By a 6-2 vote, Northampton County Council voted last week to reject a proposal (you can read it here) by Council member Jeff Warren to establish a public database for blighted properties inside the county. He only had support from Council member Kelly Keegan.
Warren, who is running for State Rep and would probably like to be Council President next year, claimed that blighted properties and absentee landlords are becoming more prevalent, and thinks a county-wide public database, administered by the county, would apparently shame owners into remediating code violations. "We have a ton of properties that are being neglected," said Warren, who added that this is "an aging community."
It certainly is, and I'll be the first to admit I am very blighted. I am listed as such on several public databases.
After reading the resolution in its entirety, which took about five minutes and with the usual rhetorical emphasis at certain points, Warren gave an equally lengthy sermon in response to a question from Council member Ron Heckman, who simply wanted to know how much it would cost. After about five minutes of pontificating, Warren eventually admitted he did not know.
Heckman, who incidentally has great hair but is otherwise also blighted, had his own soliloquy. He pointed out that the county exists for very limited purpose (courts, county bridges, election and administration of human services) and is barely able to do that. "We have an infinite need and finite resources," he said. "I don't want us to get into zoning and code enforcement or anything like that." He derided Warren's proposal as "more empire building than anything else." He said Warren's idea is "far afield" from what "county government is all about."
Council member Ken Kraft, who once served on Bethlehem's Zoning Hearing Board, agreed with Heckman. "This is overreaching," he said. "This is not in our purview. ... We don't set zoning codes. We don't set those laws. They've nothing to do with us." He added that when Wilson Borough's Dixie factory "went to Hell" for 40 years, the municipality did nothing to correct it.
Kraft is also blighted.
Of course, Warren had to respond again. He admitted that the state is considering a statewide database, which has passed the House. This begs the question why the county would need to do it as well.
By the way, what the hell is blight anyway? Some might think pink flamingos look great while others think they are tacky. Some people like the natural look in their yards while others insist on mowing every 30 seconds. Council member John Brown noted that definition is far from uniform.
I am concerned that this could be weaponized to shame elderly and low-income property owners who simply lack the resources to maintain properties to the highest standard. As for absentee landlords, do you really think they will care if their blighted property is listed on a public website? That's why they are absentees.
So yes, like Kraft and Heckman, I agree this is way beyond why county government exists. But unlike them, I think this is a terribly stupid idea.
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