"Someone needs to man up..."

Ain't that the truth brother. For those who haven't heard, there is a very interesting story on Yahoo! News today about Andre Hall, a Pittsburgh resident who came home from vacation to find that the city had demolished his house. Now for a bit of back story on this, Hall had bought the house as a condemned property in November and had 6 month to make it livable. He had installed new windows and had a bunch of drywall stacked for installation after the holidays. The plan was for him, his girlfriend and her five kids to move into the house within three weeks. Now they will all continue to live in his one-bedroom apartment. His thoughts on the matter, "Someone needs to man up and take responsibility for this."

I couldn't agree more, and while many may feel the contractor who did the demolition should be to blame, I feel the city of Pittsburgh is at fault. They should have made sure the demolition orders were clear, and they should have had someone on site before the first swipe was taken at the building. Instead they, through their negligence, allowed this man's home be destroyed, postponing and possibly ending his shot at the "American Dream" of owning a home. But to call the actions of the City of Pittsburgh negligent is to light, I feel this is a case of Criminal Negligence as it directly resulted in the loss of Andre Hall's house and the hours and money he had put into making it livable. Instead of having a live and vibrant neighborhood, the City of Pittsburgh has an empty lot.

There should be some form of restitution paid for this, and I can think of nothing better that the City of Pittsburgh replacing the house they destroyed. By that I do not mean they should give Hall back the money he paid on the house plus what he had invested into rebuilding. I mean they should build, to Hall's specifications, a new 1600 sq foot house. Not just because they destroyed his, but because in destroying this house they have not only taken away Hall's dream of home ownership, they have also taken the dream of a better life from Hall, his girlfriend and her five children, who must continue to live in his ONE BEDROOM apartment.

The worst part of this is that in reading the story, Yahoo! reports that this is not the first time something like this has happened in recent history. Apparently it is quite common. Every time I read or hear a news story like this it saddens me for two reasons. First is that as a homeowner and someone who has worked very hard for all I have, I know what it is like to have that sense of pride and dignity that comes from belonging, and I can;t imagine what it would be like to have that taken away.

The second reason I am saddened is every time I read or hear a story like this I am concerned for the safety and welfare of the rest of the population. If the people we chose to lead, govern, and protect us are this careless, are we safe. The City of Pittsburgh Solicitor's Office is investigating the incident, what's to investigate. Last week the house was there, this week it isn't. End of investigation, "man up" and build the poor guy a new house already.