Letter to the Iberville Advisory Committee

November 9, 2009
Ms. Laura Tuggle and Ms. Lillie Walker-Woodfork
Members of the Iberville Advisory Committee

Dear Ms. Tuggle and Ms. Walker-Woodfork,

C3/Hands Off Iberville wrote to both of you in August of 2009 presenting our concerns about the so-called ‘Iberville Advisory Committee’, whose members were handpicked by the Housing Authority of New Orleans' top lawyer, Wayne Woods. In our earlier communications, we expressed outrage at the committee appointing an operative from the Downtown Development Distract--an agency which has a long, clearly articulated agenda of demolishing Iberville--as the chair! We demanded that the committee expel the DDD representative, but you have refused to even discuss this issue, let alone take any action.

Second, we asked that all meetings of the ‘Iberville Advisory Committee’ follow the state sunshine laws and open deliberations to the public. Yet, here again, we have had no response, as your outfit, led by Henry Charlot of the DDD, continue to meet behind closed doors. Why the need for secrecy? What are you hiding?

Third, we have received no response in regard to our inquiry about whether HANO is placing new residents in vacated apartments. Are they being filled, or purposely being left empty? We know that city councilwomen Stacy Head has openly advocated for not allowing apartments to be filled by families that had previously been living in other public housing developments, which she helped demolish. Does the committee, including Henry Charlot of the DDD, share this same cruel and inhumane position as Ms. Head?

Ongoing developments lead us to believe that HANO, with support of developers, is pursing the ‘St. Thomas strategy’ to facilitate demolition. That is, the strategy, as was done at the former St Thomas development, is to remove as many current residents as possible from Iberville before they try to demolish. We see this clearly in the ‘vouchering out' plan HANO is pursing, with section 8 vouchers being issued to current Iberville residents. We see this plan expressed in the continued illegal and immoral use of one-strike provisions to throw families out of their apartments. A recent egregious case is that of Laura Smith who HANO evicted for something her son was accused of doing off the grounds of Iberville. Furthermore her son was not even living with her! Yet, HANO went ahead and evicted Ms Smith. These are some of the cruel, gangster-like tactics being employed by HANO to depopulate the development. What is the committee doing in the face of these injustices?

The Iberville Advisory Committee, by their silence, is complicit in this demolition strategy. But we at Hands Off Iberville, and others in the community, refuse to remain silent We will be rallying on November 14, at 4 Pm at the Iberville development to demand the following:

1. Kurt Weigle remove his outfit from the IAC. 2. All the units at Iberville remain as Public Housing. 3. The Federal government immediately implement a massive, national Public Works plan to rebuild and expand Public Housing and the Public Sector.

We invite you and other members of the Iberville Advisory Committee to attend this event and finally address the community’s concerns.

Jay Arena
for hands Off Iberville