I learned of this social network analysis success story through Valdis Krebs blog. In this case a community organization worked with the city and tenants to uncover a conspiracy of slumlords that were evading city requirements and making living conditions terrible for their tenants while they drew money out of the buildings. The social network analysis uncovered the relationships that led to discover of the mastermind hiding several steps behind the scenes. The work led to criminal convictions and civil suits found in the tenants favor. Valdis shows the step-by-step process that was used to get to the bottom of the case, a great job. He quotes U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." Transparency promotes good behavior and this is also one of the values of the new web.
I lived in NYC in the early 70s with several others in a run down apartment building on the Lower East Side. In our case, we knew the landlord directly as he was not hiding behind a screen of front people, at least not yet. We were lucky with this access. But he still put profit over tenants’ rights and living conditions. I was working for the city and ran into him in city hall once, which made him a bit cautious about dealing me. I did not work in the right area and had no real power with the city but the impression seemed to count. When things needed to be fixed and the landlord would not cooperate, one of my roommates would be aggressive on the phone and then turn the phone over to me to resolve the issue, as I would be polite in contrast, but remain firm. We were lucky with the impression of this city connection and helped the other tenants to act together.
My job with the city was to help organize tenants to take control over buildings that the city would take over from slumlords because of multiple violations and turn over to the tenants. The city had to find the real owner to take possession. This experience exposed me to the abuses that slumlords did to make extra money. The city could have used the type of social network analysis that Valdis describes.
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