Posted on Mar 9, 2019
Kaine: 'Did somebody even check these places?' after touring private military housing
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https://www.wavy.com/news/military/kaine-did-somebody-even-check-these-places-after-touring-private-military-housing-1/ [login to see]
Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) says he "got an earful" Friday afternoon about living conditions in private military housing, speaking with families who live near Naval Station Norfolk.
"Military families shouldn't be living at standards that are below the standards that are in all the housing that surrounds the military base."
Kaine says people who live in private military housing have problems that never seem to get solved.
He spoke with a family with a newborn.
"There's unacceptable ventilation with a next door unit and the smell of smoke pervades their unit, even though they're non-smokers. They worry about secondhand smoke effect on their baby."
Others Kaine talked to say their homes weren't livable even from day one. He described a family's account of moving into a unit that hadn't been cleaned and two of the three toilets didn't work.
"Did somebody even check, did somebody even walk through this place?" Kaine asked.
And even when the housing firms did respond, Kaine says the solution was almost worse than the problem, as in the case of a family with mold.
"Having somebody come out and painting it over, or trying to sand it - are you kidding me?"
Kaine is sponsoring a bill with fellow democrats Mark Warner, Diane Feinstein and Kamala Harris that would withhold the tenant's housing allowance, and stop incentive payments to firms that don't correct sub-standard conditions.
Kaine says it's up to military leadership to keep them in line and the commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic agrees.
Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) says he "got an earful" Friday afternoon about living conditions in private military housing, speaking with families who live near Naval Station Norfolk.
"Military families shouldn't be living at standards that are below the standards that are in all the housing that surrounds the military base."
Kaine says people who live in private military housing have problems that never seem to get solved.
He spoke with a family with a newborn.
"There's unacceptable ventilation with a next door unit and the smell of smoke pervades their unit, even though they're non-smokers. They worry about secondhand smoke effect on their baby."
Others Kaine talked to say their homes weren't livable even from day one. He described a family's account of moving into a unit that hadn't been cleaned and two of the three toilets didn't work.
"Did somebody even check, did somebody even walk through this place?" Kaine asked.
And even when the housing firms did respond, Kaine says the solution was almost worse than the problem, as in the case of a family with mold.
"Having somebody come out and painting it over, or trying to sand it - are you kidding me?"
Kaine is sponsoring a bill with fellow democrats Mark Warner, Diane Feinstein and Kamala Harris that would withhold the tenant's housing allowance, and stop incentive payments to firms that don't correct sub-standard conditions.
Kaine says it's up to military leadership to keep them in line and the commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic agrees.
Kaine: 'Did somebody even check these places?' after touring private military housing
Posted from wavy.com
Housing
Democrats
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 5
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It seems some quality control was in order at the beginning and never took place ! If they premises aren't being properly repaired and maintained, why not ? It seems more and more often these newer units end up being so substandard they are ready for demolition within very short time periods. Using cheap materials like press board for instance that in my opinion should even be used anyway,or no proper insulation or even sound barriers between units. Often a lot of mass produced junk which also isn't even unusual in the outside housing market. The problem isn't restricted to just Military housing or even area around Military Installations , its everywhere !
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PO1 John Johnson
Time to follow the money trail and see which upper level DOD Civilian or Military Officer wasn't doing their job.
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SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
Safir Rahndom - Good idea, often that is where the problem lays and why corners were cut and when things aren't as they are supposed to cutting in on what they hoped was all theirs to keep. all to much about not spending the money on the project but making plenty ! If it had been done right and with quality materials in the first place though follow up would be needed less. That's how thing used to be done !
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Great point. I never lived on (Post Housing) when I served on Active Duty. Some of the enlisted housing units were in terrible condition back then.
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Some of the housing is awful and some are okay. Ft Belvoir's seem to be reasonably well constructed but if you have small children, they are a challenge.
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