[Peace-discuss] Gateway Studios and the Housing Crisis in CU - update and next steps

Sat May 16 22:01:07 CDT 2009

I have re-read your post; do you want me to parse it out section by section and respond to each?  You said in the statement that I quoted that “Utilities should be gov’t owned and operated, or they should be held cooperatively by gov’t and citizens, not for profit.”  First, I pointed out that the Rantoul case was a gov’t owned and operated  utility (I could also have pointed to many citizen owned and operated utilities throughout the country who have shut of utilities for non-payment of bills).  Thus, gov’t or citizen owned and operated, coop or non-coop, does not seem to be the governing factor in such decisions.  Secondly, there are many “not-for-profit” organizations of all kinds around; but not being for profit does not mean that their products and services are free or without costs which they have to recoup; it just means that they do not have as a goal to make a profit over and above operating costs and capital improvement costs.

You then say, “All utilities should be provided FREE to all residents, period.”  How does one do that in a country where barter is not the main mode of exchange (and even if it were, the product and/or service still is not free because one needs to barter something to get it, to pay the employees for their labor, to pay suppliers and venders for the equipment and resources, etc.)?  To fund the operation of utility facilities so as to supply the services and utilities free to the clients and customers would require taxes be paid for by residents of the service area and spent on the production of the utility products and services; this is not what I would call free provision of the goods and services (with or without your emphatic “PERIOD” at the end.

As for your suggestions below (“Think mail delivery. Think garbage pick up in NYC. Think water in NYC….”), none of those are free either.  In the case of mail delivery, if you do not pay the postage, your mail will not be delivered; if you do not have or purchase at your costs a mailbox that meets postal requirements, your mail will not be delivered (you will have to go to the post office to pick it up yourself).  Mail delivery has never been free anywhere.  With respect to garbage collection and water in locations where it is not furnished by a private company for profit, the user still has to pay for the service either via taxes or via water and garbage bills. I am from the East where government owned and run garbage and water services are common as was the case of the city that I grew up in; and we not only paid taxes to support such services but additional levies and fees for them to the city.  If we did not pay the bills for the water, sewer, garbage, etc. services, the city cut off those services; if we did not pay our taxes to the city, they put a lien on our property and/or possessions as well as bank accounts, garnished our wages, etc.  All that was even true in NYC. The reason you may not think so may be because you did not realize it if you were a renter and the building owner paid the costs which were included as hidden fees in your rent.  A distinct possibility since a large majority of NYC residents are not property owners but renters.

Again, the question is not the issue of ownership or the type of organization that operates the utility; it is the issue of costs and who picks up the tab and under what conditions.  A PERFECTLY FREE utility, PERIOD! is not only utopian; it is impossible no matter who owns and runs the utility.  If the poor are to get the service even when they cannot afford to pay for it, then someone else will need to pick up their costs if they are to continue to get the service.  Otherwise, there would be no utilities for anyone unless all the workers volunteer their labor for free, all the suppliers and venders do the same, and taxes for the service will be apportioned on the combined basis of not only the amount of the utility used by the user but the ability of the user to pay.  But that is something that will never happen in the US where big users get volume discounts and the middle and upper economic classes refuse to pay for the poor, where a human right is anything that you can afford to buy, and where private property and individualism are the currency of the day.

There are also all kinds of practical questions which you have neglected in your postulating of a free utility society where utilities are a right and not a privilege.  Among them are how are the amounts of utility usage to be apportioned and by whom using what process?  Should everyone get on demand unlimited amounts of the utility without any restrictions on the amounts used, the type of usage, or  the purpose of the usage?  How do we put priorities on types of uses and purposes to which the utility is to be used, how do we apportion the amounts that users are entitled to for free? Do you propose a representative democrtatic forum like the legislatures or the executive branches of government to make these decisions given how good, responsive,  non-self-interested, and incorruptible they have been in the past with respect to matters of fairness, justice, equality, and honesty?  Or do you propose that we engage in direct democracy with monthly meetings were all residents get a chance to speak and vote on all questions of policy and practice no matter how long such meetings last or how large a stadium would be needed to hold such a meeting in which the majority rules even if it works negatively with respect to the lives and situations of the members of the minority.  Unless one is willing to deal with these questions, why bring up and suggest impractical and utopian proposals?

From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Jenifer Cartwright
Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 8:31 PM
To: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net; LAURIE SOLOMON
Subject: RE: [Peace-discuss] Gateway Studios and the Housing Crisis in CU - update and next steps

Please reread what I wrote, Laurie: provided FREE to all residents, period... so there would be no such thing as non-payment, ergo no discontinuation of service. Think mail delivery. Think garbage pick up in NYC. Think water in NYC, at least until a few years ago....

 --Jenifer

--- On Sat, 5/16/09, LAURIE SOLOMON <LAURIE at ADVANCENET.NET> wrote:

From: LAURIE SOLOMON <LAURIE at ADVANCENET.NET>
Subject: RE: [Peace-discuss] Gateway Studios and the Housing Crisis in CU - update and next steps
To: "'Jenifer Cartwright'" <jencart13 at yahoo.com>, peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
Date: Saturday, May 16, 2009, 1:10 PM

> Utilities should be gov't owned and operated, or they should be held cooperatively by gov't and citizens, not for profit: All utilities should be              > provided FREE to all residents, period. 

This is not only utopian; but it neglects the fact that Rantoul’s utilities are municipal utilities and that did not stop them from turning off the power for lack of payment by the complex’s owner/manager even if the residents of a multi-unit complex had paid as part of their rent the cost of utilities.  

The moral of the story is that utility cooperatives run by either or both citizens and governmental bodies do not necessarily mean that utilities will not be shut off when the utility bills go unpaid or that circumstances always count for much when making those decisions.  In part this is due to the fact that, in this country, even cooperatives and government owned and operated facilities are run in accordance with capitalist principles which hold that they must at least break even and not run at a loss so as to require subsidies be budgeted or additional taxes be levied.

Of course, there are all kinds of courses of action that governments and communities can take under the guise of health and safety concerns in the form of  liens, placing properties under trusteeship where renters pay the city their rent and utility fees and not the private owner/managers until all outstanding issues are resolved, utility credits or utility stamps, etc. However, I doubt if this will be likely to happen in the US where private property is god and valued more than human lives – except if those lives are of well known and influential persons and their families.

From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Jenifer Cartwright
Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 11:58 AM
To: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net; sf-core at yahoogroups.com; Ricky Baldwin; kreutz1 at illinois.edu; kennybishop at gmail.com; tylerschen at gmail.com; pengdust at aol.com; Carol Elliott; brettabloom at riseup.net; willistanya at ymail.com; edwardwest26 at hotmail.com; Danielle Chynoweth
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Gateway Studios and the Housing Crisis in CU - update and next steps

I think there should be legislation that would make it ILLEGAL for utility companies to turn off power, water, etc while issues like these are being decided, or while other funding sources are being identified. 

An idea: It's a health issue not to have utilities in place -- so maybe he gov't should cover utilities for anybody who's eligible for medicaid. 

Another idea: The gov't gives food stamps to those below the poverty line. Why not utility credits?

Bottom line (yeah, utopian): Utilities should be gov't owned and operated, or they should be held cooperatively by gov't and citizens, not for profit: All utilities should be provided FREE to all residents, period. 

 --Jenifer 

--- On Sat, 5/16/09, Danielle Chynoweth <chyn at ojctech.com> wrote:

From: Danielle Chynoweth <chyn at ojctech.com>
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Gateway Studios and the Housing Crisis in CU - update and next steps
To: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net, sf-core at yahoogroups.com, "Ricky Baldwin" <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>, kreutz1 at illinois.edu, kennybishop at gmail.com, tylerschen at gmail.com, pengdust at aol.com, "Carol Elliott" <cacelliott at gmail.com>, brettabloom at riseup.net, willistanya at ymail.com, edwardwest26 at hotmail.com
Date: Saturday, May 16, 2009, 12:15 AM

Thanks to your presence at and engagement with council members at the Champaign Council meeting Tuesday ...

--> the local media has shone an intense spotlight on Gateway Studios and the issue of homelessness in our community.
--> some council members and city staff in both Champaign and Urbana are beginning the discussion of how the cities can play a role to prevent this in the future.
--> discussion has been started with State Representative Naomi Jakobsson about reviving a her state bill to force landlords to pay relocation 
for tenants of a condemned building.

This problem is not limited to Gateway.  Just today it was announced that Autumn Glen apartments in Rantoul is being condemned because the landlord is behind on utility payments that they collected from the residents, but did not pay to the utility company.  Read the story:  <http://tinyurl.com/p8fnkl> http://tinyurl.com/p8fnkl.  Between condemnations, foreclosures, and job layoffs, we will continue to see more people forced into homelessness in our community.

You're invited to help take the NEXT STEPS ...

THIS WEEK:

Housing Strategy Session
this Saturday, May 15th at 4 pm (and every Saturday)
as part of the CU Citizens for Peace and Justice meeting
at the Independent Media Center
in the downtown Urbana post office building at Elm and Broadway ( <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=202+S.+Broadway,+Urbana,+IL+61801&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A> see map)
(It's right on the Green Line - 5 minutes from the Quad!)

Urbana City Council Meeting
this Monday, May 18th at 7 pm (public input starts promptly at 7)
at 400 S.. Vine Street at Illinois Street in Urbana ( <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=400+S.+Vine+St,+Urbana,+IL+61801&sll=40.111663,-88.207446&sspn=0.009978,0.020771&ie=UTF8&ll=40.111213,-88.206568&spn=0.009978,0.020771&z=16&iwloc=A> map it)
City Hall is the white building across Vine Street from the Farmers' Market
Anyone can speak for up to 5 minutes on any topic. 
Just sign a form in the back of the room and give it to the clerk.

Champaign City Council Meeting
this Tuesday, May 19th at 7 pm
City Council Chambers at University and Neil in d'town Champaign
Public input is at the end of the meeting and limited to 5 minutes per person.

IN JUNE:

Champaign Neighborhood Services Advisory Board
Thursday, June 4th at 5:30pm in Champaign Council Chamber
Discussion of how to prevent a Gateway situation in the future is being placed on the agenda.

People's Potluck
This regular potluck series is focused on issues of housing, employment, food, and poverty
Sunday, June 7th from 5:30-8:30pm
Independent Media Center (see location above)

Meeting with Rep. Naomi Jakobssen 
Thursday, June 25th at noon
to discuss State Legislation and learn from Naomi's efforts in 2008
(limited space, please contact Danielle if you are interesting in attending:  <http://us.mc449.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=chyn@ojctech.com> chyn at ojctech.com)

MORE INFORMATION:

Indymedia Story on Gateway and Autumn Glen Condemnations: 
 <http://www.ucimc.org/content/housing-crisis-rantoul-and-champaign> http://www.ucimc.org/content/housing-crisis-rantoul-and-champaign

News Gazette story including our push for relocation Assistance Ordinances in all area cities: 
 <http://www.news-gazette.com/business/housing/2009/05/14/champaign_reviewing_lessons_from_gateway_studios> http://www.news-gazette.com/business/housing/2009/05/14/champaign_reviewing_lessons_from_gateway_studios

WILL Story where Neighborhood Service Director Kevin Jackson says  “I know, going forward, we want to learn from this to see if there is something we could do from a local policy standpoint to prevent something like this from happening again.” 
 <http://will.illinois..edu/news/spotstory/gateway-studios-residents-approach-chamapign-council-for-more-help/> http://will.illinois.edu/news/spotstory/gateway-studios-residents-approach-chamapign-council-for-more-help/

Draft language for a Relocation Assistance Ordinance for the cities (borrowed from state legislation)
"If the City notifies a landlord that a dwelling unit will be condemned or will be unlawful to occupy due to conditions that violate applicable codes, statutes or ordinances, the landlord shall pay relocation assistance to every displaced tenant, unless the condemnation action or no occupancy order results from a natural disaster or eminent domain. A tenant whose own illegal conduct caused the need to relocate would not be entitled to relocation assistance. 

The landlord shall pay relocation assistance of $2000 per dwelling unit or 3 times the monthly rent, whichever is greater, plus the deposit, interest and prepaid rent by certified check within 7 days after the governmental entity sent the notice to the landlord. If the landlord fails to timely complete these payments, the City will advance the payments to each displaced tenant household, and assess a civil penalty of $50 per day against the landlord for each tenant to whom the City advanced payments until the date the landlord reimburses the City. 

The City may sue to recover the assistance paid, interest, penalties, attorney's fees, and costs.  Any tenant who brings an action against a landlord to recover unpaid obligations provided herein shall also be entitled to recover from the landlord costs and attorney's fees."

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

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