Dealing with incompetence

As if the first housing crunch was not outrageous enough, this second one comes just as we are starting to learn more about how ineffective the city of College Park has been at enforcing fire and safety codes. On the one hand, you've got a university that is more concerned about upping its enrollment and statistics with no concern for students who rely on on-campus housing, and, on the other hand, you've got a city government unable to grasp the importance of safe, affordable housing.

The fire last week in Hartwick Tower tells us one thing: Housing in College Park is not up to code and despite all the claims by city officials, they have failed to do their job of making sure that all area housing is safe to live in. Two years ago, when student David Ellis died in a Knox Box fire not too far from Hartwick Tower, city officials got on their soapboxes and promised immediate action.

What's even more alarming is that Hartwick Tower passed a city code enforcement check just a week before the fire, and somehow, the fire alarm seemed to work just fine during that visit. It's been almost a week since the fire and we have yet to see the property manager come forward and take responsibility for putting so many students in harm's way. The fact that this landlord and property manager think they can get away with it points to the sheer incompetence of the city.

The blame largely falls on the College Park City Council for not being tough on landlords. While you have council members such as Andy Fellows at the forefront of local issues, the larger council's agenda of ignoring student safety influences the way the city works. It is extremely unfortunate that so many council seats are unopposed, but it is also comforting to know that some not-so-university-friendly members will be retiring this year. We can only hope that some fresh blood on the new city council will give the College Park government a much-needed shift toward getting things done and ensuring safety for all residents.

Another housing problem is right here on the campus, and of course, there's someone to blame here, too. When a few hundred rising seniors were kicked out of on-campus housing last spring, university administrators vowed to fix the problem.

During several meetings and forums with Resident Life administrators, I proposed changing the way the priority system worked and suggested that the registrar become more conservative with its projections so we wouldn't see a repeat. All I got was lip service about "working together" and empty promises about not seeing a similar housing crisis.

Here we are again, and hundreds more students, this time rising juniors, face eviction from on-campus housing next year.

We expect to see that plan soon because, if students get kicked out of on-campus housing simply because the university let in more freshmen than it had room for, a tent city on the mall would only be the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised if students start shacking up in classrooms in Tydings Hall and study rooms in McKeldin Library.

I welcome Sen. Jim Rosapepe's sentiment that state action might be necessary if the administration can't solve this issue on its own.

When a government agency or a contractor fails to deliver services on time and to the satisfaction of the customer, the state (or the customer) can withhold payments. In our case, university administrators have failed to come up with a solution to a problem they knew about years ago.

Maybe the state should withhold salaries for those administrators responsible for assuring the housing allocation process goes smoothly or start firing the people who let this situation get out of hand twice. As for the city, if officials are unwilling to step up and show responsibility for the city they represent, perhaps the university should show similar concern for its responsibilities when it comes to paying taxes and fees. Perhaps then the city will understand how it feels to get screwed over by those they thought they could depend on.

Jahantab Siddiqui is a senior government and politics and marketing major. He can be reached at jahantab@umd.edu.