[We Are Many, We Are O.N.E. 1]

A meeting of residents and tenants rights organization in Uptown and surrounding neighborhoods with representatives of the Chicago Housing Authority that erupts into chaos.

00:56Copy video clip URL An audience awaits the start of an event for “We Are Many, We Are O.N.E.”

01:32Copy video clip URL Anita Alcantara introduces the guests from the Chicago Housing Authority including Zirl Smith, director of the CHA, Myron Roll, director of the Housing Program, Robert Murphy, manager of the Development Section, Barbara Faulkner, assistant manager of development, Linda Van Neville, relocation director. Alcantara details the many problems that community members have had about the state of their housing and the cost.

04:21Copy video clip URL Peggy Dejarley, chair of the Committee for Native Americans, discusses the difficulties and broken promises that plague her community is experiencing in securing proper housing. 

08:50Copy video clip URL Tran Tranh of the Asian Coalition requests assistance in securing housing for Asians in Chicago. He mentions the growth of the Vietnamese population, and then addresses the Vietnamese people in the audience in Vietnamese.

12:10Copy video clip URL Renée Reilly of the O.N.E. organization speaks about the problems affecting the members of their tenants organization: overcrowding, disrepair, roaches. 

15:00Copy video clip URL Anna Alvarado from Comité Latino speaks in Spanish. 

16:45Copy video clip URL A translator explains that Anna has testified about her difficulties in finding affordable housing for her and her family. 

17:50Copy video clip URL Yvonne Daniele, Felicia Mitchell, and Shirley Johnson deliver demands to the CHA board.

22:02Copy video clip URL Zirl Smith responds to the demands, starting by addressing restrictions placed on them by HUD guidelines. He then discusses the policy for maintenance. 

27:19Copy video clip URL Smith addresses the housing applications delivered at the event and the policies for assigning housing. 

28:45Copy video clip URL Another CHA official discusses the Section 8 certificate waiting list. An audience member requests a list of landlords who will accept Section 8 certificate holders. He cannot provide one. 

32:40Copy video clip URL Smith asserts that the CHA is as fair and as speedy as they can be based on the size of the organization and the other organizations that they have to work with. 

36:50Copy video clip URL An audience member asks about the amount of subsidized housing that will be made available. Smith says that he cannot answer. But he offers to send a letter following up on the confirmed units. 

38:50Copy video clip URL A woman stands up and yells, disrupting the meeting, asserting that O.N.E. does not represent her and that they are “Johnny-Come-Latelies.”. The meeting gets increasingly chaotic as yelling continues. The moderators and speakers attempt to calm the audience. Someone appears to be injured. 

45:45Copy video clip URL A man addresses the audience and discusses the over-representation of the Uptown community at the meeting. 

47:56Copy video clip URL A woman talks about the people who have been on CHA waiting lists for years already.

48:54Copy video clip URL A woman disputes O.N.E.’s authority to represent the residents of Edgewater and Uptown. A woman for another organization explains the ways in which O.N.E. has helped her tenant council. An O.N.E. representative explains their election process. 

51:08Copy video clip URL A woman from the East Andersonville Residency Council asserts that O.N.E. has not worked with them. She is against the CHA’s housing efforts because a CHA building in her neighborhood has a lot of gang graffiti. She expresses the need for the CHA to be better about maintenance. 

52:40Copy video clip URL A woman addresses the arguments of the evening and notes that the CHA officials have all left. The conflict is between people who don’t want any more affordable housing built in their neighborhood and those who need places to live. 

55:45Copy video clip URL Another woman reiterates the housing coalition’s mandates, decided at a previous public event. Audience members have some feedback.