Housing For All group marches on City Hall

The Housing For All Miami group marched on City Hall Thursday morning to be part of the City Commission meeting. Residents and friends of residents are trying to reconcile the actions of slumlords in Village West who are throwing long-time residents of out of their homes, allowing them to deteriorate more than they have and then sell the property off to the highest bidder.
 

I know that some city leaders are trying to stop this from happening and also trying to raise funds to help the displaced residents move. I had a conversation with John and Debbie Dolson of the Save the Grove Watch Group, who are part of the movement to stop over-development and destruction in the Grove. We spoke outside City Hall. They would like to combine forces with the Housing For All group and make a big difference. I suggested a kickstarter or something to help the people in Village West, perhaps money can be raised to help people move to affordable housing in or near the Grove. I know, "affordable housing" and "Coconut Grove" in the same sentence don't seem to go together.

An idea John and I had was for developers to build affordable housing, especially when they knock down affordable housing to build super shiny expensive high rises. This should be a requirement.

Kathy Parks, advocate for the Village West residents, told the City Commission at Thursday's meeting, "Stop the insanity. It's not human. I don't want to hear disgusting comments [from bigots] on social media. These people don't live off the government. Miami is unaffordable. And we don't enforce the city codes."

I suggested the other day that people stop by their encampment at Grand and Douglas. Sit down, speak with these neighbors. You'll learn a lot.