Health & Fitness
Bennet Senior Housing and The Mysterious 12
The Directors responded strongly to tenant concerns at Bennet Senior Housing. Is this an opportunity to be more vigilant about oversight to avoid surprises such as deteriorating school buildings?
When recently watching the , my first thought was appreciation for the fact that the Directors are taking it seriously and are very concerned, if not outraged, about the circumstances. The Directors pledged to investigate, followup and solve the problems. Tenants will appreciate the Board’s oversight and, if the back rent problem is resolved, the taxpayers will be thrilled. My own experience is that the Board has always been responsive to citizen requests and, although not able to to solve every problem, willing to investigate.
My second thought after listening to the Board’s concerns, is how did we ever get to the point where a total lack of oversight for years and years has led to this situation? Recent disclosures about the condition of our schools highlights the need for continuously vigilant oversight by both Boards, the Directors for town buildings and . Dwelling on why it happened may be counterproductive right now, but perhaps we can learn from it for the future and avoid additional surprises.
Questions remain and the answers may not come easily. Most important, in 1983, did the town give away the authority it had over this Town owned building? Does the town and the Bennet Housing Corporation have any clout whatsoever or are we at the mercy of a private entity that has a concern only about the bottom line and little concern about the condition of the building and the residents in it?
Why is it so difficult to find out who are the 12 limited partners? Although hindsight is always 20/20 (the deal probably looked good in 1983), how did the town get so snookered that it is now owed over $350,00 in back rent (the entity just paid up $50,000!) with no apparent recourse and may end up with a building needing serious upgrades?
The tenant liaison from Bennet commented that residents fear complaining too much because they have been told the rents will have to be increased. This has been the typical retort from the management company. Tenant representatives may be more comfortable meeting privately with the Bennet Housing Corporation or members of the Board of Directors to express their concerns. The Board needs to reassure the tenants there will be no repercussions for expressing their concerns.
Thankfully, the Board of Directors plans to follow up on this issue. In addition to getting some of the problems taken care of (hopefully), it will be most interesting to find out who are the 12 mysterious limited partners and how they benefited from this arrangement (although I am not optimistic about that). In addition, this may also be an opportunity to develop some general oversight procedures to prevent additional surprises about our infrastructure.
