LETTERS: Chicago has not run away from public housing

Rich Miller’s recounting of the history of Chicago’s Near South Side, as told by gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy, is the sad stuff of urban myth-making.

In his column on Sunday, Miller wrote: “Mayor Richard M. Daley tore down much of the city’s public housing projects and sent many of those residents packing to the suburbs, partly by making it difficult to obtain subsidized housing vouchers in the city. A couple of hundred thousand black people left Chicago from 2000-2010 and the exodus has continued since then.”

In fact: When, under federal mandate, Chicago tore down its notorious family high rise buildings, fewer than 25,000 apartments were occupied in all the public housing properties across the city. Today, after 17 years of building and renovating, the number remains about the same. In 1999, there were 30,000 vouchers available for use; today there are 47,000 — 17,000 more housing opportunities than in the past. And, despite rumors to the contrary spread by leaders from Chicago suburbs and cities as far away as Memphis and Des Moines (who complain that relocatees from public housing in Chicago are responsible for their increase in crime), fewer than 500 families have used their publicly-funded vouchers to move to the suburbs or other states.

Miller writes: “(Chris) Kennedy then closed the circle by claiming this is all being done to clear the way for ‘economic development.’ Kennedy pointed to the closing of 18 public schools in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. ‘That neighborhood,’ Kennedy said, ‘just south of the Loop, there along the beaches of Lake Michigan, is the next great development play in Chicago.’”

The new development, Kennedy said, wouldn’t be for the benefit of Bronzeville’s mostly African-American residents who have lived there for years and are being “pushed out.” Instead, he said, the development would make way for a “new wave of gentrification.”

In fact: In North Oakland (the epicenter of Bronzeville), the sprawling Ida B. Wells development was demolished. In 2000, 1,013 public housing units were occupied, and 132 families were living there with a voucher. Today, 943 families live in public housing units and another 238 living in new housing there with a voucher — an increase in the public housing population of 40. What did change was the overall number of houses and apartments available in the community — growing from 1,704 to 3,138 — a sign of a desirable community with housing available at a variety of prices.

Was this population growth good or bad? It attracted Mariano’s to the community to provide the first fresh food in more than 50 years. It was designed by African-American architects Johnson and Lee and African-American engineer Wilbur Milhouse, and provided employment for hundreds of people, including more than 100 Chicago Housing Authority residents.

This is written not to play “gotcha,” but to remind us all that good politics and good policy are only as good as the facts that underlie them.

Eugene Jones, CEO, Chicago Housing Authority

Not another celeb as Prez

If we ever consider electing another unqualified celebrity as president, even one like Oprah who would be a huge upgrade from our current Dear Leader, we should, as a country, be declared mentally unfit.

Don Anderson, Oak Park

We need thinkers for president

Oprah? If we elect another person to the highest office in the land because of how they speak to a camera, then we get what we deserve. We need thinkers and doers running for president, not motivators and orators. The last 2 presidents were/are famous for hearing themselves speak. One was eloquent, one not so much. But if Oprah winds up being the Democratic nominee, then the DNC has learned absolutely nothing from the debacle in 2016. There must be at least a dozen qualified Democrats eying 2020 that were shut out last time because it was rigged in favor of a heavily flawed candidate.

Scot Sinclair, Third Lake

Beware the loose impeachment talk

The calls for President Trump’s impeachment sound like the cries of a lynch mob. The constitution states a president can be removed for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” So far, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller has not finished his investigation and no one else has submitted evidence for these things. Being obnoxious is not an impeachable offense. Neither is being crude and rude. If you lower the bar as to what is meant by “high crimes,” watch out! Every president will become a victim of a vengeful opposing party.

Howard Klopp, Norwood Park