and their 16-year-old babysitter peri ed
in a rue at 248 BeUview, Benton Harbor,
city inspectors had detected 'a gas leak
at the lve" of a fir floor ga heater.
. The city too no action against the
landlord to correct the defective heater OT
any of the other code violations listed in
a five-p ge inspection report dated June
22, 1983.
Benton Harbor Fire Chief David
llincoln id cau of the February 25
fatal rue "appeared to be ga le OD
alve" to the . e heater.
Firefighters fought the blaze live
hour but � unable to ve the child
n of Debra Allison, 18. Killed ere
. iJa and Char Allison, 3 year-old'
,their . er EDen I Hayne , 1, d
the baby ltter Lisa Harri , 16.
Lincoln said the four were apparent-
ly eep and .noted, "The babysitter
.m de a valiant effort to rescue the child
teo e I found her at the upstairs windo
holding a child under each arm." .
Why didn't the city ct on it June
.in ction report?
�Kll'flu;,D' T HAZARDOUS
ve to assume that in his (the
in ctor' ) opinion, it not hazard
ou condition," . In ction Depart
ment Director Bill Thompson. He noted
that the inspection a done in J p.e
b n no he t WI turned on.
Thompson the report
nt to Er Hue ba, tervhet,
who . listed in county record the
A CH 1 .. 1'
liONS
Owen oore, chairman of Heritage
Bank and owner of oore Enterprises,
1889 -139, Room 408, confirmed that
. he had a financial interest in the property
under a land contract with Huckaba, but _
had nothing to do with management of '
the 248 Bellview property. -
Craig Lane and Robert Baptist also
hold viable land contracts on the proper
ty d manage i� under he name of Ac
tion Rentals, same addle as Moore':,
but in Room 208.
Baptist and Moore deny knowing
anything about' the city in pection report
or that there 'were nous problem with
the property. eit r Huckaba or e
could be reached.
Owen . oore, oore Enterpri .. ,
Robert Bapti , Craig Lane, Dwight
Lane, Dick Lane, Cr' . .' Lane - all I
o n over 90 piece of rental propert I
in the city of Benton Harbor. The major-
ity are tax delinquent. . •
SOLD FOR TAXES
The property at 248 Beilview had
been put up for bid t the y, 1983
tax le, As of thi mon h, county
record ow the amount of past due
taxe as $ 1 ,808.61.
Bapti t told The Cithe that he ill
now redeem the taxes by the April
30 deadline so he can '.'collect the in-
f urance."
The property had been insured for
$16000, Baptist id,
The in pection report also listed
for correction: two bro en window ,
o bro en wUldow e , a buckled
all, hole in the foundation, le
Rev. athaniel Gathright, pr
dent of the Concerned Tenants A
ciatkm, has caDed a meeting in con
junction with SCLC for .all tenant
in the city of Benton Harbor.
, e want anyon ho rents in
the city, especially tho ho live in
. sub ndard homes," Rev. Gathright
'd.
The meeting will be Saturday t
arch 3, at 10 a.m. at Progressive
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Baptist Church, Pipestone and ChUTCh
Streets.
A breakfast will be rved at
9 a.m. and the proceeds will go to
families of fife victim , Rev. Gath
right 'd.
The Tenant group led a ucce -
ful rent strike gainst the Benton
Harbor Housing Commission two
y ar ago.
around stools and sink,
'ten and ceiling lights
needed "repair . . . and put -in IPper
operation," ¥ nt pipe. to the ga eater
eeded replacement, replacement of all
wall outlet "in thi unit there (' )
all worn out," cl an the celler nd
"go over all electrical- devices and put
in safe workin order." I
The inspection . department noted
in the report that the landlord should
'in tall a g�s valve on gas line to gas
range."
In p ction chief Thomp n explain
ed the Jun inspection wa "Pha One
of a federal code enforcement program."
According to Thomp • n, Phase T 0
, was "suppo d to follo right up with
. loan rehab program" to make funds avail
able to property 0 ners in the Bellview
area.
AlTING FO HUD FUNQS
Thompson d property I own r
were "waiting for the federal program n
to correct the .. lations, but said he
idn't know when the federal program
would be available. "Our job i to in
pect and reinspect," he told The Citizen.
Community Service Director Bill
Lilly id the code enforcement' program
was funded with S4O,000 of Small Cities
funds.
o . new in pector ere -hired, Lilly
ide The money was d to pport the
. current tiff f fo in ctor
Lilly disagreed with ornpson's
interpretation of th program,
rent 1 propertie ere not eli
rehab fundin .!.
Lilly could not explain why no
BULK RATE us,
POSTAGE PAID
Benton Harbor. I 4 2,
, Pm. 50
ADDRESS CORREC11O
REQUESTED
0,
t,
ction had been taken on the violation.
discovered in the June inspect' n.
"If any violation found ere d
ed critical to health or fety, not' ce to
re air, OT correct would have been .
ed," Lilly aid.
He said it was a determin tion of e
inspectors whether a viol tion w s criti
cal.
Lilly, ho is also a sistant city man -
ger, id that though all copie of the in-
pections done were filed in hi office,
he had' no now ledge of in ction
department procedure or guide for
code enforcement.
..
I
\
.-
" y job is . ply to in ure ill t 'the
(HUD funds re I spent for e pUrpo s
intended," Lilly said.
Denying the in ection ere
excercise in paper shuffling, he referred
th' reporter to the city manager _ Accor
ding to Lilly, the inspection dep ment
,. .
report directly to the city man er.
City anager Ellis Itchell could
not be reached Tuesday. February 28.
Mitchell wa t his home in ashington,
D.C, where his secret ry id h "was
ttending a meeting" and ould n t
return to Benton Harbor unti arc
S.
What ab ut the city ordin nee
.. requiring landlord to have rental prop
erty inspected and brou ht up to code
prior to renting.
I City anager Ellis it hell promi d
citizens at the March 1 1983 city com
mi 'on meeting that the rental ordin nce
. uld be enforced.
Co . 12
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