5/19/2020
My dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,
I was happy to see that you met with some folks yesterday who could help you understand the plight of the communities that are the most adversely affected by Co-Vid. Are you sure that “Opportunity Zones (OZ)” are going to help residents get healthier, so Co-Vid wouldn’t be so deadly for them? It seems to me that OZ are about rich folk avoiding taxes by investing in gentrification more than anything else.
Next time you convene the group, please invite Rep. Alma Adams from NC12. She’s got a lot of ideas to make sure that OZs help the poor folk in low income census tracks (CT). She’s got several OZs in her district, including CT 46 which is 95% Black with an average income of $25,881. It’s not far from downtown Charlotte. Folks there need “lifting up” & she wants to make sure that their neighborhood doesn’t get torn down to build some fancy luxury apartments. She’s also keeping her eye on what happens to the property where Eastland Mall used to be. It could become a training facility for the new major league soccer (MLS) team that’s supposed to start playing in 2021. I’m not sure if that facility will “lift up” the residents, especially if MLS goes bust. I hope you’ll talk to her about her ideas to relieve the poverty that has plagued her CTs for generations.
I was disappointed that you were joking about whether or not you would read the 67-page report that the Revitalization Council gave you. I would hope that you give it the attention it deserves. I’m sure there’s an executive summary, so at least read that and then you can ask Brooke Rollins any questions that you might have. By the way, next time one of your Secretaries calls her, “Brooky,” please intervene and insist that he refer to her by her title. It’s the respectful thing to do.
I’m sure the farmers, ranchers & meat packing workers will be eager to hear your remarks today. Please do your best to put the country at ease so folks don’t panic about the food supply.
HYITL,
