8BB AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO MIAMI HERALD MONDAY , AUGUST 1 , 2016
A Change Is Gonna Come : Finding Common Ground in Liberty Square
By Audrey Jaynes
From wherever you sit — whether inside Liberty Square ’ s decrepit pastel walls , or behind a desk at Miami-Dade County ’ s Department of Public Housing and Community Development — one thing is for sure : something needs to change .
And change it will . After eighty years of little preventative maintenance , the first federally subsidized housing project for African Americans in the southeast is finally slated to be redeveloped .
“ They ’ re in bad shape .” Says Michael Liu , Director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Public Housing and Community Development , about Liberty Square ’ s 709 units . In fact , many of the apartments are completely uninhabitable . Most residents don ’ t have air conditioning , let alone dishwashers or washer and dryers . Infestations of black mold , mildew , rats and cockroaches are a threat , not only to their comfort , but their health .
But abhorrent living conditions are not the worst of resident ’ s troubles . This is a neighborhood where poverty and socio-economic isolation meet a long history of marginalization , failed urban renewal , joblessness , criminalization and incarceration ; where brazen gang violence has an entire community fearing for their lives . Just over a month ago , an 18-year old young man was killed and his two young siblings injured in a shooting in Liberty City , right around the corner from Liberty Square . The shooters are still at large , and the motivation behind the young man ’ s death remains a mystery .
It is clear that a change must come , and almost certainly will . But whether that change will be more than just cosmetic , whom it will benefit , and whether it will last — that depends on whom you ask
Michael Liu , Director of Public Housing and Community Development Michael Liu is only two years into his position as Director of Public Housing and Community Development for Miami-Dade County . But the former assistant secretary of the U . S Department of Housing and Urban Development ( HUD ) has seen innovation in affordable housing across the country , and his optimism about the Liberty Square redevelopment seems sincere .
Indeed , Related Urban Development Group ’ s Liberty Square Rising proposal — which passed unanimously in a vote with Miami-Dade commissioners on July 6th — is a far cry from the rows and rows of dilapidated , infested concrete homes that
sit north of downtown Miami today . The mixed-income proposal includes 757 affordable housing units and 815 non-public housing units , which will be a mix of affordable , moderate income and market rate — plus an additional 60 housing units for homeownership . The apartments will be bigger , with granite countertops , Energy Star appliances , and central air . There will be a new community center , youth center , medical facilities , a big name supermarket , and even a museum .
The proposal also calls for jobs , though most of them will be temporary , with 20 % of the projected 5,780 construction jobs and 75 % of the 358 post-construction jobs committed to public housing and low-income residents .
From his perspective , Liberty Square Rising is as good as any innovation in public
housing seen across the United States . But his perspective is from the top , and it ' s on the ground-level that this project is often seen quite differently .
Joaquin Willis , Pastor at Church of the Open Door For that I spoke to Reverend Joaquin Willis , who has served residents of Liberty City and Liberty Square as pastor of the Church of the Open Door for over fourteen years . During our conversation , he spoke candidly about the Liberty Square redevelopment project , and frankly , he ’ s not optimistic .
“ We are fearful that what happened in Scott Carver could happen in Liberty Square ,” says Reverend Willis , and his distrust is wholly understandable . In a
Pulitzer-prize winning Miami Herald piece , “ House of Lies ,” the Scott Carver Homes were profiled as just one of a series of failed , incomplete or totally fictitious affordable housing projects by the Miami-Dade County Public Housing Agency and prominent developers in the area in the early 2000s . For years , millions of taxpayer dollars were squandered unchecked , developers made huge profits , and residents were uprooted while their homes were left to decay amidst empty promises of a better tomorrow .
But there ’ s much more to Reverend Willis ’ concerns than displaced residents . From his vantage point , hundreds of millions of dollars — 307 million , to be exact — are about to start flowing ; but the stream will once again bypass the black community . He believes that the proposal process was not conducted fairly ,
and sees it as a missed opportunity for black developers to gain vital experience , particularly with tax credits .
Homes will be built for ownership , but it appears that these homes , and their future equity , are are not meant for current residents . Jobs will be created , but most of them will be temporary . He fears that if transformation does occur , it could be through gentrification .
Given these concerns , it ’ s not surprising that Miami-Dade Inspector General Mary Cagle recently acknowledged that her office is investigating allegations of favoritism and pay-offs in the proposal process . The fact is that these are fears , which — while generally ignored by the majority — are validated by history and shared by many in the black community .
Albert Milo , Senior Vice President , Related Urban Development Group ( RUDG ) Albert Milo is the Senior Vice President of Related Urban Development Group — the Miami developer whose proposal was chosen to redevelop Liberty Square . Milo has been meeting with Liberty Square residents since April , and it seems they ’ re coming around . Each meeting has covered a different topic , from small business development to healthcare and historic preservation , and has had attendance rates from fifty to four hundred residents . The initial fear — displacement — seems to be waning , as the relationship between the developer and residents grows .
Lessons have been learned , which is clear when Milo stresses the importance of resident input . It ’ s also clear when he discusses his plans to work with the Public Defender ' s Office to help residents expunge their criminal records , and the Police Department on crime prevention through environmental design . It ’ s also evident in RUDG ’ s plans to rehabilitate currently vacant Liberty Square apartments and build additional off-site housing for residents to occupy while construction occurs in phases — so no one is displaced .
Finding Common Ground on Contentious Soil
Lessons have indeed been learned . But there is a larger , more global lesson , here , about the the fate of the black community hinging on policies and practices that have historically and consistently been determined by those outside it . This lesson is about the corrupt systems that exist which — despite media exposure and public outcry — keep the status quo from shifting . This lesson is about equity , and the inability of any group to progress without it . This is a lesson which , if learned , would position America for a more substantial type of progress . A lesson which , by validating the bitter history that exists for blacks in America , and the cogs and wheels , which prevent true change , brings the possibility of finding common ground .
Can we finally do right by the black community and residents of Liberty Square ; not through cosmetic fixes , resident input , youth programs , and low-wage jobs , but through ceding real ownership — of processes , policies and properties — and the monetary and experiential equity that comes with it ?
It seems like the answer , for now , is no . But there ’ s always tomorrow .