WE USED TO CALL THESE PEOPLE SLUMLORDS…
By
Ruth King on May 13th, 2010
WHO IS VALERIE JARRETT?
The media report Valerie Jarrett is the Obamas closest friend and
White House advisor and they don't make a move without consulting
her.
For many years, Valerie managed the Grove Parc apartment
complex in south Chicago. It consists of 504 apartments. Ninety-nine are
vacant and uninhabitable. Mice are rampant. Roofs have collapsed.
Sewage seeps into kitchen sinks. It is a dangerous place. It is located
in the legislative district which Obama represented for eight years in
the Illinois Senate.
Grove Parc tenants feel their senator could have done more for them.
Their efforts are to keep Grove Parc from being demolished, as the
locale is convenient, and to obtain a new management company to
rehabilitate the apartments.
The complex is managed by The Habitat Executive Services,
Inc. of which Valerie was the Vice President, President and then CEO
for 12 years preceding her ascent to the White House. During her tenure
Federal inspectors in 2003 rated Grove Parc 82 positive points out of
100; in 2005 only 56 of a 100; and in 2006 a scant 11 of a hundred. She
also co-managed an even larger subsidized complex which was seized by
the federal government in 2006 after city inspectors found widespread
problems.
In a 2009 report Valeries previous year's management
income was $300,000 and $550,000 in deferred compensation from The
Habitat Executive Services, Inc. (The Wall Street Journal also reported
she disclosed payments of more then $346,000 for service on boards of
directors that reflect her political ties, and work in Chicago real
estate and community development. She was paid $76,000 for service as a
director of a Chicago-based global consulting group with governmental
clients. She received $146,600 from thre United States Government and
$58,000 to serve on the board of Rreef American REIT II, a real estate
investment trust based in San Francisco. The Chicago Stock Exchange,
Inc., paid her $34,444.)
In explanation of her management record at The Habitat
Executive Services, Inc. Valerie explained it's difficult to manage
something you don't own.
As an Illinois Senator in alignment with Chicago Mayor
Daly and now as President, Obama does not favor public housing but
public-private housing development. The government gives money to
developers, to build public housing. Obama's close friends and
political supporters profited greatly as they became developers.
Included among them is Allison Davis, a law associate, Antoin Tony
Rezko, et. al. The latter, Rezko, renovated 1,000 apartments, refused
management, and the apartments are uninhabitable.
When the construction is completed, the apartments are
managed by a private management company, such as Valerie's The Habitat
Executive Services, and not a government entity. The government pays
for construction as well as the management company. As the government
pays the rent and the inhabitants have no other place to go, there is no
incentive for the management company to make repairs or to attract new
renters. In the end the properties become uninhabitable and are
abandoned.
The newspaper, The Boston Globe, found thousands of
abandoned, uninhabitable apartments across Chicago which were built with
government subsidies. Several hundred found in (Senator) Obama's
district deteriorated to the point they were no longer habitable.
In some cases where the buildings become uninhabitable,
new government money is provided to rehabilitate the buildings and the
cycle repeats.
President Obama touts The National Affordable Trust Fund
Act (HR 2895) passed by the both houses in 07 and08 which Maxine
Waters and Barney Frank state $800 million to $1 billion will be spent
annually: (Waters) without increasing government spending or the deficit
and (Frank) paid for in ways that do not draw on federal tax revenues.
HR 2895 does not state where the money will come from.
The Boston Globe reports the money will come from the
income profits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at $500 million annually
and as in Illinois the money will be paid to private developers. This
follows through with Obama's campaign promises. Critics say the
sapping of such large amounts of income imperils the financial levels of
both institutions.
The above information was taken from the Boston Globe
which published a series of articles on Chicago housing. None of it was
picked up and reported on by ABC, NBC or CBS.
A number of States have Trust Funds for low cost housing
but construction and management are by government entities, not as in
Chicago by developers and private management companies.
Robert Chapman
see more info on Obama and Valerie
