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Articles
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| Housing town hall hosts plenty of ire |
VOICE writes, "By Arthur Delaney
Between feedback from the sound system and the echo effect of the cavernous venue packed with 400 residents, it was difficult to understand almost anything said into the microphone. But Ward 6 D.C. Council member Tommy Wells started off by acknowledging neighbors’ fears that development spurred by the nearby baseball stadium would overtake the community.
"We're here to address the concern that pretty soon those cranes and bulldozers will come where other people live and there won't be housing left for the people who are here," he said.
The neighbors who stuffed themselves into a town hall meeting on affordable housing at the Greenleaf Recreation Center in Southwest last week largely hailed from the adjacent Greenleaf Gardens public housing complex.
Wells, Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry and at-arge Council member Kwame Brown called the meeting to quell rumors that the city had plans to demolish public housing in Southwest to make way for condos. "
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Event moderators decided to open the floor, despite the absence of Brown and Barry. Many residents sounded angry when they took the microphone.
"I would like to know what you all are gonna do about the rats, the roaches, and the pigeons!" said Evelyn Abston, who identified herself as a "senior" resident of Greenleaf Gardens. Abston was one of at least a dozen people who attended the forum in a wheelchair.
By the scheduled start at 6:30 p.m., the bleachers in the center's indoor basketball court were totally full, and people were cramming themselves along the walls of the gymnasium. Of the council members, Wells arrived first, 20 minutes late.
Barry arrived 20 minutes later to vigorous applause.
"You've been neglected and disrespected for too long," he said. But he came bearing reassurance: "They have no plan — no plan! — to move you out of your house," he said.
Many residents took the opportunity to complain about specific maintenance issues in their units. Barry volunteered Michael Kelly, executive director of the D.C. Housing Authority, for the job of staying "as long as necessary to get the name and address of everyone with a problem."
Residents swarmed the tables in front of the bleachers to add their names to a list. The meeting verged on chaos. Barry found himself in a contentious back-and-forth more than once. Some neighbors refused to believe they were safe from displacement by condominium development and rising property values.
"Why isn't there a plan?" asked Warren Ansley of M Street SW. "You've got a brand new stadium."
Barry asked if Ansley lived in public housing. When Ansley said he did not, Barry broke off the conversation. Afterward, Ansley said he resented Barry's rebuff.
"That's how he gets to the people," Ansley said. "Because I don't live in public housing, I shouldn't be commenting."
Barry reminded residents to direct their problems to representatives from the D.C. Housing Authority and departed at 7:50 p.m., half an hour after he arrived and 40 minutes before the scheduled end of the forum, though it ended when he left. Council member Brown made an appearance with his children, but did not make any comments.
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Posted on May 13, 2008 16:37pm.
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