Monday, June 15, 2009

Press Conference: June 16th 12:30pm, 539 Redding St, Biloxi, MS

Residents, Groups say Biloxi City Council is victimizing Katrina Survivors

Before Meeting, Urge City Council to vote down proposed ordinance to remove FEMA Trailers BILOXI, MS – Demanding that the city council protect and treat all its residents fairly, a broad coalition of community activists will hold a press conference before today’s council meeting, demanding that councilors abandon a plan to kick hurricane survivors still living in FEMA trailers out of the city. “It is unthinkable that the city would take this action now,” said Trinh Le. “Those living in FEMA trailers are our neighbors, our friends and our family. We should be doing everything we can to protect them and get them a permanent home, not kick them to the curb.”

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

For more information, contact:
Trinh Le, 228-383-0910 tle@hopecda.org
James Crowell, 228-326-7143 blxnaacp@cableone.net

**** Press Conference: June 16th 12:30pm, 539 Redding St, Biloxi, MS
(Home of Chuck Rogers, Katrina Survivor in FEMA Trailer while rebuilding home)****
Residents, Groups say Biloxi City Council is victimizing Katrina Survivors

Before Meeting, Urge City Council to vote down proposed ordinance to remove FEMA Trailers

BILOXI, MS – Demanding that the city council protect and treat all its residents fairly, a broad coalition of community activists will hold a press conference before today’s council meeting, demanding that councilors abandon a plan to kick hurricane survivors still living in FEMA trailers out of the city.

“It is unthinkable that the city would take this action now,” said Trinh Le. “Those living in FEMA trailers are our neighbors, our friends and our family. We should be doing everything we can to protect them and get them a permanent home, not kick them to the curb.”

Just a few miles from a vast lot housing hundreds of vacant and ready to move-in Katrina cottages, members of a wide swath of local and regional community groups will gather to demand councilors vote against the proposed ordinance. The ordinance, backed by the City’s community development office, will force the removal of FEMA trailers from residential zones by August 9th. Housing and human rights advocates have denounced the proposed ordinance as another step in the victimization and marginalization of residents with disabilities, low income, elderly, immigrant, and minority survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by their elected officials.

The press conference will begin at 12:30 pm at the home of Chuck Rogers, 539 Redding St. in Biloxi. The City Council meeting will be held at City Hall, located at 140 Lameuse Street, 2nd floor in Biloxi at 1:30 pm.

The proposed move by the City Council comes in contrast to the Obama Administration’s recent announcement to stall a planned eviction of families in FEMA trailer, instead deciding to sell a number of mobile homes and park model trailers for $5 or less to residents, and provide $50 million in housing vouchers and federal housing case management assistance to assist remaining qualified residents still in temporary housing to find their best options for permanent affordable housing. The plan, which came about after significant protest and outreach by advocates and residents, was viewed as an important first step on Gulf Coast recovery by the new Administration. Still questions remain about how the Administration plans to address the region’s remaining inter-related post-Katrina-Rita social, economic and environmental crises, especially after the U.S. Treasury Department’s recent decision to exclude Gulf Coast communities from key housing programs in the economic recovery package, affecting the construction of 10,000 much needed affordable housing units[4].

Advocates fear that such actions, if allowed to move forward, will not only be a major set-back for residents rebuilding their homes and lives in Biloxi, but possibly for residents in other cities looking to enact similar ordinances to force out vulnerable residents still residing in FEMA Trailer but unable to find permanent affordable housing.

A petition signed by Biloxi citizens, urges the City Council to acknowledge that the proposed ordinance would greatly affect many [residents], especially those with physical disabilities, members of racial minorities, [and] single mothers with children.

In the petition advocates ask that the City Council of Biloxi support them by:

(1) not passing this ordinance and allow for us to keep FEMA trailers on our property without any additional unnecessary paperwork.

(2) actively work with us as Biloxi residents as well as housing organizations, advocacy groups, and the state and federal government to push for resources and put together a collective plan for a quicker and more equitable rebuilding process so that we will no longer need these FEMA trailers.
Housing and human rights advocates have denounced the proposed ordinance as another step in the victimization and marginalization of Katrina survivors by their elected officials, as well as a possible violation of the Fair Housing Act, due to its likely impact on racial minorities, persons with disabilities, and single mothers with children.

Opponents of the proposed ordinance include:

ACLU of Mississippi
Action Communication and Education Reform, Inc.
Biloxi Branch NAACP
Coastal Women for Change
Dando la Mano
Lutheran Episcopal Services in Mississippi
Hope Community Development Agency
Gulf Coast Fair Housing Center
Moore Community House
Mississippi Center for Justice
Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities
Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster Task Force
Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance
Mississippi LIFE
Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative
MPOWER
STEPS Coalition
Turkey Creek Community Initiatives
ACORN
Advancement Project
Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
Alabama Arise
Episcopal Network for Economic Justice
Equity and Inclusion Campaign
Federation of Southern Cooperatives
Gulf Coast Civic Works Project
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Louisiana Justice Institute
Oxfam America
NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Alliances of Vietnamese American Service Agencies
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
National Low Income Housing Coalition
PICO LIFT
PolicyLink
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
South Bay Communities Alliance
Twenty-First Century Foundation (21CF)
U.S. Human Rights Network

Source: STEPS Coalition http://www.stepscoalition.org/
###

Other Details

Viewed: 495
Comments: 0
Permalink: http://www.stepscoalition.org/news/article/press_conference_june_16th_1230pm_539_redding_st_biloxi_ms/