Better City Websites Will Help ID Slumlords

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. "Head on a pole" photo by John Hoff.

Yesterday a terrific meeting was held with many Minneapolis government and community workers around how to combat predatory investors, or slumlords, in light of the foreclosure crisis. A national group, Policy Link, put together a report of various city's strategies called "When Investors Buy Up the Neighborhood: Preventing Investor Ownership from Causing Neighborhood Decline."

There were so many excellent ideas discussed in the meeting and detailed in the report, but for now I will focus on just one. And that is...

...getting the city of Minneapolis' website to have the ability to use an owner's name as a search criteria.

The Johnny Northside blog has identified this as a necessary tool for quite some time. It was first brought up in a post about the Devil (Evannor Haymon) moving in to a property at 3007 3rd St N. We didn't find this out until seven months later because neighbors don't have the same kind of tools to search PUBLIC DATA as city employees do. Then, as neighbors encountered massive slumlord after massive slumlord in NoMi, we wondered just how big of a problem each of them was.

How many properties does Bashir Moghul really own? Or Mahmood Khan? Or any other slumlord? If a new problem property arises on someone's block, how do we know if that landlord/owner has similar problem properties in other neighborhoods? And if we can find a concentration of one owner's problem properties in, let's say, Hawthorne and Folwell, but not so much in Willard-Hay or Jordan, then we know which neighborhoods need to work together to resolve things.

Right now, our residents who experience the effects of slumlords and problem properties are at a disadvantage because we cannot easily search and understand the scope of a problem. In the case of Pamiko, for instance, roughly sixty properties have been identified as belonging to Paul Koenig or one of his LLC's. But we had heard rumors that by the time his misdoings were exposed on this blog, there had already been at least one wave of Pamiko foreclosures. The full scope of Koenig's damage to Minneapolis (primarily the Hawthorne, Jordan, Near North, and Willard-Hay neighborhoods) is still unknown.

It should be noted that we can call city employees and ask for this information. But our good partners at the city are already swamped and overburdened. It wouldn't be easy for them to respond to casual questions of this nature on a regular basis - especially if we're just not sure and we're essentially going fishing for information. Getting a response in this case could take days or even weeks. But searching on the city's website from the comfort of our own home takes seconds.

The need to be able to search the city's website using property owners' names as search criteria has also been formally supported by the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council. This is an option that other cities have on their websites. Locally, the Douglas County, WI website has such an ability. One thing that is tremendously useful there is that website lists properties currently AND previously owned by the owner. The drawback of that website, however, is that the search results do not come up in a separate live link that could be shared with others (like, oh, on a blog).

Even city officials at the Policy Link workshop recognized the need to do better. Henry Reimer, the Director of Inspection Services for the city of Minneapolis, said, "We have an obsolete property information data system." While Minneapolis' website has a good framework, the previous sale date and price are often incomplete or inaccurate as well.

Another person said he wished we could bring back...

(childhood photo of me, my twin bro, and mom. Unsure who took this photo.)

...the stocks as a way to publicly shame slumlords and throw tomatoes at them. "That's what Johnny Northside is for," I quickly responded. "We're the public stocks of the digital age." But there is at least one city that does exactly what we've done on Johnny Northside, ON THEIR OFFICIAL WEBSITE!

Allentown, PA lists a "Landlord Hall of Shame." Right on their website, officially endorsed by the city. God love 'em! Currently featured are Adam and Ira Thor, and the site shows detailed photos of how ugly and slummy the Thors' properties are. Not only that, but they publish pictures of the Thors' OWN HOUSES! The Brothers Thor (which would be a great name for a power rock band, I think) are also called out: “The conditions of these properties are particularly galling when you stack them up against the conditions of the homes where they reside.” Right. On. The Official. City. Website.

But having the owner's name as a searchable criteria won't go far enough. For instance, one slumlord, Phil Kliendl, is known to use different German numbers as LLC's for each individual property. At least with Kliendl, he uses the same mailing address in Burnsville for all the LLC's. Some landlords have as many as eighty properties, with a different LLC for each one, and the mailing address of the LLC is the subject property. We need to require that landlords who do this also list a principal of the LLC and a way to contact them other than a PO Box. The LLC principal should also be plugged into the same search criteria as an owner's name.

There were plenty of other excellent ideas tossed around, and I'm sure those will appear on this blog in the near future. For now, having this issue brought forward on such a prominent level is progress!

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Legal Funeral For "Old Majority" In The Jordan Neighborhood--The Fat Lady Didn't Sing, But It's Still Over

Stock photo and blog post by John Hoff

Cinco De Mayo was even happier than usual in the Jordan Neighborhood, as word came of the long-awaited resolution of the "Old Majority" vs. "New Majority" lawsuit, in which some ousted members of JACC ("Old Majority") brought an ill-conceived lawsuit to court following their un-election in board elections and much-deserved replacement by the pro-city, pro-revitalization, anti-thug hugging "New Majority" faction, at that time led by Kip Browne and Ann McCandless.

(As of today, the Jordan Neighborhood is arguably in the "New And Improved New Majority" phase, due to having board elections yet again)

Johnny Northside Dot Com has reported on this Jordan neighborhood controversy more than any other media entity, from the ouster of the old JACC officers, to the shocking theft of equipment and records, to day-by-day accounts of the court proceedings, (including Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer being removed from the court room) to the Old Majority beating a humiliating retreat and not even showing up at their own legal funeral.

Now, at long last, cruel fate comes down like the dark, crusty blade of an executioner's axe. Cue the music. It's time to hear the fat lady singing the strains of O! Fortuna!

Here's a link to the PDF of the Judge's order, click here.

Read 'em and weep.

I talked to one of the movers and shakers in Jordan who gave me some commentary on the order, as follows...

First of all, this is a medical textbook case of "I told you so." From Day One, the leaders of the New Majority faction--folks like Kip Browne and Anne McCandless--were saying "You don't get to just run to court." This lawsuit was ill-conceived, badly revised, and ill-executed. It was the legal equivalent of running with scissors. Well, looks like somebody tripped, fell, and stabbed oneself.

In this case, the order keeps referencing the "derivative claims" issue which means, basically, "Which entity has the right to bring the claim?" Looks like it sure wasn't the Old Majority!Ouch. Dead in the water on the issue of STANDING? Somebody didn't do enough legal homework. Doing a lawsuit when you don't have STANDING is like trying to drive a car without CAR KEYS. I guess it happens from time to time...mostly to drunk people. At least such a put-it-down-it's-lame lawsuit made everything relatively easy for the judge and, let's face it, after sitting through all those days of testimony in a lawsuit which turned out to be PRETTY MUCH STUPID AND POINTLESS, Judge Porter deserved a break.

In court rulings, judges tend to dispose of claims by the easiest route, just like you might take your trash to your back alley by the shortest, easiest route and not go all the way around the block. So if there is a question of lack of jurisdiction (like "Spanky" Pete Rickmyer's so-called lawsuit against me, which he has not yet managed to serve) or a question of standing or the statute of limitations or any other easy way to dispose of the case, a court will tend to dispose of the case that way. Here, "derivative claims" presented an easy route to junk something which was clearly junk. The "Old Majority" should have tried to work things through with the board, not just dashed to court with a lawsuit. JACC should have been given an opportunity to figure out how to resolve their own issues. Oh, and the plaintiffs had their opportunity to participate by running for election. They chose not to.

At least they have a better idea when they will win an ELECTION versus a LAWSUIT.

As the court put it so well--I'm paraphrasing, here--the subjective perception of futility is NOT the legal standard for bypassing one's duty to try to resolve stuff outside the courts, through the administrative systems which are already in place.

Oh! The legal batter hits the lawsuit ball and it's going...it's going...it's gone, it's out of the park, and the New Majority is triumphantly running the bases. Picture them running the bases and scoring at home plate: Kip Browne, Anne McCandless, Tyrone Jaramillo, the whole cast and crew of the New Majority.

TAKE A BOW, New Majority, TAKE A BOW.

As for the Old Majority...

Too bad, so sad, and when will Ben Myers be removing the stuff on his website where he calls himself the JACC Vice Chair? I checked a few minutes ago. That junk is still there. Is Ben going to correct his website before somebody files a complaint with the Minnesota State Lawyers Responsibility Board? I kind of doubt it.

Oh, by the way, this court order would tend to show that when the Johnny Northside blog reported on the stunning lack of merit in the Old Majority's legal case, that reporting was (how shall I put it?) closer to CRYSTAL PURE OBJECTIVITY than the Old Majority had the self-knowledge to candidly admit. The court order talks about UNCLEAN HANDS. Who has those unclean hands? Well, exactly who you'd expect.

How did the hands get dirty? Well, for starters, from PUNCHING A BOARD MEMBER.

Shame, shame, shame.

Despite the ease of the legal ruling, (direct and derivative claims) the order contains EXTENSIVE findings of fact. And guess what? If there's an appeal, all the findings of fact are what the plaintiff is stuck with. You can't dispute on appeal what's been found to be fact in the ruling of the lower court.

An appeal? Ha. Good luck with that.

All in all, Cinco De Mayo was a perfect day for this ruling to hit the streets, because win or lose it was TIME TO DRINK LIKE A FISH.

I propose a toast! To a new day in North Minneapolis, led by a New Majority.

(Blogging from Athens, Georgia, named after Athena, Goddess of Wisdom)

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Get your Get to NoMi T-Shirts!

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from www.cafepress.com

All sorts of Get to NoMi apparel is available! Just click on this link!

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Pamiko-Induced Foreclosure Crisis Gets Even Bigger

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman

I've been stopping at the Hennepin County Government Center on occasion when I've had other business to do downtown recently. In what little spare time I've got, I researched more about various slumlords and the mortgages behind them. I found out something new on the property above, 3053 15th Ave S.

On 5/23/05, a $575,000 mortgage to Marklee Construction, a company known to be operated by Paul Koenig, was filed against this property by US Federal Credit Union. But the dollar amount wasn't the only thing that was strange about the loan. There was also...

...a satisfaction of the mortgage filed on 2/23/06. US Federal Credit Union signed off on the satisfaction, but it was a senior mortgage loan officer, Pete Olson, who did the deed. Fellow mortgage geeks will recognize how rare it is for a mortgage originator to be involved in signing satisfactions in any way whatsoever.

But little quirky things like this wouldn't merit a blog post all by their lonesome. On 11/5/08, US Federal Credit Union filed an intent to foreclose on 3053 15th Ave S AGAINST PAMIKO, not Marklee Construction.

But wait, there's more! The original mortgage to Marklee Construction included a total of ten OTHER properties as collateral. The first seven are currently owned by private individuals, so it's possible that Koenig sold them properly. Those seven properties are:

1418 11th Ave N
625 Newton Ave N
1032 Knox Ave N
1034 Knox Ave N
3434 6th St N
2822 Colfax Ave N
1317 Knox Ave N

There were three properties besides 3053 15th Ave S that are currently listed on the Hennepin County website as owned by US Federal Credit Union. I believe it is reasonable to assume that US Federal foreclosed upon these properties while Koenig or one of his LLC's was the owner.

2200 Irving Ave N, which is boarded and vacant.
3128 5th Ave S
2324 Queen Ave N

None of these properties is on the Unabridged Pamiko list.

The more one digs into the Pamiko problem, the worse it appears. When will charges be filed against Koenig? That seems inevitable at this point.

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Susan Newell Sentencing: Many Minor Children, A Cry of Anguish, Filled Up Seats...

Contributed photo, blog post by John Hoff

I received some bits and pieces of information from the Susan Newell sentencing. Newell was involved in mortgage fraud, some of which happened in North Minneapolis. The sentencing has already been reported elsewhere, click here.

Newell's first trial resulted in a mistrial, so Hennepin County Prosecutor Brad Johnson got in there and took care of business, bringing home the long-awaited conviction. Johnson is currently running for Anoka County Attorney, click here.

According to what I was told about the sentencing by an observer, sheriff's deputies were there and keeping people out because it was...

...already full inside. The people inside appeared to be mostly Newell family and supporters, some of which apparently came from her church. There was an odd air of confidence in these spectators, and some loose talk about how maybe the sentence wouldn't be too bad at all. Why, maybe she'd even get probation and no prison time at all! But, instead, Newell got three years. She will likely serve two years in prison, and then parole for a year after.

It was about 3:45 p.m. when the court room emptied and there was much crying and hugging in the hallway. An individual who appeared to be a defense attorney spoke to an individual presumed to be a family member, saying something like, "The letter you wrote helped, really."

Suddenly there was a cry from an anguished voice--it came from either inside the courtroom, or the elevator on the other side of the court room. A male voice said, "I CAN'T DO THIS ON MY OWN!" The tone was a tone of despair. Who emitted the cry is unknown, but one would assume it was a close family member.

The prosecutor in this case asked for 122 months, which is a bit more than ten years. What the government had asked for was "a guidelines sentence for a severity level 9 offense," which would have been consistent with other mortgage fraud cases in Hennepin County, like Larry Maxwell, click here. Instead, the government got a guideline sentence for a Level 6, lower than what the government asked for.

Newell is currently 40 years old and will go away until she is 42, then on parole until 43. If she reoffends before the Year of Our Lord 2020, it's on His Honor Judge Tom Sipkins. Hennepin County asked for more. Let these words endure until at least 2020, if somebody has need to quote them. (It should be noted the judge was Sipkins, but the courtroom was that of Judge Janish, pronounced Yan-ish)

This case was reportedly one of Judge Sipkins' first criminal cases, and in this instance the defendant was a mother with 10 children (you read that right) at least five of which are under 18. The children were in the court room during the trial, almost every day according to one source.

(For the record--and most of my friends are likely to disagree--I do not find this manipulative practice of using children as a legal "human shield" to be at all objectionable. It is my position that nothing should be thicker than family blood. Simultaneously, I believe Newell should have gone away for 10 years and, for the record, I'm sure all that mortgage fraud money bought many unearned goodies for that extremely large brood of offspring. I hope there's enough fraudulent money squirreled away somewhere to pay for a vasectomy)

Newell's husband is a fire fighter in Minneapolis. One way to look at Newell's sentence is like this: she will miss a total of ten years of her children's lives.

In an incredibly odd footnote of arcane trivia: Susan Newell shares her name with that of the last woman hanged in Scotland, click here.

(Blogging from near Disney World, Florida)

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Celebrating New Homeowners in NoMi!

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman unless noted otherwise.

NoMi Realtor extraordinaire Connie Nompelis organized a happy hour at Good Sports Bar and Grill this weekend to welcome new NoMi homeowners, (renters were welcome too!) and it was a resounding success. I arrived early, as the first order of business was to set up the Dinosaur. Or, as Bryan Thao Worra has coined it, the DiNoMisaur. We can even take it one step further and give it a second name depending on the neighborhood it's in. Since Good Sports is in my neck of the woods, on Sunday this was the DiNoMisaurus Hawthoraptor.

But the DiNoMisaur wasn't the only thing I was asked to help out with. I also brought along...

...this.



Astute JNS readers will recognize this rope as belonging to the post that tells the story about a swinger's bed. It turns out that we were able to hang signs inside and on the dinosaur without this rope. My repeated assurances that I washed the rope after each use strangely did nothing to encourage people to employ it for this event.

The owners of Good Sports know I can cook, and consider me one of their top food critics. So they brought out an item that wasn't even on the menu; the Rueben. Let me tell you something folks. This sandwich is phenomenal, and what you see below is only half. Pretty much everything at Good Sports is top notch, but I can't think of a single thing you could add or take away from this sandwich to make it any better. Five stars. It should be on the menu within the week, so make sure to look for it the next time you stop by.



Things got hopping pretty quickly, and a good mix of new residents (some of whom haven't even closed on their homes yet!) from a variety of neighborhoods, longer-term residents, and even some dedicated activists showed up. I even met people from Hawthorne that I hadn't known before. Like so many NoMi parties, there was a common refrain of, "Oh yeah! We're already facebook friends! It's so nice to meet you in person!"

I also got the occasional shout-out when I would tell people that I was the Hawthorne Hawkman on Johnny Northside. It's so nice to have an alter ego but NOT a secret identity.



After a while, a bunch of us went outside for impromptu pictures with the DiNoMisaur. First up is its creator, artist Ken Farkash.



Next up, I posed with Emily, a new Hawthorne resident, as we imitated the dinosaur's hands. This picture was taken, I believe by one of the Levey brothers, owners of Good Sports.



Finally, we decided to put baby Alex, another new NoMi resident, in one of the hands. These pictures are just so cute that they put those Anne Geddes abominations to shame. Frankly, I always found those pictures to be rather disturbing for some reason anyway.






And then it was time to go back inside for more happy hour specials (for this event only!) and plenty of great socializing with the wonderful NoMi folk. Thanks Connie for putting this together, thanks to Good Sports for hosting, and thanks to all the people who make our community so much fun!

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A History of the Lutheran Church in Liberia

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Yesterday my church, River of Life Lutheran, celebrated 150 years of the Lutheran Church in Liberia. Part of that celebration was a reading of the history of the Lutheran church since it was established in Liberia. River of Life is a mixed congregation of Scandinavians and Liberians. The history was written by and sent to us from church representatives in Monrovia, Liberia.

As I was hearing this, I was struck by the connections that we make in our church every Sunday. Through our worship together, River of Life members share a historic and cultural connection with people literally on the other side of the world. That shared connection goes back 150 years, and ultimately back millennia.

And what the Monrovian church sent us said...

...A History of the Lutheran Church in Liberia

This summary is condensed from a longer history of the LCL (Lutheran Church in Liberia) provided from Monrovia for this 150th anniversary.

The Lutheran Church in Liberia was established on April 28, 1860 in Millsburg, on the banks of the St. Paul River, by the American Lutheran missionary Rev. Morris Officer. Rev. Officer was assisted by Mr. Henry Heigerd who was later ordained and left in charge of the Mission Station.

The Lutheran Church went through three stages of growth and development in Liberia. From 1860 to 1947 it was called the American Lutheran Mission in Liberia (ALML) and all the affairs, major decisions, and funding were directed by American missionaries. In 1947, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Liberia (ELCL) was born. The ELCL and ALML existed side by side but the leaders of the ALML were in control of major decisions including finances and assignment of personnel.

The constitution provided that when the president of the ELCL was a missionary, the vice president must be a national and vice versa. Yet it was a period when both missionaries and nationals began to share positions and power. The third stage of growth was the birth of the national church which occurred on January 6, 1965 when the ALML and the ELCL were dissolved and the Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL) was established. Rev. Roland J. Payne was the first president (later changed to Bishop) of the LCL.

The actual numerical growth of the LCL started during the leadership of Bishop Payne. The Lay Training Center was established and the two literacy centers were also established, developed, and expanded. The project "Operation Ten Pastors" was launched that saw the training of more national pastors to cope with the numerical growth.

Partnership was established between the LCL and Church of Sweden, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Germany, Danish Evangelical Mission, and Lutheran World Federation. Payne also led the LCL to become a member of the World Council of Churches, All Africa Conference of Churches, and the Liberian Council of Churches. The LCL is now engaging in cross-border ministry by mentoring the new Lutheran Church in Guinea.

In 1960 when the LCL was celebrating its centennial, the membership was 5,180. After 25 years, the membership increased to 25,000 in 1985. But today the LCL has a membership of 71,196 spread in 14 of the 15 counties of Liberia, divided into nine Episcopal jurisdictions called districts. The districts have 48 parishes, 150 congregations, and 300 preaching points in Montserrado, Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Lofa, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Bong, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, River Gee, Sinoe, Maryland, and Grand Kru.

Hospitals and Schools

The first ever hospital and medical school in Liberia was built by the American Lutheran Mission in Liberia in Harrisburg, Montserrado County in 1920; the Phebe Hospital and Medical School. Over the years, the school trained nurses and male medical assistants. Currently the LCL has seven health facilities, including two hospitals: Phebe and Curran in Suakoko, bong County and in Zorzor, Lofa County. There are also five clinics/health centers: in Lofa, Bong, Nimba, River Gee, and Grand Kru counties, serving the rural people of our country in promoting the GoL-PRS.

The LCL has been outstanding in providing quality education to the people of Liberia since 1860. Millsburg was the springboard for education as the missionaries moved deep into the interior of Liberia along the St. Paul River into the northwest and central Liberia. Every station was established with a school and dispensary even before a chapel was built. The Emma V. Day Girls School in Millsburg and David A. Day Boys School were merged to form the Lutheran Training Institute (LTI).

Prior to the war, LTI in Salayea was one of the best high schools in Liberia. It has the best and well-equipped science laboratory that offered the best science courses in Liberia. Presently, the LCL School System operates 35 schools including seven senior high schools, nine junior high schools, and 21 elementary schools across the country.

LCL has four training centers: the Lay Leaders and Ministers Training Center and the Language, Literacy, Literature, and Bible Translation Center in Totota, Bong County; the Urban Ministry and Minstry to the Handicapped and Disabled in Monrovia; and the Vocational Training Center catering to former combatants and young people affected by the civil war in LTI, Salayea, Lofa County.

LCL also runs five diaconal programs/projects. They are: HIV/AIDS Program, Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program, Christian Education Department, Educational Supervisory System, and Department for Mission and Evangelism. The LCL HIV/AIDS and Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Programs are the best known throughout Liberia today.

Since Rev. Morris Officer was sent to Liberia by the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a predecessor body of the ELCA, the ELCA was the first and longest-standing partner church of the LCL. The ELCA and her predecessor bodies helped build all the major institutions of the LCL that are mentioned above, developed the human resources of the LCL, and the ELCA continues to grant financial and personnel support to the various ministries of the LCL. It is very fitting that we gather ELCA members from the US and Liberia to join in this celebration of 150 years together!

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Minnwest Bank is Being Watched...

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Two mortgage-geeky things happened today. First, I received the postcard above from John as he was on the road. The caption reads "Tennessee Mortgage Lifters," and I for one don't get the joke or point. But it's the first time I've seen mortgages referenced on a postcard.

John noticed the same thing and had to send this one my way. He also pointed out, "Don't get used to it, I save my postcards for the chicks."

The other mortgage item relates to Minnwest Bank, the lender behind most of Paul Koenig's (pronounced Kay-neg) Pamiko loans. It turns out that Minnwest...

...has been cited by the FDIC for "unsafe or unsound banking practices." The link to the FDIC's order can be found here. (WARNING: DO NOT COMBINE THIS DOCUMENT WITH ALCOHOL, AMBIEN, OR ANY OTHER DEPRESSANT. DO NOT OPERATE HEAVY MACHINERY WHILE READING THIS DOCUMENT. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO OPERATE A MOVING VEHICLE WITHIN FOUR HOURS OF READING THIS DOCUMENT. IF YOU ACTUALLY FIND THIS DOCUMENT INTERESTING, SEE A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY. YOU NEED HELP.)

Minnwest has been ordered, among other things, to analyze the value of its collateral (such as foreclosed Pamiko properties) and to not extend further credit to "adversely classified borrowers." One thing that is missing is any way to force Minnwest to be part of cleaning up the colossal damages done to NoMi as a result of their loans to Koenig. Admittedly, I would not expect the FDIC to impose such a burden. But our State Commerce Department should press for this.

For the sake of Minnwest employees and shareholders, I do hope they emerge from this as a solvent and profitable financial institution. But the heat on Koenig should only intensify.

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