KC Tenants Reject Mayor Q's Proposed 'Slush Fund' Housing Policy

One of the most outspoken local protest groups over the past 5 years is now publicly feuding with Mayor Q.

Here's the relevant passage from their recent statement criticizing 12th & Oak . . .

Statement from KC Tenants . . .

The Mayor refused to commit. KC Tenants left the meeting with fists in the air, chanting.

“We did not come to negotiate with the Mayor. We can’t negotiate on our lives. We came to be heard. I have to use my voice for my children and for my neighbors. Mayor Lucas says we need a Housing Trust Fund to deal with the housing crisis, but his ordinance will create the same problems we are seeing today,” said Javon Swopes, a KC Tenants leader and a tenant who was displaced during the pandemic.

“The People’s Housing Trust Fund ensures that tenants and the most impacted people have a seat at the table. The People’s Housing Trust fund has systems in place, beyond funding, to stem the tides of out of state developers and slumlords and bring the power back in the hands of the people. The Mayor’s slush fund paves the way for more displacement and erasure. Throw it away. Pass the People’s Housing Trust Fund instead,” said Sabrina Davis, a KC Tenants leader.

“The Housing Trust Fund the Mayor proposed says $900 for a studio is affordable. That’s not affordable - not for people like me. I know what it’s like to feel desperate, to do whatever you have to to survive. We don’t need more desperate people on the streets of Kansas City. We need more TRULY affordable housing. We need a People’s Housing Trust Fund,” said Nick Woodard, a KC Tenants Leader and a leader with Armour Flats Tenant Union.

KC Tenants had planned to give testimony at the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee hearing. However, the Mayor cancelled the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee hearing at 5pm yesterday, citing “administrative error” in scheduling. KC Tenants plans to show up to the rescheduled Committee meeting, likely next week.

KC Tenants will hold a public town hall on housing in Kansas City in November. The Mayor committed to attend.

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Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . . 

KC Tenants via FB: SOCIAL HOUSING FOR THE PEOPLE!
HOUSE THE PEOPLE!
NO ON MAYOR Q'S DEVELOPER SLUSH FUND!

Developing . . . 

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