My, My, My, Tim Bonham! You amaze me! Talk about quickly getting to the
heart of the matter. Perhaps others can also call Mr. AVAKIAN at (651)
406-9614 and ask him to please screen his tenants better, and to do
something about this outrage on a community. Or perhaps send an email to
the church which Tim so kindly supplied an e-address for.
I would say that it is just an unfortunate situation for the property owner,
and a landlord is not responsible for the actions of his tenants. Well
perhaps, except for the history of this particular house at 1004 East 22nd
Street. For ten years this house has been more than a nuisance. On at
least three different times that have filled six or seven of the last ten
years during that period the house at 1004 East 22nd Street has housed young
gang members who have terrorized the old and handicapped people from the
high-rise on 10th and 22nd. Robbed people, assaulted helpless people, sold
drugs, prostitution, and you name it for other activities. I have written on
"List" several times about this very same house
Police officers laugh about the house at 1004 East 22nd Street and say that
it is difficult to see how one house could have such a string of bad people,
unless they were being actively recruited by the landlord. It is like the
odds against having the same house hit by lightning three nights in a row.
There just are not that many bad people to have the same house continually
rented by not just bad people, but really bad people.
And yes, some of the people who have occupied that house have indeed been
terrorists in every sense of the word. Ask some of the old handicapped
people who have been terrorized.
Many readers of the List should call Mr. Avakian and invite him to become a
true witness to his faith and attempt to help the community that the
occupants of this house have so troubled. Perhaps contact that poor little
Somali woman that his tenants mugged, robbed and beat for no other reason
than she was Somali. Contact her and ask for her forgiveness for having
"Enabled" her attackers by bringing them into this community. Perhaps Mr.
Avakian can talk to the membership of his church and urge them to also help
this community. But then perhaps I ask to much, when I ask others to call
the man and ask that a landlord take responsibility for the problems caused
by his building. But it is the Christian thing to do. We should offer
forgiveness to the man, rather than seeking to have him charged with
controlling a "Disorderly House" or asking the County Attorney to proceed
with "Nuisance House" actions. No, the Christian thing to do is to give him
the opportunity to correct the problem as a "Christian" should. Then if he
does not act properly we should have other "expectations".
Perhaps we need to expect a little more from a good "Christian" landlord. We
also should expect families to control their children and not actively allow
them to be part of a criminal culture. Usually when a family loses a child
to this evil it is for the same reason people lose other things, they just
do not value it enough to take care of it and watch over it constantly.
Whether it is a child or another undervalued thing, we do not pay enough
attention to those things we do not value. Children deserve more, they
deserve parents who care, and no matter what excuses are made, losing a
child just is not acceptable. Hopefully Mr. Avakian can make sure he only
rents to people who care and are responsible enough to not lose their
children. Even in the ghetto children are just too valuable.
Jim Graham,
Ventura Village
"He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself
must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be
forgiven. In the forgiveness of others one forgives themselves, and this is
the forgiveness that is most essential."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Bonham" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "mpls-issues" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 9:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Mpls] Terrill's open letter - How about expecting families to
just care enough?
The criminal
girls then fled around the corner to 1004 East 22nd Street and went inside
where several of them live with one of their mothers.
That property is owned by:
BRIAN N AVAKIAN
1004 22ND ST E
MINNEAPOLIS MN 55404
Though he lists his address as that building, he actually resides in the
suburb of Eagan, at:
1219 Balsam Trl E
Eagan, MN 55123-1705
(651) 406-9614
He serves on the Ministry Team of Grace Christian Church in Inver Grove
Heights: http://www.gracecrcigh.org/ . But the disruption caused to the
neighbors caused by the criminal behavior of his tenants doesn't seem
either "christian" or "love-thy-neighbor"!
Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson
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