Destroying Homes for the Holidays in New Orleans
by Carl Dix
On December 12, government authorities began the planned demolition of four public housing developments in New Orleans. Bulldozers began rolling in the BW Cooper development. But this outrageous and heartless destruction of housing has been met with protest and resistance.
In September 2005, people around the world watched in horror at how the U.S. government abandoned tens of thousands of Black people in the flood waters after Katrina, subjected them to the most inhumane conditions, then callously evacuated them. Now, two years later, on December 14, headlines and photographs about New Orleans hit the national and international news again: The U.S. government heartlessly RAZING low-income housing people AND people RESISTING, going up against the bulldozers, determined to stop this crime. This had a big impact-the eyes of the world turned toward New Orleans once again. And as we go to press, a state court has halted the demolitions at three of the four developments, saying that the city council never voted to authorize the demolitions.
The city council could vote right away to put all of the demolitions back on track. And the court decision leaves one development, BW Cooper, facing demolition because it was slated for demolition before Hurricane Katrina.
If the authorities get away with their plans, four of the five remaining major public housing developments in the city will be demolished. More than 4,600 units will be reduced to rubble and replaced by “mixed income housing” which will have less than 800 affordable units.
These demolitions will destroy the neighborhoods that thousands of people called home. Many of the people who used to live in the sections of Cooper that are being demolished have been forced to move in with relatives or friends. Others have been forced to live on the streets. Now their homes are being destroyed.
It’s also clear that most of the people who used to live in public housing will be unable to afford to live in the new developments built to replace those being demolished. New Orleans has already been through this with the destruction of the St. Thomas development before Katrina. Fifteen hundred affordable units were lost in that demolition and only 150 affordable units were built in the River Gardens development that replaced St. Thomas.
The destruction of public housing is happening in cities across the country, and it’s an outrage. But it’s even MORE outrageous that this is going down in New Orleans. It was criminal enough what this system did to people right after Hurricane Katrina. But the system’s criminal and massive abuse has continued up to the present day. Black communities like the 9th Ward remain especially neglected. Two hundred thousand people who used to live here remain exiled across the country since Katrina. One hundred fifty thousand of these people are Black. Destroying public housing will mean many people will never be able to return. On top of this, thousands of New Orleans residents living in FEMA emergency trailers here and in cities across the country will be evicted over the next six months. Where are they going to find housing? What about the large and growing homeless population in New Orleans? Officials say 12,000 people live on the streets in New Orleans, double the official count before Katrina. Many people say there are thousands more homeless here. These demolitions will only make that number grow.
Resistance Builds
These demolitions must be brought to a halt. They are part of a plan to rebuild a New Orleans that is smaller and whiter with much of its Black population driven out of the city. They are part of a nationwide drive to destroy public housing and part of the Bush regime’s program for Black people-poverty, prisons and punishment. New Orleans itself has become a national and international symbol-people point to what happened after Hurricane Katrina as a blatant and concentrated example of the living legacy of slavery and how the U.S. capitalist system continues to oppress Black people. And whether or not people fight back and resist these outrageous demolitions holds special significance to people around the world. This underscores the larger importance of and stakes in this struggle. And the rulers of the U.S. also know the national and international impact of what happens in New Orleans and must put this in their calculations over what to do.
The authorities are very determined to go ahead with these eveictions. Residents and former residents of public housing have been threatened with being kicked out of public housing forever or losing their housing vouchers if they speak out against the demolitions. Alphonso Jackson, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), warned city officials that HUD will revoke $137 million in federal assistance and that 900 former public housing residents living in different parts of the country will be stripped of their housing vouchers if the demolitions are halted.
Resistance has begun to grow. A hundred people packed into a city hall office to demand that the demolitions be halted on Monday, December 10. On December 12, 50 people formed a human wall to block a bulldozer from entering BW Cooper, the first development they began to take down. The bulldozer was moved in overnight. The next day people who had occupied one of the buildings unfurled a banner protesting the demolition as the bulldozer demolished another building. After a several hour stand off, the protesters were arrested by cops and charged with trespassing.
Earlier that day, more than 100 people marched to the New Orleans HUD office to demand a stop to the demolitions. And other protest actions were held at two other developments slated for demolition. This resistance has been mounted by public housing residents, dozens of volunteers who came to New Orleans to help stop the demolitions, and a growing array of supporters.
Many people in New Orleans have been electrified by this resistance. They see that the demolitions are bad for poor people and especially for Black people. Some say they feel this is aimed at driving Black people out of New Orleans. People remember how after Katrina, ten-term Congressman from Baton Rouge Richard Baker said, “We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn’t do it. But God did.”
At the same time, many people have sharp questions. Some say the projects were breeding grounds for poverty and crime and that it’s better to get rid of them and build something new. Others raise that losing public housing’s low rent and utility bills would motivate people to get jobs and better themselves.
These views echo what the authorities say to justify getting rid of public housing, and they mistake cause for effect. Many public housing residents work, but at low paying, dead end jobs. Many others can’t find work. The capitalist system is responsible for this. It sucked the jobs out of Black and other oppressed neighborhoods in New Orleans and across the country. It offers millions of Black youth with futures of low paying dead-end jobs, if they can find any jobs. It has criminalized many of these youth and warehouses hundreds of thousands of them in prisons. Getting rid of public housing isn’t going to ease this situation. In fact, it will only intensify it.
And beyond the immediate repercussions of the destruction of public housing in New Orleans, there is the larger impact and significance of whether or not there is resistance to such an assault on poor people in New Orleans.
All this underscores the need to fight these demolitions, not go along with them. And it underscores the need to build this fight as part of getting ready for revolution. The poverty and crime that people want to escape is caused by capitalism. It”ll take nothing short of revolution to deal with this and the exploitation and oppression that capitalism enforces on the world.
Building public housing doesn’t fit into the plans to profitably rebuild New Orleans. And a basic absurdity of free market capitalism is on display with the destruction of public housing here. There are thousands of people in this city with no jobs who could be trained and put to work. There are thousands of people in this city living on the street who need homes. There are people from all over the country and world who could be mobilized to volunteer their skills and abilities to help rebuild this city. But this SYSTEM, where profit determines what is and isn’t done, STANDS IN THE WAY of bringing all these different factors together to provide decent housing.
A revolutionary society, one where power was in the hands of the people, could deal with the need for affordable housing completely different than this setup. People who needed work could be unleashed to build the housing so many needed. In the face of a natural disaster like Katrina, a revolutionary society wouldn’t leave people to die and then seize on it as an opportunity to drive the masses out of town and not allow them to come back like this system did. The enthusiasm and energy of the people could be tapped into and unleashed to rebuild, not suppressed and subjected to repression like what has happened right after and since Katrina. This won’t be easy, but it will be possible under socialism, where the masses of people are fully mobilized to struggle out, figure out and work together to transform society and emancipate the people.
The holiday demolition of public housing is an outrage on top of all the other outrages this system has already perpetrated on the people of New Orleans. People are fighting for the right to return to the city, to rebuild their homes and their lives-and there is a critical need for affordable housing in New Orleans. People need to fight to see to it that none of it is destroyed.
Whatever twists and turns this struggle goes through, a real fight to stop these demolitions is what’s needed and possible. It’s not a done deal-that the authorities can destroy these developments and the people can’t do anything about it. Already the power of the people’s resistance has caused them to back off temporarily. Now this resistance must get stronger, and it must draw support from all over the country. There are no “outsiders” in the fight for justice-New Orleans is everyone’s battle. And if that’s done, it will create new ground to advance the struggle to defend public housing in New Orleans and around the country. And it would raise people’s consciousness and help politically prepare them for revolution.
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MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT PUBLIC HOUSING IN NEW ORLEANS
12-16-07 by Bill Quigley
MYTH #1:
“Federal officials, in partnership with developers, are pushing a plan that will demolish 4500 units of traditional public housing, replacing them with 3343 units of public housing and 900 market rate rental units.” Statement in Times-Pic 12.16.2007
FACT:
HUD is aggressively working to demolish 4500 units of traditional public housing. HUD and HANO’s own numbers state that less than 800 units of traditional public housing will be built by the developers who demolish those 4500 apartments. In order to get to the 3343 number they trumpet, HUD is actually re-counting over 2000 old public housing apartments (in Iberville, Guste, etc) which they have not yet scheduled to demolish. Thus, they are not telling the truth – they are not replacing the 4500 with 3343 at all, they are replacing the 4500 with less than 800 – a 82% reduction in public housing apartments.
MYTH #2:
HUD is not trying to reduce the amount of public and subsidized housing in New Orleans – it is just working to try to make affordable housing available for all.
FACT:
When Katrina hit, New Orleans had over 9000 families on Section 8 subsidized apartments and 7700 public housing apartments – over 16,000 families.
Now, New Orleans has 1700 families in public housing and 4000 families on DVP vouchers – 2000 of which are being transferred into Section 8 – for a total of 5700 families – around a third of pre-Katrina.
MYTH #3:
If HANO and HUD do not start demolition right away, they will lose their tax credits.
FACT:
The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (LHFA) is the agency giving tax credits. The following is an exact quote from the LHFA to Tracie Washington: “The LHFA never required demolition by HANO by any specific date. The LHFA did not set the timeline for demolition or construction. As a matter of fact, the only deadline that LHFA mandated was the deadline for HANO to “meet carryover,” a deadline required for all tax credit properties, which was accomplished by the execution of the ground lease.
The date slated for demolition was chosen by HUD/HANO. HANO set up its own schedule/timeline, which was approved by the LHFA Board so that the state’s tax credits would not be at risk. The LHFA Board is requiring that HANO meet its own deadlines since if the housing units that are due to come online do not do so in a timely manner, the tax credits will be lost to the detriment of other housing developers who could have gotten their developments up and running and Louisiana’s citizens waiting to return to safe, affordable homes.”
Tracie also asked the following questions in writing to which the LHFA made the following responses in writing.
Q: If HANO does not commence demolition by December 18th and the LHFA takes back the tax credits, can HANO reapply for the credits next year?
Response of LHFA: “The allocation of the credits to the HANO projects has already occurred. No recapture would occur unless there is a material change in the Project Schedule that would authorize the Board to recapture the credits.”
Q: Has the LHFA granted tax credit extensions since Katrina? If so, how many? Have any of these extensions been premised on a firm deadline for the commencement of demolition?
Response of LHFA: “Yes, the LHFA has granted tax-credit extensions since the hurricanes. I’ll have to check on the number. Other than HANO, no extensions have been premised on a firm deadline for the commencement of demolition.”
Q: Currently, HANO is being sued by its clients, the residents of New Orleans public housing. Is this external lawsuit ground for an extension that is not contingent upon demolition?
Response of LHFA: “There is no statutory requirement under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code to preclude flexibility here.”
MYTH #4:
Surveys of residents show they want demolition.
FACT:
The survey asked residents whether they wanted brand new homes or to move back into their old apartments – a false choice. HUD and HANO have consistently refused to guarantee residents one for one replacement of public housing apartments so everyone can move back in. Of the 4500 being demolished, less than 800 will be public housing subsidized apartments – a reduction of 82%.
The survey did not ask the real question – “Are you in favor of returning to your apartment or do you want to wait until they are torn down and new houses are built and take a chance that you will be one of the lucky 18% who gets to move back?
It doesn’t take an expert pollster to figure out the results of that question.
MYTH #5:
There really is no housing problem, it is just outside agitators who are making it seem like New Orleans has a housing problem.
FACT:
In December 2007, the national research group POLICYLINK issued a report “FEWER HOMES FOR KATRINA’S POOREST VICTIMS – An analysis of subsidized homes in post-Katrina New Orleans.” The report concluded that HUD and HANO have only approved resources to restore a third of the pre-Katrina stock of subsidized homes in New Orleans.
The full report is available online at:
http://www.policylink.org/documents/nola_fewerhomes.pdf
Those supporting demolition also fail to acknowledge opposition among the faith community to demolition:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_92874_ENG_HTM.htm
Public housing residents have received threatening phone calls promising that if they show up at protests, their housing assistance will be revoked. Many others are still in Houston, Atlanta and other places and cannot join the protests.
MYTH #6:
People do not want to come back to New Orleans. There are hundreds of vacant empty subsidized apartments just waiting for people to move in – no one wants to take them.
FACT:
At various times over the past 2 years, HUD and HANO have proclaimed that they had hundreds of vacant traditional public housing units ready to be occupied but people just did not want to come home.
Each time, these numbers were revealed to be false numbers and gross overstatements. For apartments which actually are made available, the delays in filling those much fewer apartments were because of bureaucratic guidelines and dysfunction at HANO. HANO first offers the available apartment to its previous occupant (who is also told that they can wait for the mythical promised new apartments) – a process that usually takes 60 days; then the apartments are offered for a period of time to a select list held by HANO; only after that entire process are they offered to the displaced people from other developments.
Example #1:
HANO is recognized as perhaps the most dysfunctional public housing program in the US – & HUD has been running it for years. Most of the already overworked and underpaid pre-Katrina HANO staff were let go and the few current employees are terribly overworked.
The phones do not get answered, messages are not returned, mail goes nowhere. Public housing residents, particularly those displaced outside of New Orleans, have extremely difficult time communicating with HANO. It is very difficult to get in touch with HANO and to cut through the bureaucratic mazes to get back – but people continue to try.
Don’t just take the residents’ word about these problems – consider the statement by a private landlord in a December 9, 2007 letter to the editor of the TP:
“Dealing with the Housing Authority of New Orleans’ Section 8 Department is an unprofitable prospect. They rarely answer the telephone, return messages, answer emails or even read their postal mail. When you do speak to someone, the staff and case workers are rude and obviously overworked.
“HANO’s accounting department is a mess. Staffers deposit funds to the wrong accounts, in incorrect amounts and fail to provide a basic level of documentation and accountability.
“The HANO inspection process is a joke. The standards vary from inspector to inspector, and many criteria for immediate failure are petty and unsupported by national building codes” Nathaniel Phillips – New Orleans
Example #2:
On December 11, 2007, HUD released a fact sheet stating that there were 300 public housing units that remain unoccupied. HUD Fact Sheet available at: http://www.hud.gov/news/neworleansfact.cfm
Four days later, in the Times-Picayune, December 16, 2007, HUD stated they had 162 move-in ready apartments.
Example #3:
In December 2006, HANO announced that it had a list of hundreds of “key-ready” apartments for people to move into but no one wanted to come back.
In January 2007, HUD investigators determined that there was no such list and that the key ready apartments did not exist.
MYTH #7:
HUD and HANO have given full and fair consideration to all points of view and have consistently told the truth.
FACT:
Example #1:
On the one year anniversary of Katrina, HUD promised in writing “After the Hurricane, HANO reoccupied approximately 1,000 units at Iberville, Guste, Fischer, and River Garden (formerly St. Thomas) where damage was limited. HANO and HUD have identified another 1,000 units that were not materially affected by the hurricane and are working to temporarily reoccupy the vast majority of these units by the end of September 2006.” See http://www.hud.gov/news/katrina05response.cfm
As of today, it appears that HUD and HANO have brought about 1700 units online – 16 months past their September 2006 promise.
Example #2:
HUD promised that once HANO submitted its application for demolition, HUD would take 100 work days to carefully consider the application and make an independent determination of whether demolition of 4500 HANO apartments was legal.
HANO submitted their completed application for demolition on September 20, 2007. HUD approved it September 21, 2007.
MYTH #8:
It would cost much more to repair these apartments than tear them down and start over.
FACT:
HANO’s own insurance company documents prove that, right after Katrina, cleaning and repairing CJ Peete apartments could be done for less than $5000 per apartment. HANO’s own documents right after Katrina also documented that the cost for repairing and modernizing apartments would be far less costly than demolishing and rebuilding. Only after HUD announced that the buildings were coming down (a decision by HUD that HANO did not participate in nor even know was coming) did well-paid consultants go back and re-work the numbers.
MYTH #9:
This is all just about progress.
FACT:
Nationally recognized investigative journalists have written three major articles documenting FBI investigation into corruption between HUD and HANO. Local media have given these corruption investigations little coverage at all. Contrast how much coverage is given to corruption charges against local politicians and ask why corruption at this higher level that directly impacts New Orleans is getting such soft treatment.
See the latest article at: http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/071214nj1.htm
MYTH #10:
Residents of public housing just want to go back to the bad old days of failed housing.
FACT:
Residents of public housing know the problems of public housing better than any drive-by critic. They also know the lack of alternatives better than any critic.
There would be no $750 million for this project without the suffering of thousands of families who lived in public housing.
Many non-residents want public housing down, just so they can say something is happening in New Orleans. Lots and lots of consultants, developers, friends of public officials and others are set to get an awful lot of money. If a couple of thousand poor families are worse off – well that is regrettable but that is the price of “progress.”
Residents ask only that they not be worse off after everyone else gets their part of the $750 million. Either guarantee them one for one replacement of public housing in the new construction – or use the money to fix the apartments back up and let them come home.