Ok, so, I don’t read Blaska’s blog, it gives me a headache. It’s hard to follow, it doesn’t make sense and facts seem irrelevant. So, I just ignore it . . . however . . .
We taped an episode of Access City Hall with Stuart Levitan and guests David Blaska and myself. That episode can be seen during the month of September:
* Fridays at 7pm
* Saturdays at 5:30pm
* Sundays at 10am
Or, it can be found on the internet here. Anyways, in that episode, Mr. Blaska claims that the blog is factual. I tend to differ with him on that claim. My former strategy was to ignore him and hope he goes away. But, he has some sort of freaky obsession with me (apparently, he’s afraid of me). So, I decided to take it on, at least for a little while and at least for the local issues. I’m not sure how much time I have to keep up with goofiness or if there is enough advil in the world to keep the headaches away.
Anyways, here’s the first offending passage from Thursday’s post:
I have objected to the Community Development Authority’s loading down of our neighborhoods with more Section 8 welfare housing than the community can safely accommodate.
First of all, why is section 8 unsafe? Many of the people on section are are people with disabilities or seniors (62+). Where’s the statistics that show that people on section 8 disproportionately cause crime in neighborhoods. Second of all, if people are on section 8 are causing crime and dragging down neighborhoods, then the real problem is the landlords not screening their tenants properly. Third of all, how much Section 8 is too much, and if he is such a proponent, then where was he when we were trying to pass ordinances that made it easier for Section 8 tenants to live in all neighborhoods?
Here’s a second one for you:
Madame Brenda’s work is bearing fruit
Steve Prestegard at Marketplace tells us that the Wisconsin’s business climate has fallen to 46th in the national Pollina Corporate Real Estate state business climate comparison. Pollina’s 2010 comparison ranks Wisconsin ahead of only Massachusetts, West Virginia, Rhode Island and California. Prestegard says Pollina’s annual comparison is important because Pollina does business site selection, a field in which Pollina’s clients can choose from not just across the U.S., but around the world.Pollina’s report “details how many state governments have the resources, but not the will, to keep Americans employed in high paying 21st Century jobs.
Contrary to popular belief, companies do not move offshore solely because of lower labor costs. Our federal government and most state governments have created a business environment that has become hostile to business, while other countries have created business environments that are considerably more business friendly. Many states have also created hostile environments for business through the use of overzealous taxation and regulation.
Yeah, that’s right, I cause companies to move out of the country! Things I did nearly two years ago on the city council in Madison, WI are impacting the Wisconsin business climate and chasing companies overseas. Yeah, its not the labor costs. And nevermind that I fought for years to get the first Economic Development Plan since 1980. No wonder Blaska is so afraid of me!
Anyways, there’s my first installment . . . pass the Advil, please.
1) Memphis, Tennessee began demolishing its public-housing projects 12 years ago and gave the former residents Section 8 rent-subsidy vouchers and encouraged them to move into new and stable neighborhoods. By 2005, a criminologist closely tracking [the] numbers was describing the pattern as a crime explosion. Two Memphis University academics, Richard Janikowski and Phyllis Betts, a criminologist and a housing expert, respectively, compared notes. “Janikowski merged his computer map of crime patterns with Betts’s map of Section8 rentals … The match was near-perfect,” Hanna Rosin reported in her July-August 2008 article in The Atlantic. “On the merged map, dense violent-crime areas are shaded dark blue, and Section 8 addresses are represented by little red dots. All of the dark-blue areas are covered in little red dots, like bursts of gunfire.”
2) Epic Systems
Take another Advil.
a) That’s one example, from Tennessee, not Madison. What is your local proof?
b) Did people with section 8 have no other housing choices except in crime-ridden neighborhoods? Was there an increase in crime where they moved? There may be a correlation, but was there cause and effect? How many arrests and convictions were there for people holding section 8 vouchers? It’s more complex than that.
c) Epic, seriously? They made their decision to move way before my alleged reign of terror was in full swing. They already had their building in the ground by the time I became council president. I don’t know what went on behind the scenes with the Mayor’s office on that deal, but your fingers are pointing in the wrong direction.
Here’s some more facts, Brenda.
From that same Atlantic article:
researchers around the country are seeing the same basic pattern: projects coming down in inner cities and crime pushing outward, in many cases destabilizing cities or their surrounding areas. Dennis Rosenbaum, a criminologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told me that after the high-rises came down in Chicago, suburbs to the south and west—including formerly quiet ones—began to see spikes in crime; nearby Maywood’s murder rate has nearly doubled in the past two years. In Atlanta, which almost always makes the top-10 crime list, crime is now scattered widely, just as it is in Memphis and Louisville.
In some places, the phenomenon is hard to detect, but there may be a simple reason: in cities with tight housing markets, Section8 recipients generally can’t afford to live within the city limits, and sometimes they even move to different states. New York, where the rate of violent crime has plummeted, appears to have pushed many of its poor out to New Jersey, where violent crime has increased in nearby cities and suburbs. Washington, D.C., has exported some of its crime to surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia.
Much research has been done on the spread of gangs into the suburbs. Jeff Rojek, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina, issued a report in 2006 showing that serious gang activity had spread to eight suburban counties around the state, including Florence County, home to the city of Florence, which was ranked the most violent place in America the year after Memphis was. In his fieldwork, he said, the police complained of “migrant gangs” from the housing projects, and many departments seemed wholly unprepared to respond. ” American Murder Mystery, Hannah Rosin, July-August 2008, The Atlantic Magazine.
You want Madison? Here’s Madison, Brenda:
You can observe the same phenomenon in Madison. Call up the city’s Section 8 housing at the city’s web site.
Now look up the police calls at http://www.madison.com/crime (Type in 5300 Raymond Road, Madison, Wisconsin and set the calendar to February 1.)
“We’re plotting that,” Police Chief Noble Wray confirmed to Blaska’s Blog. He said the study was not complete “but at this point we have not found a high correlation.”
“I agree with The Atlantic monthly article when it says Section 8 moves to smaller cities when the recipients move out of the larger cities,” Chief Wray allowed. “But I disagree with the part that says it is only Section 8.”
Still, the chief did not back away from Captain Jay Lengfeld’s assertion last fall that: “The at risk population in Madison has exceeded the ability of service provides to service them. The City needs to reduce or freeze the number of subsidized housing units in the city.” But Chief Wray added this perspective: “if you’re not going to provide the proper resources.”
http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=26601
Your argument for why section 8 causes crime here in Madison is that a year ago the Chief and police department were studying it and didn’t find a high correlation between crime and section 8? Brilliant. THIS is why you give me a headache. Do you read what you write?
Brenda, I presented an accurate accounting of my one-on-one interview with Chief Noble Wray. (He certainly has had no complaints about my accuracy.) I don’t twist people’s words to suit a political ideology.
Yes, the Chief decided to phrase his remarks with as much (how shall we say it?) political sensitivity as possible — he does have to work in Madison, after all.
So he said he did not find “a high correlation.” Let’s parse that for a moment, shall we? Did he say there is no correlation? Quite the opposite. A fair reading is that he did find a correlation. Not high, not low, but a correlation. In any event, he has never released that study, despite my entreaties that he do so. My guess is that many folks would find a pretty strong correlation.
But then, I never said that Section 8 was the only cause of crime. Certainly, it did not contribute to Bernie Madoff’s crimes. But the Section 8 giveaway mentality can be a contributing factor. That’s not Blaska — that’s the academics saying so.
Now let’s examine his other statements: Chief Wray agrees that Madison is getting Section 8 from the big city projects. He agrees with his west side Captain’s that the at-risk population in Madison has exceeded their ability to keep a lid on things. That is why the chief keeps asking for more officers — because you keep piling on more “at-risks.”
Here is a less politically savvy man in blue, John Amos, neighborhood officer for Meadowood, as I quoted him a year ago at a meeting with neighborhood landlords.
“It’s been crazy,” Officer Amos told them. “People are being funneled up here from Illinois with heavy weapons violations … Gangster Disciples and other groups are coming up here and they are used to ‘taking care of business’ in a different way. The level of violence and the threat of violence is greater than normal,” Amos said.
He said police had come across “a knock-off version” of an AK-47 automatic rifle in the areas. “People are arming themselves very heavily — arming themselves to the teeth.”
The drug trade and drug use are fueling this shooting war. “I have so many drug houses that I can work — it’s backed up, stacked up.”
But your hostility to the police is well known, Brenda. That’s why they endorsed your opponent and one of the reasons your opponent won.
Finally, I invite your readers to study the map of Section 8 recipients here on the southwest side (as of a year ago). The correlation with the high-trouble areas of Park Ridge, Allied Drive, Leland, and Balsam is unmistakable.
http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=26601
You wanted statistics, you got statistics.
Wait a minute. I hear all the stuff you’re saying about crime, but are what does it have to do with Section 8? How many Section 8 vouchers came from Illinois? Are they the one’s committing the crime? If so, point to some facts. There is crime. There are section 8 recipients living in Madison. Some of them might even come from Illinois. But are the issues connected? Are the crimes being committed by people on Section 8 who moved here from Illinois? You seem to be stringing those things together, without facts. If so, prove it. And why won’t Noble Wray release that report? Seems odd. I’d love to see it.
Finally . . . if all you allege is true and there is cause and effect, then explain to me why the landlords are renting to people with criminal backgrounds. Why aren’t they screening tenants? It seems to be that is the heart of your problem if you are correct, which I look forward to you proving.