Hi Mitch!
I'm the Assistant Editor of the Watchdog and I just wanted to let you know that truth is stranger than fiction. I had to scan those affadavits posted to the site www.watchdog-news.com by hand. This Steven Magner guy really is bizarre! He plays hide and seek every time I go in to ask questions at the LIEP office. Also, this case at Jesamine (14 E. Jessamine St.) is not an isolated one. This is playbook-style racketeering. First, they bleed you dry fixing the place to code, then they change the rules. Now you have half as much time as you were promised, your 10k bond is yanked, and you've been paying the mortgage, utils, taxes on an unoccuppied building for several months. Then they purposefully cut the utilities and demolish the place for a code violation that they perpetrated! In Minnesota, we keep all the criminally-insane people off the street by giving them jobs in city government. Look at that bad smelling, old "property pirate" Andy Dawkins. That guy told me in an interview that school's shouldn't teach children about money, parents should do that. The rich teach their kids how to be rich, the middleclass teach their kids to be middleclass and the poor stay poor, ahh "progressive fascism" at its finest. Ignorance is power, at least on the left.
I heard from a reliable source that Magner likes to stay up late at night playing "deutschland, deutschland" real loud while planning his undisclosed, "Final Solution TO Crime & Poverty" I understand it involves lots and lots of ovens.
I'm sure he knows what's best for us, even if he'd rather not give away the ending, right?
-Protest 14. East Jessamine St. St. Paul
- time 1pm, feb14, Valentine's Day!
Be There Or Be Next!
Taylor Swartwood - Asst. Ed. Watchdog

The PiPress article was quite interesting. My opinion on Demo is a 'last resort' tool. I was confused by the desire to tear down what appears to be a marketable home, but then I read this:

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/13865196.htm

""The city says it has given the owners numerous chances over the years to correct problems but that the house remains dangerous. Video taken Monday morning seems to support the claim. For example, it shows a hydraulic jack that is tilted noticeably to one side as it holds up a basement beam used to support the first floor.""

But with the questionable practices of the City, the desire of those with vested financial interest wanting to recoup some of their expenses, it would still seem to me that the City has other tools at their disposal then just a wrecking ball.

The home across the street from my place had far worse issues then this one, including foundation problems. It was saved from the wrecking ball by an injunction (filed by HUD) that the city fought all the way to the SCOTUS (http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/2001/0responses/2001-0791.resp.html). While all the legal wrangling was going on, the new homeowner (Who purchased the site from HUD) went about his business restoring this property and the demolition became mute. Now this home has Women Gymnasts from Hamline U renting it. Far cry from the eye sore it once was *grin*

I'm not buying into all the corruption claims considering the bitterness that this issue has caused. But I DO think the City has other alternatives here besides plowing over a home to create a vacant lot. If that is the case, I have a few places that should be higher on their list then this one, and they go ignored for reasons that have never been explained to me.

Flash

Thanks for helping to cover this issue. As the webmaster of the Watchdog web site, I agree that things to get "overheated", but it's hard not to when things seem to be done on such a personal level, and a sense of what is fair and right is offended. From my perspective, I just want to know the facts and encourage honesty and compassion on the part of all. I also feel that good investigative work and clear presentation of the facts will speak for themselves and remove the perceived need for personal attacks.

I was alerted to your site by the amount of traffic we are getting from you, and I wanted to say thanks for your fair coverage of this issue.

Chris Nielsen, webmaster
The Watchdog News

I know that the second I mention that I work for the city that everyone will think that I will just toe the “company” line. In my case, this is not true. I do not have any personal interest in the outcome of 14 E. Jessamine. Either it stays up, or is demolished, makes no difference to me. Now, having said that, here is my two cents on the whole situation, take it for what it’s worth.

The house is a problem. No amount of slapped-up dry wall and hastily laid carpet changes that. The pictures depicting a “marketable house” were taken by those who do not want to see 14 E. Jessamine demolished. So they clearly have a bias, and only show pictures that aid their cause. All is not as it seems... as evidenced by the “supporting” hydraulic jack in the basement.

Secondly, yes there are other houses in the city that are in worse condition. But that doesn’t mean that 14 E. Jessamine should not be torn-down. That’s like saying cops shouldn’t give speeding tickets because “somewhere else” in the city someone is stealing a car. If you break the law and/or city ordinances you pay the price. If Ms. Osterman, or any other St. Paul resident would like to complain about other properties they have every right. Contact the Citizen Service Office, and the same process will be followed.

City employees, contrary to what the “Watchdog” “editors” may believe, are not power-mongers. They have their job to do like everyone else. If they were all sugar and gumdrops with everybody they would face criticism from citizens about the unsafe and degrading housing conditions through-out the city. It is a no-win situation for them.

Thirdly, the “he said, she said” accusations about the $40,000 forced sale threats are just not true. At best Ms. Osterman may have misunderstood a suggestion to sell to anyone else, as she proved to be in a little over her head with the rehabilitation process. As anyone who has rehabbed a house knows, it always becomes a bigger (and more expensive) job than first thought. And if you’re not experienced, there is a temptation to seek “short-cuts.” (Aka: hydraulic jack)

This claim of extortion is part of the federal RICO lawsuit. And in due time the claims will have their airing in court. I would bet my entire net-worth (which isn’t much) that they are never sufficiently proven, and the lawsuit is dismissed. (I’ve had a chance to read it completely. And the landlords have had to revise the complaint at least once already.)

Finally, all those with a financial interest in 14 E. Jessamine have had plenty of time and chances to re-coup their investment. But it appears that they devalue future tenants’ and neighbors’ rights as compared to their own financial interests. No amount of table banging, cries of unconstitutionality, or shouts of “unfair” change this fact.

Sincerely,
Just a grunt in the process
(Who’s afraid of retaliation)

Hi guys,
I'm a victim as well. My mothers fiance' died and left his home to my mom. The city had wanted that land and had fought him for it forever. Finally when he died and the property went into foreclosure due to them dropping the mortgage payments to a dead man's home address, Steve Magner rushed the home into an abandoned status and had it demolished before the redemption period was up. In essance, I ended up paying a LOT of money to the city to get a lot.
On top of injury they 'charged the family for the bullet' by dropping a $13,000 assessment on the land making it the most expensive patch of dirt you'll ever find.
Now I can't do anything on it because the city keeps blocking any movement to improve the area.

It's an ongoing nightmare.

Thanks for shedding light on some of these issues.

Jason