How to get the city to shut down an illegal rooming house (city hall)

[pink caddy]

Letters and meetings with Property Maint. and Building Codes don't seem to help. The rooming house I am focusing on also serves as a house of prositution(from what I can observe) and I'm 99% certain that goes hand and hand with drug dealing.

Conversations with the above mentioned departments always result in "Well, let's have the fire department pay them a visit", or, " Lets get this one to the top of the list", bla, b la, bla. I had conversations with the Victorian District Organization (sorry don't know their exact name) and it's more hand wringing and "these things take a long time".

This house is the only lemon on the block and I would love to see it closed down or brought up to code just like all of the other homeowners are required to do.

I'm wondering if there are any members of this board that would have any suggestions, knowledge or advice as to how I should approach this problem with the city.

TIA
P.C.

P.S. The next meeting of the Victorian District Committee is the second Tues of May and I would love to bring to them some sound ideas for action.

[bellhead]

Start a facebook campaign. Take pictures and send them with letters to the city manager and council. When they don't respond update the facebook campaign and call them out. After a reported picks up the facebook campaign, they will write a story and the politicians will come out of the woodwork. This is an election year crap like this will be stomped out as its a easy tv time and free news print. It shouldn't be hard.

[Padgett2]

The usual excuse is that it's not a boarding house. Those are just friends and relatives that are a little down on their luck and staying for a short visit until things are better. Yeah, right!!!

That's the problem. Someone has to prove that those are paying guests. However, Bellhead has a good idea. Stir things up. Get the Newspaper interested. City Hall seems to be awfully slow sometimes, but it can be goaded into action.

Good Luck!!

[bellhead]

It's election season and pols only need a reason to come and pretend they are working to keep the neighborhhood safe. Send your council person a letter with all the photos explaining the circumstances. If no response send the guy who is going to be challenging Otis's replacement, can't remember his name and see if he is interested. These are low hanging fruit for the pols and easy to pick.