Why People Don't Trust the Government

Most all urbanized 'mega' cities in the US now are run by Democratic Mayors and Democratic city councils.  They program the money, run their little empires, and prioritize where funding goes.

As I lived in the DC area (2010 to the summer of 2013), this story came up.

Somewhere around 2008/2009...this property on the east side of DC had been 'taken' by the city.  Property taxes and drug arrests had amounted to a fair sized mess, and grabbing the building made sense.  It would be classified as a property in fair state of disrepair, and marginally worth nothing.

So paperwork got generated.  Some sport group in the city sent the papers in and wanted the property taken for a kid's sport complex.  This wasn't clearly laid out, but the city had various high priorities for things relating to kid's sports in DC (especially the east-end).

So a fair sized chunk of money was allocated to fix the structure (I was told around 750,000 went into this....whether factional or not, I don't know).

So six months pass and the renovation is done. 

For a couple of months, the property is 'sat upon'.  Then, surprisingly enough....the city sells the property for a under-valued amount of money. 

What moves in?  A strip-club. 

Locals sat there and laughed over this.  It's doubtful that any member of the city council was really aware of the property grab in the first place....but they had to know of the renovation money and approved it in some way.  As for the sale?  They might have approved this without knowing much over the particulars. 

The 750k?  Just flushed down the toilet.

This is the problem of inner-city life, trusting politicians, and blacks feeling abandoned because they witness this daily....thinking any day now....things will improve.  And it never does resolve itself.

The positive of this?  At least with the present management crew and stripper action....property taxes are being generated.  Hopefully, they go over into the city pocket, so they can find other worthwhile things to renovate.  Or maybe more future stripper clubs get renovated.