The New Nuisance Abatement Ordinance

    This ordinance went before city council for a second reading on July 7, 2015 and a week later City Hall started rolling through the neighborhoods sending out certified letters to the home owners about the condition of the properties.
    One lady was told she had 30 days to paint her house and she told city hall she did not have the money. She said she had saved money to buy school clothes for her children and pay their school fees or she could buy paint however she could not do both…and then she had the problem of paying for the labor to paint the house.
    Another couple was told that they needed to paint their house within thirty days and she asks for an extension which the city refused to do. She explained that they only had one hundred dollars extra that month to purchase the painting supplies because her husband’s hours at work had recently been cut.
    The city gave them a list of organization where they could call in hopes of getting funds to help repair their properties.
    Doesn’t city hall understand that the “working poor” of Middletown do not have an extra couple thousand dollars in the bank to paint and repair their houses on demand within a thirty day period?
    The local organizations and churches are already having a difficult time providing food for all the needy families in Middletown.
    I find these actions an undue hardship on the “working poor” home owners of Middletown.