Earlier this month, Eva Flowe wrote about a now-approved proposal before Durham City Council allowing renters in units with unsafe conditions to withhold rent from their landlords. One reader shared concerns about the policy.
From reader Andy Lowe by email:
I am a Durham resident and current renter of my home who is concerned about good intentions turning into disastrous policy.
I have great sympathy for those stuck with slumlord landlords who abuse their ability to charge rent without providing suitable housing. Durham is right to consider solutions.
My concern is this specific solution seems to leave open a large opportunity for abuse. No specifics have been given for when a property becomes “unsuitable” following loss of a key component, and rent isn’t due for a particular month(s). Rentals (such as my own) that lose heat or other key components (potable water, electricity, etc) are typically treated as emergency repairs. Will a landlord lose rental income even if they respond appropriately to an emergency repairs request? What is the appropriate response time?
These questions must be answered before this ordinance becomes law. If not made clear, the inevitable abuse will inject additional cost into the rental housing market as landlords have to insure against such abuse or even sell to larger property management companies that can accept such risk (and also pass this cost to renters).
Renters deserve to get what they pay for from their landlords. We don’t need to invite abuse over broken toilets to improve that. I would encourage those who speak to council members supporting this ordinance to ask about implementation. As a lawyer I’d hope council member Cook would know the details. We need not pass bad policy for
good reasons.
In September, Chloe Courtney Bohl wrote about how WRAL is managing headwinds in the local TV news industry. We got lots of feedback, including from a retired
station manager.
From reader Jim Rothschild by email:
As a former employee of Capitol Broadcasting, I read your recent article with great interest.
WRAL has been and still is a one-of-a-kind in local broadcasting. Unfortunately in reporting on the recent changes, you have failed to fully recognize how this leader in the industry stands out compared to virtually every other local station in the country. You focused on comparing it to itself and its history without acknowledging how it compares to the rest of the industry.
Have the changes in the media landscape forced WRAL to make difficult decisions related to staffing and resources? Yes. But if you look at who they are today and how committed they are to continuing to be THE premier local broadcast station in the country, you will find they are still in a league of their own.
Show me any station in the country that hasn’t been forced to cut deeply into their operation to meet financial challenges. Then show me any station that matches WRAL’s level of resources committed to local, regional, national stories, to a full time award-winning documentary unit, to a industry-leading staff of meteorologists, to staffing one of the largest digital local news teams anywhere, to a 24-hour multi-platform news channel, to a decades-long commitment to local high schools sports, to on-going support of community projects and events, to leading the broadcast industry in technological advances, and most significantly, to taking extraordinary care of the people of CBC that make it all work.
Jimmy Goodmon took over the extraordinary legacy of this station at a time when the tectonic plates of media were shifting dramatically and rapidly. He understood the challenge, and with his team, works every hour of every day to ensure that WRAL remains a leader in this community and in broadcasting. With that comes many difficult choices and decisions. Like every other station, and frankly every company in the country, WRAL faces changes and the challenge of how to deliver the best product possible in light of the changes. That can be hard.
However, what doesn’t change at CBC under Goodmon is the commitment to serving this community and being the premier local media company in this country.
What I regularly tell people, and frankly your article missed, is there is no other station like WRAL and no other media owner like CBC … anywhere.
In September, former school board member Steve Unruhe wrote an op-ed urging Durham Public Schools to start planning new uses for the old Durham School of the Arts site. A former city council member shared his perspective.
From reader Eugene Brown, who served on the Durham City Council from 2003 to 2015:
For several reasons, I was very much opposed to abandoning the former Durham High School, which now houses the Durham School of the Arts. As the INDY also highlighted, to order pay for a new high school, crucial renovations that had been put on hold for years, including in elementary schools with majority Black students, were once again ignored. Yet, the Durham School Board, in spite of growing budget deficits, were inculcated with the, “newness is goodness” syndrome, and charged ahead.
And now, to his credit, Steve Unruhe, a former school board member and whose defeat in 2020 was a major loss to Durham, has the foresight to address the now almost forgotten issue of, “what’s next” for these historic landmark buildings and their 17- acre campus.
As Steve points out, two years from now, when the new school is completed and the last school bus has pulled out of DSA, is not the time for this discussion. Perhaps with the assistance of a community engagement firm, with local appointed members, consensus for usage will emerge, but the important issue is our planning should begin now.
Steve makes five suggestions, all of which are insightful and worthy of our consideration. To that I would add, in his words, something “fabulous and amazing” for the highest and best usage for this site.
With the help of NC Preservation Society, which has assisted other communities throughout our state, renovate the main building into affordable housing for those who too often have been left out of Durham’s booming housing market … our teachers, fire fighters, police officers and first responders. Indeed, we can even call the development, condo maximums! What a fitting tribute to those who have give their maximum on a daily basis to serve our beloved community.
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