We all know the routine of industrial pollution and toxic waste dumps placed in low-income communities exposing what is fast becoming the 99% to the hazards of far-right wing global Wall Street DISDAIN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.
Here in Baltimore all citizens are exposed to the neglect of PUBLIC HEALTH----we all have asthma because several decades ago industrial plants were allowed to fill the air with toxic fumes---fill the ground with toxic chemicals. Then we had the left social progressive era that cleaned the air----cleaned the water----cleaned the soil in states caring about PUBLIC INTEREST AND PUBLIC HEALTH ----that is NOT BALTIMORE.
WE THE PEOPLE must understand what MOVING FORWARD 4th industrial revolution brings is not only that same industry now having NO REGULATIONS OR PUBLIC PROTECTIONS from the same pollution, same toxic waste only this time those GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUSES AND GLOBAL FACTORIES ARE SUPER-SIZED.
EVERYONE IN NO ONE OUT OF BEING EXPOSED TO HAZARDOUS DISASTERS. YES, IT WILL BE CONCENTRATED WHEREVER THE GLOBAL WALL STREET POLS AND PLAYERS BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
We want to show how global Wall Street Baltimore Development 'labor and justice' organizations PRETEND TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH. We now have a PLANK COVE POINT UNDERARMOUR CAMPUS in SW Baltimore already growing and will take miles of SW-----West----and meet with that second global corporate campus that LARRY HOGAN is making of NW Baltimore. SW UnderArmour on the water is clearly part of the global 1% and their 2% neck of the woods---it is built as a global resort for global executives and connects along the waterfront to University of Maryland Medical Center also being staged as a HEALTH RESORT FOR THE GLOBAL 1% AND THEIR 2%.
WE WOULD NOT EXPECT HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS OR DUMPS IN THESE AREAS.
United Workers is a global Wall Street 'labor and justice' organization found in US cities across the nation. The grassroots people mostly all want to help people and communities----the executive leaders use this organization to PRETEND TO HELP PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES.
Here we have United Workers WINNING on environment by stopping a waste incinerator in just that downtown waterfront SW BALTIMORE community. No incinerator would have been built there--it simply pretends 99% of citizens are empowered when they are not. What we see this group do afterwards is promote that massive solar platform needed by global UnderArmour and global UMMS BIOTECH PARK.
Latest Post
Fair Development Victory! Celebrate with us RSVP to the Concert for Fair Development
Posted by greggalen ⋅ March 26, 2015Baltimore City Board of Estimates Votes to End Agreement with Energy Answers Incinerator Project
Baltimore City School Board today is ending a similar agreement with the Curtis Bay project
This follows Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee decision in February to end its support for trash burning project
Baltimore City leaders reverse years of support for the troubled Energy Answers trash-burning incinerator, when the Board of Estimates voted to terminate its energy purchasing agreement with the company. The action by the Board of Estimates removes an important source of revenue for the project in the Fairfield neighborhood of far south Baltimore. Additionally, the Baltimore City School Board has decided to end its agreement with the incinerator project as well and is in the process of informing Energy Answers. Students, community members and environmentalists have been protesting the massive waste-to-energy incinerator because it would cause more air pollution to a community that already suffers some of the most toxic air pollution in Maryland.
Public scrutiny of the purchasing contract grew when students, parents, and teachers from Free Your Voice, a human rights committee of United Workers based in Curtis Bay, called on the Baltimore City School Board to opt out of this agreement last spring. Free Your Voice mounted a public pressure campaign across the region leading to the larger Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee’s decision to end its support for the project. Media also grew with national stories in the New York Times, Grist.org, and viral videos on social media promoted by 350.org and Pulitzer prize winning author Margaret Atwood.
Josh Acevedo, Free Your Voice leader, “There’s already a lot of pollution and Curtis Bay has been treated like a dumping ground for far too long. Breathing clean air is a basic human right. This milestone shows that the city is acknowledging that this incinerator isn’t a good idea and that there are humans whose lives would be affected if it were to be built.”
Free Your Voice is organizing a celebratory Concert for Fair Development the week of Earth Day on April 25th at Benjamin Franklin High School that will highlight healthy and equitable alternatives including solar farm projects, zero waste reuse and recycling industries, and local agricultural initiatives.
Amanda Maminski, Curtis Bay resident, “We believe there are other alternatives to the proposed incinerator, alternatives that will not involve poisoning the already-toxic environment within and around the Curtis Bay community. One of those alternatives gaining popular community support is a solar facility, a solar farm, on the tract of land currently owned by FMC Corporation.”
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We would in fact expect to find that massive industrial solar platform in Curtis Bay where FRACKING NATURAL GAS EXPORT TERMINALS ARE LOCATED. The FMC Corporation is that very, very , very bad environmental/global Wall Street corporation having no intent on building anything environmental. So, we already know there will not be a LEFT GREEN SOLAR ENERGY PLATFORM BUILT. United Workers as other FAKE environmental organizations promote this idea of far-right wing GLOBAL GREEN CORPORATION. As a REAL environmentalist who tries to educate these environmental groups---they will always say THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING....MEANING GLOBAL WALL STREET 1% KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
So, we have a global Wall Street Baltimore Development 'labor and justice' organization promoting what will KILL GREATER BALTIMORE'S ENVIRONMENT AS WELL AS THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND PORT OF BALTIMORE-----it's about the jobs, jobs, jobs. Again, the grassroots citizens tied to these FAKE labor and justice organizations really do want to help their communities------STOP JOINING THESE GLOBAL WALL STREET BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT/GLOBAL JOHNS HOPKINS NGOs! They are the ANTITHESIS OF BEING GREEN AND PUBLIC HEALTH.
'FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by chemist John Bean in 1883 as the Bean Spray Pump Company in Los Gatos, California, producing piston pumps for insecticides. In 1928, Bean Spray Pump purchased two companies: the Anderson-Barngrover Co. and Sprague-Sells Co. At this time the company changed its name to Food Machinery Corporation, and began using the initials FMC. In 1941 the company FMC received a contract to design and build amphibious tracked landing vehicles for the United States War Department,[4] and afterwards the company continued to diversify its products. FMC employed 5,500 people worldwide, and had gross revenues of US$3.4 billion in 2011'.
The second issue is the FAKE community garden policies placing all energy on what is vital fresh, local food in areas known to be developed as GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUSES.......this is NOT GREEN-----if we are not stopping MOVING FORWARD US CITIES DEEMED FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES. Who knows these food gardens are located in temporary sourced real estate? Global Baltimore Development, global Johns Hopkins, and their pols in Baltimore City Council and Mayor PUGH.
WHERE ARE WE SEEING GLOBAL WALL STREET BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT TARGETING AFFORDABLE HOUSING? THAT IS WHERE TOXIC WASTE INCINERATORS----TOXIC INDUSTRIAL SOLAR PLATFORMS----TOXIC NUCLEAR AND CHEMICAL WASTE DUMPS WILL BE FOUND.
HUD Mandates ‘Affordable Housing’ in Affluent Baltimore Suburbs
By Susan Jones | March 25, 2016 | 7:26 AM EDT
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro. (AP File Photo)
(CNSNews.com) - The Obama administration has started its push to expand low-income housing into "higher opportunity areas."
The Department of Housing and Urban Development last week announced a "landmark" settlement agreement with Baltimore County that will serve as a catalyst to "promote housing mobility" and "address residential segregation."
The goal is to move low- and very-low-income people out of the city and into the suburbs.
“Every person deserves a fair shot at opportunity, and that starts with a decent, safe, and affordable place to call home,” HUD Secretary Julián Castro said in the March 15 announcement. “This agreement sets Baltimore County on a path to stronger, more inclusive communities where everyone can enjoy equal access to opportunity."
The agreement stems from a complaint filed with HUD in 2011 by the Baltimore County branch of the NAACP; a fair housing group; and three individuals who claimed Baltimore County had failed to "affirmatively further fair housing."
To settle that complaint, HUD is requiring Baltimore County to spend $30 million ($3 million annually for ten years) to create 1,000 affordable housing units, either through new construction or rehabilitation.
The units will be geographically dispersed in "neighborhoods that provide access to opportunity." The 46-page settlement includes a chart (Exhibit F) listing the 116 relatively affluent census tracts surrounding Baltimore City where most of the 1,000 housing units must be located.
At least 500 of the units must have three or more bedrooms to accommodate families with children; and at least one-third of the units must be accessible and made available to people with disabilities.
The housing units must be completed over a period of 12 years.
In addition, the county must provide 2,000 Housing Choice Vouchers to help families gain access to "higher opportunity neighborhoods."
The county must "proactively market the units to potential tenants who are least likely to apply, including African Americans families and families with a member who has a disability."
The county must, within 180 days, introduce (and keep trying to pass) legislation that prohibits housing discrimination based on a person's lawful source of income. This means a landlord can't refuse someone housing if he or she plans to pay the rent with Social Security or other public assistance instead of a paycheck (job!).
And finally, under the settlement agreement, the county must pay $150,000 to the three individuals who complained to HUD in 2011.
In June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that federal housing law allows people to challenge zoning laws and other housing practices that have a "disparate" or harmful impact on minority groups, even if there is no proof that the discrimination was intentional.
And two weeks after that Supreme Court ruling, HUD issued a regulation intended to help poor people move into "communities that are rich with opportunity," as HUD Secretary Castro phrased it at the time.
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Indeed, all of Baltimore's 5% to the 1% players are hawking affordable housing in NW Baltimore NE Baltimore both slated to become that toxic waste dumping ground. Here we see top global Wall Street Clinton neo-liberal cheerleaders Castro and NAACP pretending this Obama policy helps those poor and low-income. What are currently high income suburban communities will segue into industrial pushing the affluent suburbans into downtown.
Gwynn's Falls/communities along Falls Road were sites of MILLS ----these several decades these areas became affluent as desegregation pushed people tied to race and class to suburbs----well, now these areas will become those toxic waste dumping grounds for what is slated to be GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUSES AND GLOBAL FACTORIES.
Any REAL left social progressive groups fighting for environmental justice for 99% of citizens would be fighting NOW to stop global corporate campus development and what we KNOW WILL BE DOZENS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS AND TOXIC WASTE DUMPS.
The industrial solar platform United Workers supports will create the same levels of pollution as out in California where toxic waste is dumped in CA and Nevada.
'The units will be geographically dispersed in "neighborhoods that provide access to opportunity." The 46-page settlement includes a chart (Exhibit F) listing the 116 relatively affluent census tracts surrounding Baltimore City where most of the 1,000 housing units must be located'
We want to post a RIGHT WING RESPONSE to locating affordable housing in affluent suburbs slated to become TOXIC WASTE DUMPS FOR GLOBAL FACTORIES. He we see that right wing painting Obama as SOCIALIST----Obama is raging far-right wing global Wall Street killing 99% of WE THE PEOPLE. Who pushes global Wall Street GREATER BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT hardest? THE RIGHT WING. The right wing global Wall Street pols have to play to their base ---those white affluent citizens tied to race and class having fled Baltimore now having THEIR COMMUNITIES trashed by global industries.
Obama's HUD was global Wall Street just as Clinton/Bush HUD was---no freedom happening---no housing justice---only mass movement of US citizens from their communities filled with personal equity in house ownership---community development----pushing suburbia into US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones. This is where all hazardous waste----toxic dumps----global corporate factories will now be located. NW and NE Baltimore and as this article states each state has these slated ZONES FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Where is Catholic Charities sending homeless to temporary housing----NW Baltimore---which 5% Baltimore Development player is being thrown that patronage bone to build this housing? If you are affluent fighting this development thinking it is LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE ---WAKE UP----these global corporate campus and factory plans kill the environment and public health for ALL 99% OF CITIZENS.
AFFH - Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Factsheet
Tavares, FL (Lake County, FL) Many updates added Oct. 26, 2016 Create: August 20, 2015
I will be adding "big picture"content periodically to this Factsheet with links to source materials. For frequent, detailed updates on AFFH, I recommend www.AFFH.net and Sustainable Freedom Lab .
The shortcut to this page is: http://bit.ly/Kill-AFFH
FiscalRangers.com has already published several articles on AFFH HERE.
If you want to start with a five minute overview video on AFFH, try THIS one.
AFFH (Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing) is a Federal HUD rule that was recently approved by HUD (in 2015) and requires that any local city or county agency receiving CDBG Federal Grants (like Lake County and several cities) must agree to a condition to implement AFFH. The new Lake County CDBG annual HUD grant plan contains a “Certification” page where they agree to implement AFFH. I have given public input to the Lake County Board more than once about the risks of accepting CDBG grants, but they ignored me.
AFFH is a liberal Obama Administration social justice program that replaces local zoning decisions with plans defined by the Federal Government. They require communities to conduct demographic studies to identify “economic disparity”, then develop a plan to correct it, and then actually implement the plan, monitored by HUD. A pilot case in Westchester County, NY of a less precise version of AFFH resulted in a massive lawsuit (see link further down) and now they are building 750 HUD defined low income housing units split among 31 predominately white, upper class neighborhoods.
Numerous news stories have appeared on AFFH dangers in mid-2015 and how it will be used to mandate creation of low income housing in wealthy neighborhoods. Critics question why the Federal government should have the right to over-ride local zoning then redistribute low income people into wealthier neighborhoods. This is different from requiring more spending in minority neighborhoods. Instead, the plan is to require movement of minority and low income people into higher income neighborhoods by creating HUD defined low income housing units. So, some neighborhoods with 1/4 acre + zoned housing will be forced to do infill low income housing.
The main result is to use AFFH to reduce home rule and make the Federal government a replacement for local zoning boards.
Recommendation (Updated May 23, 2016):
AFFH needs to be defunded and killed.
Lake County, FL Residents need to understand that if the County Board, and the local cities keep taking HUD grants that require AFFH compliance, they are obligated to implement AFFH, and could be sued later by local activists or HUD like Westchester County, NY experienced (see below) to create HUD defined low income housing within higher income neighborhoods. Westchester County is now having to build 750 low income units spread among 31 predominantly wealthy neighborhoods based upon AFFH required studies.
It is a Federal overreach of local zoning decisions and individual property rights. Cities and counties need to refuse HUD grants which now have requirements to comply with AFFH. One Colorado town did just that and we wrote about it HERE. Both US Senate and US House bills have been filed to defund AFFH but died (see below).
Recent articles / references on AFFH:
Added Oct. 26, 2016 - Rush Limbaugh May 9, 2016 story on new HUD efforts to force low income people into higher income neighborhoods. It is about "Obama's intention to destroy the suburbs." This is different from AFFH, but another HUD initiative to "equalize" neighborhoods. HUD is coming up with a new program to provide amped up Section 8 rent subsidy vouchers to low income people to pay rents while moving into higher income neighborhoods.
Added May 23, 2016 - This March 25, 2016 article explains how the City of Baltimore just settled a complaint filed by the NAACP with HUD regarding AFFH compliance. "HUD is requiring Baltimore County to spend $30 million ($3 million annually for ten years) to create 1,000 affordable housing units, either through new construction or rehabilitation. (NOTE: Rehabilitation means they could renovate a vacant house next to you and move a section 8 voucher family into it. This could be a way to use up HUD foreclosures.)
"The goal is to move low- and very-low-income people out of the city and into the suburbs."
"The units will be geographically dispersed in "neighborhoods that provide access to opportunity." The 46-page settlement includes a chart (Exhibit F) listing the 116 relatively affluent census tracts surrounding Baltimore City where most of the 1,000 housing units must be located."
"At least 500 of the units must have three or more bedrooms to accommodate families with children; and at least one-third of the units must be accessible and made available to people with disabilities."
"The county must "proactively market the units to potential tenants who are least likely to apply, including African Americans families and families with a member who has a disability.""
"In addition, the county must provide 2,000 Housing Choice Vouchers to help families gain access to "higher opportunity neighborhoods.""
Added May 23, 2016 - This Jul 20, 2015 National Review article on AFFH gives the best background on the motivations and plans leading up to AFFH. It's entire socialistic goal is to kill suburbs and merge them into a bigger regional government filling socialism goals of big government. They cite the original source for the ideas, the publication and the relationship with Obama's Alinsky supporters.
Added May 23, 2016 - This Jul. 28, 2015 New York Post article. "Obama collecting personal data for a secret race database" on AFFH explains how AFFH is being used to collect a massive database on minority demographics to be used to sue banks for finance discrimination or plan where low income housing needs to be built (in the middle of wealthy neighborhoods). Much of the data will be collected via AFFH HUD requirements for local cities and counties receiving HUD grants to conduct massive "assessments" to gather data, then develop AFFH compliance plans and implement them.
"The granddaddy of them all (racial databases) is the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing database, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development rolled out earlier this month to racially balance the nation, ZIP code by ZIP code. It will map every US neighborhood by four racial groups — white, Asian, black or African-American, and Hispanic/Latino — and publish “geospatial data” pinpointing racial imbalances.
The agency proposes using nonwhite populations of 50% or higher as the threshold for classifying segregated areas.
Federally funded cities deemed overly segregated will be pressured to change their zoning laws to allow construction of more subsidized housing in affluent areas in the suburbs, and relocate inner-city minorities to those predominantly white areas. HUD’s maps, which use dots to show the racial distribution or density in residential areas, will be used to select affordable-housing sites.
HUD plans to drill down to an even more granular level, detailing the proximity of black residents to transportation sites, good schools, parks and even supermarkets. If the agency’s social engineers rule the distance between blacks and these suburban “amenities” is too far, municipalities must find ways to close the gap or forfeit federal grant money and face possible lawsuits for housing discrimination.
Civil-rights groups will have access to the agency’s sophisticated mapping software, and will participate in city plans to re-engineer neighborhoods under new community outreach requirements.
“By opening this data to everybody, everyone in a community can weigh in,” Obama said. “If you want affordable housing nearby, now you’ll have the data you need to make your case.”
(Note: In my opinion, this means "civil rights groups" can SUE local cities for not taking action. Much like the Westchester County, NY lawsuit or being sued for not protecting endangered species.)
May 20, 2016 - A US Senator filed a bill to block funding for AFFH, but the Senate let it die. The House may still file a bill to defund AFFH. They did last year.
HERE is a radio interview on the Rush Limbaugh show just before the vote on the Senate bill.
"Published on May 17, 2016 May 17, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning appeared on the Rush Limbaugh Show with guest host Mark Steyn at 2:30PM EST to discuss the imminent Senate vote on an amendment by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), S.3897, to the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) appropriations bill that will prohibit implementation of the HUD regulation “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) that conditions $3 billion of yearly community development block grants on 1,200 recipient cities and counties rezoning neighborhoods along income and racial guidelines.
Jul 8, 2015 - "Housing Redistribution: HUD Plans to Move Subsidized Housing Into Areas 'Rich With Opportunity'"
"If communities want to continue receiving federal housing funds, they must spend the money in ways that move inner-city minorities, for example, into subsidized housing in wealthier, whiter suburbs."
Jul 29, 2015 - Breitbart article "War on Suburbs: Obama, Julian Castro Rev Up Affirmative Action Housing"
References about AFFH:
You can see all prior articles we have written on FiscalRangers.com about AFFH HERE.
FiscalRangers.com also has a periodically updated Factsheet on AFFH dangers HERE (this page).
HERE is a March, 2016 five minute overview video on AFFH dangers by expert John Anthony.
AFFH.net is a podcast about dangers of AFFH. Here is their "Elevator Speech" on AFFH. They post continuous new items about AFFH so are a good source for updates.
"AFFH gives FREE federal grant money to the suburbs. But what they don't tell you is that by taking the money, you the suburbs will be forced to gentrify your neighborhoods with low-income racially diverse high density housing.
"1) HUD is imposing requirements that go far beyond what the 1968 Fair Housing Act demands
2) Moves low income housing to the suburbs
3) The new rule blocks private choice and the history of American residential patterns
4) Uses subsidies (block grants) as blackmail against 1,250 targeted U.S. localities
5) HUD grantees must consider statistical data such as education and transportation that are only remotely related to housing
6) Communities threatened with huge legal expenses from allegations by HUD and Civil Rights groups
7) HUD requires racial analysis of demographic data that should instead be colorblind (race baiting?)
Sustainable Freedom Lab is a major source of info on AFFH
http://sustainablefreedomlab.org/ has many posts on property rights and the dangers of AFFH and HUD's Federal overreach.
They produced a property rights pamphlet "Agency Tyranny" by John Anthony which should be required reading by all City & County elected officials and City/County Managers, planners and HUD grant adminstrators. Here is a copy if you cannot download the latest version from their site:
Download 2016-02-agency-tyranny-ebook
Legal Issues - Westchester County, NY, home of Hillary Clinton, is a lawsuit pilot case
Westchester County is an example of what will happen when communities take HUD grants but then ignore AFFH requirements. They got sued based upon an early version of AFFH, and the lawsuit has been going on since 2009 because they fell under AFFH earlier.
March 29, 2016 - Mark Levine 9-minute radio show interview of Westchester County, NY's County Executive Rob Astorino about AFFH and the lawsuit there. He says under a HUD federal agreement, Westchester County must build 750 low income units in 31 white communities like Baltimore is doing, while HUD keeps expanding the requirements. AFFH social engineering "is coming to your community next like we warned Baltimore...especially if Hillary Clinton is elected..." he says.
July 27, 2015 - An earlier Fox News segment with Rob Astorino about the Westchester lawsuit.
HERE is an anti-discrimination website explaining the legal results and how far they will go to enforce AFFH.
HERE is an older update on the Westchester lawsuit from April 25, 2014 .
And, here is a short video on AFFH for Dummies by resident & Westchester County, NY County Executive Rob Astorino about the anguish AFFH caused to local residents by the lawsuit.
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Keep in mind---this NAACP lawsuit is tied to Obama's HUD policies we all know is very, very, very bad for 99% of people. NAACP is that global Wall Street Baltimore Development 'labor and justice' organization with the 5% to the 1% getting patronage for pushing BAD SOCIAL POLICIES.
'The units will be geographically dispersed in "neighborhoods that provide access to opportunity." The 46-page settlement includes a chart (Exhibit F) listing the 116 relatively affluent census tracts surrounding Baltimore City where most of the 1,000 housing units must be located'.
If one can actual see this CHART (EXHIBIT F) one will see just where environmental devastation will be worse and we can bet these Fake 5% 'LABOR AND JUSTICE' organizations will be out 20 years from now shouting against this environmental injustice of toxic waste in low-income communities.
THE GLOBAL WALL STREET 5% TO THE 1% CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA POLS AND PLAYERS KNOW THIS IS THE GOAL AND WHERE ARE THE HOSPITALS----THE EMERGENCY PLANNING FOR HAZARDOUS/NUCLEAR WASTE DISASTERS? DOWNTOWN WHERE THE GLOBAL 1% AND THEIR 2% WILL BE LOCATED.
Remember, the ACLU which used to fight for housing equal opportunity and access is now far-right wing global Wall Street neo-liberal so it has not enforced housing or environmental justice laws these few decades of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA ---NOW TRUMP.
WE THE PEOPLE MUST STOP BEING REACTIVE TO PUBLIC POLICY----NOW IS THE TIME TO BE PROACTIVE IN HOUSING JUSTICE ---IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE----AND BOTH THE RIGHT WING AND LEFT WING NEED TO COME TOGETHER AND A 99% VS 1%.
'The agreement stems from a complaint filed with HUD in 2011 by the Baltimore County branch of the NAACP; a fair housing group; and three individuals who claimed Baltimore County had failed to "affirmatively further fair housing."'
SEE THE NAACP 'CIVIL RIGHTS' SETTLEMENT TO KNOW WHERE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TIED TO THE WORST OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION WILL BE LOCATED IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS.
'To settle that complaint, HUD is requiring Baltimore County to spend $30 million ($3 million annually for ten years) to create 1,000 affordable housing units, either through new construction or rehabilitation'.
Working to expand housing opportunities by increasing the supply of affordable, quality rental housing in Maryland through advocacy, education and collaboration.
The Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition
is the leading voice for affordable rental housing development in Maryland. The Coalition has a diverse group of over 185 member organizations. Our members include:
Our Vision
We envision a new model of housing and community development, where outside real estate developers and speculators are not in control, but where a vibrant non-speculative, permanently affordable, housing sector exists that consists of public housing, non-profit housing, shared-equity housing, and limited-equity housing controlled by residents & the communities in which they reside.
Our Mission
The Baltimore Housing Roundtable's mission is to coordinate and integrate the work of BHR members into a unified movement that will promote and facilitate social change. BHR members understand that individuals cannot create widespread social change on their own. Competition among non-profits over limited public and private resources contributes to a fragmented system that does not meet housing need in Baltimore, particularly among those with low or no income. However, as a collaborative, BHR members can pool resources and advocate to implement an agenda of systemic change and realize our shared values and vision.
Community Land Trusts in Baltimore
Baltimore City currently has two Community Land Trusts in operation—the Charm City Land Trust and the North East Housing Initiative. Learn more about the basics of CLTs here in this basic overview. There is also interest and organizing around affordable housing and the need for CLTs in Remington, Waverly, Curtis Bay, and Brooklyn.
The North East Housing Initiative, Inc. (NEHI) developed out of St. Anthony’s Church Social Advocacy committee in 2012. It is the outgrowth of a series of speak-outs, public events, listening campaigns, and political advocacy that demonstrated and reiterated the need for affordable housing development.
NEHI members are united and committed to improving their communities by creating and promoting permanently affordable housing for those who have the greatest need, including people of low and moderate income, the physically and cognitively challenged, veterans, and the elderly by creating a community land trust, whose ownership is shared by individuals and the community.
WATCH!: Members of the North East Housing Initiative, Father Ty Hullinger and Linda Brown speak on NEHI at a public event hosted by the group.
If you are interested in learning more about NEHI, please contact Chris Lafferty at 410- 299-7089 or kingdomministriesmd@comcast.net
Charm City Land Trusts:
Charm City Land Trusts was started close to 13 years ago in McElderry Park, a neighborhood in East Baltimore. Anchored in the Amazing Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, the land trust owns and stewards 19 properties. The majority of these properties serve as one of McElderry Park’s only conserved green spaces. In the winter of 2016, the land trust acquired its first house and will be working on affordable housing development.
If you are interested in learning more about CCLT contact info@charmcitylandtrusts.org and visit: https://charmcitylandtrusts.org
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This is NOT a housing policy discussion we want folks to understand how we KNOW where housing and environmental injustice will occur a decade or so down the road. Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition is that far-right wing global Wall Street Clinton/O'Malley FAKE JUSTICE organization. We took a look at the NAACP Baltimore affordable housing settlement to see all kinds of blackened areas ----where are those housing to go? We know our NE communities fought to keep a ROYAL FARMS from their community----that Royal Farms was being built because an INTERSTATE OFF-RAMP is coming to that NE community-----this is where 'land grant'/affordable housing is slated to be built----THE COMING GLOBAL CORPORATE FACTORIES WITH TOXIC CHEMICAL AND NUCLEAR WASTE INCINERATORS AND DUMPS.
The beautiful community of HAMILTON-----AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES---are that middle-class/affluent community slated to be made into global factories, workers' dormitories, environmental waste dumps........WE ALREADY KNOW THIS BY WHERE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS PLANNED BY GLOBAL WALL STREET PLAYERS WILL GO!
The other issue with this Obama/NAACP HUD settlement is this----IT IS TIED TO HOUSING VOUCHERS----yet more right wing housing policy designed to create winners and losers----selective housing violates US EQUAL PROTECTION HOUSING OPPORTUNITY AND ACCESS LAWS.
When we talk with those HAMILTON ROYAL FARM PROTESTORS about their communities to be taken by WALL STREET BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT MASTER PLAN----they refused to protest the goals of MOVING FORWARD----they simply think getting a delay in building one gas station is to stop the absolute devastation of their community.
WE THE PEOPLE MUST WORK TOGETHER AS A 99% TO STOP GLOBAL CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL DEVASTATION NOW.
Chicken Fight: The battle over a Royal Farms in Hamilton may be decided in the coming weeks
An artist’s rendering of the proposed Royal Farms on the 5900 block of Harford Road in Hamilton.
(Courtesy of Royal Farms)
Rachel Anne WarrenCity PaperRoFo or No RoFo? That is the question.
It may be answered on June 30, when the Board of Municipal Zoning Appeals (BMZA) hears a request from Royal Farms to build a 4,100-square-foot, 12-pump gas station on the 5900 block of Harford Road in Hamilton, a plan that has drawn fierce opposition from many in the neighborhood.
Residents opposed to the plan have organized as No RoFo Hamilton. City Councilman Robert Curran, who represents the area, supports the sale of the property to Royal Farms.
The first community association vote over the issue took place in June 2012, and the outcome was 13-11 in favor of Royal Farms. Roop Vijayan, now the vice president for the Glenham-Belhar (GHBH) neighborhood association, suggests residents were not made aware of the proposal or the vote.
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“A Smackdown”
About a dozen of the opponents attending the midday hearing expressed frustration with the fact that with so much opposition – 10 area community groups oppose the Royal Farms proposal and none favor it – for such a long time (here is a story from 2013), the project advanced again'.
WAKE UP FOLKS! MOVING FORWARD GLOBAL FACTORIES ----LOT'S OF ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE MEANS LOTS OF INTERSTATE EXPANSIONS AND OFF-RAMPS.
Citizens in Baltimore has these few decades of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA----of global Wall Street Baltimore Development/global Johns Hopkins morphing into GREATER BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT fought zoning policies without attacking the GORILLA IN THE ROOM------MOVING FORWARD US CITIES AS FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES ----BALTIMORE'S MASTER PLAN.
Port of Baltimore will be the source of import/export of products and raw materials with lots and lots of toxic chemicals----nuclear waste-----factory waste---incinerators and dumps......we will see this in just a few decades. IT IS NOT ABOUT JOBS, JOBS, JOBS---AFFORDABLE HOUSING AFFORDABLE HOUSING----please stop allowing captured global Wall Street non-profits PRETEND TO BE LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE.
Our college students and grads caught in the VISTA college debt payment system coming to these US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones must KNOW THESE NGOs are global Wall Street installing very, very, very, bad development policies especially for public health----hazardous disasters.
Neighborhoodsby Fern Shen9:50 amMay 10, 201627
Communities lose appeal against Hamilton Royal Farms gas station
Circuit Court Judge affirms a Zoning Board decision granting permission for the controversial project on Harford Road
Above: A rendering of the proposed Hamilton Royal Farms. (Baltimore Planning Department)
Residents’ four-year-old struggle to stop a Royal Farms gas station – proposed across from the Hamilton branch of the Pratt Library in Northeast Baltimore – was dealt a blow yesterday when Circuit Court Judge Alfred Nance denied their appeal of an October Zoning Board approval.
The project, at the intersection of Harford Road and Glenmore Avenue, is in a B-3 zone that permits a convenience store, but that requires a “conditional use” for the construction of gas pumps.
In granting the conditional use, the board had relied on “faulty reasoning,” John Murphy, attorney for the opponents argued yesterday. Murphy said it conflicts with Schultz v. Pritts, a 1991 decision that he called “the Magna Carta of Maryland zoning law.”
The Zoning Board had said last October that it would grant the conditional use because it found no additional problems created by the gas pump use beyond those to be created by a convenience store, which is permitted in that location.
“The Board is not convinced that the addition of the gas station portion of the proposed use would significantly increase these risks to public health, security, or general welfare any more than those risks already posed by what could be a large, bright, traffic-riddled, permitted ‘as of right’ convenience store,” the board had concluded in its 4-1 October decision.
According to Schultz, Murphy said, the standard should be whether there are “any adverse effects above and beyond those inherently associated with such a special exception use irrespective of its location within the zone.”
Appearing on behalf of Two Farms Inc., the chain’s corporate parent, Andrew H. Baida argued that the Schultz case did not apply and that the Zoning Board had not found any additional adverse effect from the gas pumps. Denying rights to Royal Farms would be “arbitrary, capricious and illegal,” Baida said.
After listening to arguments for a little over an hour, Nance rejected Murphy’s argument and ruled in favor of Two Farms.
“This court disagrees with Mr. Murphy’s reading of Schultz based on the facts of this case,” Nance said. Nance said he knows the intersection well and even acknowledged the underlying concern – “How many gas stations is too many?” – but said his authority in reviewing zoning’s decision was narrow.
“A Smackdown”
About a dozen of the opponents attending the midday hearing expressed frustration with the fact that with so much opposition – 10 area community groups oppose the Royal Farms proposal and none favor it – for such a long time (here is a story from 2013), the project advanced again.
“Why even ask us? Why not just say, ‘You can do whatever you want?’ ” said Kristen Hernandez, owner of the Hamilton Bakery and president of the Hamilton Business Association.
Residents have argued that the proposed eight-pump gas station would cause a traffic hazard at the unusual five-way intersection where it is proposed. Before the Zoning Board and in other hearings, as well as in letters and emails to public officials, they have said a suburban-style 24-hour gas station and convenience store is not appropriate for a residential community with elementary schools, small businesses, a library and lots of pedestrian use.
” ‘Baltimore City: No small business owners here!’ That should be our new tagline,” said Regina Lansinger, director of Hamilton Lauraville Main Street outside the courtroom.
“To have something like this that is in direct competition to the small business corridor, the efforts, the progress that we are making toward revitalization – this is just a smackdown,” she said bitterly.
Possible Next StepsThe Zoning Board’s decision came with conditions, noted Sandra R. Gutman of the city Law Department, reading them aloud in court.
Royal Farms would agree to donate a portion of the property to the city for a realignment of the intersection to make it safer and to relocate the traffic signal. The installation of lighting and landscaping would minimize the gas station’s impact on the adjacent residents, she said.
“At least we can hold them to all these conditions,” Lauraville resident Jody Landers said afterwards.
Others said that opponents need to determine whether they want to take the step of appealing the case yet again.
“I think we have come together as a group in the next few days and decide what we want to do,” said Glenham-Belhar Association president Roop Vijayan.
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All 99% of WE THE PEOPLE in US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones like Baltimore have to do is look at Texas and CA development----especially TECHNOLOGY-BASED SILICON VALLEY----home of our NANCY PELOSI---toxic waste QUEEN!
Then, all we have to do is watch to where global Wall Street development corporations place low-income housing tied to global Wall Street HUD under CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA---NOW TRUMP to know where the most toxic, nuclear industrial waste areas will be----that is the fight for REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVES.
Know how to put these FAKE global Wall Street far-right wing Baltimore Development 'labor and justice' organizations OUT OF BUSINESS? Stop allowing them to be the only voice for WE THE PEOPLE AND OUR SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE ISSUES!
This article let's Baltimore and Maryland citizens know to where ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE policies will go with PUBLIC HEALTH. Who drives these policies? Global Johns Hopkins and its global Wall Street Baltimore Development----who handles public health policies? Global Johns Hopkins. Who could care less about public health for the 99% of WE THE PEOPLE?
WOW----you mean this is PELOSI/BOXER/ FEINSTEIN/BROWN-----yes, and Baltimore is filled with the same CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA pushing to do the same to Greater Baltimore. It makes no difference to wait a few decades once all the damage is done to PRETEND to be helping WE THE PEOPLE THE 99%. THE ACTIONS NEED TO OCCUR NOW.
We can be sure NBC media is not being straight in holding power accountable. Baltimore's global Wall STreet pols and players will make this CA Silicon Valley environmental damage look like child's play.....Bush neo-conservatives are far worse than Clinton neo-liberals regarding environment.
GLOBAL JOHNS HOPKINS AND BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH.
Toxic Plumes: The Dark Side of Silicon Valley
By Stephen Stock, David Paredes and Scott PhamTrending Stories
There’s a dark side to the legacy of Silicon Valley: hundreds of old chemical spill sites that still contain toxic chemicals. Stephen Stock reports in a story that aired Monday, May 12, 2014. (Published Monday, May 12, 2014)
Silicon Valley is an economic engine with a long history of technical innovation. But there’s a dark side to that legacy in the form of hundreds of old chemical spill sites that still contain toxic chemicals. Some of these spills are from fuel leaks or dry cleaning shops but many have their origins in the early days of Silicon Valley: the 1960s and 1970s when a booming computer chip industry gave the region its name.
“The dark side of the legacy is the stuff left behind,” said Amanda “Mandy” Hawes, a worker’s rights attorney in Silicon Valley.
Hawes’ clients handled some of that “stuff” in factories and microchip clean rooms around the Bay. At the time, it wasn’t widely known just how toxic the chemicals they handled were.
“I think it wasn’t unheard of for stuff to be literally poured out the back door,” said Hawes.
Worker's rights attorney Amanda Hawes speaks with reporter Stephen Stock.Nobody at the time knew the full implications of what they were doing.
“We only later realized that these things are actually pretty toxic,” said Stephen Hill, toxic cleanup division chief for the San Francisco bay region of California’s regional Water Quality Control Board.
“These are basically unauthorized discharges from usually many years ago,” he said. “People doing things that at the time were considered normal and industry practice, but we now know cause problems.”
The EPA recognizes 23 official federal Superfund sites with discharges in them. The “Middlefied-Ellis-Whisman Study Area” is a large, well-known Superfund site in Santa Clara County. But state and federal officials tell us hundreds of other sites are also scattered all over Silicon Valley.
“With materials that get left in place after somebody’s business moves on,” said Hawes. “Materials can end up in the water and therefore can be a problem in water quality. Some of them also have the capacity to come back up. They can become vapor again. And unfortunately we’re seeing that as well."
When the chemicals rise through the soil and groundwater they become what’s known as “vapor plumes.” NBC Bay Area has plotted the locations of these plumes along with the historical sites of old tech companies in an interactive map. Government officials have recorded more than 518 toxic plumes in Santa Clara County alone.
“It is a bit of the dark side of Silicon Valley,” said Wenzlau. “But for me it is also an opportunity for Silicon Valley to make good.”
Wenzlau’s colleague Lenny Siegel, executive director of the Mountain View-based Center for Public Environmental Oversight, said that there’s a lack of organization and accountability on the side of government regulators.
“Part of the problem, our government is so split up into agencies and jurisdictions that there’s nobody who has responsibility for all of these sites.”
Siegel worked closely with Wenzlau on mapping all the toxic chemical spill sites and environmental restrictions they could find. Much of the data comes from the California State Water Resources Control board, but in order to get a comprehensive picture, they had to combine that information with data from other government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency. The end-product is “WhatsDown”, a web application that aims to show the environmental dangers that are hidden under our feet.
“What’s important is the combination of the map, and the fact that there are tens of thousands of people living and working above plumes, or going to school above plumes,” said Siegel.
Using Terradex's data, along with the original government sources, we mapped these toxic sites ourselves.
“We can actually see how much of the valley has actually been impacted by these chemicals,” said Wenzlau.
Using these tools, it’s easy to spot more than a dozen day cares, elderly care homes and schools right on top or very close to sites where industrial chemicals still lurk in the soil.
“People should be asking questions,” said Siegel. “Now, some people say, ‘I don’t want to know about it, because it’s going to lower my property values’ and, I’m sympathetic but I don’t want to be the person who buys that property not knowing.”
Vanessa de la Piedra, with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, acknowledged that the number of spill sites is surprising.
“I think most people don’t realize just the sheer number of open cases out there,” said de la Piedra. She says, however, that the spills are not an immediate hazard to water quality.
“From an environmental perspective, of course we want to see these sites cleaned up and we do want to make sure that that contamination is contained and stable. So that it doesn’t impact other properties or deeper drinking water aquifers. But you shouldn’t be concerned about your drinking water quality,” she said.
Stephen Hill, with the Water Quality Control Board, echoed de la Piedra’s confidence. “I think that the regulatory agencies are doing their job,” he said.
However, it’s clear that Silicon Valley will continue to live with the legacy of these spill sites for a very long time.
“It’s going to be years, decades perhaps,” said Hill. “There’s no current exposure, but you’re trying to clean this up because we want this groundwater to be available for future users.
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We all knew decades ago about this tech industry environmental devastation in CA------we knew they were shipping much of it out to states across the nation. Today the policies of MOVING FORWARD US CITIES DEEMED FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES super-sizes these industrial policies creating this Silicon Valley mess in all US cities like Baltimore.
While US downtown communities near PORTS may be protected most with EMERGENCY DISASTER PLANS=====ACCESS TO HEALTH IN THESE EMERGENCIES-----the city center communities may not have those TOXIC WASTE DUMPS and nuclear waste as our NW and NE Baltimore communities will----but as we see here one sure thing about environmental hazards----IT REALLY LIKE TO SPREAD AROUND.
GET RID OF THESE GLOBAL WALL STREET POLS AND 5% PLAYERS---WE DO NOT NEED THIS GLOBAL ECONOMY!
Report finds chemical cleanup leaves hazardous ‘toxic trail’ across U.S.
BY Allison McCartney March 17, 2014 at 12:27 PM EDTA new report details how the superheating process used at plants like this one in Kentucky can release chemicals called dioxins into the air, which have been linked to cancer and birth defects. Photo by Geoff Bugbee
Deep under California’s Silicon Valley, pools of toxic water are pumped through an infrastructure of pipes and filters that work around the clock to make the water drinkable again.
But is this massive system doing more harm than good? A new report from the Guardian and The Center for Investigative Reporting has revealed that the costly process of treating toxic water has dubious environmental benefits, and in some cases produces more chemical waste than it removes.
“There’s really no such thing as throwing something away,” Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Rusty Harris-Bishop told CIR. “You’re always throwing it somewhere.”
“There’s really no such thing as throwing something away.”In many cases, the original toxic water, which is the byproduct of solvents used by Silicon Valley’s earliest tech companies to degrease computer chips, is almost untreatable. The report estimates it would take 700 years of continuous treatment to make the groundwater below some parts of Silicon Valley drinkable again.
Silicon Valley, home to some of the world’s largest technology companies, is just one of 1,300 toxic sites that make up the Superfund program, which the EPA defines as “the federal government’s program to clean up the nation’s uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.” By following the trail and tracking the environmental effects of waste from the Silicon Valley Superfund site, CIR was able to piece together the hidden impacts of a widely lauded cleanup program and highlight the challenges the Superfund program faces.
The report also details the following:
“Ideally, regulators are thinking holistically about how to reduce the waste and make problems go away,” said Stephen Hill, head of the San Francisco water board’s toxics cleanup division. “Not just how to move them around like a shell game.”
To accompany the investigation, PBS NewsHour Extra, the educational resources site for the NewsHour, partnered with CIR and the Guardian to create a mock trial lesson plan and activities for students to engage with the topic of technology and pollution. If you are a teacher, or know any curious students in your life, check out these educational resources, then encourage your kids to submit Instagram videos using #toxictrail to show how they’re taking action in their community.
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'The largest of these is the 57-unit building that we built at the invitation of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA.)'
What we watched in Silicon Valley we are now seeing in Baltimore------the use of SENIOR HOUSING as with other left social progressive groups like DISABLED are used to create LOW-INCOME density in communities WE ALREADY KNOW WILL BE TOXIC. We showed NE Baltimore communities tied to just this development----here we see NW Baltimore and Canton----using senior housing to create that low-income footprint in Greater Baltimore areas known to be slated for global corporate campus factories and toxic waste dumps. Both Weinberg and Jubilee are old-time global 1% ---Weinberg enriched as slum landlording and Baltimore rent court frauds-----Jubilee tied to Greater Baltimore Development pushing devastating environmental policies and hazardous public health policies.
What will be senior housing these few decades will be center in the worst of low-income hazardous waste communities. As Baltimore privatizes all its public housing 99% of citizens will depend on these NGOs with long histories of INJUSTICE.
'Weinberg Gardens Overview
Weinberg Gardens has a total of 84 units, all of which are Section 8 assisted living units. All units on this property are one-bedroom.
To determine the value of a particular housing program, we looked at the cost of rent versus the inspection score awarded to the property during its most recent inspection. Weinberg Gardens scored a value rating of 4.9 out of 5, which means the property is slightly above average for the area.
Contract rent for a studio unit at this housing program is $577 USD, which makes it a well priced option in Baltimore County. Note that as a Section 8 tenant, your rent will be based on your income. The unit is 32% less expensive than the fair market price of a non-Section 8 unit, although the rent a Section 8 tenant pays is dependent upon income'.
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AHEPA – Affordable Senior Apartments
Project | AHEPA – Affordable Senior Apartments
View Slideshow
In the 1990s the community leaders of Southeast Baltimore judged that senior housing was the most pressing need in their communities, and Jubilee responded to their call with six developments that created 134 affordable apartments for seniors in the heart of traditional neighborhoods. The largest of these is the 57-unit building that we built at the invitation of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA.)
This building makes it possible for seniors of limited income to live on the waterfront of the “Gold Coast” of Canton, one of Baltimore’s most heavily gentrified waterfront neighborhoods. Enterprise Homes provided construction loan guarantees and Enterprise Social Investment sold the tax credits that were needed to make this project happen. For this project, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development selected Jubilee as “Developer of the Year” in 2002.
Here in Baltimore all citizens are exposed to the neglect of PUBLIC HEALTH----we all have asthma because several decades ago industrial plants were allowed to fill the air with toxic fumes---fill the ground with toxic chemicals. Then we had the left social progressive era that cleaned the air----cleaned the water----cleaned the soil in states caring about PUBLIC INTEREST AND PUBLIC HEALTH ----that is NOT BALTIMORE.
WE THE PEOPLE must understand what MOVING FORWARD 4th industrial revolution brings is not only that same industry now having NO REGULATIONS OR PUBLIC PROTECTIONS from the same pollution, same toxic waste only this time those GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUSES AND GLOBAL FACTORIES ARE SUPER-SIZED.
EVERYONE IN NO ONE OUT OF BEING EXPOSED TO HAZARDOUS DISASTERS. YES, IT WILL BE CONCENTRATED WHEREVER THE GLOBAL WALL STREET POLS AND PLAYERS BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
We want to show how global Wall Street Baltimore Development 'labor and justice' organizations PRETEND TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH. We now have a PLANK COVE POINT UNDERARMOUR CAMPUS in SW Baltimore already growing and will take miles of SW-----West----and meet with that second global corporate campus that LARRY HOGAN is making of NW Baltimore. SW UnderArmour on the water is clearly part of the global 1% and their 2% neck of the woods---it is built as a global resort for global executives and connects along the waterfront to University of Maryland Medical Center also being staged as a HEALTH RESORT FOR THE GLOBAL 1% AND THEIR 2%.
WE WOULD NOT EXPECT HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS OR DUMPS IN THESE AREAS.
United Workers is a global Wall Street 'labor and justice' organization found in US cities across the nation. The grassroots people mostly all want to help people and communities----the executive leaders use this organization to PRETEND TO HELP PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES.
Here we have United Workers WINNING on environment by stopping a waste incinerator in just that downtown waterfront SW BALTIMORE community. No incinerator would have been built there--it simply pretends 99% of citizens are empowered when they are not. What we see this group do afterwards is promote that massive solar platform needed by global UnderArmour and global UMMS BIOTECH PARK.
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Fair Development Victory! Celebrate with us RSVP to the Concert for Fair Development
Posted by greggalen ⋅ March 26, 2015Baltimore City Board of Estimates Votes to End Agreement with Energy Answers Incinerator Project
Baltimore City School Board today is ending a similar agreement with the Curtis Bay project
This follows Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee decision in February to end its support for trash burning project
Baltimore City leaders reverse years of support for the troubled Energy Answers trash-burning incinerator, when the Board of Estimates voted to terminate its energy purchasing agreement with the company. The action by the Board of Estimates removes an important source of revenue for the project in the Fairfield neighborhood of far south Baltimore. Additionally, the Baltimore City School Board has decided to end its agreement with the incinerator project as well and is in the process of informing Energy Answers. Students, community members and environmentalists have been protesting the massive waste-to-energy incinerator because it would cause more air pollution to a community that already suffers some of the most toxic air pollution in Maryland.
Public scrutiny of the purchasing contract grew when students, parents, and teachers from Free Your Voice, a human rights committee of United Workers based in Curtis Bay, called on the Baltimore City School Board to opt out of this agreement last spring. Free Your Voice mounted a public pressure campaign across the region leading to the larger Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee’s decision to end its support for the project. Media also grew with national stories in the New York Times, Grist.org, and viral videos on social media promoted by 350.org and Pulitzer prize winning author Margaret Atwood.
Josh Acevedo, Free Your Voice leader, “There’s already a lot of pollution and Curtis Bay has been treated like a dumping ground for far too long. Breathing clean air is a basic human right. This milestone shows that the city is acknowledging that this incinerator isn’t a good idea and that there are humans whose lives would be affected if it were to be built.”
Free Your Voice is organizing a celebratory Concert for Fair Development the week of Earth Day on April 25th at Benjamin Franklin High School that will highlight healthy and equitable alternatives including solar farm projects, zero waste reuse and recycling industries, and local agricultural initiatives.
Amanda Maminski, Curtis Bay resident, “We believe there are other alternatives to the proposed incinerator, alternatives that will not involve poisoning the already-toxic environment within and around the Curtis Bay community. One of those alternatives gaining popular community support is a solar facility, a solar farm, on the tract of land currently owned by FMC Corporation.”
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We would in fact expect to find that massive industrial solar platform in Curtis Bay where FRACKING NATURAL GAS EXPORT TERMINALS ARE LOCATED. The FMC Corporation is that very, very , very bad environmental/global Wall Street corporation having no intent on building anything environmental. So, we already know there will not be a LEFT GREEN SOLAR ENERGY PLATFORM BUILT. United Workers as other FAKE environmental organizations promote this idea of far-right wing GLOBAL GREEN CORPORATION. As a REAL environmentalist who tries to educate these environmental groups---they will always say THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING....MEANING GLOBAL WALL STREET 1% KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
So, we have a global Wall Street Baltimore Development 'labor and justice' organization promoting what will KILL GREATER BALTIMORE'S ENVIRONMENT AS WELL AS THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND PORT OF BALTIMORE-----it's about the jobs, jobs, jobs. Again, the grassroots citizens tied to these FAKE labor and justice organizations really do want to help their communities------STOP JOINING THESE GLOBAL WALL STREET BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT/GLOBAL JOHNS HOPKINS NGOs! They are the ANTITHESIS OF BEING GREEN AND PUBLIC HEALTH.
'FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by chemist John Bean in 1883 as the Bean Spray Pump Company in Los Gatos, California, producing piston pumps for insecticides. In 1928, Bean Spray Pump purchased two companies: the Anderson-Barngrover Co. and Sprague-Sells Co. At this time the company changed its name to Food Machinery Corporation, and began using the initials FMC. In 1941 the company FMC received a contract to design and build amphibious tracked landing vehicles for the United States War Department,[4] and afterwards the company continued to diversify its products. FMC employed 5,500 people worldwide, and had gross revenues of US$3.4 billion in 2011'.
The second issue is the FAKE community garden policies placing all energy on what is vital fresh, local food in areas known to be developed as GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUSES.......this is NOT GREEN-----if we are not stopping MOVING FORWARD US CITIES DEEMED FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES. Who knows these food gardens are located in temporary sourced real estate? Global Baltimore Development, global Johns Hopkins, and their pols in Baltimore City Council and Mayor PUGH.
WHERE ARE WE SEEING GLOBAL WALL STREET BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT TARGETING AFFORDABLE HOUSING? THAT IS WHERE TOXIC WASTE INCINERATORS----TOXIC INDUSTRIAL SOLAR PLATFORMS----TOXIC NUCLEAR AND CHEMICAL WASTE DUMPS WILL BE FOUND.
HUD Mandates ‘Affordable Housing’ in Affluent Baltimore Suburbs
By Susan Jones | March 25, 2016 | 7:26 AM EDT
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro. (AP File Photo)
(CNSNews.com) - The Obama administration has started its push to expand low-income housing into "higher opportunity areas."
The Department of Housing and Urban Development last week announced a "landmark" settlement agreement with Baltimore County that will serve as a catalyst to "promote housing mobility" and "address residential segregation."
The goal is to move low- and very-low-income people out of the city and into the suburbs.
“Every person deserves a fair shot at opportunity, and that starts with a decent, safe, and affordable place to call home,” HUD Secretary Julián Castro said in the March 15 announcement. “This agreement sets Baltimore County on a path to stronger, more inclusive communities where everyone can enjoy equal access to opportunity."
The agreement stems from a complaint filed with HUD in 2011 by the Baltimore County branch of the NAACP; a fair housing group; and three individuals who claimed Baltimore County had failed to "affirmatively further fair housing."
To settle that complaint, HUD is requiring Baltimore County to spend $30 million ($3 million annually for ten years) to create 1,000 affordable housing units, either through new construction or rehabilitation.
The units will be geographically dispersed in "neighborhoods that provide access to opportunity." The 46-page settlement includes a chart (Exhibit F) listing the 116 relatively affluent census tracts surrounding Baltimore City where most of the 1,000 housing units must be located.
At least 500 of the units must have three or more bedrooms to accommodate families with children; and at least one-third of the units must be accessible and made available to people with disabilities.
The housing units must be completed over a period of 12 years.
In addition, the county must provide 2,000 Housing Choice Vouchers to help families gain access to "higher opportunity neighborhoods."
The county must "proactively market the units to potential tenants who are least likely to apply, including African Americans families and families with a member who has a disability."
The county must, within 180 days, introduce (and keep trying to pass) legislation that prohibits housing discrimination based on a person's lawful source of income. This means a landlord can't refuse someone housing if he or she plans to pay the rent with Social Security or other public assistance instead of a paycheck (job!).
And finally, under the settlement agreement, the county must pay $150,000 to the three individuals who complained to HUD in 2011.
In June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that federal housing law allows people to challenge zoning laws and other housing practices that have a "disparate" or harmful impact on minority groups, even if there is no proof that the discrimination was intentional.
And two weeks after that Supreme Court ruling, HUD issued a regulation intended to help poor people move into "communities that are rich with opportunity," as HUD Secretary Castro phrased it at the time.
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Indeed, all of Baltimore's 5% to the 1% players are hawking affordable housing in NW Baltimore NE Baltimore both slated to become that toxic waste dumping ground. Here we see top global Wall Street Clinton neo-liberal cheerleaders Castro and NAACP pretending this Obama policy helps those poor and low-income. What are currently high income suburban communities will segue into industrial pushing the affluent suburbans into downtown.
Gwynn's Falls/communities along Falls Road were sites of MILLS ----these several decades these areas became affluent as desegregation pushed people tied to race and class to suburbs----well, now these areas will become those toxic waste dumping grounds for what is slated to be GLOBAL CORPORATE CAMPUSES AND GLOBAL FACTORIES.
Any REAL left social progressive groups fighting for environmental justice for 99% of citizens would be fighting NOW to stop global corporate campus development and what we KNOW WILL BE DOZENS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS AND TOXIC WASTE DUMPS.
The industrial solar platform United Workers supports will create the same levels of pollution as out in California where toxic waste is dumped in CA and Nevada.
'The units will be geographically dispersed in "neighborhoods that provide access to opportunity." The 46-page settlement includes a chart (Exhibit F) listing the 116 relatively affluent census tracts surrounding Baltimore City where most of the 1,000 housing units must be located'
We want to post a RIGHT WING RESPONSE to locating affordable housing in affluent suburbs slated to become TOXIC WASTE DUMPS FOR GLOBAL FACTORIES. He we see that right wing painting Obama as SOCIALIST----Obama is raging far-right wing global Wall Street killing 99% of WE THE PEOPLE. Who pushes global Wall Street GREATER BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT hardest? THE RIGHT WING. The right wing global Wall Street pols have to play to their base ---those white affluent citizens tied to race and class having fled Baltimore now having THEIR COMMUNITIES trashed by global industries.
Obama's HUD was global Wall Street just as Clinton/Bush HUD was---no freedom happening---no housing justice---only mass movement of US citizens from their communities filled with personal equity in house ownership---community development----pushing suburbia into US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones. This is where all hazardous waste----toxic dumps----global corporate factories will now be located. NW and NE Baltimore and as this article states each state has these slated ZONES FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Where is Catholic Charities sending homeless to temporary housing----NW Baltimore---which 5% Baltimore Development player is being thrown that patronage bone to build this housing? If you are affluent fighting this development thinking it is LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE ---WAKE UP----these global corporate campus and factory plans kill the environment and public health for ALL 99% OF CITIZENS.
AFFH - Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Factsheet
Tavares, FL (Lake County, FL) Many updates added Oct. 26, 2016 Create: August 20, 2015
I will be adding "big picture"content periodically to this Factsheet with links to source materials. For frequent, detailed updates on AFFH, I recommend www.AFFH.net and Sustainable Freedom Lab .
The shortcut to this page is: http://bit.ly/Kill-AFFH
FiscalRangers.com has already published several articles on AFFH HERE.
If you want to start with a five minute overview video on AFFH, try THIS one.
AFFH (Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing) is a Federal HUD rule that was recently approved by HUD (in 2015) and requires that any local city or county agency receiving CDBG Federal Grants (like Lake County and several cities) must agree to a condition to implement AFFH. The new Lake County CDBG annual HUD grant plan contains a “Certification” page where they agree to implement AFFH. I have given public input to the Lake County Board more than once about the risks of accepting CDBG grants, but they ignored me.
AFFH is a liberal Obama Administration social justice program that replaces local zoning decisions with plans defined by the Federal Government. They require communities to conduct demographic studies to identify “economic disparity”, then develop a plan to correct it, and then actually implement the plan, monitored by HUD. A pilot case in Westchester County, NY of a less precise version of AFFH resulted in a massive lawsuit (see link further down) and now they are building 750 HUD defined low income housing units split among 31 predominately white, upper class neighborhoods.
Numerous news stories have appeared on AFFH dangers in mid-2015 and how it will be used to mandate creation of low income housing in wealthy neighborhoods. Critics question why the Federal government should have the right to over-ride local zoning then redistribute low income people into wealthier neighborhoods. This is different from requiring more spending in minority neighborhoods. Instead, the plan is to require movement of minority and low income people into higher income neighborhoods by creating HUD defined low income housing units. So, some neighborhoods with 1/4 acre + zoned housing will be forced to do infill low income housing.
The main result is to use AFFH to reduce home rule and make the Federal government a replacement for local zoning boards.
Recommendation (Updated May 23, 2016):
AFFH needs to be defunded and killed.
Lake County, FL Residents need to understand that if the County Board, and the local cities keep taking HUD grants that require AFFH compliance, they are obligated to implement AFFH, and could be sued later by local activists or HUD like Westchester County, NY experienced (see below) to create HUD defined low income housing within higher income neighborhoods. Westchester County is now having to build 750 low income units spread among 31 predominantly wealthy neighborhoods based upon AFFH required studies.
It is a Federal overreach of local zoning decisions and individual property rights. Cities and counties need to refuse HUD grants which now have requirements to comply with AFFH. One Colorado town did just that and we wrote about it HERE. Both US Senate and US House bills have been filed to defund AFFH but died (see below).
Recent articles / references on AFFH:
Added Oct. 26, 2016 - Rush Limbaugh May 9, 2016 story on new HUD efforts to force low income people into higher income neighborhoods. It is about "Obama's intention to destroy the suburbs." This is different from AFFH, but another HUD initiative to "equalize" neighborhoods. HUD is coming up with a new program to provide amped up Section 8 rent subsidy vouchers to low income people to pay rents while moving into higher income neighborhoods.
Added May 23, 2016 - This March 25, 2016 article explains how the City of Baltimore just settled a complaint filed by the NAACP with HUD regarding AFFH compliance. "HUD is requiring Baltimore County to spend $30 million ($3 million annually for ten years) to create 1,000 affordable housing units, either through new construction or rehabilitation. (NOTE: Rehabilitation means they could renovate a vacant house next to you and move a section 8 voucher family into it. This could be a way to use up HUD foreclosures.)
"The goal is to move low- and very-low-income people out of the city and into the suburbs."
"The units will be geographically dispersed in "neighborhoods that provide access to opportunity." The 46-page settlement includes a chart (Exhibit F) listing the 116 relatively affluent census tracts surrounding Baltimore City where most of the 1,000 housing units must be located."
"At least 500 of the units must have three or more bedrooms to accommodate families with children; and at least one-third of the units must be accessible and made available to people with disabilities."
"The county must "proactively market the units to potential tenants who are least likely to apply, including African Americans families and families with a member who has a disability.""
"In addition, the county must provide 2,000 Housing Choice Vouchers to help families gain access to "higher opportunity neighborhoods.""
Added May 23, 2016 - This Jul 20, 2015 National Review article on AFFH gives the best background on the motivations and plans leading up to AFFH. It's entire socialistic goal is to kill suburbs and merge them into a bigger regional government filling socialism goals of big government. They cite the original source for the ideas, the publication and the relationship with Obama's Alinsky supporters.
Added May 23, 2016 - This Jul. 28, 2015 New York Post article. "Obama collecting personal data for a secret race database" on AFFH explains how AFFH is being used to collect a massive database on minority demographics to be used to sue banks for finance discrimination or plan where low income housing needs to be built (in the middle of wealthy neighborhoods). Much of the data will be collected via AFFH HUD requirements for local cities and counties receiving HUD grants to conduct massive "assessments" to gather data, then develop AFFH compliance plans and implement them.
"The granddaddy of them all (racial databases) is the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing database, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development rolled out earlier this month to racially balance the nation, ZIP code by ZIP code. It will map every US neighborhood by four racial groups — white, Asian, black or African-American, and Hispanic/Latino — and publish “geospatial data” pinpointing racial imbalances.
The agency proposes using nonwhite populations of 50% or higher as the threshold for classifying segregated areas.
Federally funded cities deemed overly segregated will be pressured to change their zoning laws to allow construction of more subsidized housing in affluent areas in the suburbs, and relocate inner-city minorities to those predominantly white areas. HUD’s maps, which use dots to show the racial distribution or density in residential areas, will be used to select affordable-housing sites.
HUD plans to drill down to an even more granular level, detailing the proximity of black residents to transportation sites, good schools, parks and even supermarkets. If the agency’s social engineers rule the distance between blacks and these suburban “amenities” is too far, municipalities must find ways to close the gap or forfeit federal grant money and face possible lawsuits for housing discrimination.
Civil-rights groups will have access to the agency’s sophisticated mapping software, and will participate in city plans to re-engineer neighborhoods under new community outreach requirements.
“By opening this data to everybody, everyone in a community can weigh in,” Obama said. “If you want affordable housing nearby, now you’ll have the data you need to make your case.”
(Note: In my opinion, this means "civil rights groups" can SUE local cities for not taking action. Much like the Westchester County, NY lawsuit or being sued for not protecting endangered species.)
May 20, 2016 - A US Senator filed a bill to block funding for AFFH, but the Senate let it die. The House may still file a bill to defund AFFH. They did last year.
HERE is a radio interview on the Rush Limbaugh show just before the vote on the Senate bill.
"Published on May 17, 2016 May 17, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning appeared on the Rush Limbaugh Show with guest host Mark Steyn at 2:30PM EST to discuss the imminent Senate vote on an amendment by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), S.3897, to the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) appropriations bill that will prohibit implementation of the HUD regulation “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) that conditions $3 billion of yearly community development block grants on 1,200 recipient cities and counties rezoning neighborhoods along income and racial guidelines.
Jul 8, 2015 - "Housing Redistribution: HUD Plans to Move Subsidized Housing Into Areas 'Rich With Opportunity'"
"If communities want to continue receiving federal housing funds, they must spend the money in ways that move inner-city minorities, for example, into subsidized housing in wealthier, whiter suburbs."
Jul 29, 2015 - Breitbart article "War on Suburbs: Obama, Julian Castro Rev Up Affirmative Action Housing"
References about AFFH:
You can see all prior articles we have written on FiscalRangers.com about AFFH HERE.
FiscalRangers.com also has a periodically updated Factsheet on AFFH dangers HERE (this page).
HERE is a March, 2016 five minute overview video on AFFH dangers by expert John Anthony.
AFFH.net is a podcast about dangers of AFFH. Here is their "Elevator Speech" on AFFH. They post continuous new items about AFFH so are a good source for updates.
"AFFH gives FREE federal grant money to the suburbs. But what they don't tell you is that by taking the money, you the suburbs will be forced to gentrify your neighborhoods with low-income racially diverse high density housing.
"1) HUD is imposing requirements that go far beyond what the 1968 Fair Housing Act demands
2) Moves low income housing to the suburbs
3) The new rule blocks private choice and the history of American residential patterns
4) Uses subsidies (block grants) as blackmail against 1,250 targeted U.S. localities
5) HUD grantees must consider statistical data such as education and transportation that are only remotely related to housing
6) Communities threatened with huge legal expenses from allegations by HUD and Civil Rights groups
7) HUD requires racial analysis of demographic data that should instead be colorblind (race baiting?)
Sustainable Freedom Lab is a major source of info on AFFH
http://sustainablefreedomlab.org/ has many posts on property rights and the dangers of AFFH and HUD's Federal overreach.
They produced a property rights pamphlet "Agency Tyranny" by John Anthony which should be required reading by all City & County elected officials and City/County Managers, planners and HUD grant adminstrators. Here is a copy if you cannot download the latest version from their site:
Download 2016-02-agency-tyranny-ebook
Legal Issues - Westchester County, NY, home of Hillary Clinton, is a lawsuit pilot case
Westchester County is an example of what will happen when communities take HUD grants but then ignore AFFH requirements. They got sued based upon an early version of AFFH, and the lawsuit has been going on since 2009 because they fell under AFFH earlier.
March 29, 2016 - Mark Levine 9-minute radio show interview of Westchester County, NY's County Executive Rob Astorino about AFFH and the lawsuit there. He says under a HUD federal agreement, Westchester County must build 750 low income units in 31 white communities like Baltimore is doing, while HUD keeps expanding the requirements. AFFH social engineering "is coming to your community next like we warned Baltimore...especially if Hillary Clinton is elected..." he says.
July 27, 2015 - An earlier Fox News segment with Rob Astorino about the Westchester lawsuit.
HERE is an anti-discrimination website explaining the legal results and how far they will go to enforce AFFH.
HERE is an older update on the Westchester lawsuit from April 25, 2014 .
And, here is a short video on AFFH for Dummies by resident & Westchester County, NY County Executive Rob Astorino about the anguish AFFH caused to local residents by the lawsuit.
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Keep in mind---this NAACP lawsuit is tied to Obama's HUD policies we all know is very, very, very bad for 99% of people. NAACP is that global Wall Street Baltimore Development 'labor and justice' organization with the 5% to the 1% getting patronage for pushing BAD SOCIAL POLICIES.
'The units will be geographically dispersed in "neighborhoods that provide access to opportunity." The 46-page settlement includes a chart (Exhibit F) listing the 116 relatively affluent census tracts surrounding Baltimore City where most of the 1,000 housing units must be located'.
If one can actual see this CHART (EXHIBIT F) one will see just where environmental devastation will be worse and we can bet these Fake 5% 'LABOR AND JUSTICE' organizations will be out 20 years from now shouting against this environmental injustice of toxic waste in low-income communities.
THE GLOBAL WALL STREET 5% TO THE 1% CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA POLS AND PLAYERS KNOW THIS IS THE GOAL AND WHERE ARE THE HOSPITALS----THE EMERGENCY PLANNING FOR HAZARDOUS/NUCLEAR WASTE DISASTERS? DOWNTOWN WHERE THE GLOBAL 1% AND THEIR 2% WILL BE LOCATED.
Remember, the ACLU which used to fight for housing equal opportunity and access is now far-right wing global Wall Street neo-liberal so it has not enforced housing or environmental justice laws these few decades of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA ---NOW TRUMP.
WE THE PEOPLE MUST STOP BEING REACTIVE TO PUBLIC POLICY----NOW IS THE TIME TO BE PROACTIVE IN HOUSING JUSTICE ---IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE----AND BOTH THE RIGHT WING AND LEFT WING NEED TO COME TOGETHER AND A 99% VS 1%.
'The agreement stems from a complaint filed with HUD in 2011 by the Baltimore County branch of the NAACP; a fair housing group; and three individuals who claimed Baltimore County had failed to "affirmatively further fair housing."'
SEE THE NAACP 'CIVIL RIGHTS' SETTLEMENT TO KNOW WHERE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TIED TO THE WORST OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION WILL BE LOCATED IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS.
'To settle that complaint, HUD is requiring Baltimore County to spend $30 million ($3 million annually for ten years) to create 1,000 affordable housing units, either through new construction or rehabilitation'.
Working to expand housing opportunities by increasing the supply of affordable, quality rental housing in Maryland through advocacy, education and collaboration.
The Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition
is the leading voice for affordable rental housing development in Maryland. The Coalition has a diverse group of over 185 member organizations. Our members include:
- Developers
- Attorneys
- Local Governments
- State Housing Finance Agencies
- Lenders
- Property Managers
- Non-Profit Sponsors
- Public Housing Authorities
- Investors/Syndicators
Our Vision
We envision a new model of housing and community development, where outside real estate developers and speculators are not in control, but where a vibrant non-speculative, permanently affordable, housing sector exists that consists of public housing, non-profit housing, shared-equity housing, and limited-equity housing controlled by residents & the communities in which they reside.
Our Mission
The Baltimore Housing Roundtable's mission is to coordinate and integrate the work of BHR members into a unified movement that will promote and facilitate social change. BHR members understand that individuals cannot create widespread social change on their own. Competition among non-profits over limited public and private resources contributes to a fragmented system that does not meet housing need in Baltimore, particularly among those with low or no income. However, as a collaborative, BHR members can pool resources and advocate to implement an agenda of systemic change and realize our shared values and vision.
Community Land Trusts in Baltimore
Baltimore City currently has two Community Land Trusts in operation—the Charm City Land Trust and the North East Housing Initiative. Learn more about the basics of CLTs here in this basic overview. There is also interest and organizing around affordable housing and the need for CLTs in Remington, Waverly, Curtis Bay, and Brooklyn.
The North East Housing Initiative, Inc. (NEHI) developed out of St. Anthony’s Church Social Advocacy committee in 2012. It is the outgrowth of a series of speak-outs, public events, listening campaigns, and political advocacy that demonstrated and reiterated the need for affordable housing development.
NEHI members are united and committed to improving their communities by creating and promoting permanently affordable housing for those who have the greatest need, including people of low and moderate income, the physically and cognitively challenged, veterans, and the elderly by creating a community land trust, whose ownership is shared by individuals and the community.
WATCH!: Members of the North East Housing Initiative, Father Ty Hullinger and Linda Brown speak on NEHI at a public event hosted by the group.
If you are interested in learning more about NEHI, please contact Chris Lafferty at 410- 299-7089 or kingdomministriesmd@comcast.net
Charm City Land Trusts:
Charm City Land Trusts was started close to 13 years ago in McElderry Park, a neighborhood in East Baltimore. Anchored in the Amazing Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, the land trust owns and stewards 19 properties. The majority of these properties serve as one of McElderry Park’s only conserved green spaces. In the winter of 2016, the land trust acquired its first house and will be working on affordable housing development.
If you are interested in learning more about CCLT contact info@charmcitylandtrusts.org and visit: https://charmcitylandtrusts.org
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This is NOT a housing policy discussion we want folks to understand how we KNOW where housing and environmental injustice will occur a decade or so down the road. Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition is that far-right wing global Wall Street Clinton/O'Malley FAKE JUSTICE organization. We took a look at the NAACP Baltimore affordable housing settlement to see all kinds of blackened areas ----where are those housing to go? We know our NE communities fought to keep a ROYAL FARMS from their community----that Royal Farms was being built because an INTERSTATE OFF-RAMP is coming to that NE community-----this is where 'land grant'/affordable housing is slated to be built----THE COMING GLOBAL CORPORATE FACTORIES WITH TOXIC CHEMICAL AND NUCLEAR WASTE INCINERATORS AND DUMPS.
The beautiful community of HAMILTON-----AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES---are that middle-class/affluent community slated to be made into global factories, workers' dormitories, environmental waste dumps........WE ALREADY KNOW THIS BY WHERE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS PLANNED BY GLOBAL WALL STREET PLAYERS WILL GO!
The other issue with this Obama/NAACP HUD settlement is this----IT IS TIED TO HOUSING VOUCHERS----yet more right wing housing policy designed to create winners and losers----selective housing violates US EQUAL PROTECTION HOUSING OPPORTUNITY AND ACCESS LAWS.
When we talk with those HAMILTON ROYAL FARM PROTESTORS about their communities to be taken by WALL STREET BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT MASTER PLAN----they refused to protest the goals of MOVING FORWARD----they simply think getting a delay in building one gas station is to stop the absolute devastation of their community.
WE THE PEOPLE MUST WORK TOGETHER AS A 99% TO STOP GLOBAL CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL DEVASTATION NOW.
Chicken Fight: The battle over a Royal Farms in Hamilton may be decided in the coming weeks
An artist’s rendering of the proposed Royal Farms on the 5900 block of Harford Road in Hamilton.
(Courtesy of Royal Farms)
Rachel Anne WarrenCity PaperRoFo or No RoFo? That is the question.
It may be answered on June 30, when the Board of Municipal Zoning Appeals (BMZA) hears a request from Royal Farms to build a 4,100-square-foot, 12-pump gas station on the 5900 block of Harford Road in Hamilton, a plan that has drawn fierce opposition from many in the neighborhood.
Residents opposed to the plan have organized as No RoFo Hamilton. City Councilman Robert Curran, who represents the area, supports the sale of the property to Royal Farms.
The first community association vote over the issue took place in June 2012, and the outcome was 13-11 in favor of Royal Farms. Roop Vijayan, now the vice president for the Glenham-Belhar (GHBH) neighborhood association, suggests residents were not made aware of the proposal or the vote.
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“A Smackdown”
About a dozen of the opponents attending the midday hearing expressed frustration with the fact that with so much opposition – 10 area community groups oppose the Royal Farms proposal and none favor it – for such a long time (here is a story from 2013), the project advanced again'.
WAKE UP FOLKS! MOVING FORWARD GLOBAL FACTORIES ----LOT'S OF ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE MEANS LOTS OF INTERSTATE EXPANSIONS AND OFF-RAMPS.
Citizens in Baltimore has these few decades of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA----of global Wall Street Baltimore Development/global Johns Hopkins morphing into GREATER BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT fought zoning policies without attacking the GORILLA IN THE ROOM------MOVING FORWARD US CITIES AS FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES ----BALTIMORE'S MASTER PLAN.
Port of Baltimore will be the source of import/export of products and raw materials with lots and lots of toxic chemicals----nuclear waste-----factory waste---incinerators and dumps......we will see this in just a few decades. IT IS NOT ABOUT JOBS, JOBS, JOBS---AFFORDABLE HOUSING AFFORDABLE HOUSING----please stop allowing captured global Wall Street non-profits PRETEND TO BE LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE.
Our college students and grads caught in the VISTA college debt payment system coming to these US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones must KNOW THESE NGOs are global Wall Street installing very, very, very, bad development policies especially for public health----hazardous disasters.
Neighborhoodsby Fern Shen9:50 amMay 10, 201627
Communities lose appeal against Hamilton Royal Farms gas station
Circuit Court Judge affirms a Zoning Board decision granting permission for the controversial project on Harford Road
Above: A rendering of the proposed Hamilton Royal Farms. (Baltimore Planning Department)
Residents’ four-year-old struggle to stop a Royal Farms gas station – proposed across from the Hamilton branch of the Pratt Library in Northeast Baltimore – was dealt a blow yesterday when Circuit Court Judge Alfred Nance denied their appeal of an October Zoning Board approval.
The project, at the intersection of Harford Road and Glenmore Avenue, is in a B-3 zone that permits a convenience store, but that requires a “conditional use” for the construction of gas pumps.
In granting the conditional use, the board had relied on “faulty reasoning,” John Murphy, attorney for the opponents argued yesterday. Murphy said it conflicts with Schultz v. Pritts, a 1991 decision that he called “the Magna Carta of Maryland zoning law.”
The Zoning Board had said last October that it would grant the conditional use because it found no additional problems created by the gas pump use beyond those to be created by a convenience store, which is permitted in that location.
“The Board is not convinced that the addition of the gas station portion of the proposed use would significantly increase these risks to public health, security, or general welfare any more than those risks already posed by what could be a large, bright, traffic-riddled, permitted ‘as of right’ convenience store,” the board had concluded in its 4-1 October decision.
According to Schultz, Murphy said, the standard should be whether there are “any adverse effects above and beyond those inherently associated with such a special exception use irrespective of its location within the zone.”
Appearing on behalf of Two Farms Inc., the chain’s corporate parent, Andrew H. Baida argued that the Schultz case did not apply and that the Zoning Board had not found any additional adverse effect from the gas pumps. Denying rights to Royal Farms would be “arbitrary, capricious and illegal,” Baida said.
After listening to arguments for a little over an hour, Nance rejected Murphy’s argument and ruled in favor of Two Farms.
“This court disagrees with Mr. Murphy’s reading of Schultz based on the facts of this case,” Nance said. Nance said he knows the intersection well and even acknowledged the underlying concern – “How many gas stations is too many?” – but said his authority in reviewing zoning’s decision was narrow.
“A Smackdown”
About a dozen of the opponents attending the midday hearing expressed frustration with the fact that with so much opposition – 10 area community groups oppose the Royal Farms proposal and none favor it – for such a long time (here is a story from 2013), the project advanced again.
“Why even ask us? Why not just say, ‘You can do whatever you want?’ ” said Kristen Hernandez, owner of the Hamilton Bakery and president of the Hamilton Business Association.
Residents have argued that the proposed eight-pump gas station would cause a traffic hazard at the unusual five-way intersection where it is proposed. Before the Zoning Board and in other hearings, as well as in letters and emails to public officials, they have said a suburban-style 24-hour gas station and convenience store is not appropriate for a residential community with elementary schools, small businesses, a library and lots of pedestrian use.
” ‘Baltimore City: No small business owners here!’ That should be our new tagline,” said Regina Lansinger, director of Hamilton Lauraville Main Street outside the courtroom.
“To have something like this that is in direct competition to the small business corridor, the efforts, the progress that we are making toward revitalization – this is just a smackdown,” she said bitterly.
Possible Next StepsThe Zoning Board’s decision came with conditions, noted Sandra R. Gutman of the city Law Department, reading them aloud in court.
Royal Farms would agree to donate a portion of the property to the city for a realignment of the intersection to make it safer and to relocate the traffic signal. The installation of lighting and landscaping would minimize the gas station’s impact on the adjacent residents, she said.
“At least we can hold them to all these conditions,” Lauraville resident Jody Landers said afterwards.
Others said that opponents need to determine whether they want to take the step of appealing the case yet again.
“I think we have come together as a group in the next few days and decide what we want to do,” said Glenham-Belhar Association president Roop Vijayan.
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All 99% of WE THE PEOPLE in US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones like Baltimore have to do is look at Texas and CA development----especially TECHNOLOGY-BASED SILICON VALLEY----home of our NANCY PELOSI---toxic waste QUEEN!
Then, all we have to do is watch to where global Wall Street development corporations place low-income housing tied to global Wall Street HUD under CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA---NOW TRUMP to know where the most toxic, nuclear industrial waste areas will be----that is the fight for REAL LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVES.
Know how to put these FAKE global Wall Street far-right wing Baltimore Development 'labor and justice' organizations OUT OF BUSINESS? Stop allowing them to be the only voice for WE THE PEOPLE AND OUR SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE ISSUES!
This article let's Baltimore and Maryland citizens know to where ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE US FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE policies will go with PUBLIC HEALTH. Who drives these policies? Global Johns Hopkins and its global Wall Street Baltimore Development----who handles public health policies? Global Johns Hopkins. Who could care less about public health for the 99% of WE THE PEOPLE?
WOW----you mean this is PELOSI/BOXER/ FEINSTEIN/BROWN-----yes, and Baltimore is filled with the same CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA pushing to do the same to Greater Baltimore. It makes no difference to wait a few decades once all the damage is done to PRETEND to be helping WE THE PEOPLE THE 99%. THE ACTIONS NEED TO OCCUR NOW.
We can be sure NBC media is not being straight in holding power accountable. Baltimore's global Wall STreet pols and players will make this CA Silicon Valley environmental damage look like child's play.....Bush neo-conservatives are far worse than Clinton neo-liberals regarding environment.
GLOBAL JOHNS HOPKINS AND BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH.
Toxic Plumes: The Dark Side of Silicon Valley
By Stephen Stock, David Paredes and Scott PhamTrending Stories
There’s a dark side to the legacy of Silicon Valley: hundreds of old chemical spill sites that still contain toxic chemicals. Stephen Stock reports in a story that aired Monday, May 12, 2014. (Published Monday, May 12, 2014)
Silicon Valley is an economic engine with a long history of technical innovation. But there’s a dark side to that legacy in the form of hundreds of old chemical spill sites that still contain toxic chemicals. Some of these spills are from fuel leaks or dry cleaning shops but many have their origins in the early days of Silicon Valley: the 1960s and 1970s when a booming computer chip industry gave the region its name.
“The dark side of the legacy is the stuff left behind,” said Amanda “Mandy” Hawes, a worker’s rights attorney in Silicon Valley.
Hawes’ clients handled some of that “stuff” in factories and microchip clean rooms around the Bay. At the time, it wasn’t widely known just how toxic the chemicals they handled were.
“I think it wasn’t unheard of for stuff to be literally poured out the back door,” said Hawes.
Worker's rights attorney Amanda Hawes speaks with reporter Stephen Stock.Nobody at the time knew the full implications of what they were doing.
“We only later realized that these things are actually pretty toxic,” said Stephen Hill, toxic cleanup division chief for the San Francisco bay region of California’s regional Water Quality Control Board.
“These are basically unauthorized discharges from usually many years ago,” he said. “People doing things that at the time were considered normal and industry practice, but we now know cause problems.”
The EPA recognizes 23 official federal Superfund sites with discharges in them. The “Middlefied-Ellis-Whisman Study Area” is a large, well-known Superfund site in Santa Clara County. But state and federal officials tell us hundreds of other sites are also scattered all over Silicon Valley.
“With materials that get left in place after somebody’s business moves on,” said Hawes. “Materials can end up in the water and therefore can be a problem in water quality. Some of them also have the capacity to come back up. They can become vapor again. And unfortunately we’re seeing that as well."
When the chemicals rise through the soil and groundwater they become what’s known as “vapor plumes.” NBC Bay Area has plotted the locations of these plumes along with the historical sites of old tech companies in an interactive map. Government officials have recorded more than 518 toxic plumes in Santa Clara County alone.
- Interactive: Toxic Plumes in Silicon Valley
“It is a bit of the dark side of Silicon Valley,” said Wenzlau. “But for me it is also an opportunity for Silicon Valley to make good.”
Wenzlau’s colleague Lenny Siegel, executive director of the Mountain View-based Center for Public Environmental Oversight, said that there’s a lack of organization and accountability on the side of government regulators.
“Part of the problem, our government is so split up into agencies and jurisdictions that there’s nobody who has responsibility for all of these sites.”
Siegel worked closely with Wenzlau on mapping all the toxic chemical spill sites and environmental restrictions they could find. Much of the data comes from the California State Water Resources Control board, but in order to get a comprehensive picture, they had to combine that information with data from other government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency. The end-product is “WhatsDown”, a web application that aims to show the environmental dangers that are hidden under our feet.
“What’s important is the combination of the map, and the fact that there are tens of thousands of people living and working above plumes, or going to school above plumes,” said Siegel.
Using Terradex's data, along with the original government sources, we mapped these toxic sites ourselves.
“We can actually see how much of the valley has actually been impacted by these chemicals,” said Wenzlau.
Using these tools, it’s easy to spot more than a dozen day cares, elderly care homes and schools right on top or very close to sites where industrial chemicals still lurk in the soil.
“People should be asking questions,” said Siegel. “Now, some people say, ‘I don’t want to know about it, because it’s going to lower my property values’ and, I’m sympathetic but I don’t want to be the person who buys that property not knowing.”
Vanessa de la Piedra, with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, acknowledged that the number of spill sites is surprising.
“I think most people don’t realize just the sheer number of open cases out there,” said de la Piedra. She says, however, that the spills are not an immediate hazard to water quality.
“From an environmental perspective, of course we want to see these sites cleaned up and we do want to make sure that that contamination is contained and stable. So that it doesn’t impact other properties or deeper drinking water aquifers. But you shouldn’t be concerned about your drinking water quality,” she said.
Stephen Hill, with the Water Quality Control Board, echoed de la Piedra’s confidence. “I think that the regulatory agencies are doing their job,” he said.
However, it’s clear that Silicon Valley will continue to live with the legacy of these spill sites for a very long time.
“It’s going to be years, decades perhaps,” said Hill. “There’s no current exposure, but you’re trying to clean this up because we want this groundwater to be available for future users.
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We all knew decades ago about this tech industry environmental devastation in CA------we knew they were shipping much of it out to states across the nation. Today the policies of MOVING FORWARD US CITIES DEEMED FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES super-sizes these industrial policies creating this Silicon Valley mess in all US cities like Baltimore.
While US downtown communities near PORTS may be protected most with EMERGENCY DISASTER PLANS=====ACCESS TO HEALTH IN THESE EMERGENCIES-----the city center communities may not have those TOXIC WASTE DUMPS and nuclear waste as our NW and NE Baltimore communities will----but as we see here one sure thing about environmental hazards----IT REALLY LIKE TO SPREAD AROUND.
GET RID OF THESE GLOBAL WALL STREET POLS AND 5% PLAYERS---WE DO NOT NEED THIS GLOBAL ECONOMY!
Report finds chemical cleanup leaves hazardous ‘toxic trail’ across U.S.
BY Allison McCartney March 17, 2014 at 12:27 PM EDTA new report details how the superheating process used at plants like this one in Kentucky can release chemicals called dioxins into the air, which have been linked to cancer and birth defects. Photo by Geoff Bugbee
Deep under California’s Silicon Valley, pools of toxic water are pumped through an infrastructure of pipes and filters that work around the clock to make the water drinkable again.
But is this massive system doing more harm than good? A new report from the Guardian and The Center for Investigative Reporting has revealed that the costly process of treating toxic water has dubious environmental benefits, and in some cases produces more chemical waste than it removes.
“There’s really no such thing as throwing something away,” Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Rusty Harris-Bishop told CIR. “You’re always throwing it somewhere.”
“There’s really no such thing as throwing something away.”In many cases, the original toxic water, which is the byproduct of solvents used by Silicon Valley’s earliest tech companies to degrease computer chips, is almost untreatable. The report estimates it would take 700 years of continuous treatment to make the groundwater below some parts of Silicon Valley drinkable again.
Silicon Valley, home to some of the world’s largest technology companies, is just one of 1,300 toxic sites that make up the Superfund program, which the EPA defines as “the federal government’s program to clean up the nation’s uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.” By following the trail and tracking the environmental effects of waste from the Silicon Valley Superfund site, CIR was able to piece together the hidden impacts of a widely lauded cleanup program and highlight the challenges the Superfund program faces.
The report also details the following:
- Waste begets waste. At every step along the trail, treatment leaves behind a new batch of waste that needs to be shipped somewhere else. At one stop, a plant in Wisconsin creates more waste than it takes in.
- Treatments create new hazards. The superheating used to release toxic chemicals in Kentucky gives way to another danger that isn’t monitored: dioxins. After they escape the plants, dioxins can build up in the food supply and have been linked to cancer and birth defects.
- The system is highly inefficient. For every 5 pounds of contaminants pulled from the ground, roughly 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide are produced from continually running pumps, cross-country treks and treatment plants that produce as much greenhouse gas as municipal power plants.
- Cleanup at the Silicon Valley site, and others like it, isn’t working. Over the past decade, the pollution there has remained stagnant despite constant pumping. In some cases, the treatment is actually increasing the pollution in the water.
- The costs of treating the waste are enormous. To continue cleanup at sites like this, the EPA estimates taxpayers will spend between $1.2 billion and $3.6 billion over the next 30 years. That doesn’t include the untallied billions more spent by private companies tasked with cleaning up their past messes.
“Ideally, regulators are thinking holistically about how to reduce the waste and make problems go away,” said Stephen Hill, head of the San Francisco water board’s toxics cleanup division. “Not just how to move them around like a shell game.”
To accompany the investigation, PBS NewsHour Extra, the educational resources site for the NewsHour, partnered with CIR and the Guardian to create a mock trial lesson plan and activities for students to engage with the topic of technology and pollution. If you are a teacher, or know any curious students in your life, check out these educational resources, then encourage your kids to submit Instagram videos using #toxictrail to show how they’re taking action in their community.
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'The largest of these is the 57-unit building that we built at the invitation of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA.)'
What we watched in Silicon Valley we are now seeing in Baltimore------the use of SENIOR HOUSING as with other left social progressive groups like DISABLED are used to create LOW-INCOME density in communities WE ALREADY KNOW WILL BE TOXIC. We showed NE Baltimore communities tied to just this development----here we see NW Baltimore and Canton----using senior housing to create that low-income footprint in Greater Baltimore areas known to be slated for global corporate campus factories and toxic waste dumps. Both Weinberg and Jubilee are old-time global 1% ---Weinberg enriched as slum landlording and Baltimore rent court frauds-----Jubilee tied to Greater Baltimore Development pushing devastating environmental policies and hazardous public health policies.
What will be senior housing these few decades will be center in the worst of low-income hazardous waste communities. As Baltimore privatizes all its public housing 99% of citizens will depend on these NGOs with long histories of INJUSTICE.
'Weinberg Gardens Overview
Weinberg Gardens has a total of 84 units, all of which are Section 8 assisted living units. All units on this property are one-bedroom.
To determine the value of a particular housing program, we looked at the cost of rent versus the inspection score awarded to the property during its most recent inspection. Weinberg Gardens scored a value rating of 4.9 out of 5, which means the property is slightly above average for the area.
Contract rent for a studio unit at this housing program is $577 USD, which makes it a well priced option in Baltimore County. Note that as a Section 8 tenant, your rent will be based on your income. The unit is 32% less expensive than the fair market price of a non-Section 8 unit, although the rent a Section 8 tenant pays is dependent upon income'.
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AHEPA – Affordable Senior Apartments
Project | AHEPA – Affordable Senior Apartments
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In the 1990s the community leaders of Southeast Baltimore judged that senior housing was the most pressing need in their communities, and Jubilee responded to their call with six developments that created 134 affordable apartments for seniors in the heart of traditional neighborhoods. The largest of these is the 57-unit building that we built at the invitation of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA.)
This building makes it possible for seniors of limited income to live on the waterfront of the “Gold Coast” of Canton, one of Baltimore’s most heavily gentrified waterfront neighborhoods. Enterprise Homes provided construction loan guarantees and Enterprise Social Investment sold the tax credits that were needed to make this project happen. For this project, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development selected Jubilee as “Developer of the Year” in 2002.
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