Regardless what your opinion was of the Evangelical Christians, the one thing was that, as obnoxious as they may have been about pushing their brand of religion on the rest of us, at least they based their actions, right or wrong, on the ‘written word’, the New Testament even if it called for selectively misquoting the actual English Translation of long outdated languages that do not have words for concepts discovered and realized long after the books were written.
However, in recent years, going back at least 2 decades, it culminated in the total conflating of Christianity with conservative politics which resulted in recent hypocritical political movements in Jesus’s name that everyone, apparently other than the Evangelicals themselves, could see were totally against what the New Testament advised and they claim to believe as the inerrant word of God.
When people pointed out the obvious, the Evangelicals claimed that was just the persecuting of Christians who have never been given a fair shake.
The group laying of the Evangelical hands in the Oval Office and declarations that Trump was chosen by God to turn America around and had the divine mission to be a warrior for Christ in spite of his continually doing the exact opposite of what Christ would have wanted as evidenced by His Word were watched by non-Evangelicals and each flagrant violation of a Christian principle was explained away as necessary to protect that principle.
With the most recent election and the rejection of the Christian Nationalist ideas and the negativity that Christianity seems to have sunk into making the “tidings of great joy” anything but, the beam may have been taken out of the evangelical eye judging from statements by leading Evangelicals who had supported Trump even in his most unchristian.
Having been one of the Evangelicals who met with Trump in the Oval Office and had once given him an award, Mike Evans has had his Road to Damascus moment and realized,
“He used us to win the White House.”
Why did no one notice that?
And, again, even as non-Evangelicals were asking why they were doing what they were doing, he has now turned on Trump because,
“We had to close our mouths and eyes when he said things that horrified us. I cannot do that anymore.”
You should not have done that in the first place while condemning those of us who did not join in.
What you condemned others for seeing, the Evangelicals are now seeing themselves.
Trump’s one-time faith advisor, James Robison of Life Outreach International, admitted, again, what the blind did not see or chose to ignore for advantage, that Trump’s ego is getting in the way of the agenda.
“If Mr. Trump can’t stop his little petty issues, how does he expect people to stop major issues?”
They were duped and, like the rest of us who saw it in real time, although a little late, see it now.
As another Evangelical leader admitted
“The take-home of this past week is simple: Donald Trump has to go. If he‘s our nominee in 2024, we will get destroyed.”
They are jumping off the wrong horse they had backed using Jesus’s name to get secular things.
Not seeing the handwriting on the wall, the former sheriff of Bristol County MA just kept believing his old, outdated ways were still in the public’s favor, and his riding on Trump’s coattails, basically something effective locally but unnoticed nationally enough to pay off for him, which it didn’t.
He could not accept that he was rejected by the people he had been flimflamming for years. He did not see nor accept they had woken up, so he needed to place the blame on some great power whose involvement would be proof of his almost conjoined physical, mental, and spiritual bond with his twin Donald Trump.
When he conceded defeat to his successful challenger, he seemed to be taking the high road,’
“This has been a great run for me. Twenty-five years as sheriff the people of this county have given me their trust and their honor to serve, and I couldn’t be more grateful. It’s now time to turn the page for the people of the county as they decided they want it to be this way.”
However, ignoring the locally growing movement over the years that showed the people of the county why he needed to go, he may have said the people of the county decided on the new guy, but he immediately attempted to bond himself once again to Trump as it was not his fault he lost the affection of the people and thus their votes, but,
“the George Soros and Mike Bloomberg groups who put in half a million dollars that my opponent probably could never raised.”
So that is why he lost, not because of his poor performance and his desire to be a cowboy sheriff which the people of the county got tired of and his insistence that Massachusetts go back in time and become a red state of which they also tired.
Besides the person or entity buying or managing a multifamily dwelling there are three components that must be considered.
The first is the property itself. It is the thing upon which the investment will be made, and important to the consideration of the purchase if the length of time between that and a profit being shown. While a single buyer may have time to wait, large property companies that are comprised of smaller, less evil appearing conglomerates must make the profits start as soon possible.
The second component are the investors who will be supplying the funds to bring the structure to the point it is worth the investment. They are the ones to which the buyer is most beholden. Any failure or misstep will not be kindly looked upon and a company’s reputation and future are at stake. These people are only interested in the profits that will come after purchase details are not necessary.
Just make things happen as quicky as possible.
The third component that is generally overlooked are the tenants in the edifice.
The purchase price of a building is, among other considerations, based on the condition of the building at time of sale. This makes the tenants important to the sale as good tenants keep a building decent while bad ones can help reduce the price that could be asked if the better people lived there. Rent and the basic apartment housework, which can reduce the need for costly repairs in areas like plumbing, keep the building in the condition upon which the price is based.
So, there are distant people, a building, and tenants connected to any transaction like this.
The people who bought my building are businesspeople with a background in selling computer programs to merchants to help increase their customer base. This was not to bring a commodity conveniently to consumer, but to bring customers conveniently to a product to increase profits with the customer merely being the source of that profit. They are commodities and part of an impersonal process to produce profits. The product might remain the same, but the target consumer of it may change and adjustments are made to selling and presentation, not for the sake of the existing consumer, but to get new consumers to contribute to the profits if the previous ones have moved away.
Thus, it was approaching the whole thing from a business and commodity only angle involved not being totally honest about what was happening, and when asked for specifics only broad open-ended answers were given. These sorts of things like the tenants were merely nuisances that should be just brushed aside like crumbs 0n the table.
The Man in charge of the building had told the press, and, thereby, the public that,
“We have offered financial support in the form of cash payments or direct payments to new landlords to assist with the costs of securing new housing,”
And me in an email,
“If you find an apartment, we can provide you a check within 24 hours to assist with your relocation expenses”.
I was also told to just call him.
So it was that with the process clarified as a) find an apartment, b) call him, and c) receive the check in 24 hours, when I heard on a Friday that my application for an apartment had been accepted and I had a new place, I immediately notified the new owner to get the necessary funds.
The new landlord was feeling ill and was not sure if he could meet me to exchange money and keys over the weekend, so I greed to call him on Monday if he did not call me in the meantime if he felt better.
Upon informing the new owner I could now move and, expecting the check the next day in accordance with his written statements about the funding, instead of setting up a time for me to receive the funds within 24 hours, the new owner let me know,
“I will be able to meet you on Monday to sign the relocation agreement and to provide you with payment.”
The first part was not a problem because I could tell the new landlord to just relax and get well as I would get him the money on Monday, something he was glad to agree to. Had I gotten the check the next day as expected, I would have had time to bring the funds to my bank to have them changed into whatever tender the landlord wanted, and there would be no panic to my move as I would have the rest of the month to get it done.
The second part, the “relocation agreement”, was something new and never mentioned before in any correspondence, and considering the number of times the new owner had written and said one thing while then suddenly changing that without notice causing anxiety, not knowing about any agreement until the funds were requested concerned me. I sought clarification of this last minute requirement.
“What is a “relocation agreement’? I would assume as an agreement I have some input.”
Years of Union work with agreements set off instinctual reactions and I wanted specifics.
In explaining the relocation agreement, the owner explained it as,
“a document stating that you are moving out of your apartment at Elm Street by the end of November and that in exchange for relinquishing possession of the unit, our company is paying you [funds] and neither party will pursue any further legal action.”
The agreement was a sudden last minute thing, and te three day wait for the funds I was to have received within 24 hou8rs did not coincide with written statements and would delay my getting to the bank and doing what needed to be done.
I wrote back,
“In reviewing all printed and digital documents, notifications, and email clarifications of the details of the moving expense claim etc. there was no mention of an agreement to not pursue any further legal action until I notified you that I had a place and that I was requesting the funds you said would be delivered in 24 hours which would be Saturday, 11/05/2022.
In light of this added agreement, please forward to me a copy to read through and have my attorney’s read through as well, as you are asking for more than just me to leave.”
It was a standard agreement to be out by the time I had promised and that neither party would pursue any future legal action related to this chapter.
I met with the new owner that Monday, signed the agreement and was handed a check drawn on his business account instead of in the form of cash, money order, or bank check that would have made the funds immediately available However, because of the amount of the check and its being from out of state, there would be a hold for 6 business days and with a three day weekend coming up, this would mean I could not touch the funds until the over a week later.
I had to call the new landlord and inform him of the receipt of the funds but the bank hold, and then called the bank to see if the funds’ release could be expedited.
I chose my bank because it has ATMs conveniently located so I can avoid services charges, but only one physical structure between Cape Cod and Rhode Island, so my going to the bank was a trip.
At the bank, I explained my dilemma to the manager who lent me the funds necessary against the check as it was officially deposited according to bank records and I would then be able to get the necessary funds to the new landlord with the bank reimbursing itself when the check cleared.
Although my attitude could have used some adjustment as I just worked around yet another hurdle in a simple 100 yard dash where there should be none, there are people in the building who will receive a check at the last minute as they prepare to move out that they will have a hard time cashing as they may not have savings or checking accounts, a good relati0n with a bank, and a friendly bank to begin with. At the very last moment as they leave, they are handed a complication to the process.
First there was the sudden notification of the sale of the building and an option to leave or stay during remodeling and then paying the increased rent, that within 24 hours became the demand to leave in 30 days, throwing people who could have been looking calmly as the building was being sold into having to find a new place immediately and forcing the tenants of 24 apartments to join the great amoeba of misplaced people in a gentrifying city.
There was the start of construction at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, three days before the date that it was supposed to begin as stated in writing by the new owner.
And along with these and other surprises, there would be not only the surprise agreement, but an impediment to getting the keys to a new place as there will be a week long delay to get the actual funds unless a tenant can go to some place that will cash checks for a fee, if they accept out of state checks.
There is no need for this.
I had had to call my new landlord more than I would have liked to keep rescheduling because the weekend was lost to my having to wait until Monday to get the funds and then potentially to the Wednesday of the following week to actually be able to use them.
Thankfully, my bank made accommodations and expedited things. I was lucky that way.
Some tenants in my building may not be so lucky or might have had experiences with their banks that would make accommodations under the circumstances less forthcoming.
My building got attention because they did not know that a blogger with opinions lived in the building and handed me what in my Union experiences was a sign the contract was about to be ignored and abused. Not every building and misplaced people had that pulpit.
People have been and continue to be displaced quietly, and if my case is any example, in ways that cause further anxiety in what is already an anxious situation.
The city saw this coming, took no proactive steps to help those citizens who would be negatively affected, and let it happen.
In light of searching for an apartment and finding one where I want to live not where I am forced to, I would like to suggest the city leaders consider the following, or if they already have, be kind enough to let us know the arrangements that have been made to handle the Great Displacement.
Tenants must be informed of the intended sale of a building to afford them reasonable time to look for other apartments.
A reasonable amount of time must be given to tenants to move upon completion of sale, 60 days at the minimum.
Rents can only rise by a reasonable percentage based on existing rents and the median income of city residents. No doubling and tripling.
No application or credit check fees during the city’s rebuilding.
Moving expenses for displaced people who did not choose to move to be supplied by new owners if the existing tenants are priced out or the building’s remodel requires it be empty.
Moving funds must be in cash, money order, or bank check so thete is no delay 9n availability.
That 15-20% of all rental property by any individual, company, or conglomerate be set aside for low-income housing in any building with a set minimum number of units.
Low income is determined based on the existing local median income and not some national figure that is not relevant to the city. (Low-income would be New Bedford low income not city of Boston low income).
City Hall set up a department to deal with the long-range housing problem rather than having people rely on the Columbus Method of finding assistance however you can discover it and land on it.
The names of corporations buying property in the city be a matter of public record so people will know who, actually, owns the city. No blind buyers. People should know who their landlords are.
There are enough investors where those who choose not to follow the city’s regulations can be replaced by those who will.
There is profit and there is gouging.
In spite of the apartment move and funding having been resolved so an exchange of that and keys could take place, there is again another delay because after having waited to be available when the funds were so I could move in, the time between informing the new owner that I needed them and being able to actually use them becoming five days instead of one during which the exchange should have been made, my new landlord’s illness had worsened and his doctor had him report to the Emergency Room for some tests. How long the stay will be, a few hours or a few days, is uncertain at this time.
Things should have been finalized on the Monday.
And, so, having done everything as expected and having followed the steps as set out to be able to be in a new place by the end of the month, because of the impersonal approach by the new owner, I am still in my supposed to be former apartment as all the complications have ended with me having a new place to which to move, but cannot move to it as my new landlord, who could have had the money last Monday and could have handed me the keys then, entered the hospital on Thursday night unable to get the keys to me.
Not happy that as a sheriff in Massachusetts whose job is more management/custodial than rootin’-tootin’ Wild West Sheriffin’, but who wants to be that Wild West sheriff, now former sheriff Hodgson has spent the last many years trying to present an image that is far beyond reality attempting to claim he is the head law enforcement person in the county upon whom all residents’ safety depended as he, rather than the local law enforcement officers, had the county’s safety as a priority.
He was for all intents and purposes, the principal of an elementary school who, wanting to be something more, begins doing some of the duties of the superintendent to enhance their importance, but has to be constantly told to stop and just run the school.
Since in Massachusetts sheriffs run jails but do not patrol the streets or make arrests for transgressions, they wait for the locals and the courts to send people for temporary and even pre-trial custodial care until they are either set free, serve whatever short sentence a court imposes, or moves into a state prison to serve their time, there is no way this can be translated into John Wayne or Joe Arpaio.
And so, he created a threat whose non-existence made it easy for him to control.
I draw cartoons. When I do one with a specific person in mind, I create a picture that looks enough like the person to be recognized, but not so exact that it is a faithful portrait. In Falwell v Flint the Supreme Court ruled based on the obvious- a person of reasonable intelligence can recognize the difference between a faithful and true picture and a cartoon.
I know the cartoon that Sheriff Hodgson was drawing as I had seen the actual object.
During his years in office, he tried to establish a Sheriff coastal patrol by converting a small craft into a high-tech surveillance vessel. Since the Coast Guard and Harbor Patrol already did the job the sheriff decided he would do, he had to lose the boat.
His command center trailer also had to be jettisoned because local and state law enforcement already had them.
They did not need the kid in the Batman costume showing up when the real thing was already on scene.
He jumped from one scheme to another getting shot down each time until he landed on what he thought would win the day, immigrants.
He portrays them as being present in huge numbers which seemed to grow with each threat of a “Caravan” from Central America over the last few Years and refers to immigrants as “criminal illegal aliens” when relying on his invented threat to enhance his image as who would not want the protection from those kinds of people that only he could supply.
During the last few years, he was salivating to get the reputation as the new Joe Arpaio and the attention of the former, twice impeached president like a cat on the fence outside the White House howling to be noticed and have his needs addressed.
In spite of the prosperity of both Fall River and New Bedford largely because of the presence and hard work of immigrants and their progeny starting when the first whaling ship returned to port with replacement crew members needed and obtained on the voyage, as the cities die and some hung on to what was still there because it is where they live and can afford to, those who were not prevented by Red Lining moved away and formed the rural areas into suburban communities, forgetting how important the immigrants were to those in their families who had done well in those cities in the past.
With Malls and other conveniences being introduced into these growing communities, the need to go to Fall River and New Bedford was greatly reduced and most people moving into the towns around them only knew of the two cities what they heard from those already there when they moved to town.
Reading the room better than most, Hodgson saw that using a nebulous and unspecified number of undocumented residents as a threat to the outlying communities without details could get him reelected, a tactic he would grasp on to because there was grumbling in Bristol County to get him out.
He needed to convince the voters of the county that only he could save us from his imagined criminal element.
On election night I was at the watch party for Paul Heroux, Hodgson’s opponent. On a white board at the front of the room were three columns, one with the names of the towns in Bristol County and two with the names Heroux at the top of one and Hodgson the other.
As the towns reported in with their official votes the numbers would be entered in the appropriate columns.
The smaller town outside of Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton began reporting first, and it did not look good for Heroux as the numbers showed, as expected, these voters had bought into the sheriff’s myth.
There were some small towns that had not bought the myth and their votes showed they saw a need for change not more platitudes and political posturing.
It was very close, and the results were swinging like a pendulum as the little towns reported in until the votes of those the sheriff had been vilifying for his personal and political aggrandizement showed up and he was out.
Yep, the Brown People let the white nationalist, xenophobe, and constitutional sheriff know that he works for us, the Brown people included, and we did not think he was performing his duties as he was expected to do.
There will be pundit prognostications about why the old sheriff lost and the new one won, but getting past the experts, the simple truth is that, clearly by the racial divide in the results, the Brown People had had enough and deported the sheriff from his job.
