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U Of M Housing Director Conspires With Landlords

U Of M Housing Director Conspires With Landlords image
Parent Issue
Day
25
Month
January
Year
1974
OCR Text

U of M HOUSING DIRECTOR CONSPIRES with LANDLORDS

John Feldkamp is director of the University of Michigan's Housing Office.

John Feldkamp is the campaign manager for Republican Clyde Colburn, who is running for re-election to City Council from the Fourth Ward.

And John Feldkamp has been having secret meetings with Ann Arbor landlords, discussing rent control and means by which landlords can evade new state tenants rights legislation.

On January 14, the Human Rights Party confronted Feldkamp with these facts and accused him of a conflict of interest following its disclosure of the October 31 and December 18 secret meetings. Feldkamp denied the charges, saying "I don't think I let my political views get in the way of doing my job fairly."

The HRP believes that the interest of Feldkamp as head of the Housing Office is to be a student and tenant advocate, and that the interest of landlords (and Republicans) necessarily conflicts with that of tenants and students. Feldkamp apparently believes, on the other hand, that his interest as director of the Housing Office and that of landlords and Republicans coincide. We can guess where that leaves students and tenants.

But let the record speak for itself.

*New state legislation prohibits the collection of more than one and one-half month's rent as a damage deposit and more than one month's rent in advance, thus preventing landlords from ripping off "first and last month's rent plus damage deposit." The minutes of the December meeting, swiped by the HRP and given to the SUN, say that some managers want to encourage students to pay more rent in advance, but at a lower rate, and Feldkamp approved that idea, despite the state law. The managers said that they needed this so-called "accelerated rent' because of the "slow legal process involved in settling landlord-tenant collection problems." The minutes continue:

John Feldkamp said that the slow court process is one he is attempting to work on with the local courts as the procedures involved were originally designed to move quickly in the best interests of all parties involved.

What this means is that Feldkamp is trying to speed up the legal process for evicting tenants. Thankfully he has no control over it.

*Feldkamp is hung up over two persons of different sexes living with one another. In fact, last summer he tried to prevent the student rent information office from giving out apartment data to such mixed couples. Thwarted by the city's Human Rights Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of marital status, sexual preference, or student status, he now wants the ordinance changed to eliminate these grounds of discrimination, and is putting pressure on City Attorney Edwin Pear, Mayor Stephenson, and the city's Human Rights Department. Feldkamp called the above grounds "low-priority."

The fact that Feldkamp's meetings with landlords were even kept secret from the students and faculty on the University's Housing Policy Committee is just cause for Feldkamp to resign.