St. Charles Advocacy Topics--June 16, 2009

[St. Charles Social Justice]

ST. CHARLES ADVOCACY TOPICS—June 16, 2009


I. LOCAL/REGIONAL

--I. A. UPDATE: GROUNDBREAKING FOR MACEDONIAN AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS IN
SOUTH ARLINGTON

--I. B. VOICE: KEY MEETING TO PLAN JULY ACTION WITH GOVERNOR KAINE

--I. C. UPDATE: ARLINGTON COUNTY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS BUCKINGHAM VILLAGE
3 AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROGRAM


II. STATE

--II. A. MEETING ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN VIRGINIA

--II. B. SALT (SOCIAL ACTION LINKING TOGETHER) WILL URGE A VIRGINIA
SENATE FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE TO USE FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDS TO ASSIST
THE STATE’S POOR AND VULNERABLES CITIZENS


III. NATIONAL-No Input This Weeks


IV. INTERNATIONAL—No Input This Week

--IV. A. PEACE IN HOLY LAND

--IV. B. VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA

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I. LOCAL/REGIONAL

--I. A. UPDATE: GROUNDBREAKING FOR MACEDONIAN AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS IN
SOUTH ARLINGTON

Readers will recall earlier items urging them to support County
financing for an affordable housing project in the Nauck community in
South Arlington sponsored by the Macedonian Baptist Church. These
efforts were successful. On June 10 the Church and its partners broke
ground for the project to be built across from the church at 2229 S.
Shirlington Road near S. 22nd Street.

The Macedonian development will be a 36-unit, 100% affordable
apartment building (19 one-bedroom and 17 two-bedroom units). Five of
the apartments are committed to Arlington County's Supportive Housing
Program for limited-income people with disabilities. The County will
subsidize rent. Amenities include underground parking, balconies for
all apartments, a center to help new businesses get started, and
“green” design certification.

The church will offer social services to residents and neighbors of
the property, such as food distribution, literacy classes and
workshops for parents and youth.

Rev. Leonard Hamlin, Sr., Pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church,
Congressman Moran and County Board Chair Favola spoke at the
groundbreaking, which was attended by all County Board members, other
dignitaries, and a large group of affordable housing advocates. We
would like to thank very much our advocates who supported this worthy
project that increases the stock of affordable housing in Arlington.


--I. B. VOICE: KEY MEETING TO PLAN JULY ACTION WITH GOVERNOR KAINE

VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) has
called a meeting to prepare for a July Action. Individuals interested
in, and team leaders for VOICE, will meet Thursday, June 18, at the
Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington to discuss a confirmed
meeting with Governor Tim Kaine in July. Senators Mark Warner and Jim
Webb have also been invited to the July Action.

The June 18 meeting will focus on crafting a non-partisan strategy to
ensure that VOICE’s concerns about health care, immigration, and
housing are heard during the upcoming state election campaigns for
governor, attorney general, and the general assembly.

Individuals interested in VOICE and/or people representing
institutions that want to learn more about VOICE are welcome to
attend. The notice asks attendance of five to six team leaders from
each religious institutions involved in VOICE.

The meeting will take place from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. at the Unitarian
Universalist Church of Arlington, 444 Arlington Blvd., Arlington, Va.
22204. For directions call (703) 892-2565, or go to http://www.uucava.org.


--I. C. UPDATE: ARLINGTON COUNTY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS BUCKINGHAM VILLAGE
3 AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROGRAM

Here is an update on plans to preserve affordable housing in
Buckingham Village. We had reported on the efforts of advocates (the
Save Buckingham Coalition) three years ago to ensure as much
affordable housing as possible was saved as Buckingham Village
undergoes development. The Arlington New Directions Coalition (ANDC)
has provided a summary, from which we have drawn the account below.

The Arlington County Board has placed discussion of Buckingham Village
3 (BV3) on its agenda (item #50) for the tonight’s (June 18) recessed
agenda session (expected to be heard at approximately 6:45 p.m.). The
Board is expected to agree to the County Manager’s recommendations,
although ANDC asks advocates to consider e-mailing the Board to
support approval and/or attending tonight’s meeting.

The County Manager has recommended that the June 16 meeting approve
the proposed affordable housing program of 92 apartments and 48 for-
sale condominiums. In addition, he recommended that the Board
authorize the County Manager to execute all documents related to
facilitating and supporting a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)
application for the 92-unit rental component for Buckingham Village 3,
subject to approval by the County Attorney.

Background: On February 24, 2009, the County Board approved financing
for the purchase of the 140-unit Buckingham Village 3 apartments from
the United Bank of
Switzerland (UBS). The Board approved a 75-year ground lease with the
Telesis Corporation and the National Housing Trust-Enterprise (Telesis/
NHT-E) development team to operate and renovate the property. The
Board asked the County Manager to review and recommend an affordable
housing plan that met the needs of the Buckingham Village residents
with respect to preserving the community (with minimal resident
displacement).

A summary of the County Manager’s review and the details of the
project can be found on the Arlington County Website at
http://arlington.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=217&meta_id=63524

The approval of the details of the rental units section is expected to
be done at the June 16 meeting. Telesis/NTH-E can then apply for 9%
LIHTC's in the preservation round being held in August of this year.
Many of the details of the homeownership units have still to be worked
out (items such as the how the resale restrictions will be structured,
how the unit purchase prices will be established given the resale
restrictions, etc.) ANDC hopes that these affordable homeownership
program details will be finalized in the next three months, so that
this part of the affordable housing program can be discussed with the
County Board and approved by October of 2009.

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II. STATE

--II. A. MEETING ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN VIRGINIA

Speakers from Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP)
and the Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) will address the history
of, and legislative advocacy strategies to end, the death penalty in
Virginia.

The meeting will take pace at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church
on Thursday, June 18, from 7-9 p.m. Also included will be a film about
the legal, political and public policy issues surrounding the death
sentence of Juan Menendez in Florida.

The event is free and open to all; registration is not required. For
further information, contact Chris Zinner, 415-225-8104 or
chris_...@yahoo.com.

Here is the link to the flyer: http://www.vadp.org/images/stories/olqp_death_penalty_event_flyer.pdf

The meeting location is:
Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church
Parish Ministry Center, 2nd Floor
2700 South 19th Street
Arlington, Virginia

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--II. B. SALT (SOCIAL ACTION LINKING TOGETHER) WILL URGE A VIRGINIA
SENATE FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE TO USE FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDS TO ASSIST
THE STATE’S POOR AND VULNERABLES CITIZENS

SALT Director John Horejsi will testify on June 29 to the Subcommittee
on Health and Human Resources Subcommittee of the Virginia Senate
Finance Committee. He will argue that Virginia legislators should
approve of the use of federal stimulus money to assist the most poor
and vulnerable citizens of the Commonwealth.

Please reinforce his message by contacting the Finance Committee’s
legislative fiscal analyst, Joe Flores, to urge: 1) use the federal
stimulus money to help the most vulnerable; 2) end the diversion of
federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to non-
TANF uses to supplement shortfalls in Virginia’s General Fund; and 3)
allocate TANF money effectively by sticking to a process that
considers the needs of the recipients and the effectiveness of the
agencies that assist them. Mr. Flores has already heard from some
members of SALT on this issue, and he will relay views to Subcommittee
Chair Senator Houck.

Mr. Flores can be reached at jfl...@sfc.virginia.gov, or by phone at
804-698-7483.

For a report on the recession’s effects on the already poor, here is a
link to Barbara Ehrenreich’s recent op-ed piece in the New York
Times. (Ehrenreich is the author of the 2001 book “Nickel and Dimed
in America.”): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14ehrenreich.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

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HOW TO CONTACT YOUR GOVERNOR, AND STATE SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE –
INCREDIBLY EASY WAYS!

- To contact Gov. Kaine go to the following web sites:
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Contact.cfm or
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm

The phone number for Gov. Kaine is (804) 786-2211.

To send an email, go to http://capwiz.com/vacatholic/mail/?id=48779&type=GV&state=VA

- 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,
or

Go to “Who's My Legislator” icon on the General Assembly website at
http://legis.state.va.us/ to find or confirm who your delegate or
senator is, and his or her contact information.


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III. NATIONAL—No Input This Week

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HOW TO CONTACT THE PRESIDENT AND YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE –
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.)

To contact the President, go to http://capwiz.com/networklobby/bio/?id=20004&lvl=F

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IV. INTERNATIONAL

--IV. A. PEACE IN HOLY LAND

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services
are asking Catholics to sign an ecumenical letter to President Obama,
The letter recognizes the President’s efforts to address the issue of
peace between Israel and the Palestinians, encourages bold action by
the administration, and urges him “to provide a clear framework for an
end to the conflict, help Israelis and Palestinians make the difficult
decisions necessary to achieve lasting peace, and hold both parties to
account when they fail to honor their commitments.”

As USCCB wrote in, The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our
Response, “Peacemaking is not an optional commitment. It is a
requirement of our faith. We are called to be peacemakers, not by some
movement of the moment, but by our Lord Jesus.”

More details and the letter are available at: http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2009Jun04.htm#text.

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--IV. B. VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA

The Africa Faith and Justice Network, a Catholic advocacy
organization, is concerned about violence in Nigeria. On May 14th, the
network says, the Nigerian Joint Military Task Force laid siege to
towns along the coast, attacking from air, land, and sea. The Nigerian
government maintains that the attack was targeting militant groups
that obstruct oil flows.

The network is focusing on some 20,000 persons who have been displaced
in the military offensive. Africa Faith and Justice is concerned about
the support the U.S. government gives Nigeria, which the network said
is slated to receive approximately $4.5 million in military training,
hardware sales, and counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics education
in 2010.

The network wants President Obama to make it clear to Nigerian
President Umaru Yar'Adua that the U.S. will not support leaders who
abuse their own citizens.

For more details and/or to take action go to:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1552/t/1384/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27408

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[NOTE: We encourage you to forward this e-mail to others you think
would be interested. Persons wishing to subscribe may 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.