Obama plans to be engaged in urban affairs/"White House Office on Urban Policy" (Chicago: crime, college)

[Swandaddy]

Very interesting read:

Urban Policy | Change.gov

Obama administration planning on being engaged in urban issues, possibly via a creation of a "White House Office on Urban Policy." What role does Chicago play in this? Potential benefits for Chicago? Contributions to other cities via Chicago through this type of domestic agenda? What sort of opportunities can this bring?

[Drover]

Great, another opportunity for the feds to meddle and probably make things worse.

[Avengerfire]

I do not mean to be an ass;but if his track history in turning around his own legislative district in Chicago while a State Senator is any indication of what he can do,this office will do more harm then good. Again,I hope I am wrong.

[Avengerfire]

"End the Dangerous Cycle of Youth Violence: As president, Barack Obama will support innovative local programs, such as the CeaseFire program in Chicago, that have been proven to work. Such programs implement a comprehensive public health approach that implements a community-based strategy to prevent youth violence..."

It has been working? Really? LMAO

"...Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also restore cuts to public housing operating subsidies, and ensure that all Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs are restored to their original purpose."

Oh great, all we need is more housing projects.Lets go back to the 1960's with public housing!

Ok, I am done here.

[Mamama Mia]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

I do not mean to be an ass;but if his track history in turning around his own legislative district in Chicago while a State Senator is any indication of what he can do,this office will do more harm then good. Again,I hope I am wrong.

I so agree. He did nothing while in the Illinois senate. And very Obama-like, let's create more government...

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

"End the Dangerous Cycle of Youth Violence: As president, Barack Obama will support innovative local programs, such as the CeaseFire program in Chicago, that have been proven to work. Such programs implement a comprehensive public health approach that implements a community-based strategy to prevent youth violence..."

It has been working? Really? LMAO

Actually, yes. Cease Fire is a very good program and is one of the few that has had a real impact in the community in preventing violence and conflicts before they begin. You should read up on it; the Tribune had an excellent piece in their Sunday magazine a few months back.

I don't understand how people could not see this as a good thing. Urban areas, issues, and infrastructure have been largely been ignored by the federal government for some time now. Having an urban-minded president is a HUGE asset to Chicago and other metropolitan cities.

[Lookout Kid]

I tend to disagree with Democrats on housing policy unless it is more moderate and includes mixed-income housing as the model. This is one area where I fear the impact of an Obama administration. But other urban intervention is greatly needed at the Federal level--particularly in the areas of infrastructure, planning, and education.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by via chicago

Actually, yes. Cease Fire is a very good program and is one of the few that has had a real impact in the community in preventing violence and conflicts before they begin. You should read up on it; the Tribune had an excellent piece in their Sunday magazine a few months back.

Cease Fire is a great program, and there have been a lot of articles about how cuts to the program have contributed to the rising murder rates in the city. This is pretty typical of the articles written about Cease Fire:

A Chicago Reporter analysis of crime statistics provided by CeaseFire shows that the total number of shootings spiked during seven months following the funding cut in the 11 communities where CeaseFire ended its operation, compared with the same period the year before.

As has been noted in many other threads the increased shootings in Chicago over the last year have been very localized, and there is a direct correlation to communities that have lost Cease Fire funding.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I tend to disagree with Democrats on housing policy unless it is more moderate and includes mixed-income housing as the model. This is one area where I fear the impact of an Obama administration. But other urban intervention is greatly needed at the Federal level--particularly in the areas of infrastructure, planning, and education.

I agree. But I think most policy leaders realize that the old methods of public housing have failed and that its not a model for the future.

[PokerPlayer1]

Let's face it. "Urban policy" is code for impoverished, inner-city black people, with maybe a few tangential issues (like infrastructure) that apply to everyone.

Of all the problems that face that particular demographic, the most unfair and oppressive is that of offender reentry. The fact that our society has gotten to the point where we won't let a person reform as a matter of institutional policy- even if they genuinely want to- is just disgusting. It is nearly impossible for ex-offenders to find any sort of meaningful employment, and people wonder why the recidivism rate is what it is?
We incarcerate people without any efforts towards rehabilitation, release them back into society without any viable skills and then tell them that even if they want to work, we aren't going to let them...

It's the first issue that Obama should address. We need a Federal law that mandates expungement of an array of offenses after a certain period of time, on both the state and Federal level. As things stand, there are a number of states where expungement is impossible. People convicted in Federal court- even of relatively menial offenses or offenses that occurred when they were very young- have NO recourse for expungement. Their only avenue for a bit of relief is the 1-10,000 shot of a presidential pardon, but even then, that doesn't seal their record.

Don't read me wrong here... There are offenses that are so grave that there is no forgiveness, even if the offender earns release. With that said, the vast amount of things our society criminalizes are morally neutral and shouldn't preclude someone from being able to work. I just cannot stand that a 19 year old kid who sells some pot, it sentenced to probation, is released from probation, goes to college and wants to be an account but we won't let him... Our society errs so gravely here and is so morally off base on this issue it makes me want to puke.