Finding a Balance When Discussing Crime

I noticed some increased traffic to Tales From the Rust Belt originating from this thread at the Vindy.com message boards. In the thread, a poster takes the Youngstown blog community to task for not criticizing Mayor Jay Williams' handling of the city's crime problem. Later in the thread someone who has actually read the blogs in question helpfully provides links to this blog and others where crime has been discussed.

I can't speak for the others but I take great pains to address the crime issue the way I try to address any other issue; by taking the time to understand it and suggesting ideas to improve the situation. It would be ridiculous to see a rising murder rate and simply point the finger at Mayor Williams. Using this forum to write diatribe after diatribe criticizing the mayor for inaction when he has taken action isn't going to interest anyone. In his position he has secured funding to demolish abandoned houses, helped implement the Youngstown 2010 plan to manage a shrinking city and put as many police officers on the street as possible. We may not all agree with his approach but he is taking more action than previous administrations.

As has been addressed on this site and others, the problem lies with all of us. The worst mass murder in Youngstown just occurred and there isn't a thing the mayor or police could have done to prevent it unless a patrol car was driving by just as that vicious little coward was pouring gasoline on the front porch of the house. You can't legislate behavior. It is up to each one of us to treat each other with respect, to raise our children correctly, to make sure that we all realize we are responsible for the place where we live. It doesn't matter if you don't live in the city. The crime there is your problem. It affects you because the Mahoning Valley is centered there. Having a rotten core ruins even the most well polished apple.

So I come here and I write about solutions to crime and its causes like education and poverty. I try to promote solutions like using Crime Stoppers or stir up outrage among readers at the climbing number of murders. Others in the local blogosphere take that a step further through implementing as much action as possible, like Phil at Defend Youngstown. John at I Will Shout Youngstown is a tireless champion of the city, its history and those who strive to make it better. The message I think we bloggers are trying present is that the city is much more than just a place where crime happens. People live in the area. Good people who deserve better than constantly hearing about how bad their city is. There are good stories to be told . There are stories of success that shine among the gloomy headlines. To ignore all that would be to abandon hope that things will ever improve. It would mean that we, as good folks, are powerless to raise ourselves up to something greater. I refuse to believe that.

So I will continue to write about issues that I see as important and I will criticize politicians when I feel it is appropriate and constructive. I will continue to map the homicides in the city because I feel a visual representation of data is useful for people to see and make decisions. This is what I will try to do to effect change.

Crime Stoppers Has Returned

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? It may be you.

If you have information about a crime, you can now call the good folks at Crime Stoppers because they are back in business locally. The organization is well known for helping police solve crimes by soliciting anonymous tips that can lead to rewards for informants. The state legislature has approved funding for the organization by asessing a $1 fee on all criminal court cases except traffic cases.

So if you have information about a crime, don't hesitate to call (330) 746-CLUE.

Stop Being So Damn Gullible

Honestly folks, I've had it with hearing this ridiculous story about Barack Obama not saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I've had it with the e-mail chain letters, the stories overheard at the office and the misinformed folks who call local talk radio. Three times in four days I've heard it and enough is enough. It just isn't true. The man says the Pledge of Allegiance. He's a United States Senator.

The hub bub started when some nitwit saw a picture in Time magazine of the Democratic Presidential candidates on a stage at an event where the national anthem was being sung and saw an opportunity to do a little mudslinging. The other candidates put their hand on their heart and Mr. Obama stood respectfully with his hands clasped in front of him. Here's a video of the event.

Also, here is video of him reciting the pledge during a session of the senate.



So please don't repeat this false story anymore. Don't tell me it's because he's Muslim and cannot swear allegiance to any power but God. If you saw that picture and didn't take one minute to Google the story behind it before you repeated it, you need to ask yourself why you are so gullible. You need to find your inner skeptic and wake him up. He's fallen asleep on the job and is allowing you to make horrible judgements.

Cleveland Takes on Sub-Prime Lenders

This article details Cleveland's efforts to hold lenders responsible for the blight that is ravaging the city. As teaser mortgage rates expire and borrowers abandon homes because they cannot afford the jump in their house payment, cities across the country are feeling the impact. Abandoned homes become havens for prostitution and drug dealing even as they are stripped of copper wire and plumbing. In addition, homes in the surrounding area are worth less if there are abandoned homes nearby.

Northeast Ohio has been especially hard hit. One need look no further than Youngstown and the surrounding communities to see the impact of these short-sighted loans. Abandoned homes are slowly stripped of any fixtures that can be recycled for fast cash and the city is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to demolish these homes before activities like dog fighting find a place to roost.

While part of the blame lies with borrowers who made a bad decision to borrow more money than they could afford, substantially more responsiblity lies with the lenders who made the funds available. It is true that people make bad decisions regarding money and those people should not expect the rest of us to bail them out when the bill comes due on loans they applied for but cannot repay. However, when purchasing a home lenders require a significant amount of documentation proving the borrower will be able to repay the loan. It is incredibly dubious that institutions would loan money to people in a high risk category at a rate the borrower would not be able to repay when the interest rate jumps. The explanation for this lunacy lies in the practice of selling sub-prime loans as investment securities. The greed of the lenders has locked the stock market in a downward spiral that costs all of us money. Look at the balance of your 401k and ask yourself if the borrowers are to blame or the people who have MBA's.

If the impact was simply individual borrowers being foreclosed upon then you could chalk it up to a lesson learned about personal financial management. This problem has a much deeper impact, though. Whole communities are reeling from the sheer number of abandoned homes. Crime in those areas is on the rise. Lenders need to realize the full scope of what occurs not only to their secured property when they foreclose but on the community as a whole. If a borrower is making payments at one interest rate but cannot afford to keep their home at a higher one, the smart business decision is to keep the borrower paying at the reduced rate. It keeps interest income coming in, it maitains the value of the property and helps keep property values in the area from becoming lower, which, in turn, means the lender can loan more property owners more money. The lending community should not need the government to provide a plan to keep borrowers in their homes. Good corporate citizens should recognize their responsibility and freeze rates when necessary.

Buffalo & Cleveland Show the Rustbelt How to Fight Lenders Over Abandoned Homes

This article details the efforts of Buffalo prosecutor Cindy Cooper to hold lenders accountable for the condition of the homes they foreclose on. Cooper takes them to court once a month to force them to deal with the abandoned homes they hold liens against.

On Dec. 17 in a windowless Buffalo courtroom, Cindy T. Cooper, a prosecutor for the city, buzzes among a dozen men in suits, cutting deals. "You've got to unboard [the house], go in, and clean it out," she tells one. "If all the repairs are done quickly, I wouldn't ask for any fines." To another, she says, "the gutters weren't done right," and asks to see receipts for the work. It's "Bank Day" in Judge Henry J. Nowak's housing courtroom, more typically a venue where landlords and tenants duke it out over evictions and back rent. Instead, Cooper is asking lawyers for CitiFinancial, JPMorgan Chase, and Countrywide Financial to fix problems like peeling paint, broken masonry, and overgrown or trash-filled yards at houses the city says the banks are responsible for maintaining. It may be surprising to find these financial-services giants hauled before this obscure local tribunal.

The real brilliance to this approach is that New York state "amended the definition of "owner" in its property maintenance code to include not just titleholders but others who had "control" over a premises." This allows Cooper to drag even the largest firms into court. Lenders contend they own a lien on the property and not the property itself but that argument falls flat in reality. It is in their best interest to maintain their investment and the community in which they do business. If they do not understand that it is altogether proper that the courts in the communities remind them of their responsibilities.

Furthermore, the lenders are coerced because the court refuses to allow other lenders business to proceed until they deal with the matters of these abandoned homes:

When banks ignored summonses for code violations, Nowak began entering default judgments against them and imposing the maximum fine, which can reach $10,000 to $15,000. For a big bank, that's not much. The real pain comes because the fines give the city a lien that impedes the banks' ability to buy or sell other properties in the area. In addition, when lenders come to his court to get residents evicted from a particular property, Nowak refuses to grant the request until the bank addresses violations outstanding on other properties. Judge Pianka employs similar tactics in Cleveland. On Dec. 10, for example, he assessed a $50,000 fine against an absentee defendant, Mortgage Lenders Network USA, for 21 code violations at a home.

Cooper is a true crusader, eloquently using the law to protect Buffalo from the growing blight that is threatening the entire Rustbelt. Youngstown and Warren could capitalize on this idea, especially since it compliments the Youngstown 2010 plan so well.

You can read the article in its entirety here.

What Will You Change in 2008?

The new year is upon us and with it we have seen a large selection of Best of 2007 lists, an equal number of lists by people stating what they predict 2008 will be like and we have probably all made a few resolutions. One of mine is to try and provide as many resources as possible to help with the issues I address here at Tales From The Rust Belt. Some may be resources I have used myself, some may have been used by friends and others may simply be the result of research. In any case, I would like to do more than just point a finger and say, "Hey, that's not right".

The Low Personal Savings Rate: Check out FeedThePig.org. This is a great site that promotes incremental steps as a way to build personal savings. What is really useful about this site is that the authors understand savings are not built up overnight and their suggestions work in the real world. The more savings a person has, the less they rely on credit cards and personal loans when the need arises. The site contains suggestions on how to build a budget, calculators to show what the results of that budget will be and suggestions for how to keep away from credit card debt altogether. I have enacted some of these suggestions and the results were impressive.

Charities: There are several local charities that provide a tremendous amount of assistance to people in the Valley. If you are fortunate enough to not have need of their services you may want to consider contributing to them. With rising gas, food and home energy prices forcing many people to look for assistance, the need for additional financial resources has never been higher. Those factors also mean that people who contributed in the past are now those accepting help. Click on the links below to help if you can:

Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley
The Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley
Meals on Wheels

There will be more to follow and hopefully I will be able to provide suggestions and resources to issues as we discuss them throughout the year. Happy New Year everyone.