Cities
-
Judge Rules Katrina Flooding Government's Fault
-
Long-term Unemployment Worst Since the Great Depression
-
Swine Flu Driving Paid Sick Leave Laws
Homophobia Trumps Anti-Poverty Mission of DC Archdiocese
Published November 13, 2009 @ 10:11AM PT
I'm with Mike on this one: I've got to headline this unbelievably craven move by the Catholic Church to threaten its social services to Washington D.C.'s poor if the city approves a same-sex marriage law. (Via.)
When I began writing for Poverty in America, the first action I created was to a pledge to join Catholic Charities Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America. Then I posted their video about the campaign. I remarked to our Editor at the time that as a lapsed Catholic, someone who'd fallen out with the Church over their anti-modern, anti-women, anti-choice points of view, that I felt weird highlighting their anti-poverty efforts. But I reconciled that the Catholic Church had a positive record of serving the poor - indeed, it seemed like their only redeeming quality these days.
Well, aren't I naive. Turns out the Church is perfectly willing to abandon DC's poor in their outdated, hateful, confused crusade over gay/lesbian civil rights. $10M is at risk here, what Catholic Charities contributes to public services for the poor. So far, some City Council members seem willing to let the Church walk, considering - fortunately - that it's only one of many social service providers in town. (And surely some of these other providers would love to step up and accept the $8M in public funds the Church receives every year to do these good works.)
Budget Crises, Development Woes Confront Mayors
Published November 04, 2009 @ 01:34PM PT
Looking around at the mayoral results from yesterday's elections, seems incumbents and historic new leaders face a shared set of urban challenges: budget gaps, development and housing costs, crime, and troubled educational systems. Gee, what's new?
Certainly not the leadership in Boston, where Mayor Tom Menino won an unprecedented 6th term to become the city's longest serving mayor. Menino's remarkable claim to fame in governing this city of 600k (or so) is that almost half of all Bostonians have personally met him - including yours truly (several times now). Voters re-elected him with fondness for the Christmas trees he provides for neighborhood squares, his handshakes in line at Dunkin Donuts, and his seemingly 24/7 appearance on local public television. His campaign promises include closing budget gaps, lowering the crime rate, and improving the Boston Public Schools - a big issue this time around.
In Detroit, arguably the most troubled city in America, Mayor Dave Bing must close a $300M budget gap and also tackle crime and a failing public school system. He promises to whittle Detroit's finances down to reflect the city's new reality as the 11th largest city in the US, through cuts and efficiencies. Beware the Mayors who promise to govern cities like they run their businesses. Sure, they can buy themselves term after term, but eventually voters (citizens? shareholders?), especially the lower-income ones who don't usually see the corporate profits trickle down their way, will tire of these CEOs.
Bing Wins Full Term to Lead Detroit
Published November 04, 2009 @ 04:58AM PT
Lots of Mayoral races last night, with specific marching orders to revitalize and continuously improve our cities. I'll be back later today with some thoughts on their different charges, but here's a quick round-up:
David Bing is elected for a full-term in Detroit.
Wunderkind Luke Ravenstahl is re-elected in Pittsburgh.
Bloomberg wins by less than anticipated in NYC for his self-appointed third term (basically).
Menino wins easily, but also by a smaller margin than usual, in Boston. He's now the city's longest serving Mayor, beginning his 6th term today.
Lawrence, MA elects its first Latino Mayor, William Lantigua - the first in MA.
In Atlanta and Houston, no decisions yet.
Any key elections in your neck of the woods?
And Maine voters, WTH????
Fresh Produce Still Unaffordable
Published October 31, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
Where I live in Boston, farmers' markets abound in the summer and fall. I stopped by the Allston Farmers' Market yesterday, where there were free samples of apple cider, pumpkin painting for the kids*, live music, and t-shirts for sale. So nice!
This farmers' market is at a busy intersection, includes parking, is across the street from an affordable housing complex, and is on 2 bus lines. It runs on Friday afternoons until 7pm, so feasibly working people can stop by on their way home. So many conveniences. Also nice.
I then spent $12.50 on 5 carrots, a pint of grape tomatoes, and 6 apples. Not so nice. $12.50??? Does this seem high to anyone else or is it just me? (Granted, I did not buy the apples in bulk, which might have saved me some $$.)
I like supporting organic farms, local farms, local businesses, all that jazz. It's important to me. And I'm thrilled to see this farmers' market accepts EBT, WIC, etc. But with those prices, why would the average low-income shopper part with their dollars there? Can't I stretch my dollars a lot further at the grocery store, purchasing produce shipped in from CA and Mexico? Can't I get more bang for my buck from canned and frozen foods?
ABC's of an Effective Jobs Initiative
Published October 30, 2009 @ 05:04AM PT
Driving the Learning Curve Express around backroads of the lower 48, my observation is America's human infrastructure is on life support. The latest unemployment indicators aren't real encouraging. CNN reports...
...the slide may signal that more filers are dropping off those rolls into extended benefits....The figures do not include those who have moved to state or federal extensions, or people whose benefits have expired.
In an op-ed column in The Baltimore Sun, Julianne Malveaux validates my ideas.
To commemorate this anniversary of the Great Depression, the Obama administration ought to engage in Depression-era tactics to jump-start the economy. We have spent $700 billion bailing out banks and $787 billion in economic stimulus. But we have not focused on directly creating employment, on lifting people at the bottom.
Come on! Let's kick something in gear that works.
Seeing Hartford
Published October 29, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
I arrived in Hartford, CT last Wednesday for a Friday night wedding at a 19th century-bank-turned-banquet-hall venue. In high spirits but absolutely rushing around in Boston earlier last week to get ready for the wedding extravanganza, I joked on Wed evening that my future mother-in-law was solving the great bridal nail crisis 2009, i.e., finding me a place in Hartford to get a manicure. In a city of 125k people, how hard could it be?
Very, it turned out, if you're from out-of-town and relying on local boosters to recommend services to you. Boosters are what we planners and political scientists call the folks who sell cities to us - the media, local politicians, business owners, real estate developers - so that we will want to come and live there, do business there, spend money there. A family friend, the banquet manager and the hotel concierge all recommended a single nail salon in the entire city, which didn't have enough staff to see me on Thursday. I finally settled on the concierge's third recommendation, which came with numerous caveats, and turned out to be as run down and rough as warned - but my manicure was only $10!
Connecticut's urban model is one of very wealthy suburbs surrounding deeply poor towns: just check out the differences in poverty between neighboring West Hartford (4.5%) and Hartford (31.5%). For everything we needed for the wedding we were directed to the suburbs - no grocery store downtown, no market, no spare salon that people in the service industry want to send a white, middle-class client to, for fear of my fear and reprisal. What was more amazing was that there was actually a market two doors down from my venue, though it did not sell milk, but looked an awful lot like a deli/bodega/convenience store otherwise.
Staying Warm This Winter
Published October 27, 2009 @ 11:13AM PT
In many regions across the country, the days are getting shorter and the colorful autumn leaves are slowly falling to the ground. This can only mean that the stinging cold of winter is just around the corner.
What this also means, particularly with unemployment rates still astonishingly high and the recession continuing, is that nonprofit organizations and government agencies are bracing for an increased demand for utility assistance over the next several months.
The main way that energy assistance funds are distributed in the U.S. is through the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. However, instead of providing assistance directly to the general public, the Department makes block grants to individual states who then distribute checks to needy households.
