What the flippity flip, Arlington Housing?
Apr. 9th, 2021 03:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adrian_turtleI live in Arlington, Massachusetts. I'll risk disclosing that, despite the security risks of telling the internet where I am, because there are more than 40,000 of us here. (Besides, a fair few of you who read my DW know my street address because I gave it to you.) We're having a local election tomorrow, and things are getting weird. Or maybe I'm just confused.
This town is what New York used to call a "streetcar suburb." The subway ends right outside one edge of town, and highways pick up along others. At the end of the 20th century, when I started paying attention, homes were relatively* inexpensive and the place was painfully white. There were a few restaurants (no bars. Repeat with loudspeaker: No Bars! The liquor stores just beyond each border rejoice.) A few little shops, some supermarkets, and a lot of houses. All that has been changing. The town issued a few liquor licenses, because they are so very profitable. The town has been gradually getting a bit more racially diverse, over the same years that I have been growing more aware of systemic racism and less patient with such gradual change. Meanwhile, homes have been getting a LOT more expensive. I stay in my apartment because the ceiling only leaks a little, and the stair railings usually stay in place, and such a useful bus stop is so nearby, and the rent is so much lower than the town's market rate. Little shops closed when their landlords doubled or tripled their rent, and so storefronts stayed empty for years.
We're having a local election tomorrow. Oh good! I want there to be more affordable housing. I want more mixed-use buildings. I don't want so many empty storefronts. I can vote for Town Meeting (which anyone outside New England would call a city council *eyeroll*) and Select Board (which allocates money for stuff) and the Arlington Housing Authority (which runs public housing.) At least it's obvious what the "School Committee" is supposed to be doing, even if you're not from here. Er...maybe it's not obvious to me what the school committee is supposed to be doing, because I don't have a kid in public school and have not been paying close attention. But maybe they could do something about that thing where Black students get in serious trouble more often than white ones for similar behavior? Or even acknowledge that racial disparities in achievement are important, even when everyone graduates? But I digress from housing.
Two people are running for one position on the Arlington Housing Authority. There are long waiting lists for apartments in housing projects and for subsidies (that recipients use to help pay landlords.) So many people need help there simply isn't enough to go around and the tangled mess of state regulations would be a real problem even if the local authority were run as well as possible. Is the local authority being run as well as possible? I doubt it. Is the challenger running for the office this spring likely to do better? THAT is the question.
The incumbent has been in this position for years. He's raised lots of money to supplement the state funds. He has an MBA and a day job in management. He set up partnerships with the police, with senior services and meals on wheels. 90% of tenants are satisfied with the job he's doing. Isn't that great?
I'd think so, but the challenger has dealt with the AHA from the other side (when she needed housing assistance, herself, and when she was assisting others over the last ten years.) She said residents and people needing help are treated without dignity or humanity, and the process is insufficiently transparent, which I don't doubt for a moment. She blamed systemic racism, and the local FB group promptly exploded with "How dare you call this admirable public servant a racist!" She complained about residents being afraid of retaliation if they spoke up about problems, which makes me think differently about the incumbent's 90% approval. Local advocacy group "Arlington Fights Racism" endorses her***. Isn't that great?
Then****, the challenger is accused of sharing an address with her campaign manager. Nobody mentions the scandalous possibility that she might be living with a woman she is not married to (because this is 2021 and this town is dead to propriety.) Nobody mentions that she might be renting a spare bedroom and bathroom in the basement, though the zoning board does not want to authorize that kind of arrangement. People are really outraged, because this is apparently evidence that she lives in Malden and her entire campaign is fraudulent.
Next, the campaign manager yelled at an AHA member over the phone and at home. (Not the one running for re-election. A different AHA member. The one who accused the challenger and her campaign manager of sharing an address.) "How dare you disclose that private information!" and "Your organization is as corrupt as the Mafia" may or may not be harassment, technically. The campaign is not making itself look good, much as I am uncomfortable with tone arguments as a general thing. The campaign manager was one of the leaders of AFR, and several candidates they had endorsed told the organization "Get off my side!"
Does anybody know more about this?
Comments screened unless you ask me to unscreen.
*relatively. Nothing anywhere near Boston is inexpensive.
**Campaigning tends to be very big on "I've lived in Arlington all my life," or "I've lived in Arlington for 30 years and have 3 children in Arlington schools," or "I've lived in Arlington all my life, and my parents and grandparents lived in Arlington." Clearly, voices for change.
***I like the idea of Arlington Fighting Racism, but have not made it to any meetings. I have heard them accused of being "too divisive" and "radical" and "they cause racism, themselves." Are they actually doing something objectionable, or are they just pissing off the same people who dislike Black Lives Matter and antifa? I have not made it to any meetings.
****I mean, now. After I would have mailed my ballot, if I were voting by mail.
This town is what New York used to call a "streetcar suburb." The subway ends right outside one edge of town, and highways pick up along others. At the end of the 20th century, when I started paying attention, homes were relatively* inexpensive and the place was painfully white. There were a few restaurants (no bars. Repeat with loudspeaker: No Bars! The liquor stores just beyond each border rejoice.) A few little shops, some supermarkets, and a lot of houses. All that has been changing. The town issued a few liquor licenses, because they are so very profitable. The town has been gradually getting a bit more racially diverse, over the same years that I have been growing more aware of systemic racism and less patient with such gradual change. Meanwhile, homes have been getting a LOT more expensive. I stay in my apartment because the ceiling only leaks a little, and the stair railings usually stay in place, and such a useful bus stop is so nearby, and the rent is so much lower than the town's market rate. Little shops closed when their landlords doubled or tripled their rent, and so storefronts stayed empty for years.
We're having a local election tomorrow. Oh good! I want there to be more affordable housing. I want more mixed-use buildings. I don't want so many empty storefronts. I can vote for Town Meeting (which anyone outside New England would call a city council *eyeroll*) and Select Board (which allocates money for stuff) and the Arlington Housing Authority (which runs public housing.) At least it's obvious what the "School Committee" is supposed to be doing, even if you're not from here. Er...maybe it's not obvious to me what the school committee is supposed to be doing, because I don't have a kid in public school and have not been paying close attention. But maybe they could do something about that thing where Black students get in serious trouble more often than white ones for similar behavior? Or even acknowledge that racial disparities in achievement are important, even when everyone graduates? But I digress from housing.
Two people are running for one position on the Arlington Housing Authority. There are long waiting lists for apartments in housing projects and for subsidies (that recipients use to help pay landlords.) So many people need help there simply isn't enough to go around and the tangled mess of state regulations would be a real problem even if the local authority were run as well as possible. Is the local authority being run as well as possible? I doubt it. Is the challenger running for the office this spring likely to do better? THAT is the question.
The incumbent has been in this position for years. He's raised lots of money to supplement the state funds. He has an MBA and a day job in management. He set up partnerships with the police, with senior services and meals on wheels. 90% of tenants are satisfied with the job he's doing. Isn't that great?
I'd think so, but the challenger has dealt with the AHA from the other side (when she needed housing assistance, herself, and when she was assisting others over the last ten years.) She said residents and people needing help are treated without dignity or humanity, and the process is insufficiently transparent, which I don't doubt for a moment. She blamed systemic racism, and the local FB group promptly exploded with "How dare you call this admirable public servant a racist!" She complained about residents being afraid of retaliation if they spoke up about problems, which makes me think differently about the incumbent's 90% approval. Local advocacy group "Arlington Fights Racism" endorses her***. Isn't that great?
Then****, the challenger is accused of sharing an address with her campaign manager. Nobody mentions the scandalous possibility that she might be living with a woman she is not married to (because this is 2021 and this town is dead to propriety.) Nobody mentions that she might be renting a spare bedroom and bathroom in the basement, though the zoning board does not want to authorize that kind of arrangement. People are really outraged, because this is apparently evidence that she lives in Malden and her entire campaign is fraudulent.
Next, the campaign manager yelled at an AHA member over the phone and at home. (Not the one running for re-election. A different AHA member. The one who accused the challenger and her campaign manager of sharing an address.) "How dare you disclose that private information!" and "Your organization is as corrupt as the Mafia" may or may not be harassment, technically. The campaign is not making itself look good, much as I am uncomfortable with tone arguments as a general thing. The campaign manager was one of the leaders of AFR, and several candidates they had endorsed told the organization "Get off my side!"
Does anybody know more about this?
Comments screened unless you ask me to unscreen.
*relatively. Nothing anywhere near Boston is inexpensive.
**Campaigning tends to be very big on "I've lived in Arlington all my life," or "I've lived in Arlington for 30 years and have 3 children in Arlington schools," or "I've lived in Arlington all my life, and my parents and grandparents lived in Arlington." Clearly, voices for change.
***I like the idea of Arlington Fighting Racism, but have not made it to any meetings. I have heard them accused of being "too divisive" and "radical" and "they cause racism, themselves." Are they actually doing something objectionable, or are they just pissing off the same people who dislike Black Lives Matter and antifa? I have not made it to any meetings.
****I mean, now. After I would have mailed my ballot, if I were voting by mail.
