Residents of the Near East Side Express Concerns over “Revitalization” By Tom Over As the City seeks to redevelop the Near East Side, and the housing authority plans to demolish the historic public housing project Poindexter Village, current residents of the community have expressed concerns about the City’s plans surrounding issues of relocation, displacement and gentrification, as well as preserving the history of the historically African-American neighborhood. On March 12th, about 350 people gathered in the gymnasium of Trinity Baptist Church on St. Clair Avenue for a town hall meeting with officials from Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT), a partnership between the City of Columbus, Ohio State University, the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), and Near East Side stakeholders. Audience member Lidia Wiggins, a resident of Poindexter Village said she supports PACT in the Near East Side. “Come to Poindexter to work with us. Don’t just come to these meetings and then drive home in your Lexus. I work in the relocation office. I want to let you know that the Near East Side is not all bad.” After Wiggins spoke, a young African-American woman pressed PACT officials for more information about a plan for the Near East Side. She spoke briefly with irritation in her voice. Bryan Brown who works with CMHA responded by saying the plan involves a series of steps occurring in the next 8 months: relocating Poindexter Village residents; demolishing the buildings; making the site ready for re-development; and planning with current Near East Side residents about what they’d like to see. “By then, we expect to have the plan you’re looking for,” Brown said in response to her question. Rita Smith asked PACT officials about using vacant housing in the Near East Side, instead of relocating Poindexter Village residents to outlying areas. She suggested that this would cost less money. State Senator Charleta Tavares responded by saying land bank projects are underway. Last month 10TV reported Mayor Coleman announced during the State of the City address a Mow-to-Own program which he said will come out in greater detail in about a year. It is unclear how accessible land bank properties will be for low-income residents, who are often ineligible for loans to purchase even the most inexpensive of properties. One resident asked about what is being done for Poindexter Village residents who don’t meet eligibility standards for getting assistance as they relocate. “There is a process for those who fall through the cracks,” responded a CMHA official, while repeating the idea that renovating Poindexter Village would not be feasible given the high costs, estimated to be about $60 million. Since the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was defunded in the early 1980s by the Reagan administration – continuing in the Bush and Clinton eras – public housing in the United States has accumulated a backlog of $20-$30 billion in needed repairs. One Near East Side resident, Alia Robins, proposed that people in the neighborhood should get jobs related to revitalization projects. As a former resident of Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine neighborhood during its revitalization, she said she was saddened when out-of-state workers got the jobs. Many members of the audience applauded as she pressed officials to say whether they have or will set a minimum percentage as a requirement for hiring people in the neighborhood to do jobs related to development projects. “That’s a good question, but we don’t have an answer,” said PACT Advisory Chair, Fred Ransier. “We have to look at why people aren’t getting those jobs, and what has to be done to ensure they have the skills to do those jobs.” James Ervin of the CMHA Board of Commissioners responded by saying, “We have to reach out to minority contractors and vendors. We’re doing everything within our power and within the bounds of the law to give preference to local businesses.” [[[[One resident working with ]]]] (Delete —A woman named Allie with—Delete) the United Commercial Food Workers (UCFW) asked officials if they would commit to a community benefits agreement (CBA). A Community Benefits Agreement is a contract between developers and community groups that requires developers to make certain provisions and concessions that will benefit current residents of a neighborhood, often to mitigate the impacts of gentrification. Deb Steele with Columbus Jobs with Justice said a CBA related to PACT would involve a local hiring provision and a career ladder for OSU employees. “For example, someone working as a janitor should have a way to get training to work as a phlebotomist.” She said development in the Near East Side shouldn’t follow the pattern of South Campus Gateway, where few people from nearby communities were hired for construction and renovation work, and where national chains displaced local businesses. As an example of what she’s talking about, Steele refers us to the CBA a group called Pittsburgh United achieved. Sam Agarwal, an activist who’s been involved with opposing the demolition of Poindexter Village said PACT has not taken into account the rich African American history of the area. She said the area’s Blackberry Patch was an important spot for the African-American struggle for civil rights. Agarwal asked PACT officials to account for how well they are acting in accordance with the Fair Housing Act. She said the act requires planners and developers to ensure that their projects don’t end up re-segregating communities. “Has CMHA followed the fair housing process? Has anyone done a racial analysis of what’s happening as you force residents to relocate? 600 people have been moved out. Where’s the paper trail so the public can see if this is re-segregating communities? Relief should be provided to those who’ve not been treated according to the Fair Housing Act.” Of all the public comments, Agarwal’s drew the longest and loudest applause. Brown responded to Agarwal by saying, “The answer to most of your questions is yes…We’ve been communicating with our municipal partners. We have 40 zip codes in Columbus. Part of HUD’s priority for assisted housing is that it not be concentrated in pockets of poverty and minority areas. This ensures equal access to jobs, housing, and transportation.” Horace Newsum, chair of the Department of African American Studies at OSU, said, “We keep hearing a lot of talk about ‘mixed income communities.’ If that’s the goal, is there a model? We hear words like ‘revitalization.’ But when these kinds of things happen, places become out-of-reach for low-income people. Some of us here might not want to hear the word, but it’s called gentrification. So, what’s being done to make sure that what you’re doing to Poindexter Village and the Near East Side doesn’t displace people and erase our heritage?” The demolition of Poindexter Village is part of HOPE VI, a federal HUD program which began in 1992, which awards money to housing authorities to demolish dilapidated public housing. Current residents are typically given Section 8 housing vouchers which subsidize rent in private, market rate units and are redeemable across the country. HOPE VI also calls for the replacement of current public housing with “mixed-income” units, but does not require one-to-one replacement of affordable housing units. Hope VI has been criticized for leading the gentrification process in neighborhoods by demolishing housing projects that serve low-income people. Between 1995 and 2011, the US has lost over 290,000 public housing units, and 360,000 Section 8 units. Though mixed-income units are supposed to replace public housing, and former residents in theory have the option to return to live in the new mixed-income developments, in many cases the mixed-income housing promised through HOPE VI takes several years to build, or never materializes at all. In response to Newsom, Ervin of CMHA said, “I understand what’s happened in Chicago, LA, and other cities where traditional African-American communities no longer exist. But we

‘re doing all we can to prevent this from happening in Columbus.” Tavares said land trusts are part of the solution. Community land trusts are nonprofit organizations that own land (and sometimes its structures) and manage it democratically with resident involvement to preserve affordability. However, there seem to be no clear plans on the state or municipal level to create or support land trusts.   Another resident told PACT officials she is concerned that stricter codes for the upkeep of houses in the Near East Side will lead to some current residents not being able to afford to stay in their homes. Andre Frazier suggested to PACT officials that bricks of the buildings of Poindexter Village be given to people in the neighborhood. “We have a lot of young Black men who need something to do. We can use those bricks to make patios and porches. It’s not that hard. Those bricks are something we can touch as part of the history of our community. If we have some of the bricks, we have a piece of our history.” Resident Baba Ashongo, said, “PACT is not giving indigenous people here anything in return for the land. I saw the same thing happen in Boston.” Looking briefly around the church gymnasium, he said, “I suggest the affluent African-Americans here move back to the historically Black communities. We have German Village, Italian Village, Hungarian Village. Let’s have an African Village.”