Thursday, October 12, 2017

Residents Fight for their Communities and Offer Solutions

This morning Southside residents of Atlanta and Housing Justice League members and supporters delivered a new report to City Hall showing gentrification and displacement from BeltLine development in Atlanta's historically Black Southside. The report, by the Atlanta advocacy group Housing Justice League and Research|Action Cooperative, shows Southside residents are already being displaced by the Atlanta BeltLine greenway development even in neighborhoods that it has not yet touched. The Atlanta BeltLine, which will ultimately be a 22-mile loop of green parks, trails, and streetcars circling inside city neighborhoods along discontinued rail beds, is a force for gentrification and displacement of long-time, low-income residents, many of them Black.

CAN WE COUNT ON YOU TO COME TO THE COMMUNITY LAUNCH FOR THE BELTLINE FOR ALL CAMPAIGN?

Proceeding the actual delivery of the report to City Council and the Mayor, participants of the research project gathered with their supporters, City candidates and elected officials, the press, and others on the steps in front of City Hall to hear from Southside Residents. All of the speakers emphasized the importance of community involvement and accountability in city planning in order to meet the critical needs of long-time residents and avoid historical and continuing patterns of racism, displacement, and disinvestment.

As Alison Johnson, a Peoplestown resident and Housing Justice League member who helped author this report, says,

“Communities on the Southside deserve to be a part of the process to shape and determine the neighborhoods where we live. We want the kind of responsible, democratic city building that gives us the best quality of life, not that which is done by and for the wealthy.”

Research by the Atlanta community group Housing Justice League and Research|Action Cooperative, largely in the three historically Black neighborhoods of Adair Park, Peoplestown, and Pittsburgh, tracks the hopes of residents for the BeltLine, how they are actually affected by it, and the forces of gentrification that, if left unimpeded, will damage the economic and racial diversity that long-term residents and newcomers alike say is a strength of the area.

The report – “BeltLining: Gentrification, Broken Promises, and Hope on Atlanta's Southside” – builds upon analysis of census data, a survey, and a year-long participatory action research project. The researchers found that:

·         Residents overwhelmingly want to stay in their neighborhoods,
·         Gentrification has already raised property values and displaced people in historically Black neighborhoods not yet touched by BeltLine development, and
·         Atlanta failed to enact protections against displacement that have been effective in other parts of the country. It still has time to do so as the BeltLine turns its development eye to more of the historically Black Southside.
 
The report’s major recommendation is for Atlanta BeltLine Incorporated, the public-private partnership leading the development, and the City as a whole, is to embrace more democratic planning processes so that the interests of current residents are incorporated into development, and the supportive networks among neighbors are protected and appreciated.

Housing Justice League is itself helping to model what this kind of planning could look like for the city at large. The community-directed research report is part of Housing Justice League’s broader BeltLine For All campaign, seeking to create spaces that center resident voices and promote community engagement in the development process. The Monday following the press release Housing Justice League will officially launch the broader campaign with a community-centered event where people will be able to learn more about the research, connect, and sign up to volunteer and lift up their perspectives through the campaign.

BeltLine for All will seek to curb Atlanta BeltLine Incorporated’s irresponsible record on affordable housing through democratic participation, people pressure, and public policy. Atlanta BeltLine Incorporated was launched in 2005, when the Atlanta City Council, Atlanta Public Schools, and Fulton County all empowered a new Atlanta BeltLine Tax Allocation District to fund both parks and more than 28,000 units of housing – only 5,600 units of it affordable – in neighboring areas. The hope of the BeltLine lies in its initial promises: to spur equitable development and to include a robust affordable housing strategy to prevent displacement.

But as Atlanta BeltLine Incorporated itself acknowledges, almost midway through the 25-year-long development period, fewer than 1,000 units of affordable housing have been built in the area, far short of the original goal, even as housing prices near the greenways are rising faster than in the city as a whole. This means the area is losing far more existing affordable housing than it is creating. And there are no rent regulations or alternative property tax policies to stop the surge. 


To learn more about the policy BeltLine for All will push for to turn around the unjust development practices displacing residents, you can read the full report on housingjusticeleague.org.

Thursday, July 6, 2017

22 Cities, Including Atlanta, Deliver Clear Message Regarding HUD Cuts Today

Today tenant leaders along with members of the Housing Justice League delivered a letter to HUD’s regional office in Atlanta in protest of potential cuts to the HUD budget.
Atlanta is already in the grip of a historic affordable housing crisis and we must oppose the $7.4 billion in budget cuts to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) proposed by President Trump and supported by Secretary Carson. If the cuts pass, Miami will be at-risk of losing nearly $24 million each year for housing assistance, and thousands of Miami residents who are currently in HUD-subsidized housing will be in jeopardy of becoming homeless.

Half of all renters in America are cost burdened, paying over 30 percent of their income to housing. This is over 21 million renter households. One in four of these pay over half of their income to housing, leaving no money left over for basic needs like food or childcare. We must expand, not reduce, federal funding for proven HUD programs.

A safe and affordable place to live is a fundamental human right, and where we live has a direct, concrete impact on the opportunities that are available to ourselves and our children. To change this injustice, we will need the power of people coming together through organizing in local places all across America. We will need to use communities’ organizing power to hold government accountable at the local, state and national levels. Good and just public policy can only be developed with the direct input and experiences of those impacted the most by that policy.

After we delivered the letter to HUD's regional office headed to Representative John Lewis’ office office which is right around the corner from HUD. Congressman Lewis is one of many who has oversight over HUD’s budget.


Today’s action was part of a national effort to prevent cuts to the already underfunded HUD. You can see what actions other cities took by checking out hashtags #NoHUDcuts and #NoCuts on twitter, Instagram, and facebook.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Ice Cream Parlors and Peoplestown: Turner Field Through the Eyes of Clemmie


Turner Field Through the Eyes of Clemmie

News coverage of the Turner Field Neighborhoods community struggle has focused on the macro purchasers- Georgia State University and Carter Development International. But it has not given attention to the people of the Turner Field Neighborhoods. It is the peoples’ voices that have built the community, however, and the peoples’ voices that have sustained housing movements past and present. They must be continuously raised up. In an effort to bring the peoples’ voices forward, this essay will share the story of one particular Peoplestown hero: Clemmie C. Jenkins.  
   
   Clemmie C. Jenkins is a longtime resident of Peoplestown. “I came into this community when I was age four,” Clemmie notes, “and now I’m sixty-six.” Clemmie is the only remaining member of her family still in the neighborhood. “My aunts and uncles, neighbors and friends have all moved away over the years. Some have gone to places that are nicer, some to places that are more worn-down. But I’ve remained in Peoplestown through thick and thin. This neighborhood is part of my blood.”
   Clemmie Jenkins’ biography is intimately tied to the area’s history. She has been involved in community activism since childhood and since become an anchor for its honesty and accountability. Though a former mental health care worker and small apartment realtor, Clemmie is primarily known as a go-to resource person in Peoplestown. She actively helps Peoplestown senior citizens, and driving them to where they want to go. “We go to grocery stores, pick up medicine, make doctor’s appointments,” Clemmie notes. “Anything that senior citizens in Peoplestown need, they let me know. I’m a resource person here.”  
   Her experiences growing up were tied to the people around her. Their caring presences grew her into a  community activist. Ollie Crutchfield Powell, Clemmie’s mother, was a particularly large influence on Clemmie’s life. 



Ollie Crutchfield Powell and D.H. Stanton

   Ollie Powell was a feisty and beloved community organizer. She was active in the Peoplestown City League and often involved in the community. Ollie took Clemmie to all community meetings that she attended. “I didn’t have a choice going into activism,” Clemmie notes. “If Mom was there, I was there.” Ollie’s on-the-ground work influenced Clemmie. “I am what I am because of my mother. She fought for what she knew was right and spoke out.”
   Slater Elementary was the neighborhood’s main school when Clemmie was growing up. But it was far from most Peoplestown homes. Students in the neighborhood had to walk at least one mile to school. “We had to walk across the railroad track at the end of the street…then go down Pryor Street to Slater Elementary. It was a distance for us. And with our five year old feet, it felt like forever.”
   “My mother didn’t like the fact that we would have to walk all the way to Slater Elementary from our home on Haygood Avenue. She got together with our neighbors who had children in the school- and said, we need to do something about this. We need to change business as usual in South Atlanta. So they organized the Peoplestown City League and advocated for the creation of D.H. Stanton. And that’s where I ended up.”
   Ollie’s activism and awareness of her surroundings was quickly picked up by Clemmie. As a young person, Clemmie was observant of the neighborhood around her. Walking to and from school, she would see the same sights and hear the same sounds. Though most of the homes and businesses disappeared from Peoplestown’s main thoroughfare by the late-1960s, Clemmie remembers them vividly.

1950s Turner Field to a Young Clemmie

   “I can imagine in my mind when this neighborhood was a vibrant neighborhood. Right here where we’re sitting, there used to be a huge grocery store. A huge store. And then urban renewal came and tore it all down,” Clemmie says.
   Sitting at the intersection of Hank Aaron Drive and Ralph David Abernathy, it is hard to imagine the area filled with anything other than decrepit stadiums and empty parking lots. But before Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard became what it is today, it was Georgia Avenue- the site of bustling parlors and restaurants and home to many of South Atlantans working-class black families.  
   Down the street were also other popular neighborhood establishments: an ice cream parlor called French’s ice cream, a place that sold breaded-fish, and a place that sold chickens. There was also a library on the corner, “You could buy all sorts of pies…apple, peach, sweet potato, coconut. And each were just $1. That was…that was a good time.”
   Along the 1950s version of Hank Aaron Drive, a man sold fresh watermelons out of an ice box in his backyard. Thinking back to her childhood, Clemmie recalls “He had a freezer IN THE YARD. There was nothing like eating a cold watermelon right there in the yard…highlight of my life. I don’t know how that man got that freezer in his yard.”
   Listening to the current traffic at Turner Field, one can imagine people speaking loudly and yelling to each other as they walked in 1950s South Atlanta to buy ice cream or go eat. One can imagine a hot dusty street that was brought alive by food and people.



Changes in Turner Field
   The parcels of land in front of the old Georgia Avenue-turned Hank Aaron Drive are different from before. A large stadium and parking lot have replaced rows of homes and businesses. Billboards have replaced side-street watermelon stands. Renters, homeowners, and small businesses do not own the land any more. Large universities, corporate developers, and wealthy stock-holders do. Corporate-friendly purchase deals have ushered in the macro forces of urban renewal and gentrification. 
   But perhaps the largest change has been in the relationships between neighbors. The new corporate neighbors of today are not as committed to the safety and welfare of the neighborhood or its residents as the real people neighbors of yesterday. 

 “I remember there was one time I ran into a brick building with my skates and got hurt…I had trouble getting home on time. But when I got home, what do you know…my mother already knew! Neighbors had told her about my situation and she was aware of everything. Neighbors looked out for neighbors. All the neighborhood looked out for you.” 
   When Georgia State University first purchased the Turner Field property, it ignored communication from the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition to sit at the table and sign a legally-binding Community Benefits Agreement. That initial breach of miscommunication has been a sore point for many in the neighborhood, and the source of organized protests calling on GSU and Carter Development International to give residents consideration and serious talking time. As of May 11th, however, discussions have moved forward as a team from the Coalition is in negotiations with Georgia State University.    

  

What the purchase of Turner Field can bring
   As a long-time community advocate and resident, Clemmie Jenkins desires for the Peoplestown neighborhood to remain stable and grow stronger. When asked about her thoughts on a Community Benefits Agreement, Clemmie noted, “Georgia State University can offer residents a chance to attend Georgia State at a reduced rate. It can give neighborhood seniors opportunities to go back to school. GSU can employ local residents. It can do a lot for the PEOPLE in this area.”
Clemmie finds it important that Georgia State University treat Peoplestown and the surrounding neighborhoods with as much respect as they treat the neighborhood of Summerhill. “That’s the only way we can be a strong area. Neighbors need to respect neighbors. They need to listen to our voices, meet with us, and sit down face to face.”
   The Turner Field Neighborhoods can be strong and lively. But, as Clemmie notes, the neighborhood needs a commitment from Georgia State University and Carter Development to do the right thing. “Georgia State University cannot move here and ignore the people who have been living here. If they’re moving in, they need to talk with us. We’ve been around for a long time. So Georgia State: Let’s talk. Let’s make this work.”    

A warrior here to stay
   Clemmie has spent the better part of six decades in Peoplestown, and has no plans to move. She noted jokingly, “before marrying my husband, I told him…if you cannot live in Peoplestown, we’re going to have a problem. That was a condition for us getting married.” And he took her seriously. Clemmie and Paul live together in Peoplestown on Fern Avenue.
And people in the neighborhood are here for Clemmie, just as she is for them.  Longtime resident Columbus Ward notes, “She has spent a long time in this neighborhood. She is a Peoplestown resident who will stand up for her neighbors and fight for others. Once Clemmie makes a commitment to do something, she will carry that commitment forward.” Her work has been recognized by community groups ranging from the 555 club to the REACH for Wellness. She received the 2016 servant leadership award from State Senator Nan Orrock. On Jenkin’s 65th birthday, she was awarded a Proclamation by the City of Atlanta.
   When people from Peoplestown see Clemmie Jenkins approaching them, they know she is going to tell them something important about their community. “I care about my neighborhood, Jenkins notes, “and dedication to others is what makes me who I am.”



Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Announcement of Community Benefits Agreement Premature and in Bad Faith

Residents Marched to Turner Filed and set up a tent city on April 1st


Press conference with community leaders and elected officials supporting a real, binding Community Benefits agreement to be held Wednesday April 26th at #TentCityATL, 755 Hank Aaron drive at 10:30am.



GSU and Carter, doing business as Panther Holdings LLC prematurely and in bad faith released the terms of a deal it crafted with a selected group of community members and organizations to the exclusion of the Turner Field Benefits Coalition.  It highlights the heart of Atlanta’s gentrification problem.

In December of 2016 the City of Atlanta and Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority released an RFP for the sale of Turner Field and surrounding parking lots. Panther Holdings was created and awarded a sweetheart deal - for $30 million they got $300 million worth of real estate and tax abatements, too.

From the time of the sale of the Braves the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition - a democratically elected body of residents, community organizations, small businesses and churches - have been actively engaged in developing a community driven Community Benefits Agreement to counter gentrification and prevent displacement of residents.

Nearly two years ago a politically connected faction of the coalition led by Suzanne Mitchell broke away and began private negotiations with Panthers Holding. Mitchell is the sister-in-law of council president Ceasar Mitchell, who curries the favor of the developers Carter and GSU repeatedly stating she "could just pick up the phone and call them." Access denied to the democratically empowered Coalition representing broad stakeholders across five impacted neighborhoods.
Day 12 of #TentCityATL

Just an hour or so before news began to spread that a deal had been reached, Carla Smith, GSU, Oakwood and Carter presented a plan it developed with the selected group of individuals and organizations and without input from the community at-large. Council president Cesar Mitchell along with Council members Felicia Moore, Michael Julian Bond, and Deborah Scott with Partnership for Working Families Founding member & VP National CBA Network participated in the meeting.

The Coalition and its advisor, Maya Dillard Smith, former Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia, were allowed to see documents memorializing this "deal" for the first time. There are actually two deals - one with GSU and one with Cater.


The Coalition requested time to review these documents and a follow-up meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 1, 2017. The conversation centered on the importance of transparency, accountability, inclusion and honesty, which has been missing from the negotiations to date.

Sherise Brown, a long term resident of Peoplestown and core member of the coalition attended yesterday's meeting today and stated, “Although I think our meeting today with panthers holding LLC was productive and moving in the right direction, we have not received a commitment from them for a Community Benefits Agreement. We are looking forward to our follow up meeting with GSU and the developers. At this point we are beginning to build a partnership with Panthers holding LLC. We have not, I repeat we have not, reached any agreement. We are still in discussions.”

GSU student leader Asma Elhuni, who also attended the meeting stated, “Our meeting with Scott Taylor from Carter Developers, Bharath Parthasarathy from Georgia State University, Council members, and the Turner Field Benefits Coalition was productive with promises that the Developers will meet with the Turner field Benefits Coalition. It was made clear to GSU that the University foundation is allowed to sign a CBA. As a student, I am eager to see this happen in the near future so that we hold not only my University accountable to its promises, but also the developers.”

One might imagine The Coalitions surprise upon reading the AJC headline, “GSU-Turner Field Neighborhoods Strike Community Benefits Agreement”.

Tremendous misinformation has been miscommunicated by GSU and Carter in an already confusing environment of alternative facts.
Here are the facts:

1.         The Coalition was funded by the Casey Foundation, the Coalition worked with consultants and legal counsel paid for by Casey with a grant it provided of $90,000. Most of the money received went to consultants. Coalition members did not receive any money, and they participated in good faith to draft CBA defining investments, outcomes and protocols benefiting Peoplestown, Summerhill, Mechanicsville, and Pittsburgh. These neighborhoods were selected given the immediate and surrounding impact of the project in alignment with the Living Centers Initiative.
2.         As soon as the deal was inked (Purchase/”Closing” took place), Casey pulled its funding. Unbeknownst to the Coalition at the time, Casey provided its $90,000 in services to the coalition, it was simultaneously funding hundreds of thousands in donations to Georgia State University. A clear conflict of interest for an organization which says it's dedicated to neighborhood change. Change, the Casey foundation will benefit from as it owns 14 acres in the affected area of the Turner field project.
3.         Council member Carla Smith received the maximum political contribution of $2500 from Scott Taylor of Carter the day after the deal closed for the sale of Turner Field.  She also received donations from Carter development.
4.         Suzanne Mitchell is negotiating with GSU and Carter in her individual capacity and as a relative of the City Council President, Caesar Mitchell.  She is no longer the president of (ONS) Organized Neighbors of Summerhill.
5.         Mayoral candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms served on the City Council while also serving as the chairperson of the Fulton County Recreation Authority.  This represented a clear conflict of interest and the closing documents directed Bottoms to receive 5% of the sale price of Turner Field ($600,000).
The deal and its participants are ripe with conflicts and yet the Coalition continues to show up and engage in good faith. We ask only that the other people at the table do the same.



Monday, April 17, 2017

Faith Leaders to Unite at #TentCityATL

On Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm, faith leaders from different communities in Atlanta will hold a prayer session  for Georgia State University and Carter Development at #TentCityATL (755 Hank Aaron drive). On the days following Easter, faith leaders will pray that GSU and Carter respect the NPU-V community members and include them in development of Turner Field and the surrounding parking lots. They will pray that development projects not drive-out longtime residents as they have before. They will pray that Carter and GSU include community voices in a binding social contract that will ensure development benefits everyone in the community.

On April 1st residents of the area marched to the site formally known as Turner Field and set up a tent city. Residents have been staying there in an act of civil disobedience for 18 days through extreme weather and police intimidation. Our ask is simple; include longterm resident voices in the development of the area and so far Carter and GSU has refused to respond to numerous requests for a meeting.

“For years, we have met with residents across Peoplestown, Summerhill, Mechanicsville and Pittsburgh to develop a Community Benefits Agreement to ensure that any development on the 80-acre turner field property benefits the community and our future generations,” explains Deborah Arnold of Mechanicsville who has been camped out since April 1. “More than 1700 of us have participated in community meetings to develop this CBA since the Braves announced they were leaving, but Carter Development and GSU have refused to meet with us, and instead have slandered us and pushed forward plans for development that doesn’t meet community needs.”

We’re drawing a line in the sand. We won’t allow GSU, Carter of any other developer to extract wealth from our community. After suffering through multiple mega developments that promised economic development and delivered broken promises this is our last stand for a community we want to be able to stay in,” says long-term resident and Housing Justice League member Alison Johnson and an organizer of the #TentCityATL. “We no longer have anything to lose. If they aren’t developing with us, they aren’t developing for us.”

Since the #TentCityATL began thousands have signed an online petition to bring Carter and GSU to the table and the story has been covered nationally.


Tuesday, April 11, 2017

#TentCityATL Continues; Day 11




ATLANTA, GEORGIA -- More than 40 residents of four of Atlanta’s historically black neighborhoods surrounding Turner Field (Peoplestown, Summerhill, Mechanicsville and Pittsburgh) are now in day 10 of a tent city occupation at the site of the former Atlanta Braves stadium in their fight for an accountable community benefits agreement. The fight is quickly becoming a national battleground between community-led organizing for equitable and fair development versus publicly supported luxury development taking place across the nation.

“For years, we have met with residents across Peoplestown, Summerhill, Mechanicsville and Pittsburgh to develop a Community Benefits Agreement to ensure that any development on the 80-acre turner field property benefits the community and our future generations,” explains Deborah Arnold of Mechanicsville who has been camped out since April 1. “More than 1700 of us have participated in community meetings to develop this CBA since the Braves announced they were leaving, but Carter Development and GSU have refused to meet with us, and instead have slandered us and pushed forward plans for development that doesn’t meet community needs.” 
  
Last year the City of Atlanta sold the public stadium site to Carter Development and Georgia State University. Despite countless asks they have refused to meet with residents and resorted to spreading lies through the media about residents intentions, including implying that all residents want is a cash payout. Such a request has never happened.

“We didn’t make this decision to pitch tents lightly, says Columbus Ward of Peoplestown. “We have families, we have jobs, we have responsibilities. But at the end of the day, Carter, GSU & the city are threatening the very existence of our neighborhoods. This is a fight for our future. For our right to remain and thrive. We refuse to be seen as commodities. We are real people.” 

On Monday residents will get a lift from students of Georgia State University who are organizing an action to call on GSU President Mark Becker to support local residents demands and urge Carter to negotiate a CBA.

“We’re drawing a line in the sand. We won’t allow GSU, Carter of any other developer to extract wealth from our community. After suffering through multiple mega developments that promised economic development and delivered broken promises this is our last stand for a community we want to be able to stay in,” says long-term resident and Housing Justice League member Alison Johnson and an organizer of the #TentCityATL.  “We no longer have anything to lose. If they aren’t developing with us, they aren’t developing for us.”

#TentCityATL is the latest in what are becoming increasingly regular and escalated fights led by working class communities and communities of color to push back against privately funded, publicly supported luxury development across the nation. In March, teenagers from Boston’s Egleston Neighborhood led a 3-night sit-in at the Mayor’s office to demand increased affordable housing and community engagement for development projects in their neighborhood. On March 31, Pittsburgh residents announced a major victory in their campaign to stop the the replacement of 300 units of affordable housing in the historically black East Liberty neighborhood when they got Whole Foods to back out of the development.
  
Some Atlanta residents aren’t waiting on the city, and are taking the fight to the ballot box. Tanya Washington -- a Peoplestown resident currently under threat of eminent domain related to the Turner Field development -- announced Thursday, she will run for city council after discovering that the city council member that represents her neighborhood has received campaign support from Carter Development.

“We’re not going anywhere,” says #TentCityATL and Housing Justice League organizer Alison Johnson. “Come down and join us. We’re planning actions for May Day, hosting movie nights and building community.”

There has been push back. One needs to look no further than the Peoplestown Next Door website to see all kinds of wild accusations about the #TentCityATL efforts. Although the draft Community Benefits Agreement has zero asks for pay out to individuals or organizations, newer white neighbors continue to claim the effort is about a cash grab. The reality is the Carter and GSU stand to extract billions of dollars from the up and coming neighborhoods and while this might excite already affluent homeowners it has produced a palpable anxiety amongst long term residents that have called these communities home for generations.
 
Last night a number of students and long term residents held a sit-in at GSU president Mark Becker’s office hoping to facilitate a meeting between Becker and longterm residents. Becker refused and instead had folks in the group, including former state house rep Douglas Dean , who has lived in the Pittsburgh neighborhood for over 50 years. As this blog post is being published, they have yet to be released.

One of the things we often hear is that gentrification is inevitable but around the country regular everyday people are fighting back and winning. #TentCityATL is a line in the sand around the issue of gentrification and mass displacement. At its core is the notion that those that live in a community should have a voice in what happens in it, that residents are not disposable, that there can be room for everyone to survive and thrive.

What can people do to support #TentCityATL?

3.       More than anything there is a need to have folks there. there are regular events organized at #TentCityATL like this one. Donate an hour, donate a day, pop a tent and stand in solidarity with one of the most important fights in the city! 

Monday, April 3, 2017

Tent City at Turner Field!


 After the Braves announced that they would be leaving Turner Field residents of Summerhill, Peoplestown, Pittsburgh, and Mechanicsville began meeting to discuss what would become of the almost 80 acres.

 Over the course of almost three years over 1700 residents and countless experts gave input on a Community Benefits Agreement that would ensure that the voice of the community would be included in any development and that whatever ended up at Turner Field wouldn't end up displacing long term residents that are loved and needed in their community.

 Since Carter Development and GSU has purchased the land they have not only refused to meet with residents, they have resorted to spreading lies through the media about residents intentions, including implying that all residents want is a cash payout, such a request has never happened.

 Residents have drawn a line in the sand and simply will not allow GSU, Carter, or any other developer to extract wealth from a community that has suffered through so many bad developments over the years without allowing residents to have a voice and a binding agreement about how their community is developed.

 
The Neighborhoods surrounding Turner Field have been plagued with mega developments that have brought countless broken promises of economic development. 50 years ago Mechanicsville, Summerhill, Peoplestown, and Pittsburgh were thriving communities. It was a place where one could buy fresh food, go to the doctor, enjoy the theatre, attend a decent school, and enjoy a walkable community. Interstate 75/85, the Fulton County Stadium, the Olympic stadium, and Turner Field have all had detrimental effects on the surrounding neighborhoods.

Each of these developments ended up displacing residents by the thousands and destroying small business in the area.

Today residents say no more. No longer can we allow mega developers to extract wealth from our community without any accountability. If you aren’t developing with us, you aren’t developing for us.
Those that live in the community should have a voice in how it’s developed!


That’s why residents and GSU students are taking a stand by organizing a Tent City, and we invite you to join! Follow the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition and the Housing Justice League on Facebook for updates!

You can support the tent city in several ways!


2. Come down and spend time at the Tent City, 755 Hank Aaron drive, it's a 24 hour occupation and the more people present the more powerful we are!

3. There are a lot of expenses and you can help by making a donation and spreading the word! Click here to donate!

Monday, March 13, 2017

Who is the Beltline For?

This past weekend the Housing Justice League did a day of canvassing with the support of SURJ Atlanta. It's park of an overall effort to gather data for a report that would highlight the impact of Beltline development to low to moderate income residents. 

We know the Beltline has already brought a net loss of affordable housing along the areas that have been complete. As the popular project makes it's way to Adair Park, Pittsburgh, South Atlanta, and Peoplestown we want to make sure that development doesn't displace. If the Beltline is going to be the inclusive beautiful project it was designed to be our city and those working to develop the Beltline must do a better job of making sure that everyone can enjoy it, not just affluent newer residents.



The results we are already seeing are unfortunately not shocking; the Beltline is squeezing out non-rich folks as it snakes it's way around the city. Mega projects like the Beltline and Turner Field beg the question, Who are we developing Atlanta for?


Our hope is that solid research can point us to policies our city can adopt to make sure development can benefit everyone and that long term residents can have the opportunity to stay in their community, to enjoy things like the Beltline instead of being squeezed out to make room for new people.


If you would like to get involved in this project we could use your help! Right now we need help with data analysis, data visualization, mapping, qualitative analysis of surveys and interview data, report writing, and editing.


There will be an open meeting  Saturday March 18th from 11-1pm at Hodge Podge Coffee. Email Katediedrick@gmail.com to get more information on how to plug into this effort!


Do you live in a Beltline neighborhood? If so we need folks to take the survey! It won't take long at all! Click HERE to take online survey.


Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Turner Field Neighbors Disrespected and Threatened With Arrest Today


Today residents with the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition delivered apetition to Carter Development urging the developer to sit with long term residents to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement. The petition delivery was organized as a result of Carter’s CEO, Scott Taylor’s refusal to meet with the coalition. The coalition, which is comprised over 30 organizations in the community has been trying to have open communication with Carter and GSU ever since the sales process begun. To date the only residents Carter and GSU have been willing to meet with are homeowners in Summerhill more interested in their own property values.

“We want development in our community, we just ask to be included as there’s a history of broken promises in our communities. We want to know that development in our community works for both new and long-term residents, a binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) is a huge step in that direction.” Stated long term resident and coalition member Alison Johnson.

Once residents showed up to Cater Development's office to deliver the petition they were met with extremely aggressive building representatives that threatened to have them arrested immediately. Some staff even put hands on residents who simply intended to deliver a petition to Scott Taylor.  Residents decided to kneel down and pray for their community but building staff seemed set on yelling over clergy’s prayer, yelling, “Get out now!”, as Imam Furqan A Muhammad with the Masjid Al Muminun Mosque, which is in Peoplestown, led the group in prayer.
 
Today what could have been a simple petition delivery urging a conversation with residents ended up highlighting the extreme disrespect and disdain that both Carter Development, GSU, and some city officials have demonstrated through the whole Turner Field sale process. If Atlanta is going to be a city that works for everyone then this unsustainable, backroom deal approach to mega developments must change.
Carter and GSU along with our city officials did not plan with the communities. This was a backdoor deal which as stated above, is full of conflicts of interest.  They disrespected the democratic process used to create the CBA and they ignored the communities and refused to allow them a seat at table. They took the alternate route and bypassed the people, because they decided the people don’t matter. 
 Many residents are disappointed and scared of what this may mean for their community. “This is a hostile takeover of our communities for profit. This is ethnic cleansing.” These back door deals happen because low-income, minority communities and long-term residents are not valued as stakeholders and partners. “Instead we are looked upon as outsiders by insiders.” 
For fifty years, the communities surrounding Turner Field have been neglected, an almost forgotten footnote in Atlanta’s race to prove it is the “city too busy to hate.”

Once thriving neighborhoods fell victim to the economic priorities of others: busy interstates divided communities and families; stadiums rose and fell, flooding communities with crime and raw sewage; local schools were neglected and underfunded; and promises for positive development were as empty as the scores of parking lots that litter the area.

Now, there is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change all this.
It’s called the Turner Field Community Benefit Agreement (CBA). A Community Benefits Agreement is a legally-binding contract with the developer that describes mutually-agreed and enforceable goals for the development project. This agreement is driven by local residents and the over 40 community organizations that make up the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition.


What would a CBA mean for our communities? A world of difference–for everyone. A well implemented CBA could alleviate flooding; improve transportation and create new public space; provide jobs for residents and create opportunities for training, education and services for people of all ages; create housing for people of all incomes and prevent displacement of existing residents; and make our streets and communities safer and cleaner, while providing places to shop for people in the neighborhood.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Activating Tenant Power!

 Today the Housing Justice League launch it's new tenant leadership development training series which will take place every month at a different apartment complex and include smaller trainings in between each month based on the needs of each complex.


The first training was help at City Views at Rosa Burney in historic Mechanicsville. Resident leaders and new tenants came together to learn how to strengthen their tenant association and how to connect with other tenant associations to win victories around better HUD contracts, better living conditions, and stronger affordable housing policy in the city. The trainings are open to any tenant that want to begin the process of building or strengthening a tenant association of tenant union.



If you are a tenant that would like to receive training there are two ways to go about it. You can message the Housing Justice League at HousingJusticeLeagueATL@gmail.org about attending the next scheduled training, or you can inquire about hosting a training at your complex. This service is provided by the Housing Justice League at no cost. Now more then ever Atlanta needs a tenant movement to combat rising rents and unbridled development.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Quakers to Trump: Sanctuary, Not Walls

Quakers to Trump: Sanctuary, Not Walls
AFSC speaks out on executive orders, urges congressional action

WASHINGTON, DC (January 25, 2017) Today, President Donald Trump announced sweeping executive actions that would expand the border wall, cut federal funding to sanctuary cities and increase the number of people Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will target for deportation. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) – a Quaker organization that has worked for immigrant and refugee rights for almost 100 years – denounced these policies as dangerous and divisive.

“For more than two decades, border wall infrastructure has contributed to the deaths of thousands of migrants fleeing poverty and violence who are forced to cross through deadly terrain,” said Pedro Rios, director of AFSC’s U.S./Mexico Border Program. “This human rights disaster will only be exacerbated with more miles of border walls and excessive, unaccountable enforcement.” While Trump’s executive action paves the way for wall construction, additional congressional action will be needed to fully fund the project. AFSC is calling on Congress to do everything in their power to stop wall construction and to protect the human rights of migrants and those in border communities.

Trump also signed an executive order limiting federal funding to “sanctuary cities.” More than 350 jurisdictions across the country have enacted policies prohibiting local officials from taking actions like asking people about their immigration status, holding people so ICE can detain them, or sharing information with ICE. 

“Limiting collusion between ICE and local law enforcement has been an essential first step to keeping our communities and families safe from unjust deportation policies,” said AFSC’s policy impact coordinator Kathryn Johnson. “We’re calling on congress to respect the Fourth Amendment and oppose legislation that punishes ‘sanctuary cities.’”

The executive orders also dramatically expand the number of Customs and Border Patrol agents, call for aggressive immigration enforcement within the country, and for mandatory detention at the border – including of children and families.

“These policies are immoral, astronomically expensive, racially discriminatory, and threaten to tear apart families and communities” said Johnson. “That’s why AFSC and our partners across this country and around the world are standing together to demand congress oppose these priorities.”

AFSC’s programs outside the U.S. are also voicing concerns. “Through our work in Central America and Mexico we know that many people fleeing to the U.S. are doing so because of violence and extreme poverty,” said Douglas Juarez, AFSC’s Regional Migration Program Coordinator. “Closing the U.S.’s doors to these children, women and men puts their lives at risks as they are returned to the danger they fled. These problems must not be addressed through security and militarization, but through following international law and respecting everyone’s right to migrate.”

But AFSC and other organizations are not just waiting for congress to take action. They have launched a campaign, called #SanctuaryEverywhere, to help everyday people protect each other from these attacks. According to Lori Khamala, who directs AFSC’s immigrant rights program in North Carolina, they hope to equip thousands of people with training and tools to create sanctuary wherever they are.

Says Khamala, “whether we are welcoming refugees or working to stop deportations; protecting religious groups who have been targeted and attacked; working to ensure that Black Lives Matter by interrupting anti-Black violence; or protecting the rights of LGBTQI people, we are all in this together.”    

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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Drawing on continuing spiritual insights and working with people of many backgrounds, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social systems.


Monday, January 23, 2017

Turner Field Neighbors and Students Unite to Fight GSU/Carter Development Sponsored Gentrification


Press conference before council meeting
On Tuesday, Jan.17th, one day after Atlanta celebrated MLK day, Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition (TFCBC) residents and students packed City Hall to speak out against Turner Field stadium purchasers. On Dec.31st, 2016, Georgia State University and its development partners closed a purchase deal to acquire Turner Field stadium and its surrounding lots. This deal, however, did not include the detailed Community Benefits Agreement TFCBC has researched and arranged over the past two years. GSU and Carter Development have taken a stance of non-negotiation, and no-CBA, despite active outreach by Turner Field residents to the contrary. The refusal to include a Community Benefits Agreement in the purchase deal, first through the sale by the City, and later in the purchase by GSU, has created a climate of non-negotiation. Without a CBA, there is no guarantee that development in and around Turner Field will not displace families, nor economically benefit residents who remain. The welfare of the Turner Field Neighborhoods, and especially its most low-income residents, has been dramatically de-prioritized by the City of Atlanta, and their future neighbor, Georgia State University.
Students join residents at the MLK march the day before

In response to these actions of disregard, on Tuesday, residents and students spoke out. Protest began when Mayor Kasim Reed took the podium at City Hall. Dozens turned their backs in silence to Reed, who has overseen the stadium’s sale and its subsequent (mis)allocation of purchase funds. They remained standing throughout Reed’s speech, physically filling most of the audience space. Reed exited the council, but not TFCBC’s protest. 

Community members turn their back as Mayor Reed speaks
Residents and students again took the floor during public comment. For nearly four hours, Morehouse and Spellman College students, Peoplestown residents, GSU students, NPU-V district chairs, and Housing Justice League organizers spoke out against the CBA’s absence in the Turner Field purchase deal. Senator Vincent Fort detailed the history of the Turner Field neighborhoods, and how the purchasers’ refusal to sign a CBA was only the latest in a string of unfriendly developments. “The residents of Peoplestown and beyond have been put under the thumb of developers for far too long. Their priorities for their community need to be raised up. The Turner Field Neighborhoods demand a Community Benefits Agreement that acknowledges their humanity. No CBA, No Deal!”

“Without the CBA in the sale of Turner Field, the community was not promised safety, not promised job security, not promised the right to stay in their homes. It is violent that the City of Atlanta would undertake such a sale, in complete disregard of residents’ welfare,” noted Agnes Scott activist Idil Hussein.

Throughout the comment session, speakers gave statements of high intensity that directly addressed the City and GSU’s failure to negotiate with residents. Spellman activist Eva Dickerson indicted City Council representatives as unsatisfying black female role models, and highlighted the need for non-official black woman activists to take on leadership and direct political change. GSU activist Sam Hogan recorded dissatisfaction with Georgia State University and Carter Development for continuing to undercut residents. HJL staff member and tenant organizer Sherise Brown demanded greater transparency from the City in its development negotiations. “The City only met with a few residents from Summerhill during the purchase negotiation…and the same with GSU and Carter. This hand-picking of residents does not give other neighbors the opportunity to voice their concerns…and it leads to purchase deals like this one, with no CBA.”

Morehouse activist and ATL is Ready organizer Avery Jackson noted during public comment, “This loud, clear-spoken collection of students standing alongside black communities against city-wrought gentrification…this is the new unchained, unregulated politics of 2017. We are not here to ask questions or demand change. We are here to re-set the negotiation table so that community voices can never not be heard.”
Public officials and development stakeholders have often argued that any Community Benefits Agreement negotiation is cost-prohibitive. But, they fail to acknowledge that the investments and priorities addressed by the CBA could be funded entirely from the sale proceeds of Turner Field.

“The sale has thus far generated at least $30 million in revenue, but has been invested into another corporate-sponsored stadium rather than the Turner Field Neighborhood communities. Eminent domain law has been used as a tool of urban gentrification, allowing the City to land-grab from the Turner Field neighborhoods,” noted Housing Justice coordinator Tim Franzen and PRC president Columbus Ward. Short of revising the eminent domain ruling and regaining land, TFCBC members seek to orient the development process in ways that would benefit the community. Repaved streets, better insulated schools, and more fresh produce-carrying grocery stores would all be small examples of such a process, and indeed, are the objectives of a CBA.  
Students sit-in during City Council meeting


After the speakout ended, students took to the chamber floors for a sit-in. They broadcast a Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King speech as councilmembers conducted their affairs, twirled car keys, drew silent attention to Councilwoman Carla Smith, and altogether unsettled business as usual. This creative resistance will amplify if and as the Turner Field purchase deal moves forward without a Community Benefits Agreement. TFCBC activists are redoubling their commitment to stop inequitable development in their community.