February, 2007

Corruption at HUD helps push poor people of color out of Chicago

By The N.E. Illinois Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign

For years a handful of slumlords have controlled public and subsidized housing in Chicago. Politically-connected developers make millions pushing the poor out of the city. Owners and managers like Elzie Higginbottom of East Lake Management and Leon Finney of The Woodlawn Organization collect millions in federal funds and skimp on repairs to maximize profits. Private developers like Dan McLean of The Habitat Company and Allison Davis's Davis Group carry out a "Plan for Transformation" that is displacing tens of thousands more public housing residents than it is re-housing. All use clout at City Hall, at the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), at institutions like the University of Chicago and at HUD to continue profiting off mismanagement and displacement. "HUD's neglect of our communities is akin to the travesty and injustice that the people of New Orleans suffered from Katrina. Their inability to do anything has devastated our communities just as government inaction during Katrina devastated New Orleans," says Charles Price of the Coalition to Protect Public Housing (CPPH).

The problems facing subsidized tenants show exactly what's in store for displaced public housing tenants. While HUD stands by, conditions deteriorate and condo conversions or demolitions displace tenants. "HUD has failed the tenants by allowing corruption to exist within these various housing authorities. How do HUD endorse a plan for public housing when subsidized housing is being plagued by problematic officials? How do we ensure a stable life for our families if the system we moving into is unstable?" asks CPPH organizer Willie Flemming. "HUD needs to stop giving these slumlords contracts, they steady givin' them out and they just squander the money," says Lonnie Richardson of STOP and the Grove Parc Tenants Association.

STOP and CPPH have joined to fight for solutions. "We need programs that will train tenants to manage and take ownership of the properties. We live in and are concerned about every aspect of these properties, from repairs to screening to security, so why not turn it over directly to us?" says Ebonee Stevenson, STOP organizer and Kimbark Tenants Association leader. "This is part of a larger war on the poor. There aren't living wage jobs or adequate social services and the few services poor people have are being cut off. The only way to stop it is for poor people ourselves to organize and use our power," says Ms. Stevenson.