Obama going to New Orleans. Edwards too. When will he oppose Clinton plan to eliminate Pub Housing?

backed by local city officials to tear down all of the city's public
housing which was conveniently evacuated and sealed up after Katrina?

relying on Katrina to displace residents under a Clinton authorized scheme
to eliminate all Public Housing in the US?

When will DU oppose this plan?

(Sound of feet shuffling on DU)

Just think, Obama could make a difference on this issue if only US BLOGGERS truly cared.

They are going to be there the same day?

maybe they'll meet up and Edwards throws his support his way

And Edwards gave his farewell speech in NOLA, apparently.

That is all I meant vis a vis the two, both of whom are
pledging to be liberal on New Orleans.

I'm not up to speed on this particular issue, so I would appreciate some updated information regarding this.

The info I have is a bit outdated and I'm ashamed to say I haven't kept on top of it like I should.

Here is what I have:

** Under advice from Hillary friend and consultant Dick Morris (Mark Penn is his protege), Bill Clinton worked with his HUD secretary to develop a plan known as HOPE VI that would eliminate all public housing by taking people off the rolls (similar to welfare) and requiring units to be torn down and sold to the private sector with no guarantee of replacement housing (only vouchers), an absolute pledge to REDUCE the amount of replacement housing (for the poor or anyone else, but especially for the poor) on-site in these urban areas, no right of return for former residents. Special favors for public housing residents who speak out in favor of the plan early. All other residents must go thru background and credit check to be eligible for a pool of greatly reduced units in the new (privately owned) development. Privately owned replacement units are built in "neotraditional" suburban model with garages, single family homes and gated or fenced complexes to "make the neighborhood appealing to middle class people." Escalating rents in property values in surrounding poor areas are used as a positive indicator of success for the project. Homeownership (the "ownership society") is promoted by local Blue Dog Democratic leaders in big cities as the only solution for the poor. Specifically, poor people with families are asked to leave the city under a centrally planned "cap rates" model designed to actively minimize the amount of government money that is spent on services for families and the poor (this is known as "ratables".) These financial and legal requirements are now the law of the land and actively supported by Blue Dog Democrats.

** During Katrina, New Orleans (under ex-republican mayor Nagin, who described himself as "Creole" in opposition to his black constituents) and surrounding jurisdictions Jefferson Parish, a Democratic stronghold which is home of the Ku Klux Klan, home of Democratic Sherriff Harry Lee (an unreconstructed racist), former Democratic Parish leader David Duke, and the town of Gretna (whose sherriffs set up armed guards not just to shoot at anyone attempting to leave the city on foot -- the bridge to dry land passes over both the Superdome and the Convention Center -- but also set up checkpoints to prevent black people from passing into Gretna from the adjacent, integrated town of Algiers while allowing white vigilantes, caught on videotape, to enter Algiers and the bridge on motorcycles inbound with heavy weapons proclaiming their intention to "have open season on the thugs in New Orleans" and "restore order to the city") are under solid Democratic Rule and its parish leaders were praised by national Dems for their performance "under (suppressing) fire" during Katrina. Adjacent St. Bernard Parish, home of the Perez clan and other oligarchical families (who even the Klan feared) enlisted Jackson Barracks as a fence between it and the 9th ward (both of which were under similar levels of water) to prevent people from crossing over the imaginary line. Again, national Dems congratulated the Jackson Barracks volunteers for keeping "New Orleans problems" from seeping into the similarly devastated St. Bernard parish and putting residents there "at further risk".

** Meanwhile the city deliberately shut down Amtrak and Greyhound and worked in cahoots with rural Republicans to prevent bus fleets from busing poor people into red areas of the state.

** All of this created a situation where the only way for poor families to leave the city was to be forcibly evacuated by the military and detained in encampments, often on the other side of the Texas state line, and given residency / identity cards. Checkpoints were set up on the state line and roads back to New Orleans preventing residents of the 9th Ward and certain other black areas (which were not even the lowest parts of the city; the lowest part of the city is the wealthiest and is being rebuilt) from returning -- literally, military and state police told residents to stay in Texas and not be allowed to even collect their belongings, much less be allowed back into the city, nor were they allowed to resettle in "sundown towns" between Houston and New Orleans (google "Sundown Towns" for more information.) This is why the evacuees encampments in Louisiana proper were heavily guarded and fenced in, because they were located in the very rural white areas whose residents had, before the storm, expressed a preference for sealing in the city and allowing the levees to fail in the event of a Katrina scale disaster, according to National Geographic (2000).

** As a result, the public housing complexes (most of which were built on high ground and relatively undamaged) were left to rot and fenced in with razor wire to prevent the Katrina evacuees from returning. In one personally documented case, a lady snuck in to retrieve a few key belongings and discovered her apartment entirely undamaged and intact with her belongings the way she left it; then, Bush's HUD (which controls the local housing authority HANO) came in to "shut off the utilities" and ransacked the place, destroying her belongings that she could not retrieve since she was homeless.

** The first complex to be torn down under Clinton's HOPE VI initiative was St. Thomas, which happened to be in one of the wealthiest areas of New Orleans on the highest ground in the city, the lower Garden / Irish Channel. It was replaced with a "neo-traditional housing development more appropriate to the historic nature of the neighborhood" featuring -- get this -- a WAL-MART. This is now the largest and only major supermarket open in the city of New Orleans, where all the local relief agencies go to shop to feed their volunteers. The 100-year-old local markets were left to rot...

** Public housing activists secured a court injunction to prevent Katrina from being used as an excuse by HUD to tear down ALL remaining public housing in the city (the stated goal of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who stated "we couldn't destroy public housing in New Orleans, but God did"

** The terms of the injunction required the all-Democratic City Council to vote for which public housing they wanted to save,

and which to demolish and sell (to a private developer who is also a
business partner of Bush's national HUD director Alonzo Jackson) under
the terms of Clinton-supported HOPE VI.

** New Orleans Democratic City Council voted UNANIMAOUSLY to demolish ALL public housing in the city while the residents were still away. At the same time, two days before Christmas, they voted to evict a major homeless encampment from the plaza in front of City Hall to allow the demolitions of shuttered housing to proceed. This was a month ago;

** A Senate bill to prevent the demolition of New Orleans public housing without guaranteeing right of return and full on-site replacement of existing housing stock is languishing on the desk of Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, and Obama, who has not spoken up on it.

** Harry Reid is recognizing a hold on the bill by Republican Sen. David "diaper" Vitter, having failed to recognize a hold on the telecom bill by Sen. Dodd.

** Demolitions have already begun on one complex and are only on hold because the city can't afford them (it is more expensive to demolish 1,000 homes and replace them with 500 more expensive dwellings than it is to refurbish them, and these are garden apartments built during the NEW DEAL era, many with fireplaces and wood floors.)

** Nagin and other DLC politicians proclaimed himself satisfied, saying that "only the right people would be allowed to return to the new New Orleans."

Everyone here cares about this issue.

Give me a bfb.

Nobody here is calling on Obama or Clinton (or Edwards for that matter)
to stand in front of a public housing complex and demand to know why it
is being torn down when a Senate bill supported by the Progressive caucus
is languishing on Harry Reid's desk.

http://obama.senate.gov/press/071218-obama_calls_on_23/

Despite urgent housing needs, Administration intends to drastically reduce federal housing in New Orleans

WASHINGON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today sent the following letter to President Bush, calling on him to abandon his Administration’s intentions to demolish federally-assisted housing in New Orleans, Louisiana until there is a comprehensive plan to meet the Gulf Coast region’s extensive affordable housing needs. Despite an estimated 12,000 people already homeless in New Orleans, and thousands more struggling with costly and slow rebuilding efforts since Hurricane Katrina, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is now planning to reduce the limited supply of affordable housing even further by demolishing 4,500 units of public housing. Over the past two years, the Bush Administration has consistently failed Gulf Coast residents, and should not further exacerbate this tragic housing crisis by destroying affordable housing.

The text of the letter is below:

Dear Mr. President:

I urge you to abandon all plans to demolish federally-assisted housing in New Orleans, Louisiana until there is a comprehensive plan to meet the region's extensive affordable housing needs.

Two years ago, when you appeared in Jackson Square, you spoke of America's “duty to confront this poverty with bold action.” You explained: “Americans want the Gulf Coast not just to survive, but to thrive; not just to cope, but to overcome. We want evacuees to come home, for the best of reasons -- because they have a real chance at a better life in a place they love.”

Unfortunately, there are an estimated 12,000 people already homeless in New Orleans, and thousands more are struggling with costly and slow rebuilding efforts and private rents that have risen 45% since the storm. More than two-thirds of the housing stock was destroyed by the hurricane, and much of it has not yet been rebuilt. Thousands of residents are still living in trailers with dangerous levels of formaldehyde even though more than 800 days have passed since Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

Despite this harsh reality, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is now planning to reduce the limited supply of affordable housing even further by demolishing 4,500 units of public housing. Notwithstanding your wish for evacuees to come home to “thrive” and “overcome,” New Orleans does not have adequate affordable housing options even for the people who are already there.

It is critical for policy makers to answer the following questions before any demolition takes place:

* Is demolition, which was originally planned and approved before hurricane Katrina, still a sensible strategy in light of the region's housing crisis?

* How many new units of public housing will be built or acquired to replace the 4,500 scheduled for demolition? If less than 4,500, what is the plan to close the gap to get back at least to pre-Katrina levels? If more than 4,500, what plans are in place to ensure adequate income diversity and economic integration?

* What plans are in place to meet the low-income housing needs during the period between demolition and the availability of new housing?

* What supports are in place to assist residents during any housing transition?

Almost a year ago, I visited New Orleans and posed similar questions to HUD. I have yet to receive an adequate response to that inquiry.

There is no question that most displaced residents want to come back to their homes and apartments, but that is hardly possible if they return to a city with fewer affordable housing options available than it had before. I support the conversion to mixed income neighborhoods and greater economic integration, but such redevelopment plans must not be at the expense of adequate and improved housing options for the poor. No public housing should be demolished until HUD can point to an equivalent number of replacement units in the near vicinity.

Over the past two years, the federal government has failed the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. But there is still an opportunity to demonstrate that they are not forgotten. I urge you to reconsider the demolition of these housing units until there is a comprehensive plan to meet the region's extensive affordable housing needs. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator

Unfortunately, all too many Democrats are not on the side of the
Progressive caucus on this issue.

HOPE VI and TANF have been a dismal failure. Anyone who thinks
that forcibly displacing the poor have "solved the problems of
the inner city" by making them "better off elsewhere" (even, as
the Post infamously suggested, if their families were all killed
in the storm) is a joke.

If Obama stepped up on this issue and really took it on, would
Edwards support him? Would DUers?

:sarcasm:

Why go to Tulane when LSU has more people and is in the capitol? Damn you New Orleans!

I oppose it too. THANK GOD. HAve you seen it. Bunches of barracks under high powered electric lines! Who the fuck would want to live in that shit.

END PUBLIC HOUSING and put people in the community.

There will be three or four boarded up buildings...then one with a few families in it. Surrounded by Dirt, no street lights, no parking.

But Public Housing serves to push black folk away from the community instead of bringing them in.

FUCKIN A! DESTROY PUBLIC HOUSING

You don't have a clue about the situation there or
in public housing nationally. Nor do you support
the New Deal commitment to public housing and social
welfare. Nor do you oppose the financial arrangements
under which this is being allowed to take place, nor
do you oppose the forcible and deliberate displacement
of 100% of New Orleans public housing residents after
the storm. Thanks for playing. Because that is all
you are doing, pretending to be a liberal.

in a shooting in a Vietnamese gang shooting.

So HA! TO your big FUCK YOU ABOUT ME NOT KNOWING SHIT.

That the local (middle class home owning) residents wanted to tear down because it was Section 8... then when the tenants were forcibly displaced the residents reversed themselves and called for the house to be saved and the title awarded to an existing homeowner whose house was condemned... I endured dressing downs from native New Orleanians who claim that apartments of any sort do not belong in that city because "this is the South and we don't want to associate with one another to that degree, that's why we all own guns. This is New Orleans, baby!" It is a fatalistic attitude that is reflected in the city where I am from (that is enduring massive black middle class flight and gentrification enforced by upper-class black gentry whose own families don't even live in the city anymore because "the city is unlivable because of ghetto trash, let the white people have it".) So they build massive mega-churches in the suburbs and vote for big-business Dems who make a killing on corrupt deals to sell off public land containing parks, schools, public housing complexes that are "no longer needed" because the city is "no longer an appropriate place to raise a child in".

There is almost no easy solution.

I will say that they need to build affordable housing but I don't think barrack style public housing is the way to go. Whenever the government does antyhing they fuck it up. I just don't wanna see people hidden away in dark dank fucked up shit like they have now in Nola.

I'm not going to win a war with you about who has ties to New Orleans,
suffice to say we disagree about the policy here.

out east. Small place. Some guy just came in and started shootin. Place only sat about 30 people.

My BF @ the time yanked me under the table. after the first volley. Then there was a second. We left after the cops came.

I'm thinking of moving back.

Google Christopher Porche West...

I agree that all our candidates better have a proactive plan, not only to deal with the public housing situation in N.O., but the commercialization of and speculation in basic goods like shelter, food, water, and health-care nationwide. Why? Because the middle class is circling the edge of the maelstrom, and where it goes, so goes America, perhaps the world.

Other than military adventurism, the commercialization of the means for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has reached a pernicious level where it threatens the cohesion of the nation.
Indeed, if you have read my posts, you know that I anticipate a second civil war in the foreseeable future.

That is why it is so good to be an insurance executive with a pet government.

Sure, we haven't managed to turn N.O. into a livable city, but we turned ourselves inside out to help. Criminality at the POTUS level regarding New Orleans is not going to be solved by DU alone.

How about you LTTE the whole Clinton public housing plan laid out and cited. We have, and when we can, will continue to assist N.O.

Perhaps you might start here...
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/katrina/

Or is the plan you refer to a secret plan? I am not a Hillary fan, but our respect for democracy suggests we be honest in our criticism. Please explain then, the disparity between your assertion, and what Clinton says here about public housing.

In case you have not been paying sufficient attention, we are a bit in media res at the moment, and there are other more emergent matters for DU to discuss. Like the 50 some people killed in tornadoes this week, for example.


Because the sort of post you made isn't at all helpful at this time.
If we fix America, we fix New Orleans.

In New Orleans using Katrina as an excuse to move people out without complaint or notice.

HOPE VI is quite clear, the intent is to "end the federal commitment to government-owned public housing".

In fact, that's the title of the section on HOPE VI in my
industry approved textbook on Urban Planning and Real Estate Development.