Oakland mayor called "Blight Queen"

[RandySF]

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan acknowledged Thursday that she had failed to clear her hills property of overgrown ivy and brush, days after a resident showed up at a City Council meeting with photos of her home and called her the "Queen of Residential Blight."

The comments by the resident, Ken Pratt, came during a hearing Tuesday of the Oakland City Council on the issue of city building inspectors' alleged mistreatment of property owners for blight citations with excessive fines and liens.

Pratt showed eight photos of Quan's property and complained that the mayor was receiving special treatment because her property was allowed to remain blighted while other property owners were being cited. Pratt showed pictures of overgrown bushes and trees outside her home and damaged railings on her deck.



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/22/BAFT1L8AO0.DTL#ixzz1YnMc4EgK

[dtexdem]

1. Hurrah for blight! We don't need another Dubya-style brush clearer!

;-)

[Hell Hath No Fury]

2. I saw that story and thought is was crap --

Overgrown landscaping, yes. "Blight"? Hardly. From the comments this sounds very political. I can point to huge swaths of Oakland that are, sadly, TRUE "blight".

[RandySF]

5. Blight may have been the wrong word.

I think the real issue is fire hazard. Her house is in the hills.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. Yes, agree it is more potential "fire hazzard" --

Though, depending on exactly what plant material she has in her yard, it may not be too much of an issue beyond needing a serious pruning/cleaning. Things like eucalyptus and manzanita are perfect kindling for fires, other plants not so much.

[XemaSab]

11. That was my thought too

The mayor of all people should stick with the recommended fire-safe buffer.

[geardaddy]

3. That doesn't look bad to me.

[RandySF]

4. There are other issues

Her roof is in serious disrepair. I do not know how she lives there.

[geardaddy]

8. Yes, that is an issue.

[shanti]

10. in a fire-prone area like the oakland hills

why does she have wood shingles on her roof?

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. 20 years ago there was a huge fire in that area, 3,300 homes and 400+ apartments were destroyed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Firestorm_of_1991

her home doesn't look so bad but clearing brush is a serious issue. In 91, the fire hopped from home to home.

[geardaddy]

9. I'm looking at it from the outsiders perspective

I live in Minneapolis, and so I didn't take fires into account.