Month: March 2015

Candidates for UG Commission, 4th District, talk about experience, qualifications

Candidates for the Unified Government Commission, 4th District, include Harold Johnson, left, and incumbent Tarence Maddox. The candidates participated in a forum March 18 at Kansas City Kansas Community College, moderated by Murrel Bland, center. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)
Candidates for the Unified Government Commission, 4th District, include Harold Johnson, left, and incumbent Tarence Maddox, right. The candidates participated in a forum March 18 at Kansas City Kansas Community College, moderated by Murrel Bland, center. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

by Mary Rupert

In the Unified Government Commission, 4th District contest, experience and qualifications are some of the differences between the candidates.

Unified Government Commissioner Tarence Maddox faces Harold Johnson in the April 7 general election. Johnson was in first place in the primary, with 470 votes to Maddox’s 310 votes.

The 4th District candidates spoke at a forum March 18 at Kansas City Kansas Community College, sponsored by Business West, KCKCC and neighborhood business revitalization groups.

Maddox, a graduate of Schlagle High School, is running on his experience of four years serving on the UG Commission, and said he would not tell voters anything that he couldn’t do. “I will not sell dreams,” Maddox told the audience.

He said he was passionate about the community and isn’t going anywhere. “I’m going to be here in Wyandotte County,” Maddox said. He said he was active and engaged in the community.

Maddox also said he had learned a lot in his four years on the commission.

His challenger is the pastor at the Faith Deliverance Family Worship Center, who formerly worked at Commerce Bank’s program for nonprofit organizations’ building projects for 22 years.

“I bring a unique commercial financial background to the table which will make a positive impact in the community,” Johnson said. He added he was not afraid to look at the numbers and analyze them. He also said he was a consensus builder and believes in building relationships.

Johnson graduated from Sumner Academy, Kansas City Kansas Community College, and has a master’s in business administration in finance degree from Avila University.

Johnson said he wants to create a strategic vision with the neighborhood alliances in the 4th District.

On the topic of increasing homeownership east of I-635, Johnson said a multifaceted approach to housing is needed. He said they would need to look at helping people purchase homes through incentives and also creating rental housing such as duplexes and apartments .

Maddox said increasing homeownership was a complex topic, and the northeast and midtown area had been neglected. The cost of new homes can be higher than what buyers can afford, he said.

“We have to make the 4th District a place where people want to be,” Maddox said. It’s important to decrease crime, he said. More apartments for higher-income persons may be one solution.

To spur revitalization in the district, Johnson said it is necessary to look at a small business model, and build an infrastructure in the urban core. He would support encouraging businesses to create jobs for the 4th District residents in the 4th District.

Maddox said that to spur revitalization, it would be necessary to bring more apartments into the area and increase the population. To lure more businesses to the district, they would have to make the district more pro-business and reduce crime, he said. He added it would be a long process to develop the area and he would continue to work on it.

The subject of Maddox’s censure by the UG legislative auditor for using his title in personal business one year ago was not brought up at the candidate forum March 18.

Send your news and comments to Wyandotte Daily at [email protected].

To see previous stories on the 4th District campaign, visit:
https://wyandotteonline.com/experience-views-on-economic-development-separate-candidates-for-4th-district-ug-commission/
https://wyandotteonline.com/johnson-seeking-4th-district-ug-commission-seat/
https://wyandotteonline.com/maddox-seeking-re-election/

Schedule of the KCKCC cable video of candidate forum, starting today:
https://wyandotteonline.com/candidate-forum-to-be-shown-on-cable-tv-next-week/

Justice Department settles lawsuit alleging discrimination at apartment complex

The Justice Department announced today that Brisben Chimney Hills Limited Partnership and JRK Residential America LLC, the owners and the former manager of the Reserve apartment complex in Lenexa, Kan., together with their named partner and agents, have agreed to pay $170,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act.

The lawsuit alleged that defendants instituted policies at the Reserve and at other properties in Kansas and Missouri that discriminated against families with children. The lawsuit also alleged that a family was forced to leave the Reserve after they complained to management about the overly-restrictive policies.

Under the proposed consent decree, which must still be approved by the U.S. District Court of Kansas, the defendants will pay $60,000 to the family that initiated the original complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, $100,000 into a victim fund to compensate other aggrieved families and $10,000 to the United States as a civil penalty. In addition, the proposed consent decree prohibits the defendants from discriminating in the future against families with children and requires the defendants to receive training on the requirements of the FHA.

“For over 25 years, the Fair Housing Act has prohibited housing providers from discriminating against families with children,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “Many parents are already struggling to find affordable housing for their families, and they should not also have to face discrimination because they have children.”

“Kansas families with children deserve the right to live where they choose and to be free from housing discrimination,” said U.S. Attorney Barry R. Grissom of the District of Kansas.

The lawsuit, also filed today, arose from a complaint filed with HUD by a family that was living at the Reserve apartments. The owners and operators of the Reserve instituted a policy that discriminated against families with children because it unreasonably restricted the activities of children, including a policy that required that anyone under the age of 16 be physically accompanied by an adult at all times, the Justice Department stated.

After the family complained about the policy, their lease was not renewed and they were forced to leave the Reserve. After HUD investigated the complaint, it issued a charge of discrimination and the matter was referred to the Justice Department. The United States’ complaint alleges that the defendants violated the family’s rights, that the restrictive policies discriminated against other families with children and that the defendants engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination or denied rights protected by the FHA to a group of persons.

“Overly restrictive housing policies for families with children are illegal, and prevent them from fully enjoying the place they call home,” said HUD Assistant Secretary Gustavo Velasquez of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “HUD will continue to work with the Department of Justice to take action against property owners and landlords whose policies violate the Fair Housing Act.”

Fighting illegal housing discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability.

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt. Individuals who believe that they have been victims of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, email the Justice Department at [email protected], or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777. More information about the Fair Housing Act can also be found at www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing or www.hud.gov/fairhousing.