Proper Punishment

How sweet it is! For as many years as there have been slumlords, tenants of dirty and unsafe buildings have complained that if their landlord only had to live in his building the place would be fixed up in no time. Now they’ll have a chance to test their theory, because a creative Los Angeles judge has sentenced a man convicted of repeated building and safety violations to serve part of his term in one of his own buildings.

Los Angeles Municipal Judge Veronica Simmons McBeth ordered Dr. Milton Avol, who owns five blighted buildings, to serve 30 days in jail and then 30 in one of his own buildings. There, if there still is broken glass in the hallway, Avol might see it on his way to the bathroom. If the rats come out at night, Avol may hear or even see them. If the plumbing is inadequate, he’ll know whom to call.

Fines apparently don’t work. Avol had been convicted of code violations at a building on Main Street in 1979 and fined $3,000. He has been cited for violations at other buildings, and in April was ordered to bring his properties up to safety, fire and health standards. He didn’t act quickly enough to suit the judge.

The staff of the city attorney’s office and health, fire and building safety officials have been cooperating for several years on a housing task force to clamp down on slumlords. As a result of their efforts, these people who make tenants live in filthy firetraps are finding judges less willing to keep extending the time in which they can make the repairs ordered. But conditions remain grim in many buildings in downtown’s Skid Row area and in the 6th and Alvarado neighborhood, so there is always more to be done.

In recent years 14 slumlords have been sentenced to jail in Los Angeles. One of them, Nathaniel Wells, is doing four years. But Avol’s may be the ultimate penalty. He let the mess develop; now he has to live with it.