Washington City Council dabbles in failed liberal ideas | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Someone credited Ronald Reagan with once saying: "The trouble with liberals is that while they often mean well, they simply have not come to grips with reality."

    Libertarians take note. The City Fathers of Washington are deciding what you can and cannot do with your property. Conservative Republicans take note. The City Fathers are deciding whether government control of private property is good public policy. Liberal Republicans and Democrats take note. You will be please that the City Fathers are going to make housing in the City suitable; at least to the degree they decide it is suitable.

    Everyone should take note that revisions to the city's housing ordinance will bestow on a city bureaucrat the power to order you to vacate your property, repair it to meet his specifications (based on the ordinance) or tear it down. If you don't he will do it for you and send you the bill. If you don't pay the bill he will have your property sold and take the money to pay the bill from what the property brings. All this, if recent history holds true, so the City Fathers will have more vacant lots in the city.

    But the reality will be something different. If history holds true there will be just as many dilapidated and rundown properties a year from now and there will be even more two years from now.

    Yep, that's true. And it is true in almost every instance where a city or county decides to impose "housing standards" on property owners. It almost always ends up reducing the value of property in the jurisdiction and reduces the number of dwellings within the jurisdiction. But while the remedy does not cure the malady, it does wreak havoc on a few selected property owners.

    If you want proof of the above cynicism, just do an internet search for "Detroit." Or you can just take a shortcut and watch this video:



    Now, realize that Detroit had even more stringent "housing standards" than those being used by and being considered by the City of Washington. The liberal government mandates not only did not prevent the Detroit Housing Apocalypse, but they actually amplified it.

    This same housing code's utility can be seen in the house immediately behind the Dairy Palace. Some busybodies decided that the property was in such bad shape it needed to have "government intervention." So they ordered the owner to fix it up. But he could not get a loan because it was determined that it would cost more to fix it sufficient to meet the "code" than the property was worth. So the City condemned it and put it on the market to sell. Sure enough several potential buyers learned the same thing. Meanwhile the City busy bodies refused to allow the man to demolish the house, because it has "historic value." Ride by 505 W. 2nd Street and see how all that government intervention is working out.

    Then, particularly if you own property in the City of Washington, read this: Click here to download the June 11 City Council agenda. The part that deals with the housing ordinance begins on page 79.

    Finally, watch the discussion of the proposed amendments to the Housing Ordinance:



    Commentary

    If you ever wanted to see a good example of how "government solutions" actually hardly ever solve the problems they intend to solve, and as often as not just make things worse, look no further than "minimum housing standards." They simply do not work unless the market makes them work. And when the market works there really is no need for such standards. They do not work in spite of the market and by simply passing ordinances. They do produce vacant lots to some extent, but as has proven to be the case in Detroit, when the market for vacant lots becomes glutted then the City cannot sell the condemned property to cover the cost of demolition of the structures on the properties. It simply does not work when the government tries to trump the market.

    It is the same as the liberal idea of raising the minimum wage. If the government passes a law to force employers to pay more than the jobs are worth in the current market the jobs disappear. It is just that simple. The same is true with the government trying to impose "minimum housing standards." They simply do not work where the market will not support them.