The News
As the Dirty Truth Campaign continues to focus on the issues of resident displacement, vacant and blighted properties, and unaffordable housing, support for our efforts increases. The Dirty Truth Campaign is featured in a new exhibit at Georgia State University's Ernest G. Welch Gallery entitled URBAN INTERVENTIONS: The Beltline. The exhibit highlights the potential pros and cons of Atlanta's most ambitious redevelopment project to date--The Beltline Project.
The Dirty Truth Campaign portion of the exhibit (Advocacy: NPU-V Speaks the Dirty Truth) draws attention to the negative impact that development has had, and continues to have, on NPU-V neighborhoods. As city and state policymakers and private developers put their heads together around this enormous urban revitalization plan, residents of NPU-V and other 'in-town' communities grow more apprehensive about the future of their neighborhoods.
URBAN INTERVENTIONS through the eyes of several local artists continues to ask the question: What will be the Beltline's Legacy? While aesthetic concerns are myriad, the fate of residents whose lives will be directly impacted by this project is uncertain.
The Dirty Truth Campaign will host a special panel discussion on Wednesday, February 27th at the Welch Gallery. Columbia University Professor and author Dr. Mindy Fullilove is a featured panelist along with neighborhood residents and other local experts. The event begins at 6 p.m.
Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design and Gallery
10 Peachtree Center Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30303
www.gsu.edu/artgallery
www.reconstructingatlanta.com
On Earth Day 2007, Dirty Truth volunteers identified the most blighted properties in NPU-V. The list, known as "The Dirty 100," includes properties that are vacant with significant challenges such as the presence of illegal activities and severe dumping. The Dirty 100 also includes research on the last known property owner and photo documentation of most properties. Additionally, properties have been prioritized using a color-coded classification method based on the severity of the challenge.
At a recent meeting with Ronnie Marshall, the City of Atlanta's Code Compliance area supervisor, Marshall spoke with volunteers about the City's process for resolving code violations. He indicated his enthusiasm about working with the Dirty Truth team and discussed some of the City's greatest challenges with moving properties to resolution. As a result of the meeting, the Dirty Truth team, working in conjunction with the Bureau of Code Compliance, will begin a 30-day interval monitoring process to aggressively work toward long-term solutions for segments of the Dirty 100 list.
Priority segments include properties that are in close proximity to schools, parks, and recreation centers--areas where such properties have an impact on child safety. Click here for the first segment of the Dirty 100 list submitted to the Bureau of Code Compliance on June 26, 2007.
The 30-day interval monitoring process will include community testimony at court trials, data collection and research, and a channel of communication between the Bureau of Code Compliance and the Dirty Truth team. As properties are resolved, new properties will be forwarded to the City.
"Although there is excitement about the City's willingness to work with the community to address these problems, the reality is that the system works slowly," says Semira Ajani, a Program Associate at the Center for Working Families and a Dirty Truth team member. However, it is still the goal of the Dirty Truth Campaign to see evidence of progress on all 100 properties within a 90-day timeframe.
(Atlanta) On Saturday April 21, 2007 the Dirty Truth Campaign participated in the City of Atlanta's Arms Around Atlanta Earth Day Celebration, including outreach in Grant Park to raise awareness of the impact of vacant and abandoned properties on the residents of NPU-V. Dirty Truth Campaign members collected more than 300 signatures for a petition calling for more assertive code enforcement by the City of Atlanta. Mayor Shirley Franklin was one of the first people to sign the petition.
Mayor Franklin stopped and talked with members of the Dirty Truth Campaign about the problem of abandonment and the environmental risks it causes to residents of NPU-V. She shared her insights on the many challenges faced by the City, including concerns about the high cost of code enforcement and the need to coordinate with other agencies such as the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness when addressing critical health issues like the presence of rats and other vermin on vacant properties.
When asked if she would be willing to meet with The Dirty Truth Campaign, Mayor Franklin indicated that she would provide the leadership in assuring that the right members of her office connected to the Campaign.
The Dirty Truth Campaign has developed a set of policy recommendations. Click here to read the policy brief. Additional recommendations related to financing code enforcement include:
- Franchise (privatize) abatement procedures and allow private companies to bid for control of specific regions of the city. Private abatement companies would be given authority (i.e. deputized) to identify nuisance properties within their region, seek judicial determination of nuisance, and, once established as a nuisance, abate the nuisance and seek recovery from the property owner by lien or forced sale.
- Fifteen percent of collected fines against property owners set aside for continuous clean-up and abatement in NPU-V.
- In all currently established and future Tax Allocation Districts, in addition to designated percentages for affordable housing development and small business supports, five per cent (5%) of initial bond sales will be used to establish a nuisance abatement fund. This fund will be used to provide advanced capital for the city's abatement of environmental and public safety nuisance properties.
The Mission of the Dirty Truth Campaign is to bridge residents and policymakers to improve the health and quality of life of residents of NPU-V. The Campaign is committed to eradicating (getting rid of) trash, construction debris, and vacant properties in NPU-V that contribute to poor health, crime, and unaffordable housing.
Last year a little girl got raped on her way to school. One little girl who gets raped is one too many. This crime happened right here in our neighborhood at a vacant apartment. Twelve years old. What a dirty shame. Click here to read the story.
How many fires have we all heard of at vacant houses? And how many firemen must lose their lives fighting these types of fires?
Click here to read the tragic story of an Atlanta fireman who left behind a wife and 3 children while fighting a fire at a vacant house.
The problem of blight is not unique to our neighborhoods. It's happening all over. Click here to read about one suburban neighborhood's fight against blight caused by mortgage fraud.