HOPE VI: Another View
I am writing to respond to the "Color Conscious" article published in the Metro Pulse dated July 13, 2000 ["Leveling the Playing Field" by Attica Scott]. Several points of information are presented below.
Four residents, including elected officers of the College Homes Residents Association, participated on the HOPE VI Steering Committee. Many College Homes residents participated in one or all of three resident meetings which were held in Mechanicsville prior to submission of the HOPE VI application.
During these meetings, residents asked questions and provided direction to the KCDC staff and consultants regarding house design and amenities. Additionally, 25 percent of the College Homes residents participated in a door-to-door survey regarding plan development prior to submission of the grant application.
After receipt of the grant award, a four day master planning charette, conducted by Urban Design Associates (the same master planner used by Louisville's Park Duvalle project) was held in College Homes. Every resident was invited to attend and provide information for the design of the new neighborhood.
The Passport Advisory Council was appointed in September 1998 by the NAACP and KCDC's Board of Commissioners, with half the members being appointed by both groups. Several Mechanicsville residents were appointed to the Passport Advisory Council by both KCDC and the NAACP. KCDC suggested adding the two former College Homes residents who are now on the council.
Mr. Dewey Roberts, Executive Director of the NAACP, addressed the KCDC Board of Commissioners on April 27, 2000 and said that he is pleased with the progress of the HOPE IV Project, and feels it is a model which needs to be seen throughout the country. KCDC HOPE IV has been asked to participate in this years NAACP Community and Economic Development Summit and look forward to the event.
Becky Wade
Vice President
Community-based Program
KCDC
Airport Is Un-Wheeldy
The story of the new airport and the difficulty of access to the gates by handicapped persons was right on the mark ["A Ramp Too Far" by Joe Tarr, Vol. 10, No. 28]. I am temporarily handicapped by virtue of a broken foot, a brace, and the need to use a cane. On two recent occasions, I had difficulty getting to the gate to meet an incoming party. I asked a Delta attendant for a wheelchair, and he said there was only one and it was in use. My wife located a wheelchair at another airline counter and pushed me up the ramp, with difficulty. She had even more difficulty pushing me down the ramp, as she had to restrain the wheel chair from getting away from her. There is an electric passenger cart sitting halfway up the ramp, but I have never seen an attendant in it, nor have I ever seen it in use. Luckily, I had no baggage, but I feel sorry for anyone getting on or off a plane with hand baggage. No one is in evidence to help. The new airport seems definitely not to meet the standards set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Milton M. Klein
Knoxville
| 
