How did a pastor with a spotty business record get a $825K gig with Dallas City Hall? He knew a guy
The house is brand new, but water leaks through a wall, soaking the bedroom carpet. Rain gutters are missing along the edges of the roof. A blank spot in the bathroom marks where a walk-in shower was supposed to be.
“It’s been a nightmare,” said Jimmy Isbell, who owns the one-story house in southeast Dallas.
At age 75, he is afraid he’ll hurt himself stepping in and out of the bathtub. He and his wife have had to sleep on a mattress in the living room. “I’ve actually called this a demon house,” he said.
Courtesy of the city of Dallas, his new house was built as part of a program to demolish and rebuild dilapidated houses owned by people with limited incomes — mostly older and disabled residents.
But at least eight of the houses have had problems — and all of those homes were built by the friend of a city official who sought special permission to help get his pal some work, a Dallas Morning News investigation has found.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/investigations/2018/03/11/pastor-spotty-business-record-get-825k-housing-dallas-city-hall-knew-guy
