�mun· . · 9 qu�Kft.I'I :
'Who's telling the ru h?
ayor -or Commissioner?'
By Ro Enlo
DETROIT- Members of the
ational Homeless Union and
The Short End Of The Stick
Committee - two community­
based organizations - want to
know why there is such a large
discrepancy between what
Housing Commissioner Tom
Lewis and Mayor Coleman
Young are saying about the
proposed demolition of the
Brewster- Douglas Projects.
Members of the Homeless
Union say that on Feb. 16 Young
told their group that 1200 units
in the Brewster projects were
vacant, 400 of them were slated
for demolition, 800 were to be
renovated and 250 new units
would be built.
The Short End of the Stick
Committee, an organizatio of
Bre ter-Douglas tenants, has
heard a different tale. Corrine
Jones of that group ays they
have a letter Lewis wrote to
HUn outlining the city's plans
for tbe projects. The letter states'
that 1,037 units are scheduled to
be destroyed, while only 250
would be rebuilt.
Both community groups want
1 he Brewster Douglas units
pre crved, arguing that the units
arc. tructurally sound and
. hould be renovated rather than
razed.
orne feel that the choice loe
tion of the proj cts, on the near
ca t side, close 0 downtown and
the area targeted by the much­
hailed 'trat gic Plan for
l gentrification is the real reason
the city admini tration wants the
low-income housing gone.
A majority of the city council
i. listening to the community
group.
On Feb. �, the council ap­
proved fund to obtain a second
opinion, The council voted to
hire a Boston firm OKM, to as-
es the viability of the units
lated for demolition and deter­
mine rehabilitation costs.
o neil memb rs have
. echoed the community, saying
the units are turdy and deserv­
ing of repair.
On Feb. 15, Mayor Young.
vetoed their action rating he
kn w already what it would cost
to make Brew. ter-D uglas at­
tractive - $20 million.
oung al 0 told the council
that approval for the study
would jeopardize funds for th
rebuilding of Brewster-Douglas
projects. Young sai he was
notified by HUD that if the
'funds to rebuild were not util­
ized by Feb. 25, he would have to
forfeit the opportunity.
Councilwoman Maryann
Mahaffey said the council voted
to override Y bung's veto. "The
administration plans to tear
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l l
down 1,037 units of viable public
housing which are feasible for
rehabilitation, while at the same
time our city lives with an annual
homeless population of 27,000."
Sonya Terry, president of the
Homeless Union said "Young
gave us a different set of figures
on units to be domolished than
did Tom Lewis. And what the
Mayor told us sounds like a good
deal, if it i true. But we will
believe it when we ee it." .
According to Terry, Young
told her group that the news
media was to blame for the dis- •
crepancy in information be­
tween what he and Lewis are
saying. He also explained to
them, Terry said, th t he vetoed'
the OKM contract because he
feIt that with what Brewster­
Douglas was being offered,
. there should have been no <:bm­
plaints.
The NHU requested that
Young put in writing the figures
he was quoting them.
Despite six weeks of protest
by the Homeless Union in an ef­
fort to have their members lo­
cated in vacant public housing,
only six families have been.
moved into t he projects.
"It's becau. e (Housing Com­
missioner) Lewis is giving us the
number of areas that are vacant
and a ailahle instead of giving us
the number of units that arc
ready to be occupied" Terry
said. "We arc not imprc ed by
numb rs, we are impressed by
action."
The $35 million renovation of
Herman Gardens projects is
being offered to both groups by
b th the Mayor and Lewis. But
both groups insist the Brew ter
projects are f better quality.
"Evident] Young has not
een Herman Garden. ,Of Jones
said, "because it has just a many
vacancies a Brewster-Douglas-
48. % according to HUD. And
after $35 million it still I ok like
Hell-o,"
According to Jones. 400 ap­
plications to rent were sub­
mitted by them to Lewis within
one week. he said that Lewi
denied the applications . ayin
tha many of the applic nts were
pre . ou. public housing tenant
cvicte f r non-payment of rent.
Jones ay the fault lies with . ED' Sec finding
the housing commission who al-
lowed many of the tenants to fall
six to even months behind
before taking legal action to
evict them. he notes that wait­
ing that long lets- the rent total
climb to an unpayable amount.
After tenants are evicted the
units stand vacant - all 10
preparation for demolition.
I I I
WA HI GTO. D.C. - The
U.S. Department of Education
issued a finding I t ek which
declared that the hi educas
. tion systems in four Southern
states were infull compliance
with civil right law. .
The finding was immediately
attacked by civil rights groups
which charged that none of the
states were in full compliance
er right
wi h desegregat on plans.
The attack as led by Mary
. Fr ces Berry f the u.s. Civil
Rights Com ission who
ch rged, "High r education in
tb Sout h re ains recially
se egated ... T j finding corn­
pounds the pro lem."
. The conserva . ve Secretary of
Edlu�ation Wi liam Bennett,
ruled last week that Arkansas,
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5
rth arohna, outh arolina
anld We t Virgini w
e pliancc and need
d take any fur h r d
.. ti n efforts. )
However, I Virginia,
Delaware, Flori a, Georgia,
Mi: ouri and Ok ah ma wer
ordered to und .. take gre ter
te s to integrate their colleg s
an universities.
f -