Boy oh boy was I ever wrong about a couple of things.
First during the past couple of years as our community debated the pros and cons of establishing a rental inspection program, we have had a constant flow of information indicating that Lakewood wanted to make their newfangled Rental Housing Safety Program (RHSP) financially self-sufficient and in order to do so planned to charge property owners $100 for each rental. I wrote a number of articles expressing my objections to the exorbitant $100 fee.
Ultimately it turns out Lakewood decided that during the first year (2017 – 2018), they would charge only $12 per rental unit for the first annual registration fee or $1.00 per month. Saving $88.00 per unit is what I call good news from the City of Lakewood or at least first year good news.
Good news. 2017 – 2018 rental unit registration fee is $12, not $100. An $88 savings.
Like they use to say on the old TV show, Laugh-In, “Never mind.”
Secondly, I was wrong about the name of the program. There have been so many names connected to this proposed program. Ultimately Lakewood settled on Rental Housing Safety Program (RHSP).
I hope the City will not judge me too harshly. I am willing to admit to my mistakes. It should be noted that Lakewood makes mistakes too. The $250,000.00 RHSP custom computer program with a $200,000.00 cost overrun is just one example of Lakewood making a mistake with this new program. I would say that my $88 mistake pales in comparison to Lakewood’s $200,000.00 mistake.
City news just keeps getting better. My title should read $1.00 per month, not $1.00 per day. That is 3 mistakes for me. Yesterday I was error free, but I did not do anything.
Joseph Boyle
How does it happen that “forgiveness” – the word used by city staff, that “forgiveness” sought by city staff from the city council – for having overspent – an “oversight”, the word used by city staff – for a software program to support the Rental Inspection Program to the tune of a whopping one-quarter million dollars, get ‘approval’ by the city council in the same motion?
“Forgiveness” for what they did, to approval of what they did, in the same breath?
That motion seconded by the lone dissenter of the whole disaster from a year previous?
With no discussion?
You are forgiven. That will be $24 for my duplex, right? Don’t forget that the inspection will cost ??? $300. Is that also per UNIT. That’s a big chunk of change and probably nothing compared to the list of bs they’ll check off on their clipboard that needs to be ‘addressed’, and then ??? another inspection?
Tacoma has such a program. They don’t come in, it’s a drive by inspection. Or so they say. It WAS $40/year in 2006, Now $110. They’re just getting warmed up.