Raphael Warnock’s Church Pays for His Home. It’s Also Trying To Evict the Poor From Theirs

I watched the debate, and I was shocked...by how incoherent he was.

 

In the debate last night he was asked about this and his response was the same as the one given here. That it was untrue. Hard to tell much about a denial of a story.

 

So the tenants are lying? What did he present to refute the reporting on this other than a simple dismissal? Have you followed the links there are images of the eviction notices.

 

Never said it was average. Said it was "reasonable compensation." And "reasonable compensation" does not mean average or below average or above average. As for $100 an hour, that would depend on the skills he has for his services. There are definitely working girls who earn that much. I know some tax consultants and CPAs who charge that much for doing tax returns, whether it is a 1040EZ or an 1120-F, or even higher. They may work only part-time, but it really depends on their skills. And their are pastors who earn that much because of their services as a pastor. The point is not the title of the occupation that determines whow much they are charged, it is their skills and leadership, and that is in the eye of the beholder. Remember, there is no such thing as unreasonable compensation under the law.

And how do you define ministerial services? It is more than just getting up on the pulpit and preaching. IRS defines "ministerial services" as "assigned or designated by the church and assigned or designated services qualify even if they do not involve performing sacerdotal functions or conducting religious worship."


https://www.taxslayerpro.com/blog/p...ion,functions or conducting religious worship.

 

I'm not suggesting that anyone was lying. I initially asked for Warnock's comments on this story and it appears that he has none except a denial.

 

You are actually going to compare him to a whore on the street now..................................just amazing. The point is this "charitable organization" is paying him a glorious salary and then on top of that a $80,000 housing allowance while at the same time he is claiming to be the more compassionate caring for the disadvantage candidate while evicting disadvantaged residents of his charitable operations housing and while they collect millions in government subsidies to provide that housing.

He is a SENATOR, how many hours a week does he have to devote to the church while he is in DC being a SENATOR?

The church is now under investigation for how they are funneling all the money they collect.

 

I was not comparing him. I was arguing what "reasonable compensation" actually means. That was the point. Stick to the point.

 

He's pastor so he supposed to know this crap

 

Dude the Senate works a three day week and is on vacay 3 months out of the year 4 in election years.

 

How many hours a week can he be working at the Church while being a Senator in Washington pulling in another what $174,000 a year this servant of the oppressed?

 

Actually you are wrong. Pastors are supposed to pay attention to their sermons, who needs a hospital visit, and whether the choir's choices re-enforced the theme. There are specific officers of any church 9 often committees) that deal with business interests, budgets, and the managing of rental property for the congregation. The less involved your pastor is in the business of the business end of things the better for everyone. Its a lot less messy without him having to offer up 'spiritual guidance' on who you should fire, , whether to buy stock in Exxon or or who you need to evict.

He needs to stay out of it, and the less he knows the easier it is.

 

That would be what as known as nonsense. No pastor worth his salt would ever miss any financial meetings elders meetings or deacons meetings.

 

He is a pastor, but they don't know everything and don't keep up with everything. That is what delegation is for.

 

LOL, He is probably spending most of this time on the campaign trail right now, meeting with constituents, advocacy groups, etc. When it is not an election year, if he is not on the Senate's floor, or in his office, he is meeting with constituents, advocacy groups, etc. But none of that disproves my claim about what reasonable compensation is, does it?

 

If he isn't he's not pastor. And you don't have delegation you boards elders possibly deacons and they all file reports both to the congregation and the pastor. And the pastor in every church I've ever been to attends those meetings because the church's spiritual and financial well being are intimately connected.

 

I don't think you have proved ANYTHING reasonable about him enriching himself on the backs of the poor and oppressed he claims to be their proponent and savior.

 

And during those times Warnock is not spending hours at the church.

 

Then they shouldn't be paying him! If he can't perform his duties as a pastor he shouldn't be getting a check

 

Or a "housing allowence" of $80K a year!

 

Did anyone here see the debate between Warnock and Walker on October 14th? Did you see when Hershel Walker pulled out his fake police badge? Bless his heart. This man is a brick short of a full load. He is no more fit to be a Senator than I am fit to fly a jet airplane. It's sad the way the Republicans are using him.

 

DEMOCRAT SLUMLORD: Pests, Filth, and Killer Elevators: Inside Raphael Warnock’s Secret Low-Income Apartment Building.


FILTH

'ATLANTA—A low-income apartment building owned by Raphael Warnock’s church is plagued by pests, maintenance problems, and filth, according to residents—and at least two people have sued the building this year after the elevator collapsed on them.'

DANGEROUS

'Residents of the Columbia Tower at MLK Village complained about living conditions in the building, telling the Washington Free Beacon that garbage is left to pile up in the storage rooms for days, creating an "overwhelming trash smell," common areas aren’t maintained, and the air vents produce a "sickening" amount of dust.'

SQUALID

'The elevators often break down, and handicapped residents have had to call the fire department to carry them to their rooms.'

UNFIT

'Columbia Tower attempted to evict at least eight low-income residents over unpaid rent since the start of the pandemic—including one tenant who owed just $28. Warnock serves as senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which, through a charity it controls called the Ebenezer Building Foundation, owns 99 percent of Columbia Tower. A repair grant Ebenezer Building Foundation filed in June, however, said Warnock "works closely" with Ebenezer’s executive pastor "in managing the overall vision, ministries, and operations" of the church.'

PUTRID

'Warnock has campaigned as an ally of low-income Georgians and people with disabilities. It could also draw new scrutiny to Warnock’s compensation from the church, which paid him a $7,417-per-month, tax-free housing allowance last year—an arrangement that allowed him to circumvent federal limits on outside income for U.S. senators.'

CIRCUMVENT LIMITS

One victims "was in an elevator at Columbia at MLK Village Towers as the elevator ceiling abruptly fell down," knocking him unconscious and resulting in injuries that cost him over $50,000 in medical bills.'

"The collapsed elevator ceiling struck the Plaintiff about the head, neck, and back area," said the lawsuit. "The impact of the collapsed elevator ceiling caused the Plaintiff to immediately lose consciousness."

'The judge granted the man default judgment in the case, after lawyers for Columbia Tower neglected to respond by the required deadline. The building’s attorneys are currently attempting to get the judgment overturned. The second case is still ongoing. An attorney for the alleged victim said he was unable to comment because that case is "still being litigated."'

REFUSING TO PAY COURT AWARDED DAMAGES.

 

SLUMLORD Warnock: "Our church doesn't evict people." BUT! Here are three more eviction notices



TRIES TO LIE OUT OF IT;

'Warnock simply declares that they “don’t evict people.” That contracts the reporting from several outlets and witnesses, but that’s his story and he’s sticking to it. Unfortunately, two days before he made that declaration last Friday, three more of his tenants received eviction notices. And these weren’t long-term delinquents trying to game the system, either. Some of the people were only behind on a single month’s rent by a couple of weeks, with one of them owing only $115 in back rent.'

'Columbia Residential, the building’s administrators, has become more aggressive in its rent collection policies, and sent out a notice in September saying it would no longer accept late fees and would start removal proceedings after five days of non-payment.'

'When he said that his church doesn’t evict people, he was either lying or speaking from an uninformed or incompetent position. The former is not a good look for a man of the cloth. The latter speaks poorly of his suitability as a legislator.'

 

Warnock certainly was. But given that
Biden's policies are completely incoherent what can you expect.

 

Okay, the Washington Free Beacon gets a 'mixed' rating on the factual scale at MediaBiasFactCheck.com, and my personal policy is to consider any story by a source with a mixed rating (or better) on a case by case basis. so, let's take a look, first, let's look at their rating:

The Washington Free Beacon' rating on MBFC:

RIGHT BIAS

These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information that may damage conservative causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Right Bias sources.

• Overall, we rate the Washington Free Beacon Right Biased based on story selection that favors the right and Mixed for factual reporting due to misleading and false claims.

Source: MediaBiasFactCheck.com

So, it's rating is actually worse than CNN's given that it's factual rating, though 'mixed' like CNN's, it rating on the left to right bias meter is much further to the right than CNN's is to the left.

But, let's set that aside, as their rating is barely good enough that I, as my personal policy goes, for sources with a rating of 'mixed' or better, the story deserves scrutiny on a case by case basis. So......

My research indicates the following:

1. The property is managed by a property management firm, the Church has nothing to do with the day to day operations of the building.
2. As I understand it, only two were evicted in the early days of the pandemic, but we do not know the full circumstance and.it is wrong to politicize it without facts but what we do know is that there are multiple owners and the owners who did file the notices were not the church, they were the one percent owners, 'Columbia Residential'..and that the source of the story, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Columbia Residential said it had not evicted tenants for not paying rent since June 2020
3. Though I'm no lawyer, as I understand it, Dispossessory notices are not the actual eviction notices, they are demand notices giving the tenant the opportunity to respond in court to the notice, what their circumstance is, maybe they can work something out, etc., etc., etc. You really can't blame the owners for this, noting that they are not the church owners.
4. On the dispossessory notice in the OP it clearly states they may be protected by tenant protection laws passed because of the pandemic, gave a website to go to and a phone number to call for assistance for the information they would need when they make the court appearance to the Dispossessory notice.
5. Warnock has nothing to do with the property management firm.
6. Many churches pay their pastors an income commensurate with their station within the church, this is not anything for which a Pastor must apologize for.
7. FOX 5 Atlanta's field reporter Rob DiRienzo stated that Walker was unable to answer the question as to whether the people he was grandstanding in front of were tenants or were evicted from the property in question. (and no, DiRienzo didn't use the word 'grandstanding' that is mine which I think is a fair characterization.)

https://flipboard.com/video/waga/af17c52895

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it therefore appears these folks were Walker supporters being exploited as political props.

Therefore, Walker (and you) is(are) grasping at straws by blowing this out of proportion to it's reality (more so than the Beacon's reportage) noting that his shortcomings vastly exceed that of Warnock's, and we all have shortcomings of one kind or another.

 

Which policies do you believe are incoherent?