A.G. Gancarski
A message to HUD slumlords, such as Global Ministries Foundation, which operates in Jacksonville: Marco Rubio is not done with you.
In a floor speech Wednesday regarding H.R. 2577, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, Rubio reiterated his issues with HUD and its policies, which have led to institutional neglect around the country, describing four key amendments to correct issues he’s seen.
Rubio talked about Eureka Garden and GMF in very biting terms, quoting the “what we do” section of its website as a preamble to exposing their business.
“We have a quote here from Rev. Hamlet,” Rubio said, saying GMF is in “business,” not a “church mission.”
GMF has 5,000 units nationwide — 2,000 in Florida, and 396 at Eureka Garden.
Rubio talked about “mold on the walls … appliances 15 years old … unpainted in 13 years. There was a thinking that this is just one property,” Rubio said, but that is not the case.
In Memphis, Rubio said, HUD pulled its funding. And there are snakes on the property … to eat the rats, Sen. Rubio said.
In Atlanta, “ceiling tiles were peeling” with standing fetid water just feet from children.
Some residents, Rubio said, “would rather be homeless than live in a GMF property.”
Rubio then talked about Washington Heights, in Jacksonville, as being just as bad as Eureka.
And then about Windsor Cove in Orlando, where Rubio said vermin come through holes in the walls into apartments.
“It’s not just one property! There are multiple properties in multiple states!”
Rubio described contractors and work crews that “mysteriously showed up” after Rubio announced his visit at Eureka.
“We have reports of other buildings with similar conditions,” Rubio said, before describing “crumbling stairs … covered with black mold” with duct tape over the cracks in the metal.
“Faulty electrical wiring … covered up with a garbage bag so not one could see it,” Rubio added.
“At Eureka Garden, one resident said ‘dogs live better than this,'” Rubio continued, before describing children beset with lead poisoning.
All of it on the taxpayer dime.
Friday, Rubio “saw an apartment where the window would not open,” because a “glob of glue” obstructed the window’s operation.
“I saw an apartment that hadn’t been painted in 13 years … a refrigerator that looked like it was from North Korea,” he said. “Forty-eight hours before I visited, GMF started to fix the cosmetic issues,” putting boards over the doorway … with protruding nails.
“If you ran into the doorway, you could get a nail to the face, to the gut,” Rubio said, before talking about GMF finances.
In 2014, Hamlet made over $500,000, and his family made an additional $218,000 … violating IRS rules regarding disclosure of family member compensation, Rubio added.
“There is no one here who is a more strident proponent of faith-based initiatives, but you have these buildings crumbling,” Rubio said, while money was transferred into the Hamlet family pockets and to “public relations specialists … counter-spinning me with the media.”
They have the money for law firms, PR firms, and other purposes, “but they don’t have the money to fix these units,” Rubio continued. “They are slumlords. There are people living in these deplorable conditions … and they are laughing at us.”
Rubio then took issue with Hamlet saying his nonprofit was a “very profitable business,” again wondering why the money wasn’t invested in properties.
“I don’t know how they passed any inspections. There is no inspection that building should pass,” Rubio said.
Rubio then described his amendments, requiring a shortening of notification time from 30 days to 15 days, citing gas leaks at Eureka as a prime driver.
Another amendment: “fixing the inspection process in HUD.”
A third: “giving state and local governments more say” regarding the contractual process, triggering a review of questionable properties from governors and mayors.
“The Jacksonville City Council’s been engaged, and the mayor is supporting [this],” Rubio said.
The fourth amendment: “tenant protection vouchers,” allowing relocation assistance for tenants “trapped” in Eureka Garden, “hospitalized” because of conditions, sleeping in their bathtubs because of mold infestation.
“Slumlords … know they can get away with it.”
Rubio called for the Justice Department to look into Global Ministries Foundation. And for the IRS to look into their tax status. And for GMF never again to access HUD dollars.
“I almost guarantee that you are going to find slum conditions in your state,” Rubio said to senators who have GMF properties in their states.
