Community Demands Control Over MDHA

Friday, September 28, 2007

The deal announced today between Miami-Dade County and the federal government, finalizing short and long term control over Miami-Dade Housing Authority (MDHA), and the millions of dollars earmarked for low-income and subsidized housing, fails the needs of this community and is doomed to deepen the crisis of gentrification and low income housing for tens of thousands of people.

Once again the powers-that-be on the local and federal level have worked out a deal, through closed door negotiations, without the participation of, or regard for, those impacted by the policies and actions of MDHA and who will bear the brunt of this agreement. The beneficiaries of MDHA, including public housing residents, section 8 recipients, subsidized housing and former Scott-Carver residents, must be included in every step of the decision making process, including representation in court mandated mediation, the results of which could severely impact their lives.

More to the point, the agreement achieves the goals and needs of the two parties involved in the negotiation, but does not address the fundamental problem of the disconnect between the needs of low income people and the actions of government officials, local and federal.

Clearly, the feds achieved their objective of wresting temporary control over MDHA from the County. Conversely, the agreement secured the county's two main objectives: first, ensuring the feds do not sell any properties the county wants to sell, or give away to wealthy developers, themselves; and second, assuring that at the end of the process, power over MDHA, and it multi-million dollar budget, returns to the county and not to an independent trust or board, as is common practice throughout the United States.

The only entity which achieved none of their objectives- no local control, no clear end to public corruption and, most importantly, no change in public policy resulting in adequate amounts of low-income housing- are those in need of low-income housing and their supporters.

This community has been presented a false choice: either accept federal control over MDHA or allow the county, those responsible for the dis-function of the agency in the first place, to retain control. The only viable option, minimizing risk of public corruption and maximizing the opportunity to build adequate amounts of housing, is for community control over MDHA via an independent and autonomous Trust.

We demand community representation in every aspect of the hand-over and ultimate community control over MDHA. MDHA must be used to benefit the people, not political connected developers.

Max Rameau
Take Back the Land

Denise Perry
Power U

Delores Turner
Miami ACORN board chair

Mae Singerman
Community Benefits Coalition

123,564

123,564

Miami-Dade's airwaves, op-ed pages and water cooler discussions are alive with vigorous condemnations of the gross public corruption and pilfering of funds earmarked for low-income housing. While such discussion is just and appropriate, particularly in the context of a devastating crisis of gentrification and low-income housing, not nearly enough time, energy and brain power is devoted to solving the housing crisis itself.

While shocking, immoral and criminal, the reality is that the impact of public corruption on the crisis pales in comparison to the impact of bad public policy on the crisis. If government officials stop stealing tomorrow, or, God forbid, they are actually charged with stealing, the crisis itself would continue, unabated, because there is neither the political will nor the plan to build enough low-income housing to meet the demand. Therefore, ending corruption is important, but insufficient, in addressing this crisis.

In October 2006, the Miami-Dade Department of Planning and Zoning updated its 25 year Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP), outlining challenges, goals and objectives for several strategic 'elements,' including transportation, conservation, waste management and the like. On page one of the Housing Element of the CDMP, census and housing data is used to conclude the county "will require 294,200 new housing units" by 2025, of which "about 42 percent... will be needed by very low and low-income households."

123,564.

To adequately address the continuing crisis of gentrification and housing, 123,564 new low and very low income housing units must be built. This number, the CDMP stresses, will not address the current crisis, only the future.

This is not a stunt promoted by radical fringes or a conjured total invented by special interest groups. 123,564 is derived by professional staff paid to develop public policy objectives based on measurable needs and without regard for political considerations.

During this time of budget cuts and housing busts, the notion of building 123,564 housing units, substantially subsidized by public money, is a grand idea whose time has come. This idea requires shifting budget priorities, focusing talent, pooling resources and, yes, ending public corruption.

The lofty objective of providing housing for human beings, our neighbors, friends and even family, is not something one county or large city can accomplish alone. Every municipality, even the wealthy ones, must contribute their fair share to the total; Corporations must reinvest profits back into the communities which enrich them; professionals must contribute their talents and skills; social justice organizations must dedicate their organized energy; and individuals must give of their time; all for the greater good.

Experience teaches us that simply building the requisite number of units will not resolve this dire situation. Thus, the 123,564 new units must be built inside of at least three parameters.

First, once built, the units must be occupied by low and very low income residents, not sold to politically connected developers who "flip" the units into profitability for them and out of affordability for the poor. Second, development must mesh with other common objectives, such as mass transportation and meeting the unique social and cultural needs of the community the project serves, not the developer or gentrifyers.

Third, in function and in form, the new wave of development must be both humanitarian and green. In times of water shortages, spiraling energy costs and other environmental impacts, a socially conscious green wave of development is the only way to ensure the sustainable economic and social growth of a community and the survival of our planet. Development must take place with reverence for green spaces, animal habitats and our finite water supply, among other factors.

Two things are needed to accomplish this objective: first, the political will and a solid plan. But ready or not, by 2025 over 100,000 additional families will need low income housing in South Florida, and the conditions under which they will live then- in clean, safe housing or in shantytowns- will be determined by what we do now.

Too much money? Too much trouble? What is the alternative?

Today, approximately 50,000 luxury condos prepare for grand opening, presumably followed by foreclosure and indefinite vacancy. Meanwhile, over 40,000 families languish on the county's housing assistance wait list, a number, according to the CDMP, which will grow exponentially. What happens when tens of thousands of home-less people suddenly realize they are living in the shadow of people-less homes?

The question is not what is the alternative to building all of those units, but rather what is the alternative to what will happen when they are not built. The answer is as easy as
123,564.

We invite and challenge every organization and individual concerned with the crisis of gentrification and housing to join the effort to build 123,564 new low and very-low income units in Miami-Dade County by 2025.

Max Rameau
Take Back the Land
a project of the Center for Pan-African Development
www.TakeBacktheLand.net
afrimax@gmail.com

Miami-Dade County CDMP Housing Element
http://www.miamidade.gov/planzone/cdmp/plan/III-%20Housing%20Element.pdf

Community Groups Storm HUD office in New Orleans

Community Groups Storm and Take Over New Orleans HUD Office

Several community organizations, including Power U Center and the Miami Worker's Center from Miami, took over the US HUD administrative office in New Orleans today, Friday August 31, 2007 at around 12:30pm. The groups are in New Orleans to commemorate the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

The groups and residents are demanding that HUD open St Bernard's Parish housing project, which serves low-income Black residents.  Two years after the area was evacuated in the post-Katrina floods,the housing project remains empty.  Residents and groups have been prevented from rehabilitating and filling the vacant units, and the federal government has refused to do so.

US military vehicles, including armed Hummers, have surrounded the 25 people encamped inside, who refused to leave the building unless HUD officials acquiesce to community demands.The community effort to open St. Bernard's Parish is symbolic effort of the dislocated Black community of New Orleans to return to home.  Residents such as former public housing residents have been met ignored, criminalized and otherwise excluded from the rebuilding of New Orleans.

Denise Perry, executive director of Power U, is in the building and available by phone: 305-491-7764.

forward,

Max Rameau
Take Back the Land
a project of the Center for Pan-African Development

Umoja Fire Trial- Monday Aug. 13, 11:30AM

Press Release
for immediate release
Sunday, August 12, 2007

Umoja Village Arrest Trial Set for Monday, August 13, 2007

Long time resident John Cata on trial for disorderly conduct arrest following shantytown fire

Former Umoja Village resident John Cata is set to go to trial for his arrest which followed the fire which destroyed Miami's shantytown. The trial is set for Monday, August 13, 2007 beginning at 11:30am, at the Richard Gerstein Justice building, 1351 NW 12^th St. in court room 2-11.

A devastating fire destroyed the Umoja Village Shantytown on April 26, 2007, just three days after the village's six month anniversary. Over one hundred community members turned out to support the residents and defend the Village before city of Miami police arrested 11 people, including John Cata. Cata was charged with disorderly conduct for attempting to retrieve his belongings from the ashes of the fire and with resisting arrest without violence after his weakened condition obligated police to carry him to the police car. Cata subsequently fainted and was taken to the VA hospital instead of jail.

While the lot remained vacant for eight (8) years, the city of Miami was able to erect a fence around the lot within hours of the first arrest.

In 1968, a 25 year old John Cata lead the team negotiating the first contract for 1,000 newly unionized Jackson Memorial Hospital workers. After successfully winning higher wages for Jackson workers, Cata was drafted and sent to Vietnam where he served two tours of duty. In 2006, Cata returned to South Florida and, due to the lack of viable options afforded by his pension, lived in a vacant lot for months prior to discovering the Umoja Village.

Umoja Village was created on October 23, 2006 in response to the crisis of gentrification and housing in Miami-Dade County. The shantytown housed as many as 50 otherwise homeless people at a time, serving both as a solution and living protest to the housing crisis and the government corruption which contributed to the crisis.

The trials of village organizers Max Rameau and Amanda Seaton are set for later in August. Other arrestees have settled their cases.

- end -

Umoja Village Burned Again

Greetings:

Less than one week after voting 4-0 to support the conveyance of land to the Umoja Village residents, city of Miami officials completely reversed themselves after a wealthy, high powered lobbyist unilaterally killed the entire deal. The political settlement won by Take Back the Land was scrapped as those with the real power vetoed the vote and maintained the status quo, to the benefit of those in power and at the expense of the black community.

The Umoja Village Shantytown stood for just over six months, directly feeding and housing people and challenging the notion that developers should control land in the black community, before it burned in a tragic fire on April 26, 2007. After the fire, the city offered the land to the residents and organizers of Umoja, in order to build supportive housing, a deal ultimately accepted by Take Back the Land.

The city was embarrassed and hostile towards the Umoja Village, however, overwhelming community support and attention forced officials to deal with the crisis. After months of planning and last minute wrangling, the city of Miami Commission voted to support the conveyance of the land to the residents and organizers. Technically, the vote approved of the idea, and ordered the city Manager to work out the details for a final and official vote in less than a week. The implications of the victory, which was now within grasp, for the black power and broader social justice movements are significant, a fact not lost on local gatekeepers and power brokers.

Just hours after the initial vote, the real powers-that-be went to work. Ron Book, one of the most powerful lobbyists in the state of Florida and operating as the chair of the Homeless Trust, employed his lobbying skills to kill the deal. He not only registered his opposition to city and county officials, but he intimidated the development partner, who depends on Trust for their funding. Equally as significant, he used his position as the chair of the Trust to threaten the funding. With the project funding gone- valued at up to $20 million- the development partner ready to bail, and elected officials on notice, the deal was effectively dead the very next day.

Book's justification for his stand was that no public land should be conveyed to an organization without a bid process, and that the Homeless Trust does not financially support no bid deals, even when legal and transparent and even when the Trust does not own the land in question. The obvious question arose: has Ron Book or the Homeless Trust ever supported a no-bid deal?

With Book, with multiple clients and a controversial professional record, finding instances of his support for numerous no-bid contracts was easy. More importantly, in February 2006, an apartment building located at 6000 NW 12^th Ave., just seven blocks from the Umoja Village site, was conveyed to New Horizons for use as supportive housing, for free by the city of Miami in a no-bid process. In that virtually identical situation, the Trust supported the deal and continues to fund the project today. Not surprisingly, in addition to being the chair of the Homeless Trust, which directly funds New Horizons and others, Ron Book is also a paid lobbyist for New Horizons. He was paid no less than $40,000 by the non-profit organization in 2006, while making decisions about their contracts.

This information was brought to the Miami Herald, the local paper of record, including citations and public records proving the allegation. While a reporter supposedly worked on the story for at least four days, the story was never published.

The fact is that the black community built enough power to win a significant political victory at the city of Miami, the alleged decision making body. However, there are unelected forces with more power than lowly local governments, who make unilateral decisions without public hearings, and those powers have an interest in ensuring the black community cannot exercise self-determination. A wealthy white power broker and an unelected agency effectively vetoed the political settlement approved by a city government, a move with serious implications for the social justice movement and basic democratic rights.

This turn of events also confirms a truism of power: once a set of rules begin to benefit the people instead of those in power, those rules are subject to change.

In the mean time, the crisis of gentrification and low-income housing rages across Miami-Dade County and the US. We have an obligation to feed and house people in our community, and obligation which is only heightened by the refusal of governments to provide those services. Having failed at engagement with the system, Take Back the Land will continue to meet our obligations.

forward,

Max Rameau
Take Back the Land
a project of the Center for Pan-African Development
www.takebacktheland.net


check out the chronology of events and longer pieces at
www.takebacktheland.net or takebacktheland.blogspot.com

Support Umoja Village- Wednesday Aug. 1, 10am City of Miami

Take Back the Land

WHAT: Vote on Umoja Rising, the development to rebuild the Umoja Village as up to code low-income, supportive housing with ground floor retail/commercial.

WHEN: Wednesday, August 1, 2007, 10:00AM

WHERE: City of Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan-American Drive, Coconut Grove. We are also doing a caravan, leaving from the Umoja Village land (62^nd St. and NW 17^th Ave.) at 9:00AM.

Come Voice your support for the Umoja Rising! Witness this historic vote! Speak out against Ron Book and the Homeless Trust efforts to undermine this historic proposal!

Support Umoja Rising

After six months of housing and feeding otherwise homeless people, the Umoja Village Shantytown, built on the corner of 62^nd St. and NW 17^th Ave., was destroyed by a devastating fire. The Umoja Village was part protest, part living symbol of the crisis of gentrification and low-income housing and all home for almost 50 people.

Subsequently, Umoja Village organizers and residents proposed building up to code low-income supportive housing on the land. On Wednesday, August 1, 2007, the Miami City Commission will vote on a resolution proposed by Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones to convey the land for the Umoja Rising project, conditioned upon proper financing for about 60 housing units and ground floor retail/commercial space.

The vote is nothing short of historic, particularly for the black community, which endures the brunt of the crisis. The vote is transparent, open to the public and a fair response to the extreme housing crisis.

In spite of this ground breaking political solution, to the direct benefit of the Liberty City community, the powers that be at the Homeless Trust are preparing to use their status as gatekeepers to unilaterally crush the Umoja Rising. The Trust claims it only opposes the lack of a bid process in conveying the land, however, it is clear this argument is only a front used to legitimize what is opposition to the project based on petty, not principled, reasons. Not only is there no written policy against local governments offering no-bid contracts or land, the Trust's chairman has personally lobbied for no-bid contracts in the past, while the Trust itself continues to support and fund two agencies who received no-bid contracts. Not surprisingly, the Trust's chair is on the payroll of one of those organizations, while the other one votes to give him money.

The Homeless Trust is the clearinghouse for agencies and programs impacting the homeless in Miami-Dade County. Ron Book, the chair of the Trust, argues that the publicly owned lot should be put out to bid instead of directly conveyed. To be sure, this is not an unreasonable position, in and of itself, particularly in the context of recent corruption scandals. However, it must also be noted that most of the scandals recently reported have involved cases in which bids were used. The bid process is not free from the corrupting influences of money, crooked politicians or unethical lobbyists.

In this instance, direct conveyance is not only appropriate, it is the right thing to do and supported by the impacted community. Those who disagree are free, and encouraged, to voice their opinion at the Commission meeting. What Book and the Trust are doing, however, is not just voicing, or even lobbying for, their position. They are circumventing the political process in order to make unilateral decisions, behind closed doors, which will doom the project regardless of its support in the community or by elected officials.

In order to finance low-income supportive housing, builders must apply for state tax credits, a process which requires the signature of the Homeless Trust. Even if the land is properly and legally conveyed, enjoys broad community support and meets all other requirements, the Homeless Trust can unilaterally, without an open and transparent process kill the entire deal, simply by refusing to sign. The project will not qualify for tax credits, which are, incidentally, awarded via competitive bid by the state of Florida, not the Homeless Trust.

Consequently, even if the black community garners the political power to win the land, Ron Book and the Trust can kill the deal by denying us the funding required to build on the land.

Two fundamental issues are at stake with the Ron Book/Homeless Trust opposition to the Umoja Rising conveyance.

First, there are serious public policy implications involved when an unelected county agency unilaterally imposes demands on the political process of sovereign municipal governments. When local elected governmental bodies determine processes by which they award contracts or convey land, and the process is legal and not corrupt, the mayor can veto and the courts can overturn. If the Trust has its way here, unelected agencies could use the power of the purse to trump decisions made by elected officials.

When unsatisfied with housing policies, community organizations petitioned local elected governments for changes in policies, laws and budget priorities. Who elects Ron Book? How are the policies of the Homeless Trust determined? Where are those polices published (they are not on the Homeless Trust website)? What is the recourse if those policies are bad or unpopular or themselves illegal or corrupt?

Worse still, what happens when two or more agencies enforce conflicting policy demands? What if, due to recent revelations of influence peddling during the bidding process, Community Development demands all contracts must be awarded by direct votes of the commission, without bids? With each agency refusing to approve projects which fail to meet their own internal, and secret, policy objectives, the level of gridlock would ensure no project ever proceeds.

The second issue at stake is simple fairness and consistency. Does the Homeless Trust have a written, verifiable policy opposing no-bid contracts, for products/services or land and second, has the Trust ever continued a relationship with an agency which received a no-bid contract for products/services or land?

Prior to addressing the Trust itself, because Ron Book is personally advocating, it is appropriate to explore his own personal commitment to this position. Given Miami-Dade County's reputation for influence peddling, it would be difficult to imagine that a high powered lobbyist has never advocated for a no-bid contract.

In early 2001, South Stevedoring, Inc. was awarded a 20-year cargo terminal operating lease from the Broward County Commission, without a bidding procedure or process. The award was controversial not only because one of South Stevedoring's founders was indicted on corruption charges related to that company's work in the Port of Miami, but because another firm vied for the contract by offering Broward County $750,000 more per year in return. Ron Book represented South Stevedoring, arguing that the company should get the contract in spite of the controversy and without a bid process.

The Miami Herald reported: "There was no bidding procedure... South Stevedoring has hired well-connected lobbyists and political consultants Ron Book and Judy Stern to convince the County Commission to endorse that choice." Clearly, there is no principled opposition to the no-bid process.

The Homeless Trust Supports No-Bid Winners

As far as we have been able to determine, the Homeless Trust does not have an official policy regarding the manner in which contracts or land is awarded to agencies outside of the Homeless Trust itself. That is to say, even if the Homeless Trust itself only awards contracts and conveys land via the bid process, it does not have a policy requiring its agencies to win all other contracts and land in the same manner from other sources. Such a policy would appear invasive not only of the agency, but of local governments as well. The merits of the policy aside, it does not seem to actually exist.

None-the-less, the Trust, through chair Ron Book, is claiming that they "don't support giving any deal"- presumably land or other financial contract- without a bid process. In practice, however, the Trust has, and continues to support those deals.

JESCA

The James E Scott Community Association, whose executive director is Miami-Dade Commissioner Dorrin Rolle, under a constant ethical cloud for his dealings with land and housing issues, is in the Homeless Trust continuum of care, even after reports of severe financial mismanagement, including accounts overdrawn by over $300,000. More germane here, JESCA has been awarded multiple no bid contracts by Miami-Dade County, including one by the infamous Miami-Dade Housing Corporation.ⁱ In all, JESCA received approximately $220,000 per year in no-bid grants from Miami-Dade Countyⁱⁱ, the government which funds and houses the Homeless Trust.

In spite of these facts, well documented in the media, the Trust continues to include JESCA in its continuum of care, even listing them on the Trust's official directory of supportive housing services,ⁱⁱⁱ the same directory in which the Umoja Rising development would one day be listed.

New Horizons

During the November 3, 2005 meeting, then District 5 Commissioner Jeffery Allen motioned to give both the land and the apartment complex on the land, located on the corner of 60^th St. and NW 12^th Ave., just seven blocks from the Umoja Village, to New Horizons, for free.^iv The commission approved, with support from the Mayor's office, and the land was conveyed in February 2006 for $0.00^v. The apartment complex is currently used as supportive housing and New Horizons is on the Homeless Trust continuum of care and directory of supportive housing services.

In neither instance was the Trust recorded as either opposing the no-bid deal or, more importantly, the agency's subsequent inclusion in the continuum of care, and the benefits included therein.

Why the nonchalance regarding no-bid contracts one minute and the hard line opposition to them the next? Perhaps one reason is that both agencies are exceptions to the "policy," is that they both, in one way or another, have paid Ron Book.

Ron Book is a paid lobbyist for Miami-Dade County, a contract for which he was paid $200,000 in 2006 for his work in Tallahassee alone^vi. Dorrin Rolle is not only the executive director of JESCA, he sits on the board that votes to give Book the $200,000.

Oddly enough, Book is also a paid lobbyist for New Horizons. In 2006, when their land deal was consummated, Book was paid approximately $40,000 by New Horizons to lobby on their behalf in Tallahassee. During this same time, Book, as Chair of the Trust, is helping make decisions about how much support to provide to his client, New Horizons.

We have been unable to find a Homeless Trust policy regarding board members who vote on Trust agencies while simultaneously receiving checks from them, but this would probably represent a better use of their time than trying to control the way government bodies convey their land.

In the context of the crisis of gentrification and low-income housing, direct conveyance of land for the building of Umoja Rising is legal, proper, appropriate and the right thing to do. There is legitimate concern as to whether the organized and powerful opposition to the project is based on principle, or if the "bid policy" argument is merely a smokescreen used to justify unprincipled opposition.

We implore the city Commission to vote for the conveyance of land for the Umoja Rising project and people of good conscience to come out and support the proposal.

Note: Serve the People, Inc., a 501(c)3 pending organization, is partnering with Carrfour Supportive Housing, the (a) premier supportive housing building in the state of Florida, and NANA, the premier small business support organization in Miami-Dade County, to build Umoja Rising.

i The Miami Herald, House of Lies: County official's agency gets cut, County Commissioner

Dorrin Rolle's nonprofit agency won a lucrative food-services contract with no bid required

by Debbie Cenziper, July 2006

ii Miami New Times, The Ghetto Governor, Dorrin Rolle's dedication to his district is in question by Francisco Alvarado, July 20, 2006

iii http://www.miamidade.gov/homeless/directory.asp

iv City of Miami Commission Agenda Minutes, Page 65, Item: 05-01218a, Thursday, November 3, 2006

v Miami-Dade County County Property Records, http://gisims2.miamidade.gov/myhome/propmap.asp, address: 6000 NW 12^th Ave., Miami, FL,

Folio: 01-3114-043-0580

vi http://www.floridalobbyistdirectory.com/LobbyistDetails.aspx?id=1362

Umoja Rising Story- Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/183900.html

Activists for homeless closer to getting site for housing

BY LISA ARTHUR

larthur@MiamiHerald.com

The Umoja Village activists are one step closer to winning the land where their Liberty City shantytown once stood so they can develop it as transitional housing for the homeless.

The Miami City Commission passed a motion late Thursday night to support a project called Umoja Rising, that would be built in partnership with Carrfour Supportive Housing, a Miami-based organization with a track record.

The commissioners stopped short of conveying the land at the corner of 62nd Street and Northwest 17th Avenue to the group. That step will come up at a commission meeting Wednesday after the Umoja proposal is hammered out between city staff and the activists.

Opposition could come from other developers of affordable housing and homeless housing, because the city-owned land would not be put out to bid to give all interested builders a chance to compete.

But several commissioners said other land has been conveyed without going out to bid to non-profit groups in the past, and the Umoja activists deserve special consideration.

Umoja Village was founded in October 2006 by community organizer Max Rameau, who took a page from the playbook of activists in Brazil, South Africa and Mexico and strategically selected a piece of public land to seize and give to ''the people'' after he became frustrated with the county's lack of response to the region's affordable housing crisis and allegations of mismanagement and possible malfeasance in Miami-Dade's public housing agency.

Rameau and the homeless built a community on the lot out of cardboard, wood and stubborn hope. They voted on rules, like evicting disruptive residents. They grew collard greens and spinach and cooked their own food. They planted sunflowers. College students donated enough books for a library. Social service agencies offered help -- and have placed about 30 former residents in permanent housing.

The government-owned lot at 6201 NW 17th Ave. was once the home of a building of affordable apartments. The apartments were bulldozed years earlier and new apartments promised for the poor never materialized.

For six months, the Umoja communal existence drew international attention. Then one night in April, a candle tipped over and the shantytown burned to the ground. No one was injured.

Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones has worked with the Umoja activists since the fire to come up with a plan to build housing for the homeless and other support services on the site.

''I know we aren't going to convey this land here tonight at 10:45, but I'd like to make a motion asking my fellow commissioners if they will support this when it comes back August 1,'' she said.

Commissioner Tomas Regalado pledged his support and praised Rameau. He said after last summer's expose by The Miami Herald of deep problems in the Miami Dade Housing Agency, Rameau could have gone home and written a letter to the editor.

''But instead he did another thing,'' Regalado said. ``He focused the attention nationally on this housing crisis here.... We have a lot of good things in Miami, but we can't hide our problems. And now because of Umoja and because of a newspaper, things are moving in the right direction.''

The commission unanimously passed Spence-Jones' motion asking for support of the Umoja proposal when it comes back Wednesday.

Take Back the Land, the Rameau group that founded Umoja, has formed a sister agency, Serve the People, Inc., which has a 501(c)3 non-profit application pending. The non-profit would serve as a landtrust and take ownership of the lots at corner of 62nd Street and Northwest 17th Avenue.

A preliminary proposal calls for $3 million in financing from the city and $7 million from Miami-Dade County. The bottom floor of the development would include some type of commercial space for small businesses and for social service agencies. The housing above would include a mix of transitional, low-income and possibly workforce housing, depending on what the Liberty City community wants.

Outreach surveys are being done by the Umoja activits to get community input.

The proposal from the activists says they would include a clause that would require the land and money to revert back to the city and county if malfeasance is found, or there is a general lack of progress in the development.

Rameau thanked commissioners for their pledge of support, and promised that the project, if approved, would meet the needs of those living in Liberty City and of any of the 44 Umoja residents who decide to return.

''It will meet the needs of the people already in the community, not the needs of people who want to come in and move out the people already there,'' he said.

Umoja Rises!

Greetings All:

At approximately 11:00pm on Thursday, July 26, 2007, exactly three months after the devastating fire which destroyed the Umoja Village Shantytown, the Miami City Commission voted 4-0 to direct the city manager to craft a resolution to convey the land on the corner of 62^nd St. and NW 17^th Ave. to the residents and organizers of the Umoja Village.

The motion was sponsored by District 5 Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones. The vote on the official resolution to convey the land will happen on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at a time to be determined.

This is a significant victory for the residents of the Umoja Village, all of Liberty City, for low-income housing in South Florida and for the entire social justice movement, particularly those engaged in land-based struggles against gentrification and for low-income housing.

The Umoja Village Shantytown was founded by Take Back the Land on October 23, 2006, and for six months housed and fed otherwise homeless people. Our political objectives are to house and feed people; assert the right of the black community to control land in the black community; and to build a new society. Residents ran and managed the village, were responsible for building and maintenance and voted on rules for the village in which they lived.

Umoja was something special, inspiring residents, supporters and visitors alike. Building the village also changed the terms of the struggle against gentrification, squarely addressing the issue of control over land as a means of addressing a housing crisis. After a fire destroyed the village, real questions emerged about what constitutes a logical conclusion to the campaign. This agreement provides some answers to those questions.

The land will be conveyed to Serve the People, Inc. and developed by Carrfour Supportive Housing with small business technical support provided by Neighbors And Neighbors Association, Inc. The ground floor of the development will be devoted to economic development, in the form of retail/commercial space, with the upper floors offering supportive and low-income housing.

While the vote and conveyance represents a significant victory for the Umoja Village, Liberty City and the broader movement, this is not a done deal. The vote did not actually convey the land, only direct the manager to prepare a resolution to convey the land. The final resolution must be approved by the commission on Wednesday, August 1, 2007. While our chances look good, we cannot become complacent.

Please keep informed about and support this important campaign. More updates coming soon!

forward,

Max Rameau
Take Back the Land
a project of the Center for Pan-African Development
www.TakeBacktheLand.net

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=umoja+village&search=

Support Umoja Village at City Commission Meeting

Greetings:

Take Back the Land is calling on supporters to attend the city of Miami Commission meeting on Thursday, July 26, 2007, beginning at 3:00pm. Miami City Hall is located at 3500 Pan-American Drive, in Coconut Grove. At the meeting, the Commission will vote on the fate of the Umoja Village Shantytown's land.

After promising to convey the land to the residents and organizers of Umoja, Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones is going back on her promise and putting the lot out for bid, a notoriously corrupt process in the city of Miami. We demand that the city keep its word, and convey the land to the Umoja Village.

Following the tragic fire which destroyed the Umoja Village, Miami Commissioner Spence-Jones contacted Umoja Village, met with organizer Max Rameau and resident John Cata, and offered direct conveyance of the land, without a bid process. She also agreed to provide immediate housing for former Umoja residents, and the deal was reported in the Miami Herald and Miami Times.

After intense debate, we called off our planned protests and accepted the offer. We met with potential partners and crafted a proposal, which we submitted to Spence-Jones, as agreed, and tried to confirm the item for the July 26^th Commission meeting.

Instead, Spence-Jones unilaterally and without explanation, nixed the deal and put the lot out to bid. Miami's bid process is notoriously rigged and corrupt, as often reported in the media, giving politically connected developers the inside track to use this public land for a gentrification project.

This is the same kind of double dealing which got us into this mess in the first place. Umoja was a tremendous victory for this community, and will not be swept under the rug.

Show your support for Umoja by attending this meeting and demanding elected officials live up to their commitments and convey the land directly to the residents and organizers of the Umoja Village. If officials are able to continue to lie to us and get away with it, we will be forced to resort to more drastic measures to house people ourselves.

Forward,

Max Rameau
Take Back the Land
a project of the Center for Pan-African Development
www.TakeBacktheLand.net

A Cafe Hosts Fundraiser June 20th to Benefit Take Back the Land

Fundraiser to benefit
Take Back the Land  at

           

A Cafe                                        Organic French                Carribean Cuisine

Wednesday, June 20th
5PM- to Midnight

4582 NE 2nd Ave
A Cafe Best Natural Food Restaurant, Best of the Best, Miami New Times 2007

Music by DJ Juan 51 and Live Performances by:
Live Poets Society, AfroBeta, Adolfo and Katrina and Lyrical Impress


Join us for a evening of amazing food, cultural performances, and updates on Take Back the Land and Umoja Village

Press Conference: Response to Manny's "no crisis in housing" assertion

Press Release

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

for immediate release

contacts: Denise Perry: 305-491-7764

 

Community to Manny Diaz:

There is a crisis in housing

Community responds to Diaz' contention that there is "no crisis in housing"

Low-income residents, activists and community organizations are holding a press conference to protest the City of Miami's housing policies and gross corruption in the arena of low-income housing development. In addition, community members are set to respond to Miami Mayor Manny Diaz's opinion piece, recently published in the Miami Herald, titled "There is no crisis in housing." The press conference, organized by the Power U Center for Social Change, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12, 2007, at 11:00am in front of Miami's City Hall, located at 3500 Pan American Drive in Coconut Grove. Participating organizations include Umoja Village's Take Back the Land, the Miami Worker's Center, ACORN and Jobs with Justice.

In his piece, Diaz minimized the scandals detailed in recent media articles and dismisses the impact of this corruption on the poor. In spite of Miami's status as the least affordable city in the nation, Diaz contends there is "absolutely not" a crisis in housing. Not surprisingly, Diaz is the darling of big money developers and the frequent target of low-income people and housing advocates.  Howard Watts, long time Miami resident, and member of Power U, who is living the housing crisis says, "I couldn't find any place to live. Not even a shelter would take me because they are over crowded or because of my disability. Manny Diaz needs to walk in my shoes for a day."

Activists demand Manny Diaz publicly admit that there is a housing crisis and take steps, along with  City Commissioners, to concretely address the crisis by committing funds to build low-income housing, ending public corruption by the administration and ending public subsidies of luxury condos, such as the proposed the Crosswinds condos in Overtown. "Manny Diaz' disregard for the peoples reality in the city of Miami in order to protect his own image and profit is a crime," contends Denise Perry, executive director of the Power U Center for Social Change.  

During a time of record housing prices and construction of high rise luxury condos in Miami, many projects with the personal blessing of Manny Diaz, and huge profits on the part of developers, over 41,000 families are on the Miami-Dade County housing assistance wait list. The local housing market has been seen as a boom for developers and a serious crisis for the poor and the majority of Miami's residents. Diaz himself is a developer and is not on the housing assistance wait list.

"Manny Diaz and his friends have all gotten rich from government subsidized development," says Max Rameau of Take Back the Land. "For them, there has been no crisis. He is the mayor of the rich and out of touch with the suffering of poor people."

Ban the N-Impact

The Pan-African Perspective: Ban the N-Impact

In a move designed to garner headlines instead of results, Miami-Dade County District 1 Commissioner Barbara Jordan has proposed criminalizing, albeit without penalties, the use of the n-word. Like so many other acts debated and passed by government bodies, this one will take up time, space and public interest, but will have no beneficial impact whatsoever on the lives of poor, black people.

Like every other word in any other language, the n-word is a string of letters combined to make a particular sound, which is associated with a specific meaning. This is not an attempt to minimize the importance, value and impact of words or language, and that goes double for this word. However, what makes this word so ugly and harmful is not the combination of letters or even the enunciation (either ending with "a" or "er"), it is the devastating history of actions and impacts associated with the word.

Let's be blunt. Nigger means lynching. It means hundreds of white people, including children, gathered to watch a black man, a human being, dragged, beaten, hung from a tree and cooked alive.  It means grinding poverty. Today- not 30 years ago, but today- blacks are disproportionately poor, hungry and die of illnesses which do not kill whites. This is true on planet earth, the United States and right here in Miami-Dade County. It means police harassment and brutality. Being pulled over by the police for lesser, or no transgressions; being shot 41 times after going for your wallet; it means a toilet plunger; it means a disproportionate number of black people arrested, convicted and imprisoned.

Why do other ethnic slurs, such as 'cracker,' fail to engender the same passion as the n-word? That's easy: there is no widespread association between those words and murder, torture, abject poverty, discrimination and other inhumane impacts. The word is highly problematic, to be sure, but the word is not the problem.

If all we had to do to end racism, sexism, poverty and oppression was to ban a few words, this would be a wonderful planet, full of happy people with a delightfully limited vocabulary. However, banning the n-bomb does not ban the racist collateral damage which that word has come to represent. And, in the final analysis, what is so harmful and degrading to the black community are the racist sentiments, actions and impacts, not the individual words which brutally encapsulate those sentiments, represent those actions and foreshadow those impacts.

This is not a defense of the use of the n-word, but it is a call to stop fighting for symbols as a means of drawing attention away from the fact that you are not fighting for anything of substance. If forced to choose between getting rid of the word and getting rid of the very real impacts and conditions the word represents, most sane and rational beings, of any race, would vote to keep the word. The truth is that if everyone stopped using the word tomorrow, we would still have poor, hungry, undereducated and unemployed black people living in squalid slums.

Society as a whole, and the black community in particular, must condemn and sanction people who use racial, sexists, homophobic and classist epitaphs. However, as it relates to racism, it is not the government's job to control what people say, it is their job to stop racist actions and correct or change the impacts of those actions.

Jordan and the BCC have no power at all over the use of this, or most other, words, but are spending valuable time, money and brain power on a fight which, at the end of the day, is symbolic at best and irrelevant at worse. What is so infuriating is that Jordan and the BCC do have the power to change the conditions which give the n-word such horrific value to this day, but are not trying to change the conditions over which they have power, only the symbols over which they have none. It is insulting to think that the BCC contemplating a symbolic ban on this word, is the same one which has consistently diverted tax dollars earmarked for the black community over to wealthy white business interests. I submit that banning the latter activity will do more to defend the integrity of the black community than banning the former.

If the Commission really wants to defend the black community, they should:

• Ban Poverty. Instead of banning a word, the county can end the degradation of the black community by banning poverty. Instead of stealing public money, feed and provide housing for the poor black people who should not be called by the n-word.
  
• Provide jobs. Those who used the word in the past did not want to hire black people. Show your opposition to the word by providing jobs for those same black people.
  
• Stop police brutality and the criminalization of the black community. Racists used the police to intimidate and attack the n-people, a practice which has not significantly abated.
• End racist government policies. The only thing worse than being robbed by someone who calls you the n-word is being robbed by someone who calls you buddy. Don't just stop use of the word, stop the exploitation and oppression.
  

Max Rameau
The Center for Pan-African Development

The Real MDHA Takeover

Pan-African Perspective: The Real MDHA Takeover

The recent talk regarding the proposed takeover of Miami-Dade Housing Agency (MDHA) is framed around offering residents of Miami-Dade County, including victims of the crisis of gentrification and low-income housing, a false choice: choose between the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners (BCC) or the federal government in their big money power play over control of MDHA. Neither choice is good. The only viable solution is community control over MDHA.

Determined to takeover, the feds forwarded three demands: first, strip the BCC of power over MDHA; Second, give MDHA independent legal representation instead of the county attorneys, who represent and can be fired by the BCC; And third, give HUD the power to appoint the MDHA administrator, thereby taking power from the Mayor.

The first two demands are not only reasonable, given the dire situation, but have already been proposed by community organizations fighting for low-income housing. To be plain, the BCC is responsible for this housing mess. The only issue left to debate is whether Commissioner Dorrin Rolle, and the economic development committee he chaired, simply failed to exercise proper oversight or actually encouraged the corruption and abuses at the agency.

Equally significant, the BCC approved public policy disasters, including HOPE VI, which destroyed a net of over 750 units of public housing during a housing crisis. It should be no surprise that Rolle gets most of his campaign contributions from wealthy developers who do not live in his district, but financially benefit from their, um, I mean his, initiatives.

And, while Mayor Alvarez has promised the county will refrain from stealing more money from housing- which, in this town, counts as a major moral stand- he has failed to provide any leadership or vision in determining what MDHA would actually do, once they are no longer busy stealing and covering up. He has not proposed public policy initiatives resulting in more low-income housing for those in need. While refraining from public corruption is a step up from the status quo, it simply does not address the current housing crisis.

On the other side, federal takeovers of housing in New Orleans and elsewhere are disasters. Little consideration for local voices; powerful national corporations monopolizing contracts; and disconnected and unclear housing policies have frustrated residents and failed to serve the needy. Equally as important, the feds appear on a mission to privatize public housing and vouchers, handing over the reigns of power to greedy business interests, a move which would all but pull the plug on a already critical patient.

Consequently, while most endorse the idea of stripping the County of its power over the housing agency, just as many have serious reservations about handing that power over to the feds. And just because the County is removed from power, does not necessarily mean the feds should inherit it.

So, the BCC is out, the feds are not much better and the Mayor has done nothing to earn it. The third, and only viable, option is that the community must control the housing agency.

A number of community organizations wage the fight for the housing rights of low-income people. Those organizations have earned the trust of this community and should be given an opportunity to put some action behind their intentions. In addition, room must be explicitly created for the housing agency 'clients' to play a significant role in determining housing agency polcies.

A community housing trust will serve as the board governing the housing agency, with power to set policy and hire and fire key staff, including the director or administrator. The trust is advised by their independent attorney and consultants and compels MDHA to work for the benefit of families in need of housing rather than developers in need of extra profit.

Such a trust will provide immediate relief from the corruption, address local concerns and empower people to make decisions about their community. More than that, the trust will change public policy so that the housing agency responds positively to the housing crisis and to the families in need of relief. The feds say they want to protect local families and the County government and others pleads for local control. Both objectives are met.

While there is a clear need for intervention to stave off further disaster, the feds never bothered to query the stakeholders of this process. We ask HUD: are you doing this with us, for us or to us? If HUD truly "intends to take any and all necessary steps to protect the interests of Miami's most vulnerable families" then take this step: join us in demanding community, not federal, control over the housing agency. Do not make decisions about us without consulting with the community you claim to be representing.

Community control over housing. An idea whose time has come.

Max Rameau
The Center for Pan-African Development
afrimax@gmail.com

Umoja Village on NBC Nightly News and the AP

Umoja Village was featured on the national NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. In addition, the AP story is listed below as well.

Follow the links to see the video and the story.

NBC Nightly News January 26, 2007

AP- Glitz and Glamour Overshadows Majority of Miami's Population

Week of Action Calendar

Greetings:

Here is what you have been waiting for... the calender of events for the Week of Action Against Gentrification and For Low-Income Housing. This is the first draft, and will be updated regularly as we add actions and events, so check our blog, takebacktheland.blogspot.com, on a regular basis.

The objective of the Week of Action is to expose the crisis of gentrification and low-income housing in South Florida, especially the role local government and government officials- such as Miami-Dade County and County Commissioner Dorrin Rolle- have played in making the crisis worse. While most people think government should help the poor, some people believe the role of government is to steal money from the poor and give it to wealthy, politically connected campaign contributors who also hire your friends and relatives.

The events are independently organized. This is not one centrally ran campaign. If you have events you want to include in the Week of Action calendar, please email afrimax@gmail.com with all pertinent information.

As you will note, some of the actions only have a meeting place and time. When you arrive, you will find out more about the action. Here is a quick rundown of events:

HERE IS CALENDER IN PDF FORMAT

Monday, January 29
• 6pm Spokescouncil Meeting
Arcola Lakes Park, 1301 NW 83 St., Miami
• Guerilla Art/Superbowl Party
9pm @ Umoja Village, 6201 NW 17th Ave.

Tuesday, January 30
• 10am. Banner/Sign/Puppet Making
Umoja Village Shantytown
• 6pm. Gentrification Teach In
Umoja Village Shantytown
• Guerilla Art/Superbowl Party
9pm @ Umoja Village

Wednesday, January 31
• 9am. Anti-Coal Conference Action
• 10am. Tour of Shame
• 3pm. Set Up Tent City at County Hall
111 NW First St., Miami
• 7pm. Global Land Struggles Discussion
Tap-Tap Rest. • 819 5th St., South Beach

Thursday, February 1
• Action Against Gentrification and For Low-Income Housing
12 noon at Power U Center for Social Change
1633 NW 3rd Ave.
• Glitz and Glam Granny Cheer Squad
3:30pm @ NFL YET Center
70th St. and NW 22nd Ave.
• Guerilla Art/Superbowl Party
8pm @ Tent City

Friday, February 2
• 7am. Vets for Peace War Memorial
Ocean Drive between 8th & 10th st. Place tombstones on South Beach
• Guerilla Art/Superbowl Party
8pm @ Tent City

Saturday, February 3
• 1pm Free Speech Rally
South Florida Peace & Justice, Torch of Friendship • Biscayne Blvd. and SW 1st St., downtown Miami
• Tent City Party
• Guerilla Art/Superbowl Party
8pm @ Tent City

January 2007 Media

Here is media coverage of the rally and other items:

The New York Times January 16, 2007

Miami Herald Op-Ed January 17, 2007

Youtube.com Video by Matthew Mireless



Miami Herald January 11, 2007

Miami Herald January 12, 2007

Miami Sun Post

Rebecca Wakefield Column in the Miami Sun Post

SouthFlorida.com

The Final Call Newspaper

EyeonMiami 1

EyeonMiami 2

Miami New Times Blog


Category305.com profile on Max

January 11 Umoja Rally

Instead of heading to the city commission chambers to defend our right to exist, about 150 people rallied at the Umoja Village on January 11th. Residents and supporters spoke at the event, expressing relief that we can move beyond the anti-shantytown ordinance and looking forward to our next steps.

Remarking that the US cannot find enough money for social programs or to build enough low-income housing but can find $300 billion to bomb people in Iraq and now Somalia, Max Rameau directly linked the national housing crisis to the war.

Speakers also discussed some of the highlights and future steps of the Umoja Village: We found jobs for several residents and are looking to place a dozen or so during the weeks of the superbowl; we want to coordinate social services for residents; we want to improve living conditions here for residents.

We are now free to focus on three major areas: first, we want to improve living conditions for the residents (jobs, social services, physical conditions); second, we want to redirect attention to the biggest offender in the housing scandal, Miami-Dade County and the County Commission; and third, we want to concentrate on building the Week of Action Against Gentrification and For Low Income Housing, the week of January 29th through February 4th, which is also Superbowl week in Miami.

Stay tuned for more Week of Action updates and how you can participate!

VICTORY FOR TAKE BACK THE LAND!

Anti-shantytown ordinance is pulled, will not be voted on

After initially sponsoring the item, city commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones pulled the "anti-shantytown" ordinance from the January 11 agenda. This means the new law will not be voted on and, therefore, the Umoja Village Shantytown is safe- for now.

Take Back the Land is organizing a press conference to announce the legal victory and next steps. The press conference is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2007, beginning at 4:00pm at the Umoja Village, on the corner of 62nd St. and NW 17th Ave. in the Liberty City section of Miami. We will also host a rally at the Umoja Village on Thursday night at 6:00pm. See details at the end of this message.

There is no two ways about it: this is a clear and major victory for Take Back the Land and our supporters. This item was pulled due to the tremendous and overwhelming opposition to the ordinance. We thank each and every one of you for your support, calls, emails, petition signatures, support and contributions of time, goods and money.

WE WON THE BATTLE, BUT THE WAR IS NOT OVER! The ordinance was pulled, but it was not voted down. As such, it can be revived at any time in the future, or different tactics can be used to try to bring down the village. Our support network and legal team remain intact and ready to activate.

In response to the crisis in gentrification and low-income housing, and the role local government policies and corruption played in exacerbating that crisis, on October 23, 2006, several organizations and individuals took control over the vacant publicly owned lot on the corner of 62nd St. and NW 17th Ave. in Liberty City. Using the legal protections afforded in the landmark Pottinger Settlement, the Umoja Village currently houses and feeds over 40 otherwise homeless people in wood frame shanties.

Acknowledging our legal rights to the land, the Miami city attorney crafted the ordinance to outlaw "assemblies" of any size on vacant public lots. In addition to restricting the public's right to free assembly, the ordinance would have, theoretically, outlawed the shantytown and set up a showdown and potential raid of the village.

The pulled item allows Take Back the Land to refocus energies on improve the quality of life for residents of the Umoja Village and taking on new initiatives, some of which will be discussed at the press conference on Monday and rally on Thursday. Please come to the events and check your email for important updates.

In recognition of this new development, Take Back the Land is hosting a celebration rally on the day the vote was to take place. On Thursday, January 11th, 2007, at 6:00pm, at the Umoja Village, we rally in celebration of our victory and continue our march forward. We ask that you bring a side dish to share and bring a donation to the village, such as money, bottled water, canned meat, blankets, dish soap, bleach, large trash bags (39 gallons or larger), clothes and money. All are invited and welcome, so come rally in support of the village, against gentrification and for housing for all and celebrate our victory- YOUR victory- with us on Thursday.

Take Back the Land runs entirely off of donations, so please contribute generously in person or by donating online via a secure paypal payment.

Forward,


Max Rameau
Take Back the Land
A project of the Center for Pan-African Development
Takebacktheland.blogspot.com

Umoja Village Media

More Media Coverage of the Umoja Village:

Great Op-Ed in Miami Herald Defending Umoja Village

Daily Business Review

Category305.com's Profile of Max

The Final Call Newspaper

Category305.com on the arts and shantytown

Miami Commissioner Regalado: 'Arrest Me First'

In a stunning development, City of Miami Commissioner Tomas Regalado has stated that if the city of Miami votes on January 11 to outlaw the Umoja Village Shantytown, he will walk off the dias, go to the shantytown and wait for the police, who will have to arrest him first.

We are not alone! We have support!

Make your support known by calling the City of Miami Commissioners and the Mayor to tell them to vote no on the anti-shantytown ordinance. The numbers are found in this blog.

Here are media reports of the Regalado statement:

CBS 4 Miami TV News Video

Daniel Ricker's Watchdog Report in the Miami Herald

NBC 6 Miami TV News