As a resident of Addison, I have read with interest your news coverage of the settlement of the housing discrimination lawsuit against the village, the solid editorial of Aug. 11 and John McCarron’s column of Aug. 18 (Op-Ed).
Frankly, I am confused. Where is McCarron getting his facts and ideas about the case? Certainly not from your reporters, any of the plaintiffs or victims. I used to live in the Green Oaks neighborhood in Addison, one of the areas targeted by the village for demolition. My home was not dilapidated. It met the village codes year in and year out, just like the rest of the homes in the neighborhood.
And yet, in 1994 I was forced to search for a new home because the village bulldozed the one I lived in. Not only did we have the right to stay there, but we also truly loved our neighborhood. And before the village targeted our area for demolition, home prices were rising at a rate faster than the rest of the village.
McCarron makes the case that Hispanic groups and “fair-housing crusaders” are preventing redevelopment and urban renewal. I’m just glad that we could turn to the Leadership Council, Hispanics United and the lawyers who donated much of their time when the village was trying to drive us out. And we weren’t against redevelopment, as long as it benefited our community. But it wasn’t going to. The village had no plans other than to bulldoze both communities and leave hundreds of Hispanics out on the streets.
There is very little affordable housing in Addison. Displaced residents requested assistance from the village and were turned away. The new redevelopment plan finally includes assistance to the displaced and a promise that additional affordable housing that is demolished will be replaced–after three years of negotiations.
No one is more excited and relieved that the case has settled than the residents. The residents who hadn’t already been displaced have been afraid of losing their homes for three years now. I assume Mr. McCarron has never been forced out of his home by a municipality he trusted. If he had, his column would not have sided with Addison and other suburbs who now can’t discriminate against their Hispanic residents.
