<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br><br>
COALITION TO STOP THE DEMOLITION<br><br>
<br>
MEDIA
ADVISORY
Contact: Mayaba Liebenthal, 917-385-5472 - Kali Akuno,
510-593-3956<br><br>
WHERE: Steps of City Hall <br>
WHEN: Thursday, December 20 2007, 9:30 AM<br><br>
</font><font size=4>CITY COUNCIL IGNORES HOUSING CRISIS, DISCRIMINATORY
VOTE SET FOR THURSDAY<br><br>
</font><font size=3>New Orleans City Council will vote to continue the
displacement of Black and working class families Thursday when it rubber
stamps the demolition of almost 4,000 desperately needed apartments. The
City Council plans to conduct a sham meeting. They will go through the
motions of the required public comment, but their vote is already
determined. <br><br>
Council members engaged in ongoing discussions with residents and
advocates have plainly stated their position: There will be a vote on
Thursday. There will be no moratorium. They will approve demolition of
all the developments.<br><br>
"We finally cleaned up public housing. We couldn't do it, but God
did." Senator Baker's comment shocked the nation in 2005. Thursday
New Orleans first majority white city council in over 30 years will vote
to execute this blatantly racist vision.<br><br>
Not only does this racism halt the democratic process, but there are
serious conflicts of interest, misrepresentation of facts, lack of
consultation with the public and a pending federal investigation of HUD
Secretary Alphonso Jackson. The Council's deliberate disregard of these
factors makes their vote illegitimate. <br><br>
New Orleans already has a homeless population in excess of 12,000, and by
March there will be more than 50,000 families evicted from closing FEMA
trailer parks. The only legitimate solution is to reopen all available
housing now. <br><br>
"The City Councils vote to demolish in the midst of the ever-growing
housing crisis is an egregious violation of human rights. It is beyond
callous, and can only be seen as malicious discrimination. It is an
unabashed attempt to eliminate the Black population of New Orleans."
said Kali Akuno, of the Coalition to Stop the Demolition.<br><br>
The Coalition stands by it's positions that HUD/HANO end all demolition
attempts, reopen all existing housing, begin building new housing on
property cleared decades ago, guarantee one-for-one replacement once
resident input controls renovation, and revoke the illegal contracts made
under Jackson.<br><br>
###<br><br>
<br>
</font><h1><b>Housing projects will be demolished, a majority of City
Council confirms<br><br>
<br>
</b></h1><h3><b>by Gwen Filosa <br>
Wednesday December 19, 2007, 11:59 AM</b></h3><font size=3><b>By Gwen
Filosa <br>
</b><i>Staff writer</i> <br>
The New Orleans City Council appears poised to approve the demolition of
the city's "Big Four" housing complexes despite continuing
protests, with four of its seven members signaling approval. <br><br>
Council members Jackie Clarkson, Stacy Head, Shelley Midura all said in
interviews this week they will approve the demolition permits in a vote
scheduled for Thursday. And a representative of Council President Arnie
Fielkow, who asked not to be named, this morning confirmed his intent to
vote for demolition. <br><br>
<a name="more"></a>Two other members -- James Carter and Cynthia
Willard-Lewis -- declined to preview their votes. The remaining member,
Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, could not be reached for
comment.<br><br>
In approving the demolition of federally financed public housing units,
the Council finds itself in a new, powerful and controversial role. HANO
wanted to begin demolition of 4,500 units on Dec. 15, but a state judge
agreed with the Loyola Law Clinic's attorneys that the council must
approve the permits first for each of the four sites slated for the
wrecking crews: Lafitte, C.J. Peete, St. Bernard and B.W. Cooper.
<br><br>
Though highly public protests from activists continue this week, some
council members nonetheless stood firm in their support for tearing down
the aging and often delipadated complexes to make way for new,
mixed-income developments.<br><br>
"I'm going to vote to support redevelopment of the projects in the
city," said Midura. "I'll be voting to support the path that
most effectively reforms and reopens public housing. That path requires a
demolition permit." <br><br>
Head agreed. <br><br>
"Redevelopment requires demolition," she said, adding that the
"overwhelming majority" of her constituents want Peete and
Cooper transformed into mixed-income neighborhoods. <br><br>
Midura's district includes the Lafitte development, which has been
shuttered since Katrina struck, forcing out 865 families, while Head's
district includes both the C.J. Peete and B.W. Cooper. The St. Bernard
development, closed since Katrina, is within Cynthia Hedge-Morrell' s
district. <br><br>
Clarkson said New Orleans would be ill-advised to try and stop HUD's
plans for redevelopment. <br><br>
"This is our opportunity to do it," said Clarkson. "We
need to provide better housing than before Katrina. By going along with
HUD, we get an opportunity to spend their money on our people. We do it
better for the poor people and better for the city. It's a win-win."
<br><br>
Fielkow has made public statements recently supporting mixed-income
housing, but stopped short of promising a vote for demolition. A
representative of his confirmed this morning, however, that he plans to
support the demolitions. <br><br>
Cynthia Willard-Lewis, in a prepared statement, said only that she has
met with public housing residents and others to "find common
solutions to these difficult problems." <br><br>
Clarkson, the at-large councilwoman, recalled that her former district
included the Fischer, which has been transformed from a high-rise tower
and barracks-style apartments to modern-day housing, including a
"senior village" on the West Bank. <br><br>
"We did not displace the poor, and I plan to make sure we
don't," said Clarkson. "We don't have to build a whole bunch of
supply if there's no demand." <br><br>
Thursday's council meeting likely will draw crowds of activists, who have
argued the old buildings, many of which date back to the 1940s, should be
rehabbed and reopened. <br><br>
The Coalition to Stop the Demolitions, an umbrella group for scores of
activist groups opposing HANO's redevelopment plans, sent out
instructions on protesting Thursday's vote via an e-mail, which
speculated that the council vote will fall along racial lines. <br><br>
"At least three of the white city council members are going to vote
against us," the email by Kali Akuno said. "The third black
council member, Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, is definitely a critical swing
vote." <br><br>
Akuno told his supporters that Fielkow "might vote in favor or
abstain in order to not lose favor with" black constituents.
<br><br>
Clarkson, the at-large councilwoman, said last week that tearing down and
redeveloping the Lafitte complex would "save Treme and rebuild the
neighborhood better than before." <br><br>
The Lafitte plan, by nonprofit developers Providence and Enterprise,
calls for "one-to-one" replacement of the 865 public housing
units, unlike the plans for redeveloping the other three complexes, which
may include far lower numbers of public housing units. <br><br>
"I consider that the compromise," said Clarkson, of the Lafitte
plan.<br><br>
Gwen Filosa can be reached at gfilosa@timespicayu
<a href="http://ne.com/">ne.com</a> or (504) 826-3304.<br><br>
<a href="http://www.nola">http://www.nola</a>. com/news/ index.ssf/
2007/12/housing_ projects_ will_be_demol. html <br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>