The Aug. 17 editorial titled “Addison’s too-familiar renewal fight” grossly mischaracterizes a class-action lawsuit brought against the Village of Addison charging that the local government was attempting to use government power to destroy private, residential, tax-paying properties in order to displace–illegally–the two largely Hispanic neighborhoods.
The U.S. Department of Justice worked for nine months to settle the case, but after lengthy and careful investigation filed its own suit in July, alleging that Addison’s actions not only had the effect of discriminating against Hispanics but intended to discriminate.
The editorial fails to address the real concerns of the people taking issue with the use of government to discriminate. For example:
The Tribune characterizes the village’s decision to use tax-increment financing (TIF) as an effort at “urban renewal” for “the redevelopment of decaying areas” and the demolition of “cheaply built apartment buildings.”
Fact: Affordable housing is a scarce commodity in DuPage County. The areas at issue contain more than 200 solid brick apartment buildings–more than 800 affordable housing units–with steadily increasing tax-assessed values. Prior to the lawsuit, the village destroyed 32 tax-paying, fully occupied residential units, creating a tax decrement without having any plans for redevelopment or developer on board.
The editorial suggests that Addison had planned this “renewal” for years and that “some acrimony is inevitable . . . matter how generously an owner is compensated or how much relocation help a tenant receives.” It further asserts that “neither side has put forward a credible strategy to renew those neighborhoods.”
Fact: The village set out to destroy these communities and no adjacent non-Hispanic areas. The village misstated its intentions about acquiring property prior to enacting the TIF districts, made no effort to reach out and work with the residents involved and specifically rejected any financial assistance for relocation. Hispanics United, the Hispanic Council and the individual residents on several occasions proposed community improvement programs.
Finally, the Tribune asks loaded questions: “What will open-housing groups have accomplished by blocking Addison’s ability to renew itself–the perpetuation of a decaying barrio?” “Is this town the problem? Or might the activists and federal prosecutors better spend their time finding out why scores of Chicago suburbs still have no significant minority population of any color?”
Fact: The people involved in this lawsuit are not blocking Addison’s ability to renew itself–only Addison’s ability to use urban renewal as a pretext for removing Hispanics from Addison. None of the plaintiffs is against renewal–renewal for residents who live there and that benefits the whole community.
![At a recent wedding reception in Chicago, guests gathered to toast the newlyweds at the bar. Glasses were lined up in front of them, but no alcohol was poured. Instead, marijuana vapor was pumped into the upside-down glasses, which were then lifted and inhaled in unison. “A lot of people were surprised,” bride Aja Heinlein said. “They didn’t even know that was something they could do.” In the new world of cannabis, consumption at private events like weddings, holiday parties and corporate events is becoming more common. The state law that legalized recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 and […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ctc-L-Illinois-marijuana-wedding15_187593870.jpg?w=525 "At a recent wedding reception in Chicago, guests gathered to toast the newlyweds at the bar. Glasses were lined up in front of them, but no alcohol was poured. Instead, marijuana vapor was pumped into the upside-down glasses, which were then lifted and inhaled in unison. “A lot of people were surprised,” bride Aja Heinlein said. “They didn’t even know that was something they could do.” In the new world of cannabis, consumption at private events like weddings, holiday parties and corporate events is becoming more common. The state law that legalized recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 and […]")
