Sunday, March 6, 2011

Park Shirlington Residents Order Arlington Police, County Gov't, CivFed, Fairlington Community Leaders to CEASE AND DESIST

Hello, Ms. Yupette,

Thank you for your blog. We have had it with Arlington's Racists and Elitists and have sent a CEASE AND DESIST Order to them. We would appreciate it greatly if you could print it in your blog. Park Shirlington Residents


TO: Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan, Arlington County Police Department, Arlington County Department of Community Planning, Housing, and Development, Arlington County Planning Commission, Arlington County Civic Federation, Fairlington Citizens Association, Inc., Fairlington Villages Condominium Community, Inc.

Subject: CEASE AND DESIST

We are a group of law-abiding and hard-working residents of the Park Shirlington Apartments. We demand you immediately CEASE AND DESIST generating and circulating false information, rumors, malicious gossip, racial and ethnic slurs, and other derogatory information about the residents of Park Shirlington Apartments. We demand Arlington County CEASE AND DESIST its illegal "blockbusting" of Park Shirlington Apartments. We demand you CEASE AND DESIST using the Arlington Police Department to intimidate and frighten law-abiding residents of Park Shirlington Apartments from attending public meetings and other meetings usually open to the public.

We intend to pursue all legal means to protect our right to live in decent, affordable, market rate housing. CEASE AND DESIST your illegal activities that target law-abiding and hard-working residents of Park Shirlington Apartments.

Park Shirlington Residents

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Next "Affordable Housing" Mega-Deal Will Gentrify Out Shirlington Workers

Hi Yupette,

I live in the Park Shirlington Apartments, which are located on South 31st Street between Fairlington Villages and Shirlington. I'm an assistant manager of a Shirlington restaurant and I walk to work every day. I don't own a car, don't need one, shop at Harris-Teeter in Shirlington Village and take public transit. I pay $1345 for a 2-bedroom apartment and I have a roommate to share rent.

You should be aware that the County's Planning and Housing Divisions are in active negotiations with the landlord to tear down Park Shirlington Apartments, owned by Home Properties, and replace them with luxury condos. I understand this is being pushed by some people in Fairlington who don't want minorities living next to Fairlington.

Many of us who live in Park Shirlington walk to work in Shirlington or take public transit (the bus stops in front of Park Shirlington) to the Pentagon and then to D.C.

This seems to be another attempt by a County Government that hates middle class and minority workers to gentrify us out and replace us with yuppies and upscale older people. I have to come to believe what I hear is true - Arlington is run by Racists and Elitists.

Jorge, Park Shirlington Apartments, S. 31st Street.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

School Board - There's a Trailer Classroom in Your Child's Future

Hello Yupette,

I attended the School Board's annual charade at the Civic Federation meeting tonight. As usual, the School Board members were long on promises and short on performance. Often heard were promises of some new program to evaluate an existing program.

One thing seems sure, there will be 5,000 more students in the Arlington School System in 2016. What does the School Board propose to do about that? Looks certain that class size will grow and there will be many more trailer classrooms. The School Board would rather spend money on sports and a variety of esoteric classes than on the 3 new schools that will be required to educate Arlington's K-12 public school students in 2016.

Wakefield Parent