Beltway Area Indymedia

Today, Tuesday, July 10, at the Committee of the Whole Meeting of the DC City Council, City Council Members Jack Evans (Ward 2) and Kwame Brown (At-Large) will push emergency legislation to sell the West End Library and Special Operations Division properties in the West End neighborhood. In addition to being a blatant misuse of "emergency legislation", Mr. Evans and Mr. Brown want to sell, without any public input, a library to the notorious developer Anthony Lanier, of Eastbanc (affectionately known as the 'King of Georgetown'). Lanier has sought to buy much of the property, successfully, in the area of Square 37 in the West End Neighborhood.

On Monday, June 4th, HUD tenants and allies from across the US came together to fight for affordable housing and dignity. Rallying in front of the Washington DC office of Deutsche Bank, at 1339 New York Avenue NW, one of the largest investors in AIMCO (a major owner/manager of housing units, including public housing, in the United States), the tenants demanded that Deutsche Bank use its shareholder power within AIMCO to make AIMCO abide by the United Nations Global Compact for Responsible Conduct. Deutsche Bank has proclaimed support the Compact. AIMCO, the Apartment Investment Management Company, has treated tenants with utter contempt, including evicting tenants from subsidized housing in order to construct more profitable market rate homes.

Councilmember Jim Graham's bill to allow the Gay clubs the stadium closed to reopen in and Ivy City warehouse district is in trouble. Ward 5 councilmember Harry Thomas is trying to gut the bill, saying he fears the clubs will repel development.

(Audio: 1 min 49 seconds)

Most of the about 50 community residents at an earlier hearing on the bill who opposed it used frankly homophobic arguments. The real question is, who's bankrolling this campaign to stop the gay clubs?