They are basically using the democratic process to achieve their ends - there's certainly issues with the way they're doing it. But the point is, that we need to use the democratic process too. We can't let them just run amok. Lobbying has become a bad word, but in fact, we have to do everything we can to empower people so that they can meaningfully lobby their elected officials. We want to reclaim lobbying for the average person.
So we do have an ambitious agenda, both in the short and long term.
In the short term, over the next two years, we want to get Affordable Housing Impact Statements adopted in ten U.S. cities and counties by 2018. So with one down--Atlanta--there's nine still to go.
To support this work, we are raising $100,000 on Go Fund Me . We have raised $800 to date. I am actually flying out to New Orleans in two weeks because the City Council there approved a motion for their Planning Department to study Affordable Housing Impact Statements. So I will be meeting with the City and with stakeholders to help them understand the benefits of, and mechanics of, this legislation.
Which, by the way, I'm excited about because the Stanford Social Innovation Review also just did a journal article on our Model Bill.
We will be building a national Board of Directors, and our By-laws have a mandate for low-income and minority representation. This Board will set the long-term agenda in terms of what policies we will pursue next.
But as the good U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders says, they may have the money power, but we've got the people power. I have a vision of young people, and queer people, and people of color, and homeless and low-income people, converging on their State Capitols and their County Commissions and their City Councils and basically re-asserting their basic role in the public policy process.
JB: Lovely. You have a special place in your heart for affordable housing because of your own personal history. Can you share that story with us, Matthew?
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
