A bill introduced at Thursday’s City Council meeting will give the body some oversight over the controversial Landlord-Tenant Office.
When a piece of legislation is named after someone, it’s usually because they were impacted by the problem that the legislation is supposed to address.
Sex offenders are required to register with police departments and alert neighbors to their presence due to Megan’s Law, which was created after a child in New Jersey was killed by a sex offender hiding in plain sight. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act wasn’t the only thing that came out of the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh. It also led to his father, John Walsh, becoming the bane of every escaped fugitive’s existence through his show “America’s Most Wanted.”
(That show’s making a comeback, by the way.)
So, when the Angel Davis Eviction Accountability Act was introduced in City Council on Thursday, those of us who have been following the issues connected to the city’s Landlord-Tenant officer, Marisa Shuter, and how the contractors she hires to perform evictions conduct themselves understood what problem this bill would address.
That problem: the problem of evictions leading to hospital stays and, in some cases, injuries that could lead to death.
The bill, which was introduced on by Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier, Rue Landau and Nicolas O’Rourke during Thursday’s council session, would require those who want to be able to kick people out of their homes to have proof of liability insurance, firearms training, and training in conflict resolution, crisis intervention, and cultural diversity to get a license to do so.
This bill, and two bills making their way through the state legislature, became necessary due to a bit of trigger happiness on the part of the people who have been handling evictions. Last spring, there were three incidents where Philadelphians found themselves looking down the barrel of a gun during an eviction. There was also an incident in Dauphin County that resulted in an armed standoff.
(One incident here in Philadelphia even included shooting someone’s dog. Thankfully, the person being evicted was not named John Wick. That could have gotten ugly.)
The bill is the result of conversations with people on all sides of the issue including a day-long hearing that brought all sides of the issue together to discuss evictions, their impact, and how it might not be a good idea to have people shooting first and asking questions later.
At a press conference held earlier this week, Davis, who was shot in the head during her eviction from the Girard Court apartments in the city’s Sharswood section, praised the Councilmembers for the legislation and the accountability it calls for.
“I want to first off thank God for still being here today, and also the City Council Members and everyone else who has worked continuously to get this bill passed,” she said, “Hopefully no one will have to experience the trauma that I have experienced going through the eviction process. Hopefully, the laws of eviction will be changed everywhere in the United States starting in Philadelphia.”
The bill now heads to Council’s Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development and the Homeless where it will get a hearing. While it doesn’t call for the eviction process to be handed to the Sheriff’s office, which is how it is done almost everywhere else, it goes as far as the city can go. State Sens. Sharif Street and Nikil Saval have introduced legislation on the state level to address this problem as well.
While the bill will probably pass — several Councilmembers were present at the press conference announcing the legislation to support their colleagues spearheading this — I’m interested in seeing the hearings.
One of the things I remembered about the hearings held by Brooks and Gauthier on this issue was the concerns raised by groups representing landlords of increased eviction costs connected to regulation. I get it. No one wants to pay more.
But something needs to be done here. I understand that you can’t live in an apartment indefinitely without paying, but accountability for hurting someone in the process of an eviction isn’t too much to ask for.
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