Councilman Al Vann says he's trying to lift a burden from shoulders of homeowners threatened with city water liens.
There are 600 one-, two- and three-family homes in Bedford Stuyvesant that are on the lien sale list, out of 9,000 city-wide. This is according to figures from the spring, Vann's office says in a press release.
Vann has in fact being out front in the Council trying to ease the pain on those owners hit with liens.
It's one of the saddest stories out there, these homeowners, many seniors, who can lose what means so much to them because they couldn't afford the water bill -- the water bill, for crying out loud!
Vann's release says it was Bloomberg who in 2007 "pushed the City Council to pass new legislation to allow the city to place liens on one-to-three family homes of residents who are delinquent on their water bills."
This was done, the release says, "as a way to avoid the threat of a mid-year water rate increase."
Hmm. So does that mean it was okay for the mayor to do what he did, and for the Council to go along?
Vann says he was the only member of the Council to vote against it.
From there the question arises, Does that mean Charles Barron and Tony Avella weren't there for the vote? They have been as outspoken as anyone against Bloomberg and actions like these.
Answer us, please, Charles and Tony.
And why, we wonder, has there not been an even louder outcry against someone (like said mayor) who would put such a strain on elderly homeowners?
For details on just how Vann's bill would help such endangered owners, read his release (click here).
Other big question: What does Vann's general election opponent, housing activist Mark Winston Griffith, say about Vann's declarations of aid given to lien-threatened owners?
Credit given, or credit denied?
