Not in my backyard

Councilman opposed to new apartment project, calls subsidized rent a ‘cancer’ on Glen Burnie | MDGazette.com

You have to read this article! If you don't, here's my synopsis: A developer wants to build apartments that will be affordable to county residents. A county councilman (who happens to be a Republican by the name John Grasso) opposes this idea. See, Grasso isn't just a councilman, he's a landlord (and many say he's a slumlord). He gave some really great quotes to the reporter, such as, " “What kind of person only pays $380 a month in rent?” Grasso said. “Not a quality person we want in our neck of the woods. Please go somewhere else. We got a whole city by the name of Baltimore.” Wow, just wow. HELLO! Not all low income people are criminals. What kind of person pays $380 a month in rent? The person who can only afford that! Yes, there are people who abuse the system. But, believe me, the 'system' is not easy to get into. There's a crazy long waiting list for housing vouchers. Grasso manages apartment units that are notorious for drug activity and concedes that he has made poor choices in the past in choosing tenants who ended up being drug dealers. Mr Grasso is accused of being a slumlord who doesn't take care of his units. Yes, there are two sides to every story but the accusations are out there. Besides his ignorance, who says, "We got"?! Yes, I make lots of grammatical mistakes, but I"m not being quoted in the newspaper!

Where are people supposed to live? Am I supposed to live on the streets or hope I can get a bed in a shelter? He wants all housing vouchers to be used in Baltimore. So, let's segregate people by classes. Hhhmmm I thought we were above that?! Why not have people from different walks of life live together in the same neighborhoods? Why is this so difficult?

Most people know that I have security issues and that I get scared. A LOT. Brooklyn (MD) is known to be not the safest place. My grandmother went to church in Brooklyn and I spent a lot of time there growing up. The neighborhood has changed...a lot...over the years. Sure, nobody wants to look over their shoulder everywhere they go. But, let's live in reality. We all have areas that we are a little more careful of. How about we give people a chance to live a 'normal' life, no matter what their economic status? Make housing affordable. Make it nice housing. I'm not saying designer duds or a waterfront view (hello, Annapolis housing!) but 'normal' housing. Let's make the landlord or management company keep up with things. Keep up with repairs, no rodents or roaches, working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, etc.

The second we segregate people into different classes, we have HUGE issues. Most people know that I feel strongly that everyone is equal. Black, white, gay, straight, bi, transgendered, Asian, Latino, male, female, police officer, teacher, doctor, retail worker, food service, etc. We are the same and should be treated as such. You should not get in more trouble for killing one person over killing another person. A person is a person. This gets tricky with hate crimes. Deep down, I don't think there should be hate crime laws. Maybe should is the wrong word. I wish we didn't NEED hate crime laws. But, some crimes are committed out of hate versus some crimes are committed just 'because." I know some people disagree with this. Maybe they've never encountered being hated by someone. I have. It is not fun. I have been judged and hated because of my sexuality. What business is it of yours who I love? Why do you care? It does not effect you in the slightest. While I am vocal about gay rights, I don't push my life on you. I won't even call it a 'lifestyle' because it's just my life. Do people call it a 'straight lifestyle'? I think not.

Okay, I've gotten way off topic. My original point is that I'm sad that I live in a county that has a person like this on my county council. There's another councilman (Derek Fink) who also opposes the proposed affordable housing. He's a local guy who is a part owner in a new restaurant/bar. He won't come out with his own opinion, always saying "my constituents." But I think he lacks back-up. I don't know. He just seems weasily to me. Too many closed minded folks around these parts for me. It's liek this peninsula is stuck way back in time. It scares me.

As Rodney King said, "Can't we all just get along?!"