We can all probably agree that abandoned homes and apartments are a scourge on Memphis. Anybody who has to live next to or near one of these dumps knows they a crime breeding blight that festers like an open wound until it infects entire neighborhoods.
If Mayor Herenton, city council members, or state lawmakers lived by one, you know something would be done about it. But they don’t. So, it takes forever to get these places torn down and cleaned up. In fact, some of them fall down under their own weight first.
There’s no excuse for it, none. But there are two explanations. One, the law doesn’t have any teeth in it and, two, there’s no serious political will to change things. So, keep that in mind when election day rolls around.
The excuse from the politicians and bureaucrats is always the same, private property rights. Well what about the private property rights of the people who live next door?
I believe deeply in private property rights. They are a fundamental building block of our nation and woe unto anyone trying to take them away from me.
But there is a simple solution to this problem. Establish a viable standard for the minimum allowable condition of buildings and enforce it with a bulldozer. Put the onus on the owners to maintain their property. Hello, property owners… that’s called personal responsibility. Right now, city workers have to spend years pushing paper and locating owners who’ve left their mess for the taxpayers. Why should the city have to chase these people down?
Make the law very clear and very loud. Your property stays up to code. If not, you get a couple of notices and the opportunity to start fixing things. If you don’t the city sends in the wrecking crew, you get the bill and the city places a lien on your empty lot until you pay it. You don’t pay, you forfeit the land.
You see, it is really not that difficult and nobody’s private property rights are violated, so long as they exercise the responsibility that also comes with our constitutional rights.
