KANDO (Kaul Avenue Neighborhood Development Organization)

Recap of the March 2010 KANDO Meeting

The meeting was held on Tuesday March 9, 2010.

Mike Link the President of KANDO began the meeting by welcoming everyone.

Following the Agenda he introduced Tou Vang and Pai Yang who are the owners of the Milwaukee Asian Market. Tou let the group know that they appreciated being invited to the meeting and thanked them for the opportunity to talk about the Market. The following information was passed along:

The Milwaukee Asian Market is located at 6300 N. 76th St.

Tou and Pai are looking forward to the Market being a catalyst to boost the economy on this side of town and hoping to bring in approximately 600 jobs.

They are hoping this will draw people to the surrounding neighborhoods and have them purchase the foreclosed properties and become valued residents in our neighborhoods.

The building is 8500 square feet and will be two stories.

There will be twelve restaurants.

They are hoping to begin the rehab in April or May of this year.

A question was asked about the old Northridge being bought by a company from China and how this will affect their business, Tou let the group know that the Asian Market is retail and the China Company is wholesale. Tou feels they will compliment each other.

The present building is 80% full now. There are 51 vendors to date and they come as far away as Florida.

The question was asked if they are copying another community that has an Asian Market and Tou said yes. There are three success markets in Minnesota that have 2000 – 3000 customers every weekend and they too anticipate that type of business.

A question was asked on how they will accommodate the parking needs and Tou let the group know that they have arrangements with the business next to them to use their parking.

They are open every day from 8am to 7pm and should be open in summer from 7am to 7pm.

The question was asked if there has been anything negative expressed to them in the planning process and Tou said everything has been positive. He also mentioned that the City of Milwaukee has been very supportive.

Tou wanted the group to know that him and Pai live in the neighborhood and love this community.

Tou closed with thanking Stephanie Harling of Havenwoods for everything she’s done for them and let the group know that he and Pai wouldn’t have been able to obtain their dream without her help.

Next on the Agenda was the Healthy Neighborhoods and Mike introduced Laqueshia Turner from Havenwoods Economic Development. Laqueshia thanked the group for having her and let them know that she is presently working with Havenwoods as a Public Ally employee and is working on the Healthy Neighborhood initiative. Laqueshia spoke of a Community Garden in the Clovernook Park neighborhood that Havenwoods is working on and the following information was passed along:

This is a pilot program and if it is successful Havenwoods will develop more. It was explained that this is a method of neighborhood revitalization and this project focuses on Community Engagement.

There will be 10 4x8 plots in Clovernook Park.

There will be additional information that will be going out as the project continues to be developed.

Laqueshia is interested in getting volunteers from the Havenwoods community to be the eyes of the project and to monitor the site.

The question was asked if there was water on the site and the group was informed that Havenwoods is partnering with MPS (this is their park) and that there is water on the site.

The group was also informed that the Brady Corporation is interested in doing something like this on a larger scale and having a community garden on the vacant land which is located on 60th and Good Hope Rd. This is also a possible location for the vendors of the Milwaukee Asian Market to grow their produce locally.

The next item on the Agenda that Mike addressed was the Landlord Breakfast which is scheduled for Thursday April 22nd. There was a short recap of how this event is ran and the group agreed to have the topic be evictions and asked to have a Court Commissioner attend as the guest speaker. ADA Mark Sanders will work on making those arrangements for us.

Next on the Agenda was Neighborhood Issues and the following items were addressed:

The annual Neighborhood Clean Up was scheduled for Saturday April 24th. Liz will notify the surrounding Block Watches and the Lighthouse. Additional planning will continue and be recapped at the April KANDO meeting. It was also suggested that we give a special invite to the Officers that are in the area to join us at the cookout and to be part of the event and engage with the residents/kids. Liz will follow up on this and contact the Captain to make those arrangements.

An update on Dino’s was passed along to the group.

An update on an offender selling drugs in the neighborhood was passed along.

A duplex that was in foreclosure and has been rehabbed and is now on the market was passed along with a number to call if any landlords were interested.

Information on the railroad tracks on N. 64th Street (south of Mill Rd.) being planned for repaired was given. It was noted that this was the result of the calling campaign that many of the residents did to the Rail Road Company to complain of the damaged tracks.

The group was reminded to stay connected with what was happening in the neighborhood and to log onto the Havenwoods website http://www.havenwoods.org and to also join them on Facebook and Twitter.

Mike asked if the group had any concerns or issues and there weren’t any, he also reminded everyone that as the weather continues to get warmer to watch, monitor all activity and don’t hesitate to call the Police. It was noted that the Fourth Police District continues to have a large police presence in our neighborhood.

The final item on the Agenda was the Sharing of Resources that the landlords use for screening perspective tenants and the following information was discussed and/or passed along:

There were a number of websites that the group spoke of that were used all the time, CCAP and Municipal Court. It was explained that these were easy to use and powerful tools. Liz agreed to forward these links, in email to the group.

It was noted that the City of Milwaukee website is also a good tool; this will give you the address and owner of the properties that a perspective tenant puts down on their application. This is a good way to check if they are giving you the correct information (ex: the landlord they put down is the actual person that owns the property).

Some of the landlords don’t charge an application fee and felt it wasn’t worth the effort, they also felt that if every possible landlord charged a fee this would get very pricey for a tenant.

Some landlords run a credit check and although the realty is that many of the tenants don’t have good credit this report will turn up other valuable information. (ex: it could show they have had five different phone companies and owe to all of them – you probably wouldn’t want them)

It was noted that many of the people applying have a lot of owed medical bills and this is something you would have to weigh thru and decide if they would be able to pay their rent.

All though it is getting better there has been concern of identity theft, many of the younger tenants have had their credit ruined by their parents using their name on the WE Energies and phone bills.

The group discussed and agreed that you have to become an investigator when you accept an application and do a complete check on what the tenant’s history is.

It was noted that landlords need to remember that they aren’t a charity or a social worker and don’t set a tenant up to fail. Don’t rent to them if it shows on paper that they can’t afford the rent along with their other expenses, even if you like them and they are show they are a good person.

Do your homework on the tenant, it’s cheaper in the long run to have a vacancy than to have the destruction (property and financial) that a bad tenant will bring.

Ask for a picture ID and a copy of a recent pay stub and make copies of these for your records.

It was noted that if a perspective tenant is questionable but the landlord wants to take a chance on that person they will ask for a double security deposit.

Never – ever – take a tenant that shows up and wants to hand you cash and immediately rent your unit. This screams illegal activity.

One landlord always asks the possible tenants to be honest when filling out their application, if they are caught in a lie that will immediately stop the process. This landlord asks the tenant what is the worse thing I’m going to find out about you.

There was a question on how does a property owner deal with blighted properties that are in their neighborhood and the group explained that this can be reported to Havenwoods and they will address that issue by working closely with DNS and DPW.

There was a short recap on the process of eviction.

There was some discussion filing a judgment against a tenant you evict that owed you money and the group agreed this was a necessary practice. There are some successes on being able to garnish them and you can also write it off. It was also noted that if an evicted tenant gets their financial situation in order and wants to purchase property they will have to clean up the judgment first.

A judgment is good for ten years and can redocument for $5.00.

It was noted that evictions are very expensive and it’s important to do your homework before renting to anyone.

Landlords will check what a tenant is driving and wearing…. Does this mesh with what their income is?

There was some discussion on the amount of time the Court Commissioners are giving evicted tenants to move out.

One of the landlords spoke of always having tenants they are evicting sign a stipulation (payment arrangement) and spoke on how he will use this to his benefit.

The KANDO landlords all offered their support to each other and new landlords.

It was noted that when screening tenants to always look for a taxable income.

It was noted that to be a successful landlord you have to always be at your property and if a perspective tenant finds this a problem they are not a tenant you would want.

It’s important to always hold your tenants accountable.

The meeting ended at 7:45pm.