Ms. Dorothy Boucher has a very vivid imagination. In her recent letter she describes the statements of Rep. Ruth Briggs King at the meeting Feb. 20 while admitting that she was not in attendance. I was in attendance and most of the issues she raises were not discussed.
When issues were discussed, there was a meaningful discussion on the merits of the different views, such as on the issue of using the relocation fees to ease the land-lease burden on truly needy residents. This may reduce the need for some residents to relocate, thus saving the RTA funds.
There are many reasons not to vote for the rent justification bill and I am sure Rep. King would have been loudly criticized if she had voted because of her recognized conflict of interest. If you have ever lived in or around a rent-controlled community, I am sure you recognize the consequences on less maintenance and improvements. This issue was not discussed at the meeting.
What was discussed was the fact that it is unlikely that the rent justification bill will come up for a vote in this session of the Legislature because the Democratic caucus does not believe they have the votes to pass the legislation. Maybe Ms. Boucher and other advocates for this legislation should direct their efforts to the Democratic majority.
Several attendees had specific issues that they brought up to Rep. King and she gave her recommendations to them and, where appropriate, agreed to look into the issue further. Other than the tendency of some in attendance to just want to beat up on the land owners I felt it was a productive meeting.
One other thing, the entire meeting was recorded by WGMD and a reporter was in attendance the whole time.
Grady Putnam
Long Neck