New sheriffs in town....

(One of my favorite "Hollywood" movies is "48 Hours." Remember when Eddie Murphy kicks butt and takes names in the SF Country and western bar?)

From Councilmember Jim Graham:

Dear Friends,

Yesterday morning, I joined the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the Fire Department in breaking down the doors of more than a dozen vacant apartments in a dilapidated building. Yesterday it was Adams Morgan but it could have been in many neighborhoods of this city.

This action continues my long standing fight against slumlords, beginning when I took office in 1999 and helped force the city into creating a hot property list that led to criminal prosecutions in 2000. (Not a single tenant was evicted in that struggle, and four of the five top hot properties have been developed, three went into tenant ownership. The fourth had no tenants in the building when it was named to the hot property list. The fifth, 2922 Sherman, very sadly continues to be a struggle with the slumlord, Rufus Stancil.)

2922 Sherman Avenue NW from maps.a9.com.

1773 Lanier Place, NW is another extreme example of landlord neglect.

Why did we break down the doors of vacant apartments? Here's why: Dr. Drell agreed to meet the housing inspectors with me last week and show us the empty apartments. Instead, when we arrived, we found that he had padlocked these units that very morning. Dr. Drell surely assumed that DCRA would simply turn and walk away. But instead, we returned this morning with a search warrant.

3000 Connecticut Avenue, NW--nice digs for Dr. Drell's office. Photo: maps.a9.com

The residents (who still occupy about half the units) have had to put up with a lot in the past 5 years. The owner, Dr. Laurence Drell, a psychiatrist with a practice at 3000 Connecticut Avenue, is trying to make their lives so miserable that they will leave and then he can turn the building into condominiums. There had been a fire in the building. The remaining residents have to live with the threat of fire, methane gas and other odors, sagging ceilings and mildewed carpets in the hallways. The empty apartments had water damage, mold, missing floors and even food in some of the kitchens. And a lot of illegal construction where Dr. Drell had not bothered to get the proper permits.

DCRA is in the process of writing up the numerous code violations and the illegal construction. The next step will be for Dr. Drell to fix the problems -- or the city will fix them for him and put a lien on the property. There are people living there, and they have rights under DC law that Dr. Drell must respect. We need to send a strong messages to slumlords in his city. Our laws are tough, but only it we have the determination to enforce them. We did just that yesterday.

I commend the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the Fire Department, and Emergency Medical Services for their good work yesterday. Thanks also to the Superior Court Judge who signed the warrant.

Bests, Councilmember Jim Graham
___________
My biggest concern about the Mayoral election next year is will the changes that are starting to happen with DCRA be continued? That is one of the most important questions to consider in making your choice in 2006.