As I argued last night at the city council meeting during public input, the city would have true value in the old building by selling it or gifting it to the Glory House;
“One of the options is to allow the Glory House to expand. The Glory House is just adjacent to this piece of property,” Starr said.
The Glory House, which helps former inmates find jobs to get back on their feet and transition back into society, is already working with a developer to tear down the old building and construct 50 to 75 affordable housing units here.
“Over 80% of the people who graduate from the Glory House have full time jobs, what they’re having difficulties with is being able to find a place to live,” Starr said.
“We’re not in the land speculating business, we’re in the human services business as far as I’m concerned,” Starr said.
As I said last night, this is truly a ‘value’ issue for taxpayers. By keeping former ex-cons out of jail, we save the taxpayers money, a lot of money. It only makes sense to sell them the property. Even Erpenbach nodded her head at me in agreement while speaking of the issue. I think this will get a majority of the council to approve this sale. Ironically, while everyone is throwing Stehly under the bus, her and Starr were the first to look into this issue.