[Discuss] [Peace-discuss] more than a nuisance
E. Wayne Johnson
ewj at pigs.ag
Wed Feb 11 10:51:56 CST 2009
Agreed with an exclamation point, Dave.
This proposed neighborhood safety ordinance is being developed at the
behest of the Mayor of Urbana, Laurel Lunt Prussing. She has recruited
the elitist Neighborhood Associations for a "Mayor's Neighborhood Safety
Task Force" which will be meet on Feb 24 for the purpose of rewriting
the ordinance. I am not clear about just who all is on this Task
Force, but I am certain that it does not include good representation
from the sectors of the population that will be negatively impacted by
this ordinance. Prussing is certain to have populated the "Task Force"
with those agreeable to her.
unionyes wrote:
> Yes Indeed !
>
> But white people will also be jailed and / or killed if they become a
> serious enough threat to the system.
>
> Also, in response to Wayne's post, once someone is released from jail
> ( for whatever they were convicted of ( rightly or wrongly ) violent
> or non-violent ( non violent being the vast majority ) where are they
> suppose to live if there are such ordinances in place ?
>
> How are they suppose to re enter society and be " good " citizens if
> they cannot find a place to live ?
>
> What will happen is that they will more than likely be forced to turn
> back to illegal activity ( possibly violence ) in order to survive.
>
> David Johnson
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: <cu at veyafoundation.org>
> To: "E. Wayne Johnson" <ewj at pigs.ag>
> Cc: "Community Courtwatch" <discuss at communitycourtwatch.org>; "peace
> discuss" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 9:56 AM
> Subject: Re: [Discuss] [Peace-discuss] more than a nuisance
>
>
>> Okay since we opened this door let's talk about dangerous criminals
>> in Champaign County. Until you commit to punishing and prosecuting
>> the private sector, city, state and federal government for the 100
>> years that they have robbed and stolen trillions of dollars from
>> everyday people then how do you support an ordinance that will be
>> used to discriminate against the minority and the poor. If law
>> enforcement was aggressively targeting those dangerous criminals
>> like they pursue the poor and minority then your argument would be
>> valid. I see and hear only a few. As a few of my white friends and
>> colleagues told me if you Patrick go out and fight injustice they
>> will lock you up and kill you. But if I a white person fight for
>> those same reasons nothing would happen to me.
>>
>> PDT
>>
>> Quoting "E. Wayne Johnson" <ewj at pigs.ag>:
>>
>>> Excuse me, but your posting did focus on upkeep.
>>>
>>> The City of Urbana has a law forbidding landlords from denying housing
>>> to persons because of a criminal record.
>>>
>>> Do you think this law should be repealed? I am intending this to be a
>>> serious question.
>>>
>>> Certainly not all dangerous criminals have criminal records, vis a vis,
>>> the past and current President, many members of Congress,...
>>> And not all persons with criminal records are really "dangerous
>>> criminals", but there may be some correlation.
>>>
>>>
>>> Ricky Baldwin wrote:
>>>> And basic maintenance is not my point, Wayne, but the hazards and
>>>> sometimes terror of living in a building or in a neighborhood where
>>>> landlords keep renting to dangerous criminals, and so on.
>>>> Ricky
>>>>
>>>> "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." - Maggie Kuhn
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> *From:* E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag>
>>>> *To:* Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>
>>>> *Cc:* peace discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>; Community
>>>> Courtwatch <discuss at communitycourtwatch.org>
>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 11, 2009 12:13:53 AM
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [Peace-discuss] more than a nuisance
>>>>
>>>> Your previous experience and hard work is noted and appreciated by
>>>> all, but Basic maintenance is not at all what the proposed urbana
>>>> criminal nuisance ordinance is about.
>>>>
>>>> The most recent draft is available at the city's website.
>>>> http://www.city.urbana.il.us/Urbana/City_Council/Agendas/01-12-2009/ordinance_2008-11-135.pdf
>>>>
>>>> Additional info here:
>>>> http://www.city.urbana.il.us/Urbana/City_Council/Agendas/02-09-2009/ordinance_2008-11-135.pdf
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Ricky Baldwin wrote:
>>>>> My opinion may not be popular on either of these lists, but I
>>>>> think I ought to explain where I'm coming from.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the nineties I worked for ACORN - an association I was never
>>>>> prouder of than in this last election. As a lone NYC Council
>>>>> member once said in another context - about not so different
>>>>> attacks on poor people organizing for their rights to vote, to
>>>>> improve their communities, to live in decent housing and safe
>>>>> neighborhoods, attacks by people who oppose all those things -
>>>>> "It is a badge of honor!"
>>>>>
>>>>> When I was at ACORN I spent my days and evenings six days a week
>>>>> walking around in the poorest, most dangerous (a.k.a. "worst")
>>>>> neighborhoods in the cities where I worked, talking to people who
>>>>> lived in toxic environments. There were many rats, and in Buffalo
>>>>> skunks, garbage in the streets not swept by the city, abandoned
>>>>> buildings, vacant lots. When it rained water cascaded down the
>>>>> walls of the living rooms and kitchens where we sat and talked
>>>>> and they offered me orange juice and tried to figure out why I
>>>>> wasn't married and we planned the next meeting and how to get the
>>>>> press interested and which local preachers might help and which
>>>>> might get in the way, which cops were honest and which were
>>>>> dangerous criminals. Front doors of apartment buildings didn't
>>>>> lock or had been broken for months. Some people were afraid to
>>>>> go out into the hallways in their own building because of the
>>>>> violence and violent people going in and out, or living next
>>>>> door, down the hall, just up stairs.
>>>>>
>>>>> These were hazards, nightmares, not mere "nuisances".
>>>>> Landlord after landlord refused to fix anything, get rid of any
>>>>> dangerous tenants haunting the buildings, or take any
>>>>> responsibility at all. People in these communities were
>>>>> trapped. They lived there because they had few options, and
>>>>> there was very little recourse. We organized together and fought
>>>>> the landlords, pressured city government to hold them
>>>>> accountable, and demanded that the landlords and the local
>>>>> government take some responsibility for the neglect and toxicity
>>>>> of those neighborhoods. It was always an uphill climb, because
>>>>> money and influence and property rights were always on the other
>>>>> side. We won some, one piece at a time, but in truth we lost
>>>>> more often. I think a lot of us know that song. Even the
>>>>> victories were often mixed bags, but we improved real lives.
>>>>>
>>>>> I do have concerns about the proposed "Nuisance Ordinance" - some
>>>>> along the lines I think expressed by Charlie Smyth - and I'd
>>>>> like to see a more community-based, even complaint-driven
>>>>> system, rather than reliance on the police - but overall I
>>>>> support this effort. I hope I've explained why. I continue to
>>>>> support efforts to expose and address police racial profiling
>>>>> and other abuses of power. I still hope we as a community can
>>>>> strengthen the police review board some day soon. But I do not
>>>>> see this ordinance as repressive on its face, but potentially
>>>>> very progressive.
>>>>>
>>>>> In Solidarity,
>>>>> Ricky
>>>>>
>>>>> "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." - Maggie Kuhn
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>>>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>>>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
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