... a new, politically correct description for Low Income Housing.

Absent as usual from the social engineering agenda, is freedom in educational choice or a single, truly uplifting measure; instead it’s just more of the same oppressive, governmental intervention.  The spiritually stifling new narrative is predictably uninspiring which is always the case for big government programs and socially engineered societal models. 

The latest chapter from the fount of Utopia asks us mere mortals to suspend reality and simply erase from consciousness those hard statistics that expose the correlation between Low Income Housing and higher crime, over-crowded schools, increased traffic, reduced property values and higher property taxes.  The thought police now tell us that their latest, exquisitely designed model of Low Income Housing is virtually problem free and furthermore, it’s morally reprehensible to stand up against this government funded intrusion into the security and stability of your neighborhood.      

There is this tiny caveat … you must never ever veer from the official state sanctioned description of Low Income Housing.  A good person would never suggest anything other than the politically correct belief that the arrival of Low Income Housing on the doorstep of your neighborhood deserves your complete, enthusiastic support.  If you dare to question it, well, expect to be vilified from the pages of your local, left-leaning newspaper; after all that is their assigned role in the community.  Forget the truth, drink the kool-aid and get out of the way; tax-payer funded Low Income Housing is on its way!  

Low Income Housing Developers masquerading as non-profit organizations have come up with successful diversion tactics to silence dissent from annoying NIMBYs.  (Not In My Backyard)  Property Owners who dare to speak out must brace themselves for an acerbic backlash.  The verbal lash is engineered to intimidate anyone else from speaking out.  Why would anyone want to interfere with social justice dispensed by the generosity of the nanny state?  After all, independent thinking and the concept of free speech are just distractions.  

Dissent can also be silenced with the false reassurance that background checks will be required on Low Income Housing residents.  How do consumers of this housing feel about the fact that a background check is a marketing technique used in the course of the ‘hard sell’ by these Low Income Housing developers?  The deal is sweetened by telling NIMBYs that the façade of fancy architecture enclosing the Low Income Housing will help them get over the shock that incoming residents need a background check in the first place.  

Forget what you know to be true and skip along with me in this ‘Brave New World’.  In order to recruit devotees to this abrupt departure from reality, Low Income Housing proponents must begin by grabbing hold of the narrative.  If the Left repeats/reports a lie in a serial fashion while enshrouding the lie in official sounding language they can evangelize their base.  When the base is wholly evangelized they become true believers.   

Take the words ‘Low Income Housing’ and begin to refer to it as ‘affordable and sustainable communities’. It sounds so nice and so non-threatening albeit untrue.  Soon, this new politically correct label for Low Income Housing begins to get a foothold.  When a plan for ‘affordable and sustainable communities’ is presented and some John Q. Public guy stands up and calls out the Low Income Housing profiteers on their bluff, the true believers go into action.  Less than 24 hours later, John Q. Public who dared to question the utopian wonder of affordable and sustainable communities is called a racist, a hater and a selfish property owner.  The NIMBY attack team goes code red. 

Like all lousy, Leftist, tax dollar wasting policy debacles this hijack had its beginnings inside elitist think tanks and trickled down to the street by manipulating truth.  Try telling that to the true believers who evade honest discussion so as not to be confused by the facts.  If there wasn’t such wholesale abuse of welfare we would be able to more effectively provide assistance to the truly needy among us, but I digress as such a clear argument for reform is lost on brainwashed true believers.  Stacking people in Low Income Housing units does nothing to empower them to pursue their dreams or bring the dignity of personal responsibility into their lives.  Instead, it’s simply part and parcel of a political agenda, nothing more and nothing less. 

The spread of publicly funded Low Income Housing being unleashed on unsuspecting communities has ties to the White House both fiscally and ideologically.  Under Obama, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has shifted direction away from homeownership and towards creating a nation of renters.  David John, a senior analyst at the Heritage Foundation points out that “homeownership brings with it a sense of building towards the future, rather than living day to day.”  It is this sense of stability that property owners want to protect when fighting against a Low Income Housing project being pushed on them by local legislative bodies.    

Nationwide foreclosures resulting from the mortgage meltdown have been traced back to ACORN and Democrat supported legislation, as well as their resistance to calls for reform.  While the foreclosure disaster will result temporarily in decreased homeownership as the economy recovers, this tragedy does not grease the skids for a national proliferation policy of publicly funded Low Income Housing.  As you might imagine, there are no shortage of so called non-profit, Low Income Housing Developers all vying for a sizable cut of the $4.25 Billion set aside for federally subsidized rental units from the $14 Billion HUD has received from the federal stimulus package.  The questionable practices of these Low Income Housing Developers warrant a closer inspection.    

It comes as no surprise that Obama has appointed Carol Galante, former CEO of Bridge Housing Corporation to head up the multi-family affordable rental unit development at HUD.  Bridge Housing is a major player in the Low Income Housing market.  Based in San Francisco, Bridge is listed as a non-profit organization.  Bridge partners up with government and private entities using tax payer fueled funding to aggressively push their way into established neighborhoods.  Bridge Housing is also involved in influencing deliberate zoning changes that enable them to evict existing tenants and grab the land to develop both market rate and Low Income Housing units.

Bridge Housing was described as expecting “to get money from the federal and state governments to carry out their devious plans. These crooked developers do not care about the poor people and families who need help the most.  None of them believe in empowering poor people to determine their own destiny. They see the areas in question as the last frontier, and they want to make a fast buck. They would have started their projects long ago, but California’s sad fiscal situation slowed the process. Now the stimulus package is being used to give money to these rogue developers.” (Francisco Da Costa, sfbayview.com) 

Among the public funding strategies endorsed by the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition of which Bridge Housing is a member, market-rate housing is being targeted to carry the fiscal burden.  It was also suggested that the coalition seek state legislation to enable a tax increment, as well as general obligation bonds to fund redevelopment.  There is also language seeking local legislative assistance in increasing the height limit of Low Income Housing units so as to enable Bridge to stack Low Income Housing units to create additional capacity. 

For a non-profit organization, Bridge Housing certainly has a lot of capital to throw around in the political arena.  Bridge Housing has been cited and fined for unfair political practices in relation to campaign contributions and nearly $18,000 used to fund the “Yes on Prop 1 C” campaign that advocated public funding for public housing.  This funding can most likely be traced back to the endless list of Bridge Housing ‘donors’; including Fannie Mae and the Fannie Mae Foundation a.k.a. ground zero of the mortgage meltdown. As you can see, there is a vicious cycle of political elitism, federal, state and local tax dollars, aggressive legislative influence and deadly political correctness.

How can you tell if a specific land development project is of the Low Income Housing variety?  Look for the telltale 55-year lease.  All of these Low Income Housing developments drag with them the ball and chain of the 55-year lease; a true bonanza for increasing local property taxes or slapping property owners with a general obligation tax bond.  By the way, you’ll find no mention of this draconian 55-year lease in any of the Bridge Housing glossy brochures on ‘affordable and sustainable communities’. 

As a property owner in Temecula, California I am currently fighting against Bridge Housing Corporation and a  City Council approved Low Income Housing project , less than a quarter of a mile from my home.  This redevelopment plan was approved by the local City Council without proper public notice.  In other words, they rammed it through before the people had a clue.  I am just one of a number of concerned property owners who have banded together and have experienced firsthand the wrath of the brainwashed true believers.  

The failure of our local Council members to seek out public opinion prior to approving the placement of a Low Income Housing project in the midst of a stable, secure neighborhood is, on its face, reprehensible, but their willingness to sell out their community is what truly gives us pause.  These Council members forget, at their political peril, that the people do not yield their sovereignty to the legislative bodies that serve them.

I urge all freedom loving Americans to monitor their city redevelopment agency on a regular, ongoing basis.  If you see the words Low Income Housing or the mention of a 55-year lease, immediately mobilize your neighbors and block this social engineering agenda.  As we focus much of our attention and energy on the national socialist nightmare I strongly recommend that you remain advised on the current agenda of your local legislative body.    

Stand up to the social evil that is political correctness, weather the personal attacks and fight back against the stifling social engineering agenda of anti-freedom, Leftist elites.  Hold accountable those out of touch, local, legislative bodies who have grown accustomed to approving land development deals under the radar of the community at large.  See to it that incompetent leadership on all legislative levels is soundly voted out of office during the 2010 election.  Take back your community!

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