When the law still doesn’t protect us

I’m reading an ABC article on the near impossibility for people in Raleigh, North Carolina, to find landlords willing to accept Section 8 housing vouchers. Aka federal housing assistance for poor people. The article bemoaned the N.C. Fair Housing Act that allows landlords to refuse tenants using government assistance for rent payments.

Whew, aren’t we lucky living in the liberal, un-progressive, state of California where our Fair Housing Act considers this discrimination. Ha, ha! When the law passed some years ago a respected civil rights attorney told me, “good luck to anyone hoping to make their case.” Oh, and when your Butte County case is easy to make as an existing tenant in good standing, with a voucher in hand, your landlord merely has to say, “sorry we don’t take direct deposit.” If ya wanna hope to resolve this get yourself an attorney, which is no problem (sarcasm) for poor people on fixed incomes with scarce access to affordable legal representation. Oh, and hope to win your case! Wouldn’t accounts payable sending checks, in addition to direct deposit, better serve desperate and underserved Housing Authority clients?

Oh, and thank goodness (sarcasm) the California Fair Maps law outlaws gerrymandering at the county and municipal level when drawing district maps. Ha, ha — so sue us! Good luck with that in the poor rural counties of Northern California. It’s no biggie for the liberal Democratic Party that long ago shined off progressives living here. And the beat goes on …

— Bill Mash, Chico