If one New Bedford City Councilor gets her way, it will be tougher for the city to grow and prosper. In a written motion before the council, Ward 4 Councilor Dana Rebeiro requested the creation of several gentrification mitigation zones "GMZs." She's attempting to stop gentrification and as a by-product, growth, by forcing owners of the buildings in GMZs give the tenants the first right to purchase their dwelling, even to the point of offering government funding, inclusive of Community Preservation Act money to assist with the purchase. Tenants living outside the GMZ, that don't have dollars saved, sorry, no break.

So, two groups can't finance the purchase of their rental, so government is suppose to come in and help one of the groups. Nothing like taxation without.....

For the GMZ tenants that can't afford to buy, Rebeiro's motion saves the day by having an additional 1% tax on the sale of the property to assist with moving the displaced.

There's no doubt that gentrification happens. I watched the South End of Boston go from a run a muck black trap to spruced up, expensive housing albeit with fewer African Americans. The home of Boston's 1970's busing riots, rough working class Southie, now has numerous mixed income and multi-racial neighbors.

New Bedford is smaller but faces a number of the same challenges as 1980's and 2000's Boston. Owners begging to sell. A pool of out of town buyers from Beantown who, if properly lured, will gladly commute to save $100,000-$200,000 off the price for a double, triple or four plex. No the new owner can fix it up, live in one unit, rent out the others and live virtually mortgage free.

Don't, repeat, do not red tape buyers and sellers with foolish tenant rights to refuse. They are tenants not owners. They get the priviledge of steel metal strong renter's rights and lease agreements. Why would the city ever want to scare buyers away by implementing more out of pocket expenses to assist tenants, because they have a long history of renting in a particular neighborhood? Real estate investors know that similarly priced double and triple deckers are plentiful around the corner in Fall River.

By the way, not one councilor uttered a vowel, regarding Rebeiro's motion. No one offered a question or concern. Silence and then the motion simply died. Should it rear its head again, Rebeiro's colleagues need to remind her that the government that governs best, governs least.

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