The rookie senator from Illinois has some more explaining to do over some of his close acquaintances. Binyamin Appelbaum writing for the Boston Globe looks at the housing work that then state senator did in securing millions of dollars for his cronies to develop and/or manage Chicago housing. Appelbaum writes in his article titled “Grim proving ground for Obama’s housing policy”:
Grove Parc has become a symbol for some in Chicago of the broader failures of giving public subsidies to private companies to build and manage affordable housing - an approach strongly backed by Obama as the best replacement for public housing.
As a state senator, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee coauthored an Illinois law creating a new pool of tax credits for developers. As a US senator, he pressed for increased federal subsidies. And as a presidential candidate, he has campaigned on a promise to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that could give developers an estimated $500 million a year.
But a Globe review found that thousands of apartments across Chicago that had been built with local, state, and federal subsidies - including several hundred in Obama’s former district - deteriorated so completely that they were no longer habitable.
Grove Parc and several other prominent failures were developed and managed by Obama’s close friends and political supporters. Those people profited from the subsidies even as many of Obama’s constituents suffered. Tenants lost their homes; surrounding neighborhoods were blighted.
Some of the residents of Grove Parc say they are angry that Obama did not notice their plight. The development straddles the boundary of Obama’s state Senate district. Many of the tenants have been his constituents for more than a decade.
“No one should have to live like this, and no one did anything about it,” said Cynthia Ashley, who has lived at Grove Parc since 1994.
Ok, so maybe the rookie shouldn’t be blamed for this right? After all, he tried his best to secure funding but it’s not his fault is somehow this project was mismanaged into deterioriation. He enabled the project but he didn’t manage it. Obama’s campaign might want you to believe this.
But please ask the dynamic Senator why did he grant failed participants in Grove Parc with critical positions on his senatorial and presedential campaigns? Appelbaum reveals the following about the change candidate:
Among those tied to Obama politically, personally, or professionally are:
Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama’s presidential campaign and a member of his finance committee. Jarrett is the chief executive of Habitat Co., which managed Grove Parc Plaza from 2001 until this winter and co-managed an even larger subsidized complex in Chicago that was seized by the federal government in 2006, after city inspectors found widespread problems.
Allison Davis, a major fund-raiser for Obama’s US Senate campaign and a former lead partner at Obama’s former law firm. Davis, a developer, was involved in the creation of Grove Parc and has used government subsidies to rehabilitate more than 1,500 units in Chicago, including a North Side building cited by city inspectors last year after chronic plumbing failures resulted in raw sewage spilling into several apartments.
Cronyism and poor oversight — those don’t exactly scream change we can believe in. It’s more like change from which we should run. As more about Obama’s political comes to light, it will expose the Senator and remove the luster from his weak on experience and weak on substance campaign. Actions matter more than words. And Senator Obama, your words are starting to look a little hollow considering this story.
0 Responses to “Obama’s Deteriorated Housing Fiasco and Cronyism: Change we can believe in?”