Charlot, Weigle and the DDD--quit evading the issues

This was sent by emial on August 28, 2009 to Henry Charlot of the Downtown Development District


Mr. Charlot:

You, and others from the so-called ‘Iberville Advisory Committee’ (IAC), have still not answered the community’s questions presented in the last communiqué. Please come clean and address them. Quit making excuses about not answering them. Of course you can find time to do PR, damage control for DDD head Kurt Weigle, but can’t find the time to answer the vital questions the community has. We already know where the DDD stands with regard to Iberville. The stance is made clear by the outfits statement of purpose, placed on every email from Weigle and others:“The DDD drives the development of Downtown New Orleans and is a catalyst for a prosperous, stimulating and innovative heart of the Crescent City” . A ‘prosperous stimulating environment’, in the heart of the city, means driving Iberville and the poor from it. That is, and continues to be the DDD’s policy, and Weigle and others have made that perfectly clear in statements made in public venues, and, especially, in private, back door meetings. No amount of PR work can change that.

Thus, again , stop with the PR work for Weigle, and answer the questions. Here they are again to refresh your memory:

· HANO and HUD, as part of their strategy of reducing the number of residents at Iberville, and thus facilitating demolition, have been awarding section 8 certificates to current Iberville residents. Yet, we have not heard if they are placing new families in the these vacated apartments

We would like to know one, what is HANO’s official policy with regard to these vacated apartments, an issue which the Committee has inquired about.

· Second, we want to know what is the position of the committee with regard to this crucial issue? If there is not unanimity on filling vacant apartments, we would like to know what members of the committee support keeping them empty.

· Third, we want to know when you are going to step down as head of the IAC and as a member? As you ha explained in your last email, the IAC has plenty of people that have worked with the community that could lead it, rather than those from the DDD who specialize in driving out the poor.

· Fourth, we want made public all the communications that Kurt Weigle and other DDD operatives have had with national, state and local officials and entities, developers, such as Michael Valentino, and other parties with regard to Iberville and any plans for its redevelopment.

Jay Arena for C3/Hands Off Iberville