Developer handouts and absent landlords

I’m tired of seeing our cities give handouts to big developers and absentee landlords. For instance in Reno, we have seen one developer practically buy our city council, I don’t recall the last time the mayor or city council rejected any of this developer’s proposals or followed up when this developer has not live up to their promises. As a result we end up with empty lots after a tear down, more paid parking with little green space which heats the city more through urban heat island effect, less affordable housing, more fenced in lots with little activity, blighted areas are left with either a deteriorating building or again an empty lot and so on. Meanwhile, we also see landlords/corporate property owners of larger buildings leave them vacant without actively investing in them in ways that would support the local economy and communities, so that they can build their “portfolio” and leach off our resources while paying less taxes over time. We need real solutions to stop these levels of corruption, corporate greed, and leaching of our resources that don’t go back to the places we call home. My suggestion would be to have stricter ethics laws and oversight of public officials (especially if they’ve received donations or some form of financial benefit from a developer or corporation); community boards that have an actual say in the matters that effect them (not just a suggestion to their representatives); a comptroller for each of our city and town governments to root out waste, fraud and abuse; vacancy taxes for property owners of large lots and buildings that are being underutilized; and a more open, available/accessible and affordable way for community members to invest in the funding of local projects (such as bonds) no matter their economic status and with oversight to prevent bribery.