DC MUGGY ANTI COLONIALIZATION UPDATE

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The displacement we see now in the cities around the world is neo-colonization — not by Columbian-swords and fighting ships — but by bankers, speculation, and racism in planning.  Here in DC we are under full assault by ignorance, ad-hockery, and unreal estate costs.  If we don’t continue to push back, we will lose the city and our place in it forever.

‘Plymouth Rock landed on us!’ Malcolm X

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SOME IMPORTANT DATES THIS COMING TIME
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This is a good week to engage on critical socio-economic-cultural issues of our time in the District of Columbia, and beyond.

1. Thursday, Oct. 12 — COURT BATTLE AGAINST DISPLACEMENT
2. Saturday, Oct. 14 — FORUM: AFFORDABLE TO WHOM?
3. Sunday, Oct.15 — TOWNHALL: AFFORDABLE ARTISTS SPACE IN DC?
4. Tuesday, Oct. 17 — FUNDRAISER: SaveOurPlaza.com


1. THURSDAY MORNING COURT BATTLE: Fighting Displacement Around Union Market. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2017, 9:30AM, DC COURT OF APPEALS, 430 E Street NW, Courtroom 2, Judiciary Square Metro (redline). Be there in person to see and hear one of the top zoning/planning lawyers in the District, Aristotle Theresa, Esquire, as he presents the argument that the massive overdevelopment of unaffordable studio/one-bedrooms in the District is an absolute adverse impact to longstanding District residents and families. We stand with Union Market Neighbors who are tired of city planning officials putting luxury greed over neighborhood needs.   http://www.dc4reality.org/unionmarketneighbors
PLEASE RSVP: unionmarketneighbors@gmail.com || (240) 308-8872

2. AFFORDABLE TO WHOM?  Affordable Housing and the Comprehensive Plan. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1:30 to 3:30pm. BENNING LIBRARY. http://tinyurl.com/affordable-to-whom-oct2017 The DC Grassroots Planning Coalition hosts this forum on the definition of ‘affordable housing’ in the District of Columbia.  We will explore what the DC Comprehensive Plan says about affordable housing and discuss why city planning officials cannot seem to systemically and consistently contend with this number one crisis in the District (for more than a decade now)! District residents from around the city will be in attendance, with experienced housing organizers to help facilitate the forum.  Be there and be ready to act for the benefit of your friends, family, and neighbors in your community. Event time and location: October 14, 2017, Starts 1:30pm, at the Benning Library. https://www.dclibrary.org/benning, 3935 Benning Road, NE, WDC 20019. Please RSVP: dc@grassrootsplanning.us || 202-234-9119 x100

3. [[ location change ]] Artists Town Hall: Space is the Place. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2:00pm to 5:00pm. UPTOWN ART HOUSE. http://www.tinyurl.com/artists-townhall-oct2017  Gather with artists from around the District, including the ArtsxAction, NomuNomu, and 411Collective crews to discuss the number one issue facing artists in the city today, affordable longterm collective artist space.  Why is it disappearing?  How do we preserve and protect existing artists space?  Why is affordable artists space important to our community health and campaigns for justice?  We will explore these and other questions together as we build an action plan to win permanent affordable artists space in the District. Use Redline (Cleveland Park stop; 1 block south on the west side) Please RSVP: collective411dc@gmail.com, like the Facebook page >> http://www.tinyurl.com/artists-townhall-oct2017

4. SaveOurPlaza.com Fundraiser at Madams Organ.  TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017, 6PM. http://tinyurl.com/sopa-mo-fundraiser-oct2017 The people of Adams Morgan DC fought racist redlining in the 1970’s and won.  Now bankers and developers want to sweep this victory under the rug (under a wall of luxury condo units) and crush the peoples plaza at 18th and Columbia Road, NW.  However, modern day Adams Morgan anti-displacement organizers are winning and are preparing for trial to protect the people’s victory and preserve the historic plaza at the center of their community. Be there to find out more and have a great time! Please RSVP: admo4rd@gmail.com || 202 670 2366

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MORE EVENTS (Calendars & Bulletin Boards)
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* EmpowerDC >> http://www.empowerdc.org
* ONE-DC >> http://www.onedconline.org
* DC for Democracy >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/2540176953/
* SURJ DC >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/652826544817571/
* Food Not Bombs DC >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/foodnotbombsdc/
* The Peace House >> https://www.facebook.com/thepeacehousedc/
* Washington Peace Center >> http://washingtonpeacecenter.net/calendar/
* Neighborhood Network >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeighborhoodSolidarityNetwork
* DC Organizing Posse >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/235632049818909/
* The Great Ward Eight >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/161579963922562
* DC for Reasonable Development >> https://www.facebook.com/dc4reality/

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THANK YOU!
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Chris Otten, Co-Facilitator DC4RD
ANC Commissioner 2008-2010;
Homeless services advocate;
Statehood activist;
Public property watchdog
202-810-2768

PS: Watch one of the  #JusticeForBarryFarms videos here >>
https://youtu.be/dX9CaTCcq-g

WDC vis-a-vis London

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A recent Washington Post article highlights the Grenfell Tower fire, a building poorly constructed with questionable materials that was approved with little accountable municipal permitting review.

The Grenfell fire illustrated in searing fashion the perils of life in Britain’s public housing high-rises, where years of unheeded warnings, slashed costs and deregulation all added up to a tragedy unlike any Britain has seen in at least a century.

But the aftermath has shined a spotlight on a different problem with Britain’s strained-to-the-breaking-point housing system — a severe shortage of affordable options that has left people desperate for a roof over their heads.

The article captures London’s construction boom in a way that closely matches the problems in the District.  DCRA is DC’s permitting office which is under much scrutiny for similar oversight and permitting failures.  And DC has been experiencing an affordable housing crisis for more than a decade.

The article sheds light on DC’s major planning and permitting problems.  It’s a good read, if sad for all those families hurt or killed and displaced.

Gendarme: Unconstitutional Displacement

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DC’s Attorney General recently said, “Obeying the Constitution is Not Optional” after filing complaints against the “President.”

Perhaps Mr. Racine ought to be on the phone with Police Chief Newsham to discuss training on the rights of Americans to peacefully gather in public spaces when organizing against displacement.

On Monday, June 12, 2017, just a mere couple of weeks after the DC Zoning Commission rubberstamped the approval of a project that will destroy #BrooklandManor, the cops are acting as developer agents to harass and finish off the displacement of existing DC families and residents living in Ward 5.

Of course, Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie favors this displacement, as he goes on and on writing letters consistently supporting these projects and the wholesale removal and police harassment of black families from DC.

Disperse Poverty! Concentrate Wealth!

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DE-CONCENTRATE POVERTY MEANS GETTING RID OF POOR PEOPLE WHILE THEY CONCENTRATE WEALTH IN NEW LUXURY HIGH-RISES

We must de-concentrate poverty.  It’s a refrain we are hearing alot from city officials lately, especially now as East of the River communities are facing the first big swells of the massive gentrification wave heading that way from the westside.

Those screaming for the dispersal of poor communities have usually been the developers, more recently the “smart” growthers, and now City officials are parroting it up on their John A. Wilson dais.

“The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty” — Dr. King, “Where do we go from Here: Chaos or Community”, 1967.

But, instead of seeking tools and policies like a guaranteed basic income, or robust job training programs, feeding programs, good quality schooling, and social uplift, the de-concentration of poverty advocated for by the DC’s developer-class and the City Council and Mayor is that of dispersal, i.e. getting rid of the poor by way of streetcar, condos, hotels, stadiums.

The New Communities program, following on from the Hope VI programs, in turn from Urban Renewal is referenced across many Housing and Urban Development documents as “dispersal projects” no matter what new euphemism they want to call them.

Due to the self-selection inherent in voluntary dispersal programs, and to the screening that these programs apply to applicants, participants are likely to be more motivated and possess more human capital than the families that do not participate. Program operatives choose the families they think will succeed, based on these families’ being organized enough to pass home inspections and other steps in the application process. Still, mobility programs typically have a low success rate, because fewer than half the applicants who are accepted are able to lease an apartment. — The Reality of Deconcentration, By Edward G. Goetz

Simultaneously, while the city disperses the poor to heed the call to de-concentrate poverty, the DC Zoning Commission, Office of Planning, Deputy Mayor’s Office for Planning and Economic Development, alongside Ward level Councilmembers push hard for new projects that have only 8% to 15% “affordable” units in them, and those are usually for singles, not families.

That is, city planners and officials are encouraging, even touting projects that concentrate wealth with 85% of the housing units being built for wealthy single new DC residents.

So, the developer-class wins again with each call from advocate-community and pronouncement by city officials saying we must de-concentrate poverty and rip up generational familial networks with innate powerful neighborhood connections that have grown in some ways to supersede abject poverty through mutual aid and reliance & trust.

The reality is, the development underway in the District is dispersing and displacing poor DC families (the census numbers don’t lie), but consistently concentrating wealthy singles and somehow that is considered good planning in DC.

It’s not, it’s unreasonable and unacceptable.  This purposely poor planning has resulted in DC’s #unRealEstateMarket

Deconcentrating poverty is a smokescreen. It camouflages forced relocation of low-income house-holds. What do we mean when we talk about  deconcentrating poverty? As it has been implemented to date, deconcentration has meant manipulating the spatial arrangement of federally subsidized low-income families to either disperse or dilute poverty. — The Smokescreen of Poverty Deconcentration, by Edward Goetz

 

In their own words . . . opinion by Chris Otten, co-facilitator, DC4RD

 

 

 

 

Office of Planning’s Zoning Rewrong Now Hurting Supporters

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ANC 6B, particularly Commissioner Kirsten Oldenburg, has championed everything that the Office of Planning has thrown at them, including the DC Zoning Rewrite.

The 2016 approval of the ZRR allows commercial creep into residential areas of DC and weakens the rules making many zoning issues a “matter of right” meaning they don’t need any community feedback or administrative process for approval from the city (many zoning issues also went from the a stricter variance test to the easier special exception request).

Now the ANC is feeling the effects of their forthright push to support the Zoning Rewrite, that is they are fighting the commercial creep that is just starting under the new rules.  See the article below.

‘Party House’ Hearing Before Board of Zoning Takes Place Wednesday

TwilightZoning: Record RubberStamp!

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Amazing!  The DC Zoning Commission has hit a new record in approving a Planned Unit Development in a mere 26 minutes (video)!

A twenty-six minute review of a 11-story behemoth in the middle of the historic Shaw neighborhood, despite the precedent setting victory at the highest Court in the District regarding the landmarked McMillan Park showing that the Commission must consider adverse impacts from any major project they are considering.

A record project approval in the face of the people calling out Zoning Commission attorneys for their disregard of fundamental planning impacts like displacement.

Doesn’t matter! The Zoning Commission goes hard and rubberstamps an 11-story Planned Unit Development in the middle of the historic Shaw neighborhood in record time.

Things may be looking up though — the Office of the Attorney General is seeking to hire a land use attorney!

Using Law for Good & Bad

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While the corporate “journalists” attack the character of local activists when they use the law to demand accountability for developments in the District, slumlords can use the law (Bankruptcy) to avoid accountability and dodge their ethical duty to provide clean and humane residential units to District residents.

That is, when activists use the law to protect their communities they get attacked in the press. When slumlords use the law to cover-up their negligence and assault on poor people and families, the monied classes get a pass.

#tiltedpress
#lawforgood
#legalaction

Wha-Mata with You! DC4RD Update

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The Latest DC4RD Update

~~ UPDATE menu ~~

I) Citywide Planning Issues:
i) Defending the Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map
ii) Martin Luther King Memorial Library Renovation & Friends Meeting (Ralph Nader)

II) Racism and Police Abuse in DC

III) Organize & Fight Back!


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I) Citywide Planning issues:
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i) DEFEND THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND FUTURE LAND USE MAP
http://tinyurl.com/20-year-dc-comp-plan

DC for Reasonable Development, a citywide network of groups and residents who care about planning in the District of Columbia, asks you to join us in defending the DC Comprehensive Plan. The developer-class working by and through DC “planners” want to dismantle our most progressive planning document in the city.

Be at the upcoming meetings to defend the development of an inclusive city that is building truly affordable housing >> http://planning.dc.gov/page/plandc-amending-dc-comprehensive-plan



ii) MARTIN LUTHER KING LIBRARY
Our central public library is being renovated, your voices needed, http://www.dclibrary.org/mlkfuture

Be at an upcoming meeting and get your ANC’s and civics involved to express your concerns, critique, and affirmation of all or parts of the renovation plans, here are the plans dated August 2016, http://www.slideshare.net/DCPublicLibrary/slide-show-for-website-8-2016

–> ALSO, join the Martin Luther King Memorial Library Friends at their Annual Meeting and Election on Wednesday October 26 at 6:30 pm in Room A-5 of the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library.

Guest Speaker: Author and Consumer Activist Ralph Nader will speak about his new book Breaking Through Power. The MLK Library Friends will be selling books ($13.95 paperback) and Mr. Nader will be pleased to autograph copies.


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II) Racism and Police Abuse in DC
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The #Racist planning and unjust behavior seems to be at an all time high in the District in 2016.

* JUSTICE FOR TERRENCE STERLING
https://www.rt.com/usa/361509-terrence-sterling-protests-dc/

* BLACK CHURCHES GETTING PUSHED OUT
http://www.afro.com/gentrification-pushing-black-churches-out-of-d-c/

* METRO SHUTTING DOWN STOPS SERVING BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS
http://wjla.com/news/local/wmata-board-debates-budget-options
http://tinyurl.com/gw5h8sh


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III) Organize & Fight Back!
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As they say, don’t agonize, organize! Here’s some important upcoming meetings and other resources to review & share!

* EMPOWER DC Annual Meeting Tomorrow (Sat Oct 22)
http://empowerdc.org/event/empower-dc-2016-annual-meeting

* ONE DC 10th Anniversay Gathering (Nov. 18th)
http://www.onedc10thanniversary.org/

* SURJ (Two upcoming meetings in November)
https://www.facebook.com/surjdc/

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MORE EVENTS (Calendars & Bulletin Boards, Interwebs)
—————–

* Washington Peace Center >> http://washingtonpeacecenter.net/calendar/
* Neighborhood Network >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeighborhoodSolidarityNetwork
* DC Organizing Posse >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/235632049818909/
* The Great Ward Eight >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/161579963922562
* EmpowerDC >> http://www.empowerdc.org
* ONE-DC >> http://www.onedconline.org
* DC for Democracy >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/2540176953/
* SURJ DC >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/652826544817571/
* Food Not Bombs DC >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/foodnotbombsdc/
* The Peace House >> https://www.facebook.com/thepeacehousedc/
* DC for Reasonable Development >> https://www.facebook.com/dc4reality/

video

Watch one of the #JusticeForBarryFarms videos here >> https://youtu.be/dX9CaTCcq-g

Accountability of Developer Promises, NOT

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City officials gets wooed constantly by developers pleading for handouts and corporate welfare and these officials (city council, mayor, planners) have dutifully served their campaign contributors well.

Since activists shined the light bright on this corporate welfare during boomtown DC, the City Council had to begin giving the appearance they expected returns on the promises instead of just dispossessing the public farm.

But, as should have been expected, these same city officials gifting the monied classes never actually followed up to see if those promises were fulfilled or that the city got a fair return on our investments.

DC taxpayers continue to still be robbed by the developer-class for a myriad of large financial gifts of public land, tax breaks, and zoning entitlements.

And now the dot on the exclamation point — the independent DC Auditor pulled together the stark data and concluded what we all intuitively knew — city officials (planners, city council, mayor) are suckas for corporate-driven development and the monied classes.

#DCfiresale
#corporatehandouts
#welfare4therich

Fall on Fleek :: Get Active & Involved

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DC4RD Fall on Fleek Update

~~ This year’s fall theme is finding accountability in the courts because the woeful City Council and Mayoral oversight of agency action is no longer cutting it.

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HOUSING ACTIVISM
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* Barry Farms (Ward 8) in Court this Wednesday >>
https://www.facebook.com/events/1784614785138267/

* Kenilworth Courts (Ward 7) in a zoning battle against displacement >>
http://www.dchousing.org/property.aspx?id=5N

* Brookland Manor (Ward 5) residents take racism and classism to court >> http://thehilltoponline.com/2016/09/23/brookland-manor-v-gentrification/

* Congress Heights (Ward 8) rally to defend their homes >>
https://dcindymedia.org/node/1246

* Museum Square Tenants (Ward 2) win in Court of Appeals >>
http://dcist.com/2016/09/museum_square_tenants_win_another_c.php

—> If you have questions about any of these above items, contact us:
dc4reality@gmail.com 202 810 2768

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ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM
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* McMillan Park (Ward 1 & 5; National Landmark) has its day in Court >>
https://www.facebook.com/SAVEMcMillan/

* Buzzard Point (Ward 6) residents air and water quality under threat >> http://planning.dc.gov/page/buzzard-point-urban-design-framework

* Zoning Rewrong (The whole city) — The ZRR passed with no impacts studies conducted >> http://www.twilightzoning.org/legal

* The ZRR is still being amended >>
http://www.dc4reality.org/updates/316

* [new] DC Consumer Utility Board >>
http://www.dcconsumerutilityboard.org/

—> If you have questions about any of these above items, contact us:
dc4reality@gmail.com 202 810 2768

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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
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* Adams Morgan Suntrust Plaza (Ward 1) — PN Hoffman wants it all >>
http://www.saveourplaza.wordpress.com

* Union Market (Ward 5 & 6) facing serious upheaval >>
http://tinyurl.com/wapo-union-market-sep-2016

* DMPED Land Disposition Agreements (The whole city) — Finally put online >> http://dmped.dc.gov/node/1019962

—> If you have questions about any of these above items, contact us:
dc4reality@gmail.com 202 810 2768

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MORE EVENTS (Calendars & Bulletin Boards)
—————–

* Washington Peace Center >> http://washingtonpeacecenter.net/calendar/
* Neighborhood Network >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeighborhoodSolidarityNetwork
* DC Organizing Posse >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/235632049818909/
* The Great Ward Eight >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/161579963922562

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DON’T AGONIZE, ORGANIZE!
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* EmpowerDC >> http://www.empowerdc.org
* ONE-DC >> http://www.onedconline.org
* DC for Democracy >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/2540176953/
* SURJ DC >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/652826544817571/
* Food Not Bombs DC >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/foodnotbombsdc/
* DC for Reasonable Development >> https://www.facebook.com/dc4reality/

Thank you!
Chris O. & The DC4RD team!
www.dc4reality.org
202 810 2768

PS: If you haven’t already seen this weeks big event, check out >>
http://www.BreakingThroughPower.org