Dec 19, 2019 2 min read

Canonsburg family should have been helped

I was very sad to read in the Dec. 6 Observer-Reporter{/em} about the family being kicked out of their home on Ridge Avenue in Canonsburg, and how that borough and the county were pleased about it and patted themselves on the back. I was born in Canonsburg and can remember when it was a friendly place to live and bring up children.

The article states that both Canonsburg and the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Washington knew there were problems with that house when the modest-income family purchased it, yet did nothing at all to offer help except to demand that the family bring it up to “standards” within a time frame without offering any financial assistance to do so.

So, a family was made homeless. I am glad that the Red Cross helped them find shelter. Now the cost to help them will be much higher than if the redevelopment authority had done its duty in the first place instead of now claiming it might be able to help while offering no promise that it ever will. I notice that the county and Canonsburg ignored that the sale price of that home was only $19,000 and taxed the family at an assessed rate nearly three times that amount.

Apparently, they have different standards when it comes to collecting taxes than they do when forcibly removing people from their homes. This is a sad commentary about how government officials and taxpayer-funded agencies treat lower income residents who are doing their best to survive with limited means to do so.

Shame on you, Canonsburg and redevelopment authority! How many more people do you plan to throw out of their homes rather than giving them help to remain in their homes? You give huge amounts of taxpayer money to attract new tenants to Southpointe, and brag about it. I thank the Observer-Reporter{/em} for exposing this atrocity, and I wish that family the best.

John Bradburn

Washington{&end}