It’s about Priorities
Dear Real Change,
I have been so busy last week I just now got to read an article in Real Change about Cascade People Center losing its funding [“Unique Community Space Loses City Funding,” Oct. 3]. Of course we all know that the center attracts those people who are not quite up to our standards. Some of them don’t even have a postal address. And then they want to use this taxpayer funding to protest things that we deem absolutely necessary like the South Lake Union Trolley (SLUT for short) which overran the projections by a nice amount. But heavens, can you imagine the condos a developer could put on this prime property? We would get people living there who would appreciate our amenities, not like those folds who hang out there. Organic food growers: Who needs them? Kids’ afterschool stuff: Let them hang out on Third and Pine. And for all those other anti-establishment groups which meet there, I say go find something better to do with your time. You could even stay home (If you have one) and learn to like it. We movers and shakers certainly will not miss your destructive and ill-timed comments when we want to make this a world class city. Or maybe Ms. McInturff will let you use her offices for meetings. I am sure she would not mind sharing. Maybe she could even share some of her probably adequate income by tithing to the Cascade People Center Fund to keep it open.
Just a few thoughts on priorities.
Dorli Rainey | Seattle
Hundreds, not Thousands
Dear Real Change,
In a recent edition you profiled Eric Dunn with the Northwest Justice Project [Change Agent, Sept. 5]. Mr. Dunn made reference to “thousands” of people being kicked out of Section 8 housing without receiving due process. In fact, since July of 2005 the Housing Authority has increased the number of households it serves through Section 8 by more than 1,200. The Seattle Housing Authority follows HUD guidelines in conducting its hearings, which occur at the rate of about five per month. In the Tenants Union’s own writing on this issue, they cite a figure of 200 Section 8 participants losing their housing assistance over a two-year period — around 1 percent per year of the 8,000-plus voucher holders. Mr. Dunn’s work on behalf of low-income tenants is admirable, but it is still important to get the facts right.
Virginia Felton | Communications Director, Seattle Housing Auth.