[StBernard] Lawyer for the development company

[Westley Annis]

Oh yes SJK!  That's why I said I hope every council member will read this.  

He was a lawyer, then went into the slum apts. business himself and then
went back to the law firm he was first with.

I think it will be worthwhile for our council to see what this guy is all
about.

JY



	-----------------------------------------------------
	The article shows, at least to me, that these developers have played
us from
	the very start with their Fair Housing Card and that no matter what
our
	local codes are, they seek exemption and special treatment.  It may
be time
	to get a permit to shake the cans at intersections to raise money to
fight
	Mr Voelker's anticipated appeals.  Appeals which may keep him and
developers
	wealthy while doing little to address the needs of the target
population of
	the housing projects. ---- SJK.
	
	
	http://www.prrac.org/pdf/Voelker.pdf
	Page 9 of 10
	
	
	Many of the articles on dealing with NIMBY recommend
	educating the homeowners and politicians on the societal benefits of
	affordable housing, and countering
	their objections, point-by- point: multifamily generates less
children than
	single family, so impact on
	schools is minimized; apartments have fewer cars per residence than
single
	family, so that traffic is not
	increased; the City needs a place for its school teachers,
firefighters,
	policemen; etc. Certainly, all of
	these statements are true and helpful up front. However, no amount
of logic
	will persuade homeowners
	who are emotional and oftentimes irrational, and the developer will
find an
	ever-expanding list of
	rationales for keeping affordable housing out of their neighborhood.
Faced
	with a rising tide of voter
	opposition, politicians will typically seek to pacify the
homeowners/fellow
	citizens of the City. When the
	Page 10 of 10
	momentum starts to run against the development, and one or more of
the
	politicians starts to take up the
	homeowners' cause, the likelihood of turning the situation around
with
	education on the benefits of
	affordable housing is slim at best, and once the first official
action is
	taken, the developer needs to boldly
	discuss Fair Housing rights and obligations with the City attorney
and the
	City's insurance company.