MARCC DELEGATES COUNCIL MINUTES9 May 2012
Welcome: MARCC President Pat Coyle
Prayer:
Minutes: Delegates Council Minutes of 11Aprilapproved
Agenda: Delegates Agenda for 9Mayapproved
Attendance:
Archdiocese of Cincinnati: Fr. James Bramlage, Tom Choquette, Bob EhrsamFr. Joe Folzenlogen, Don Gloeckler, Deb Rose-Milarcc, Connie Widmer
Association of Unity Churches: Mark Stroud
Baptist Ministers Conference: Rev. Aaron Greenlea
Disciples of Christ: Larry Pigg, David Tietsort
Episcopal Diocese of Southern OH: Ed Burdell, Pat Coyle, Sigred Coyle, Kimberley Fonner, Marilyn M. Logan, Bill Woods
Jewish Community Relations Council: Barbara Glueck, Alice Perlman, Burt Perlman
MARCC: Margaret A. Fox (Executive Director), Alice Skirtz (Past-president and guest speaker)
Miami Baptist Assoc. (American Baptist): Mark Basil
Presbytery of Cincinnati: Rev. David Beran, Rev. Bob Clary, Hart Edmonds, George Hufford, Pat Timm, Tiffany Zents
Religious Society of Friends (Quaker): Eileen Bagus, Donne Hayden, Frank Huss
United Methodist Church (OH River Valley Dist.): Nancy Walters, Cathie Shick
Unitarian Universalist Council of Cincinnati: Carol Fencl, Ethel Ingalls, Lee Meyer, M.J. Pierson
United Church of Christ: Jeanne Nightingale
Guests: Gina Maglionico (Cincinnati AFL-CIO), Rev. _____(illegible)
Recording: Flip camera (attempted)
Handouts: MARCC May Newsletter
Note on the Minutes:
In the absence of the MARCC Office Administrator, an attempt was made to capture the meeting on a Flip camera from which the minutes could later be completed. The attempt was not successful, so below are notes from the presentation graciously provided by the speaker, Alice Skirtz.
Presentation:
Topic: Econocide: Elimination of the Urban Poor
Presenter: Alice Skirtz, author
-Ms. Skirtz discussed material from her newly released book Econocide: Elimination of the Urban Poor that documents recent Cincinnati history of relentless policy-driven initiatives to eliminate poor people, 'economic others' from the City.
-Like genocide, econocide is a construct to understand removal of a collectivity of economically poor people from the city by policies to remove them for their behaviors and presence in public space, along with their housing, and social services in the name of economic development.
-Attendees were reminded of Cincinnati's history of economic development that "removed" poor people from downtown beginning in the 1950's. Tenements that extended from 4th street to the Ohio River were razed for Ft. Washington Way and I-75; several dozen downtown residential hotels (Ft. Washington, Dennison, Metropole, Princeton, Gibson, the Browne) and residences like the Anna Louise Inn were felled for the Convention Center, upscale hotels, and retail. Downtown churches (Wesley Chapel Methodist, Allen Temple AME, Sacred Heart Italian Catholic, St. Xavier High School) were taken for economic development for the P&G Garden and W&S. Economic development removed 'economic others' displacing them to OTR, deeper into the East End and West End, and to other neighborhoods away from downtown.
-Current, relentless policy-driven removal of 'economic others' continues displacement now facilitated by newly authorized forms of privatization, public private partnerships, and elimination of the Planning Department that forsake community input and neighborhood Comprehensive Plans. Such policies and development initiatives have resulted in reduced affordable housing, shelters, and social services, and ordinances that restrict use of public space e.g., Panhandler Ordinances, Housing Impaction Ordinance, Homeless to Homes Ordinance, take the Metropole Apartments, attempted Zoning Amendments to prohibit shelters and services from residential and business neighborhoods, removal of DropInn Center, Gospel Mission, and soup kitchens, transitional housing from OTR; ongoing attempts to remove Anna Louise Inn, etc.
-City government has surrendered decision-making in arenas of planning, economic development, housing, and social services to governance by public-private partnerships driven by principles of a market economy - to provide good return on investments, to establish economic homogeneity - eliminating poor people. Best known is the City's transfer to Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) full authority for planning, housing, and economic development of OTR, downtown, and initially the riverfront. 3CDC also has long term contracts to manage public assets of Fountain Square, Washington Park, and to implement Homeless to Homes to remove the DropInn Center.
-Skirtz argued that surrender of government functions to privatized governance also eliminates public participation in decision-making, denies redress of grievance, and privatizes not only once-public functions like economic development, but also democratic decision-making.
-Where's MARCC in this story? MARCC - Judicatories and congregants - are seen as uniquely placed to call out social injustice, especially in this socio-political-economic realm. As MARCC has no fiduciary obligation to shareholders nor to profit from the market economy, we can speak from the shared social justice positions of our Judicatories, discerned by consensus to champion an inclusive society where econocide is unknown.
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Q&A
Topics/questions that I remember were raised:
Q: How do we compare to others cities? Are we more or less advanced in privatization?
A: Comparison with other cities was not part of this study. Privatization probably best known and advanced by Indiana.
Q: Several questions about crime in Over-the-Rhine...
Q: Crime in Over-the-Rhine and crime as the problem and isn’t it getting better?
A: 3CDC (and their pro-business supporters) have stirred and perpetuated a public narrative about their success at reducing crime as if that were the only impediment to development,
keeps public narrative focused on crime to deflect from need to include 'economic others' in the community. Fabricated hysteria to focus on crime deflects from real need for affordable housing options.
Q: Is there way to change the housing situation?
A: Perhaps increase neighborhood input in Council's discussions on Form Based Code (zoning)
(Ed Burdell provided a definition of form based codes).
Q: Can we change 3CDC Board? Let's get some community people elected to that Board.
A: 3CDC is a public-private partnership (PPP) incorporated as a non-profit; 3CDC Board is restricted to CEO's, no possible non-corporate membership; no community or non-CEO's can have membership; 3CDC's development contracts and contracts for management of public assets (e.g., Fountain Square and Washington Park) have no provision for public input, oversight is by contract compliance.
Q: (David Beran) Where do find hope in this depressing state of affairs. Is there any hope?
A: One minor opening to change is Council's recent call for restoration of CDAB.
Q: (Connie Widmer) Is this about more than how we treat poor people?
A: It is about how we eliminate poor people, but also about how our government's surrender of democratic decision-making to privately constructed entities allows such removal of poor people, their housing, and participation in our civic life.