Monday, January 26, 2009
Hicks From the Sticks / Kotz / Legislature / Politics The Adventures of Rep. Stacey Campfield, Action Slumlord
Posted by Pete Kotz on Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 5:38 AM
Last week, Campfield was nicked by the Knoxville News-Sentinel for being a rather egregious slumlord. After visiting one of his rental properties, city inspectors found 47 violations and ruled the home "unfit for human habitation." Campfield naturally blamed it on his renters. But his explanation rings hollow.
Among the problems were a basement flooded by raw sewage, rigged electrical wiring, and a furnace that didn't work. But when the students complained about Campfield's slow repairs, he threatened to sue them, bragging that his connections made him immune to remedy.
Can you say "douchebag," boys and girls?
Fortunately for the kids, they kept detailed records, even taking video of the aquarium of feces that once was their basement. Read the story, and you can't help but believe the students are telling the truth...
The greater question is why we keep electing these people. Last week, Jeff Woods reported on the adventures new House Speaker Kent Williams, Noted Pervert. And he's actually an upgrade over the guy he beat for the speaker's chair, Jason Mumpower, 13th Century Preservationist.
Campfield provides an even greater study in psychological abnormality. By day he's among the shrillest, most conservative members of the House, a braying moralist and man of God.
(Get a load of his website, which carries the spirit and linguistic qualities of that mean little seventh grader you suspect of torturing cats.)
By night he allows renters to live above a sewage containment pond. What Would Jesus Do? He'd politely ask Campfield if he'd be interested in converting to atheism.
So while the rest of the country just dumped George Bush, Tennessee's still stuck with people who make Bush seem like John C. Calhoun. I don't know about you, but this doesn't speak to a promising future.
Comments (2)
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Come on people. I am in PR and I don't have to smell a rat to know college students need money like the rest of the population...and they have way too much time on their hands. You may hate Rep. Campfield for his views, but geesh, even you can't believe these kids are innocent in all of this. Did anyone ever ask Rep. Campfield about this?
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They did indeed ask Rep. Campfield about this and he responded that it was merely a case of bad tenants. However, if these tenants were irresponsible enough to cause 47 code violations then why did Campfield not evict them earlier? The answer to this is simple. These individuals are college students who are paying $1600 in rent a month for this condemned piece of property. The Representative knows it would almost impossible to find other students who are looking for a place to rent in January and he is also aware of the fact that college students are the only people that would rent a house that is in as bad a condition as his property seems to be. Therefore, he is able to buy old houses, sink a minimal amount of capital into them, and then turn around and make a large profit. This my friends is the definition of a slum lord.
