St. Charles Advocacy Topics--May 5, 2009
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jus...@stcharleschurch.org
May 5, 2009, 12:14:57 PM5/5/09
to St. Charles Social Justice Advocacy
ST. CHARLES ADVOCACY TOPICS—May 3, 2009
I. LOCAL/REGIONAL
-- I. A. APAH SEEKS FUNDS FROM THE ARLINGTON COUNTY BOARD FOR AN
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT
--I. B. VOICE FINDS PUBLIC HOUSING REPAIRS IN ALEXANDRIA’S BLAND
COMPLEX NOT GOOD ENOUGH
II. STATE
--II. A. VIRGINIA CATHOLIC CONFERFENCE SUMMARY OF OUTCOMES ON KEY
ISSUES IN THE 2009 VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
III. NATIONAL—No Input This Week
IV. INTERNATIONAL
--IV. A. THE PEACE AND JUSTICE COMMISSION AND THE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
OF THE ARLINGTON DIOCESE INVITE US TO A TALK ABOUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
CHANGES NEEDED TO ACHIEVE MIDDLE EAST PEACE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I. LOCAL/REGIONAL
--I. A. APAH SEEKS FUNDS FROM THE ARLINGTON COUNTY BOARD FOR AN
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT
The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) has the
opportunity to acquire Buchanan Gardens, a property a half-block off
Columbia Pike, to save it from high-price development and preserve it
as affordable housing. APAH needs our support with the Arlington
County Board, which is a major partner in APAH projects, to persuade
the County to assist APAH in acquiring Buchanan Gardens.
Please write or e-mail the County Board within the next two weeks to
tell them that you support this plan of APAH's to buy Buchanan
Gardens, and want them to support it also. Specifically, urge the
Board to approve a $10 million loan from the Affordable Housing
Investment Fund (AHIF) to enable APAH to purchase Buchanan Gardens by
the June 22 deadline. Rather than have a developer come in, tear-
down and rent at $$$$, help APAH buy, rehabilitate and preserve this
stock of affordable housing for Arlington.
Background: The Buchanan Gardens Apartments are at 914-926 S. Buchanan
St. in Arlington, near Columbia Pike. This is an older garden
apartment complex that has 111 market rate affordable units that
currently house a number of low income households, including many
families. Once APAH purchases the property, it would then seek
permanent financing to do the renovations. Total costs for acquisition
& development would be about $35 million.
The Board members can be reached by e-mail through the following link
to the Arlington County Board webpage of the County website:
http://www.co.arlington.va.us/Departments/CountyBoard/CountyBoardMain.aspx.
Use the e-mail link provided in the box at the top right-hand side of
the webpage. To send a standard letter, the address is:
Arlington County Board
2100 Clarendon Blvd. Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22201
(TEL 703-228-3130)
(FAX 703-228-7430)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--I. B. VOICE FINDS PUBLIC HOUSING REPAIRS IN ALEXANDRIA’S BLAND
COMPLEX NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille joined VOICE (Virginians Organized
for Interfaith Community Engagement) advocates on April 30 as they
inspected 21 public housing units to determine whether mold, pest
infestations, cracked walls, drainage problems, sewer backups, and
other unacceptable living conditions had been addressed as promised at
a March 24 VOICE meeting. (See March 31 email.)
After the tour, residents of the housing community and VOICE advocates
said they were disappointed with the failure to correct many problems,
with poor and rushed workmanship, and with the inconsistent quality of
repairs that were completed. They also were disappointed that Roy
Priest, director of the Alexandria Housing and Redevelopment Authority
(ARHA), which manages the properties, did not participate in the
inspection as he had promised. ARHA staff did come.
The units are in the James Bland complex, a Northeast Alexandria
public housing community that ARHA manages. The 21 units were among
192 that previously had been inspected by Bland residents and VOICE
advocates, and been determined to be in urgent need of repair.
Among the post-inspection complaints: a refrigerator so contaminated
with bugs that it could not be disinfected nor used to store food had
not been replaced; cracks remained in a resident’s wall; and an
electrical switch near a playground could still easily be reached by
children and thieves to shut off electricity in nearby homes.
VOICE intends to keep pressure on the city to conduct needed repairs.
Parishioners living in Alexandria or elsewhere who want to help Bland
residents can find out about future actions in Alexandria by
contacting Jean Noon jn...@weddingquilts.com or Marsha Rhea
mr...@signaturei.net.
For more information about VOICE generally, contact: Marisa Vertrees,
mver...@stcharleschurch.org.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
II. STATE
--II. A. VIRGINIA CATHOLIC CONFERFENCE SUMMARY OF OUTCOMES ON KEY
ISSUES IN THE 2009 VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) has prepared a summary of
outcomes on key issues in the 2009 General Assembly session. Use the
following link to access the VCC summary:
http://www.vacatholic.org/documents/VCCSummaryofAgendaOutcomes-2009Session-NewspaperVersion.pdf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TO CONTACT THE GOVERNOR AND STATE LEGISLATORS:
- To contact Gov. Kaine go to:
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm
- Find your senator at
http://sov.state.va.us/SenatorDB.nsf/$$Viewtemplate+for+WMembershipHome?OpenForm
- Find your representative at
http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/MWebsiteTL?OpenView
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
III. NATIONAL—No Input This Week
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HOW TO
CONTACT YOUR U.S. SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE THROUGH INCREDIBLY EASY
WAYS!
To contact your senators and representative, go to
http://actioncenter.crs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ac_homepage or
http://capwiz.com/networklobby/home/ and enter your zip code.
(Both sites have links to additional information about issues.)
You can also reach your senators and representative by calling the
Congressional Switchboard (202) 224-3121.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
IV. INTERNATIONAL
--IV. A. THE PEACE AND JUSTICE COMMISSION AND THE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
OF THE ARLINGTON DIOCESE INVITE US TO A TALK ABOUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
CHANGES NEEDED TO ACHIEVE MIDDLE EAST PEACE
Two institutions of the Arlington Diocese (the Peace and Justice
Commission and the Ecumenical Council) are sponsoring a May 14 talk by
Ron Young, consultant to the National Interreligious Leadership
Initiative for Peace in the Middle East, a collection of Jewish,
Christian and Muslim leaders working towards a sustainable peace for
Israel and Palestine. Mr. Young will discuss what aspects of U. S.
foreign policy he believes must change to achieve a lasting peace. Dr.
Steve Colecchi, Director of the Office of International Justice and
Peace for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will
moderate the discussion.
Mr. Young has been involved in Israeli-Palestinian issues for 27
years. He first went to the region in 1982 as the Middle East
Representative for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker
organization. Since then, he and his wife have traveled and worked
extensively in the area. He has spoken and written widely on the
Middle East and interfaith cooperation, and organized Interfaith
Convocations for Peace.
The talk will take place on Thursday evening, May 14, at 7 p.m. at
Marymount University’s Ballston Campus Auditorium, 1000 N. Glebe Road.
For more information, contact Marisa Vertrees at 703-527-5500, ext.
126, or by e-mail at mver...@stcharleschurch.org.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[NOTE: We encourage you to forward this e-mail to others you think
would be interested.
To join this network, go to the St. Charles Web site, Social Justice
page, by using this link: http://www.stcharleschurch.org/maillist.htm
and follow the instructions you find there under Social Justice.
If you do take action to advocate, we encourage you to mention the St.
Charles Advocacy Network. If you wish to let us know you took action,
you can e-mail us at jus...@stcharleschurch.org. Thank you.]
I. LOCAL/REGIONAL
-- I. A. APAH SEEKS FUNDS FROM THE ARLINGTON COUNTY BOARD FOR AN
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT
--I. B. VOICE FINDS PUBLIC HOUSING REPAIRS IN ALEXANDRIA’S BLAND
COMPLEX NOT GOOD ENOUGH
II. STATE
--II. A. VIRGINIA CATHOLIC CONFERFENCE SUMMARY OF OUTCOMES ON KEY
ISSUES IN THE 2009 VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
III. NATIONAL—No Input This Week
IV. INTERNATIONAL
--IV. A. THE PEACE AND JUSTICE COMMISSION AND THE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
OF THE ARLINGTON DIOCESE INVITE US TO A TALK ABOUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
CHANGES NEEDED TO ACHIEVE MIDDLE EAST PEACE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I. LOCAL/REGIONAL
--I. A. APAH SEEKS FUNDS FROM THE ARLINGTON COUNTY BOARD FOR AN
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT
The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) has the
opportunity to acquire Buchanan Gardens, a property a half-block off
Columbia Pike, to save it from high-price development and preserve it
as affordable housing. APAH needs our support with the Arlington
County Board, which is a major partner in APAH projects, to persuade
the County to assist APAH in acquiring Buchanan Gardens.
Please write or e-mail the County Board within the next two weeks to
tell them that you support this plan of APAH's to buy Buchanan
Gardens, and want them to support it also. Specifically, urge the
Board to approve a $10 million loan from the Affordable Housing
Investment Fund (AHIF) to enable APAH to purchase Buchanan Gardens by
the June 22 deadline. Rather than have a developer come in, tear-
down and rent at $$$$, help APAH buy, rehabilitate and preserve this
stock of affordable housing for Arlington.
Background: The Buchanan Gardens Apartments are at 914-926 S. Buchanan
St. in Arlington, near Columbia Pike. This is an older garden
apartment complex that has 111 market rate affordable units that
currently house a number of low income households, including many
families. Once APAH purchases the property, it would then seek
permanent financing to do the renovations. Total costs for acquisition
& development would be about $35 million.
The Board members can be reached by e-mail through the following link
to the Arlington County Board webpage of the County website:
http://www.co.arlington.va.us/Departments/CountyBoard/CountyBoardMain.aspx.
Use the e-mail link provided in the box at the top right-hand side of
the webpage. To send a standard letter, the address is:
Arlington County Board
2100 Clarendon Blvd. Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22201
(TEL 703-228-3130)
(FAX 703-228-7430)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--I. B. VOICE FINDS PUBLIC HOUSING REPAIRS IN ALEXANDRIA’S BLAND
COMPLEX NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille joined VOICE (Virginians Organized
for Interfaith Community Engagement) advocates on April 30 as they
inspected 21 public housing units to determine whether mold, pest
infestations, cracked walls, drainage problems, sewer backups, and
other unacceptable living conditions had been addressed as promised at
a March 24 VOICE meeting. (See March 31 email.)
After the tour, residents of the housing community and VOICE advocates
said they were disappointed with the failure to correct many problems,
with poor and rushed workmanship, and with the inconsistent quality of
repairs that were completed. They also were disappointed that Roy
Priest, director of the Alexandria Housing and Redevelopment Authority
(ARHA), which manages the properties, did not participate in the
inspection as he had promised. ARHA staff did come.
The units are in the James Bland complex, a Northeast Alexandria
public housing community that ARHA manages. The 21 units were among
192 that previously had been inspected by Bland residents and VOICE
advocates, and been determined to be in urgent need of repair.
Among the post-inspection complaints: a refrigerator so contaminated
with bugs that it could not be disinfected nor used to store food had
not been replaced; cracks remained in a resident’s wall; and an
electrical switch near a playground could still easily be reached by
children and thieves to shut off electricity in nearby homes.
VOICE intends to keep pressure on the city to conduct needed repairs.
Parishioners living in Alexandria or elsewhere who want to help Bland
residents can find out about future actions in Alexandria by
contacting Jean Noon jn...@weddingquilts.com or Marsha Rhea
mr...@signaturei.net.
For more information about VOICE generally, contact: Marisa Vertrees,
mver...@stcharleschurch.org.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
II. STATE
--II. A. VIRGINIA CATHOLIC CONFERFENCE SUMMARY OF OUTCOMES ON KEY
ISSUES IN THE 2009 VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) has prepared a summary of
outcomes on key issues in the 2009 General Assembly session. Use the
following link to access the VCC summary:
http://www.vacatholic.org/documents/VCCSummaryofAgendaOutcomes-2009Session-NewspaperVersion.pdf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TO CONTACT THE GOVERNOR AND STATE LEGISLATORS:
- To contact Gov. Kaine go to:
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm
- Find your senator at
http://sov.state.va.us/SenatorDB.nsf/$$Viewtemplate+for+WMembershipHome?OpenForm
- Find your representative at
http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/MWebsiteTL?OpenView
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
III. NATIONAL—No Input This Week
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HOW TO
CONTACT YOUR U.S. SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE THROUGH INCREDIBLY EASY
WAYS!
To contact your senators and representative, go to
http://actioncenter.crs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ac_homepage or
http://capwiz.com/networklobby/home/ and enter your zip code.
(Both sites have links to additional information about issues.)
You can also reach your senators and representative by calling the
Congressional Switchboard (202) 224-3121.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
IV. INTERNATIONAL
--IV. A. THE PEACE AND JUSTICE COMMISSION AND THE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
OF THE ARLINGTON DIOCESE INVITE US TO A TALK ABOUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
CHANGES NEEDED TO ACHIEVE MIDDLE EAST PEACE
Two institutions of the Arlington Diocese (the Peace and Justice
Commission and the Ecumenical Council) are sponsoring a May 14 talk by
Ron Young, consultant to the National Interreligious Leadership
Initiative for Peace in the Middle East, a collection of Jewish,
Christian and Muslim leaders working towards a sustainable peace for
Israel and Palestine. Mr. Young will discuss what aspects of U. S.
foreign policy he believes must change to achieve a lasting peace. Dr.
Steve Colecchi, Director of the Office of International Justice and
Peace for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will
moderate the discussion.
Mr. Young has been involved in Israeli-Palestinian issues for 27
years. He first went to the region in 1982 as the Middle East
Representative for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker
organization. Since then, he and his wife have traveled and worked
extensively in the area. He has spoken and written widely on the
Middle East and interfaith cooperation, and organized Interfaith
Convocations for Peace.
The talk will take place on Thursday evening, May 14, at 7 p.m. at
Marymount University’s Ballston Campus Auditorium, 1000 N. Glebe Road.
For more information, contact Marisa Vertrees at 703-527-5500, ext.
126, or by e-mail at mver...@stcharleschurch.org.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[NOTE: We encourage you to forward this e-mail to others you think
would be interested.
To join this network, go to the St. Charles Web site, Social Justice
page, by using this link: http://www.stcharleschurch.org/maillist.htm
and follow the instructions you find there under Social Justice.
If you do take action to advocate, we encourage you to mention the St.
Charles Advocacy Network. If you wish to let us know you took action,
you can e-mail us at jus...@stcharleschurch.org. Thank you.]
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