Daily Archives: March 3, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified housing challenges across the country, especially for low- and moderate-income households. Housing prices and rents have risen more than 17% and 10%, respectively, over the past yearreflecting both historically strong demand and restrictions on new supply. Even as the overall economy recovers, upward pressure on housing costs is putting particular stress on renter households, who tend to be younger and lower-income than homeowners, with higher shares of Black and Latino or Hispanic families. Even before the pandemic, more than 10 million renter households were spending over half their income on housing.

In March 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) to help the U.S. economy recover from the pandemic. A key component, the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), contains $350 billion that state and local governments can use to address ongoing challenges, including housing. SLFRF dollars provide more flexibility than most federal programs and can be used for a variety of investments and activities across multiple policy domains. This flexibility has both pros and cons: Local governments may be better able to match funds to needs than under narrowly prescribed programs, but it requires grantees to develop and implement well-targeted plans within a limited timeframe. Specifically, the Treasury Department guidelines require SLFRF dollars to be committed by December 31, 2024, with the remainder spent by December 31, 2026.

To get the most out of this once-in-a-generation opportunity, local governments need to assess their current needs and capacities, then determine the most cost-effective and feasible investments to address those needs. This piece outlines some guidance to help local governments start their planning process for using these funds to address the housing crisis in their own backyards.

Even with ARPs unprecedented scale, local governments will not have enough money to pay for every item on their wish list. Policymakers must be intentional about choosing investments, basing decisions on data whenever possible.

Each locality has different housing needs depending on population composition and current housing stock. Brookings Metro and the Aspen Institute have developed a tool, the Housing Policy Matchmaker, to diagnose local housing needs across several key dimensions: Are there enough homes to meet demand created by population and job growth? How expensive is housing in the community relative to income? Do existing homes have deferred maintenance needs, or require energy efficiency upgrades? The answers to these questions can point local leaders toward the most critical housing needs in their jurisdictions.

Because renter household incomes are typically about half that of homeowner incomes, most communities will find the need for rental support most urgent. Yet some communities, especially in older industrial cities and rural areas, have a substantial number of low-income homeowners. Whether owner-occupied or rented, these homes are prone to various health hazards and are environmentally unfriendly.

To address affordability, assess how the private market is meeting housing needs. Low-income households everywhere struggle with housing costs, but even middle-income households may face affordability challenges in high-cost places with too little market rate supply. Fast-growing communities need to increase their housing stock, while places with declining populations may place a higher priority on upgrading existing homes or addressing high vacancy rates.

Assessing which parts of the community are especially vulnerable to climate change will provide a guide to the locations best suited for housing investment. Funding should not be wasted building (or rebuilding) in places at high risk of recurring floods, fires, or other climate-related hazards. Diagnosing these local needs allows communities to efficiently fund projects that meet their unique housing challenges.

Before building a new program from scratch, local governments should take inventory of both existing programs and potential partners. Its much faster and easier to increase the budget for an existing program than start something new from scratch.Local housing programs that address high-priority needs and have demonstrated good results offer the best opportunity for expansion or replication with SLFRF dollars (see Figure 1). For example, Albuquerque, N.M.s Rapid Re-Housing Program helps families who have experienced dislocation return to stable housing.

Understanding the gaps in existing local government programs or agencies is also important. Local governments that lack capacity or expertise in a particular type of work, such as property management or development, can seek out local partners with complementary expertise. In Tulsa, Okla., the nonprofit Revitalize T-Town offers housing repairs and weatherization services to low-income homeowners. Such local partners can be helpful resources in creating plans.

Creating new programs from scratch is expensive, often requiring staff hiring or training and establishing systems for administrative support and management. During the onset of the pandemic, many local governments struggled to quickly and effectively set up emergency rental assistance programs funded by the CARES Act. Coordinating with existing programs and partner organizations can reduce the front-end work and allow for more effective knowledge sharing.

The housing policy interventions permitted under ARP vary in the cost of helping each additional household. Understanding the relative per-household cost of each activity will help local governments make strategic choices about how much funding to set aside for each activity. In general, new development has higher per-unit costs than acquisition and rehabilitation of existing buildings, and grants to owners of existing buildings for minor maintenance and upkeep is the cheapest. The costs of these activities can vary across places based on factors such as local land values and construction wages.

Table 1 summarizes the types of activities allowed under ARP. Some activities, such as emergency rental assistance or down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers, are structured as one-off grants. Others (e.g., operating supportive housing, locally funded vouchers) require long-term commitments.

Local governments should keep one eye on their long-term budgets as they plan new investments. ARP funds must be spent by the end of 2026longer than a single budget cycle, but short relative to the life of a subsidized apartment building. Programs with the potential to be financially self-sustaining or that can align with longer-term funding streams offer some advantages.

ARP funds can stretch even farther when combined with other revenue sources: existing housing programs such as the Community Development Block Grant or Low-Income Housing Tax Credit; coordinated projects with other localities or state governments; or used to leverage private and philanthropic funds. Coordination of ARP funds limits the share of each recipients allocation that must be committed to projects and provides an opportunity to increase the scale of their initiatives. Staying informed about state-level housing initiatives also allows local leaders to use their funds in complementary ways.

Along with SLFRF, localities have access to other federal funds through ARP, such as those managed by the Economic Development Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, and Small Business Administration. The newly passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also adds to the list of funds that can be leveraged to advance local plans. Though these sources are not necessarily targeted toward housing, some programs support complementary goals, such as improving transportation access to low-income communities and broadband expansion.

Rapidly rising housing costs are a significant source of financial stress for millions of Americans, especially low- and moderate-income renters. Communities that lack moderately priced housing to own or rent also risk losing jobs to more affordable communities, especially with the expansion of remote work.

ARP offers local leaders a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in expanding the stock of affordable, decent-quality housing. But to make the most of it, policymakers will need to develop a clear set of priorities and determine the most feasible and cost-effective investments within their toolbox.

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Getting the most out of American Rescue Plan housing funds requires local governments to plan ahead - Brookings Institution

By Stacy M. Brown | NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

@StacyBrownMedia

(NNPA) Birmingham and Chicago Six nationally-renowned litigators today announced the launch of a first-of-its kind organization to combat the startling lack of diverse attorney leadership in lawsuits that disproportionately impact communities of color. Shades of Mass was founded by nationally-renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump (Co-Chair), of Ben Crump Law, PLLC, acclaimed product liability and civil rights lawyer Diandra Fu Debrosse Zimmermann (Co-Chair), of DiCello Levitt Gutzler LLC, and Executive Board Members:

Gregory Cade, Environmental Litigation Group, P.C.

LaRuby May, May Lightfoot, PLLC

Larry Taylor, The Cochran Firm

Navan Ward, Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., and President of the American Association for Justice

Shades of Mass intends to address the stark divide between corporate harm done to communities of color by product defects, device malfunctions, and environmental hazards, and the minuscule percentage of nonwhite attorneys selected to lead the litigation in such matters.

According to a Law.com analysis, between 2016 and 2019, only 5% of leadership appointments in multidistrict litigations (MDLs) went to non-white lawyers. Debrosse Zimmermann is one of the few attorneys of color who has been appointed to prominent leadership positions in several MDLs. Crump most prominently represented the family of George Floyd in its wrongful death suit against the City of Minneapolis and led litigation on behalf of the Black Farmers in the Roundup Mass Tort Litigation.

No one is going to bring more passion to these causes than attorneys who resemble the communities theyre fighting for, Crump said. And there are many, many non-white attorneys who have the expertise and experience to lead MDL cases. Its high time for them to be seen and heard from.

In addition to advocating for and facilitating the appointment of Black and Brown attorneys to leadership roles in federal and state-based centralized civil actions (including federal MDLs), Shades of Mass seeks to remedy the gap in representation through mentorship, advocacy, networking, and education. Crump and Debrosse Zimmermann share the ultimate goal of providing opportunities and advantages to qualified attorneys of color and ensuring that judges know where to find them and understand the importance of placing them in leadership roles.

Debrosse Zimmermann added: Although the judiciary has long espoused a commitment to increased diversity in the legal profession, people of color are still underrepresented in the profession overall, and especially in litigation leadership positions. We are going to be very intentional about overcoming each of the barriers that have stood in the way of lawyers of color being appointed to lead these cases, including the implicit bias that Black and Brown lawyers dont have what it takes to successfully lead.

Far too often, people of color find themselves victimized by rich, powerful corporations and must rely on the civil courts to receive justice. The lack of attorneys of color playing significant roles in high-stakes litigation that impacts communities of color is undeniable, said Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP. I applaud Mr. Crump and Ms. Debrosse Zimmerman for their efforts to raise awareness of and find remedies for this problem.

More information about Shades of Mass can be found at http://www.shadesofmass.org

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), known as the Black Press of America, is the federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers in the United States.

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First-of-Its-Kind Advocacy Group, Shades of Mass, Launches to Remedy Lack of Diversity in Leadership of Litigation that Disproportionately Impacts...

An intentional and most effective strategy, however, would be the development of viable partnerships, way ahead of the planning and preparation of the transition/implementation strategies. Therefore, it is important that settlors do not see themselves as competitors but rather as collaborators in addressing pertinent issues. I also recommend collaborations with broader stakeholders such as civil society organisations (CSOs) and development organisations

The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which was signed into law in August 2021, is a game-changer for the oil industry. All-encompassing, it aims at establishing good governance, best practices, and ease of doing business in the oil and gas industry, by attempting to clarify roles and responsibilities of officials and institutions, regulate midstream and downstream activities, improve environmental compliance, transform the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a commercially viable enterprise, and restructure the management of host communities relations.

Chapter Three of the Act introduces the Host Community Development Trust (HCDT), a component that has generated comments from a wider range of stakeholders than the other components. Against the backdrop of previous restiveness within the region, and the work that many of us have undertaken there, this chapter is particularly of interest and focus to me.

In restructuring the management of host communities relations, the PIA mandates the creation of the HCDT, a trust for the benefit of the host communities to which oil and gas operators (described as settlors) are obliged to make annual contributions based on three per cent of their yearly operating expenditure. The HCDT is expected to improve the quality of life of the host communities populations, and improve accountability in the management of development funds. From the PIA, it is obvious that one of the gains expected from the HCDT is sustainable community development, as indicated by the degree of interest shown in Participatory Needs Assessment and Community Development Plans to deliver such.

However, preliminary reviews of the Act have revealed some obvious gaps in its provisions. High on the list of the key gaps is the absence of a provision for the direct management of grievances/conflicts on a day-to-day basis among the entities critical to the HCDT i.e., the settlors and the host communities. Instead, the PIA has assigned this role to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which is overseeing the implementation of the HCDT. Curiously, there is no role for state governments, who are the custodians of security in their respective states where oil and gas operations take place, and to whom settlors routinely turned for help in the past. Another key gap relates to collaborations and partnerships. Although the Act empowers the Trust to receive grants, donations, gifts and honoraria, it leaves no opportunities for development partnerships to evolve. The threat here is the potential for huge wastage of resources through duplication of community organisations and projects. Then, there is the risk of settlors overlooking their local content responsibilities due to the non-harmonisation of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) guidelines within the Act. Lastly, the Act awards executive functions to an ad hoc committee, which may not be executable for programme and project delivery.

Since the Act has allowed only the settlor to establish the leading organs of the HCDT and provide all its guidelines and control framework, it is therefore incumbent on the oil and gas operators to find means of addressing these gaps. This is the immediate way to minimise or eliminate potential grave issues that may cause serious operational challenges in managing the HCDT, and to ensure a smooth transition and successful implementation in the long run. Except NUPRC provides more operational guidelines and/or there are amendments to the Act.

Before the PIA, some oil and gas operators, especially the international oil companies (IOCs), operated Global Memorandums of Understanding (GMoUs) with their host communities. These companies may find transitioning to the PIA a bit easier because, indeed, there are aspects of Chapter Three which mirror those prior terms of host community engagement. For others, the task may appear a tad daunting, especially when faced with the deadline of compliance instituted by the Commission. Nevertheless, the key to overcoming and achieving success for all companies, irrespective of experience, would be the consideration and application of a strategy with keen focus on the design, development, and institutionalisation of a suit of organisational governance policies, processes and procedure guidelines.

The people in the host communities, who constitute the core of the PIA Chapter Three activities and around whom all interventions in the HCDT would revolve, should be at the core of executing this strategy effectively. It also important to note the lessons learnt successes and mistakes from the GMOU model to mitigate potential risks in implementing the HCDT. The gaps in the HCDT should also be considered and work should go towards addressing them through the HCDTs Constitution.While policies, processes, and procedures should be prepared on the basis of global performance standards, as typified by the International Financial Corporation (IFC) performance standards on environmental and social sustainability, the Equator Principles, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

An intentional and most effective strategy, however, would be the development of viable partnerships, way ahead of the planning and preparation of the transition/implementation strategies. Therefore, it is important that settlors do not see themselves as competitors but rather as collaborators in addressing pertinent issues. I also recommend collaborations with broader stakeholders such as civil society organisations (CSOs) and development organisations who have had years of on-ground experience working within the communities in the Niger Delta. An organisation like the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), for example, has experience in supporting the implementation of initiatives under the GMOU and comes with a pedigree in designing, facilitating, and monitoring needs-driven, locally-owned and locally-implemented sustainable community development initiatives.

With the deadline fast approaching, I anticipate a scramble. And for those of us on the development side of the industry, who have invested a lot and worked hard for a long time in keeping the Niger-Delta stable, one can understand our apprehension that if things are not done well, we can have a lot of issues unraveling. Nobody really has a silver bullet for solving the complex and interconnected issues in the Niger Delta region and not one organisation or individual can do it alone. Only by leveraging everyones strength and experience can we all achieve the success we desire.

Tunji Idowu is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND).

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PIA: Avoiding pitfalls in the host community development trusts, By Tunji Idowu - Premium Times

Check Your Facts Again

The editor's note on my letter of February 23 [Feedback: "South Burlington City Councilor Responds..."] compels me to write again.

According to the South Burlington planning director, there are two designations of the southeast quadrant, aka SEQ: One is a zoning area; another, regulatory. These new regulations affect a larger area than the zoning area called the SEQ. The number of homes in the regulatory quadrant will remain the same, thanks to a zoning change of a large property near the Tilley Drive medical complex: upwards of 500 new housing units. With that zoning change in an area that could, as a result, draw public transit to a major medical campus the area south of the interstate and east of Spear Street will have a housing potential of 1,334 homes, compared to 1,184 under the old regs a net increase. That clarification was not included in the editor's note, and so I wish to provide those numbers to the readers. Finally, as the editor notes, on the relatively few parcels in the SEQ that are less than four acres in size, the regulations currently permit 1.2 units of housing but that stands to change as the planning commission now tackles infill regulations.

By requiring dense housing, South Burlington's new regulations will make our city more socioeconomically integrated, more environmentally sustainable and more fiscally sustainable, because they will provide more entry-level housing to our workers entering the workforce so that our economic base can grow. They're a huge step forward.

Meaghan Emery

South Burlington

Emery is vice chair of the South Burlington City Council.

Editor's note: The original story ["Zoned Out," February 9] was intended to describe the zoning area rather than the regulatory one. But the article incorrectly defined the boundaries of the zoning area, which is contained by Swift and Spear streets and the Shelburne and Williston town lines. We apologize for the error, which led to the confusion in last week's editor's note.

[Re From the Publisher: "Good Neighbor," February 23]: Today I planned to make a reservation at Maggie Sherman's One of a Kind Bed & Breakfast in Burlington. The news was shockingly sad. Unlike almost all the other B&Bs we visited, we had fun with Maggie. She tried out our dinky car, and we shared drinks together in town. So, for however brief, we enjoyed her company and style.

Alan Schwartz and Cate Cowan

Washington, D.C.

Thanks for Anne Wallace Allen's useful article ["Democracy How?" February 23] about town meeting traditions. An important fact left out is that Title 21 VSA Section 472b of the Vermont Statutes provides that any employee may take a day off to attend town meeting so long as they notify their employer at least seven days in advance, subject to their job not being "essential." The only hitch is that this is an unpaid day.

In Bethel (population 2,000), we formed a Town Meeting Committee in 2012. We did a number of things to educate folks and increase attendance. (Free pie was a hit.) The most lasting thing we did was to create a Bethel Operator's Manual: everything you need to know about living, working and playing in Bethel, Vt. We were inspired by, and received kind assistance from, Susan Clark and the Middlesex Operator's Manual.

Our manual is a 75-page, graphically accessible directory available free to each household atbetheloperatorsmanualvt. org and on our town web page. I spotted a well-worn copy on the seat of a selectboard member's pickup, even though he has lived here his entire life.

Our committee would be happy for other communities to create their own town manual using ours as inspiration. These manuals can be incredibly useful to newcomers to Vermont, and everyone will find something they did not know.

Let's keep town meetings as in-person events. So much community glue happens in these couple of hours.

Victoria Weber

Bethel

Weber is a member of the Bethel Town Meeting Committee.

I am writing in response to your article "Democracy How?" [February 23]. I hope that my perspective will give old-time and new-time Vermonters some food for thought.

First, anything that reduces impediments to voter participation should be embraced. Voting should allow for all options: early voting, voting by mail and in person for every voter.

Second, there is great value in allowing people to share their views so that others can consider various perspectives. This is particularly critical in this time of fake news and social media silos. Therefore, any mechanism that allows for the exchange of perspectives should be supported.

With that in mind, I believe we should continue to provide a real-time venue for people to meet in person and explain their rationale for their positions (and/or send in their thoughts to be read aloud) before the actual deadline for voting.

This model has worked well for me in the past. Before each election, I invited people with diverse views and political stances to brunch. Each person would make whatever arguments they had for their positions. Others might have asked clarifying questions, but we did not engage in arguments; we just listened and considered varying points of view.

I hope that communities in Vermont will continue to follow a participatory model for decision making while maximizing the options for voter participation. In many ways, Vermont demonstrates the best of small-town personal involvement and true democracy. We should treasure that combination as we continually strive to be as inclusive of all Vermont citizens as we can.

Ann Gross

Burlington

[Re "Crowds at Burlington City Council Meetings Are Becoming Increasingly Uncivil," December 22, 2021]: "Freedom, freedom, freedom!" the anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers demand. Yet they willingly stop at red lights and drive correctly on one-way streets. Why? Because they recognize that not all "freedom" is the same.

Philosophers divide the concept into two: individual freedom and sovereign freedom. The first is "freedom" as generally practiced. In the West, at least, you are free to sit or stand, go wherever you like, listen to whatever music, apply for whatever job, dress and vote as you will, etc. "It's a free country." But such individual freedom is characterized as "ending at someone else's nose" in other words, a set of choices that does not impinge on other people's sets of choices.

Stepping or pushing beyond that barrier, one enters the realm of sovereign freedom a set of choices that doesn't care about impinging on others'. Blasting a loud car radio while parked in a sleeping neighborhood declares sovereign freedom, as does the Queen of Hearts' "Off with their heads!" Treatment of the incarcerated, capitalist intentional scarcities practice larger-format sovereign freedoms. "I am the boss here. You have no choice!"

It seems that anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers confuse their existential, even constitutional, demand for individual freedom with demand for a freedom that is basically sovereign. "If I want to control my body, or be free of a mask, that's my business, and my business alone. The effect on you be damned." Would they want to live under a sovereign? No. But they seem to believe in sovereignty.

Marc Estrin

Burlington

I do not wish to dispute the findings of ["It's Official: Vermont Patients Wait Too Long, State Report Shows," February 16, online], but I did want to add an observation. After 40 years, I moved back to Vermont in the middle of the virus and have had better health care than I have had in decades. The Rutland Regional Medical Center staff saw me for a broken wrist and a follow-up pronto. The staff was compassionate lovely, even.

I had emergency surgery for a retinal detachment with Dr. Brian Kim at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and, again, all medical personnel were compassionate and efficient. And I cannot shake the awareness that these people were putting their lives on the line during this virus to help me. From referring physicians Dr. Lisa Graves-Austin and Dr. Praveen Keshava in Rutland to Dr. Kim in Burlington, I simply offer thanks and respect.

Joan Connor

Belmont

[Re "Rental Housing Bill to Return as Part of New, Larger Measure," January 10, online]: True transparency in homeownership is critical to housing equity and requires candid conversations.

We bought our first home last spring. After seven years of professional housing advocacy, I don't make a living wage and I don't have family resources to manage the gap, so the following resources were essential.

1. A friend sold us the house without listing it, circumventing competition with cash-on-hand buyers. People from families who don't own their own home, particularly for families systematically barred from homeownership over many generations, might not have adults like this in their family network. This bars not just access to housing opportunities but also access to information around the home-buying process. That is why we need more intentional housing policy, such as H.273, that targets communities harmed by systemic housing discrimination and racist housing policies.

2. Vermont Housing Finance Agency helped us secure a low-interest mortgage and some down payment assistance.

3. My partner's parents provided financial support. Like many people my age here, we are both graduates of the University of Vermont, one of the most expensive public universities in the country. A large portion of our young adult population comes from families with resources to help subsidize their lifestyles.

Owning a home is autonomy of space. It means not only more personal housing stability but also community stability. Everyone should have housing choice. In Chittenden County, only a select few do. Renters who live with housing uncertainty need our support. Advocate for "just cause" eviction and rental housing safety.

Corrine Yonce

Winooski

The "just cause" eviction charter change is anything but just ["Burlington's 'Just Cause' Eviction Bill Clears House With Changes," February 18, online]. Property owners' rights are being trampled on. Interesting that two-thirds of Burlington residents rent, and two-thirds voted to take rights from their landlords. It's like students voting for the candidate that offers free soda.

There is no free lunch. This change increases landlord costs and will therefore increase rents. It will restrict the supply of housing, because landlords, myself included, will be far more careful whom we rent to. In fact, we may well sell and move to medium-term furnished rental.

I'm sure I'm not alone. With this confiscation of owners' property rights, combined with Burlington's ever-increasing tax and regulatory burden, rental property ownership is becoming a losing proposition. Remember, no landlords means no rental apartments, and Burlington is on the path of removing the small property investor from the market. This will hurt everyone and is an extremely misguided proposition. The housing market will get worse because of this.

Robert Perry

Warren

Perry owns rental property in Burlington.

While reading ["Bove Brothers Plan to Evict Low-Income Refugee Families in Winooski and Raise Rents," February 16], I found myself underlining all the parts of it that were completely infuriating, which ended up being most of the article. There is a special place in hell for the Bove brothers.

Meghan Brooks

Burlington

I thank the Burlington City Council for voting against making acting Chief Jon Murad our "permanent" police chief ["Burlington Council Votes Down Murad's Appointment as Police Chief," February 1, online].

The American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont even got involved last summer, writing an open letter that accused both Murad and Mayor Miro Weinberger of waging a "campaign of misinformation" by blaming gunfire incidents on the council's police-cutting vote. The letter also questioned Murad's deployment of officers and pointed to a Seven Days story that revealed the acting chief wasn't consistently staffing downtown during the weekend overnight hours, even though that area had the highest call volume.

Why not have an oversight committee? It has become apparent that no matter what the mayor says, the police need to work on procedure. People are leaving all types of businesses. I do not blame the council at all.

Another quote from the story: "Commissioners Stephanie Seguino, Melo Grant and Susan Comerford all said they've witnessed Murad become defensive and unprofessional in commission meetings and during executive sessions, particularly toward female commissioners."

Councilors Zoraya Hightower and Karen Paul had a compromise crafted but were turned down flat by the mayor. Can Weinberger negotiate?

For many reasons, I trust the council's decision more than the mayor's. I think we should have enough police but that they should be responsible to someone who is impartial someone who never gets "defensive and unprofessional."

Let's get the police beefed up with people who have good judgment, know how to de-escalate and know the citizens are their real boss. Compromise is key.

Charlie Messing

Burlington

I'm not a Burlington resident, but what goes on in our state's largest city affects us all ["Burlington Council Votes Down Murad's Appointment as Police Chief," February 1, online].

With that in mind, I ask all Burlington residents, particularly your Progressive city councilors, to go to YouTube and key in "Jon Murad - Harvard." And then I ask the city council Progressives: What the heck were you thinking when you rejected him for police chief?

I'm a Progressive, maybe even left of that, but I think that defunding the police is wrongheaded, and when it leads to this kind of outcome, it's downright destructive. You can make an argument for police reform, but simply cutting budgets and refusing to pay reasonable salaries to get the best people will only result in what you've got: low morale, vacancies and long response times.

It's time to reconsider, for the health of a city we all want to be proud of.

Richard Butz

Bristol

I wanted to point out a nuanced oversight in [WTF: "What's Driving Burlington's Recent Wave of Vehicle Thefts?" February 16] and a calculated misdirection by Burlington acting Police Chief Jon Murad.

The article reports that police found the former Sears Lane encampment to be a "go-to place" for local law enforcement tracking down stolen vehicles. However, there was no source or evidence provided that any stolen vehicles were ever found there. Despite this, Murad is quoted saying, "There was definitely some vehicle disassembly going on there."

This is post hoc fallacy nonsense, but it manages to effectively assert a connection between the Sears Lane encampment and the recent increase in car theft.

If no stolen vehicles were found at Sears Lane, then the takeaway and focus of this paragraph should have been that police suggest a connection between the increase in auto theft and the Sears Lane encampment but that there is no evidence or sources of information to support it. (Or if there is, find it.)

To contextualize and correct this misdirection is the work of good journalism. Please, Seven Days, be aware of this tactic and ask follow-up questions. Figure out when a source is drawing you to write the conclusion they want you to, and don't do it without backing it up with evidence to support it.

And, unsurprisingly, shame on you, Chief Murad, for (predictably) shoehorning Sears Lane into an article about an increase in crime.

Kris Fiore

Burlington

In ["Burlington Council Votes Down Murad's Appointment as Police Chief," February 1, online], Burlington City Councilor Jane Stromberg (P-Ward 8) is quoted saying: "Character comes before credentials, no matter how many a person has."

To Jane, I offer a hypothetical: A beloved member of the community is in heart failure and requires a heart transplant. Two surgeons are available. One is described by patients as the warmest, most caring and sincere individual they have ever met. The other surgeon is described as rude, abrasive and dismissive of every question asked about the procedure. The success rate of surgeon No. 1 is 50 percent, while the success rate of the mean and nasty surgeon No. 2 is 95 percent. Whom will Jane choose?

Society is living through a time when merit and accomplishment are portrayed as evil, instead of viewed as a social and personal good.

Gerry Silverstein

South Burlington

[Re Feedback: "Experience Isn't Everything," February 9]: Ideally, Vermont's next representative in U.S. Congress will be someone who is extremely smart, principled, deeply devoted to public service and an expert in the workings of government. That individual will also have great people skills, will already have worked on Capitol Hill and will have extensive experience in international relations.

I am describing Molly Gray, the leading candidate for election to Congress in November. Molly has served as Vermont's lieutenant governor for the last year. Before that, she was an assistant attorney general for Vermont for two years, after clerking for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Peter Hall. Earlier, she worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross, leading missions to Eastern Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. Earlier still, Molly served as an intern for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy and worked on U.S. Rep. Peter Welch's staff in Washington, D.C.

Molly Gray is a native Vermonter who grew up on a farm in Newbury, so she knows us well. She is also an independent thinker who refuses to accept campaign contributions from corporations. She has exactly the right skills and experience not only to represent us in Washington, D.C., but also to help lead the nation in these perilous times.

Stephen Dycus

Strafford

Hello, my name is Karen. Born in 1968, I always liked my name but wished it hadn't been so popular (there were four Karens in my first-grade class)! I will never forget the beautiful mug my grandmother gave me for my 12th birthday that read "Karen: one who is pure and kind." As an adult, I value my character traits of kindness and compassion above all else.

My social media consumption is highly restricted by choice, so you can imagine my dumbfounded dismay when I read the Seven Days piece [Last 7: "Karens in the 'Crossfire,'" February 16] citing how the name Karen has become synonymous with intolerance and self-righteousness. Really? My name? While the New York City incident that prompted this negative distinction is clearly racist and disturbing to me, Karen Taylor Mitchell's verbiage indicating that our society "manufactures hate" seems very accurate and troubling beyond belief.

Come on now. Everything feels hard enough.

Karen McFeeters Leary

Milton

Two weeks ago brought news of lifting mask requirements in our public schools ["Schools With High Vax Rates Can Lift Mask Requirements Soon," February 15, online]. I believe this is a premature move that may cause more distress than relief. I have watched our schools struggle this academic year with subjective and little guidance from the state, which insisted that our schools implement processes with no support.

Vaccines are effective, but they do not prevent the transmission of the virus. Germs spread pretty quickly in an unmasked school environment. With an 8- and a 10-year-old of my own, I can assure you that I have been on the receiving end of a variety of germs. Social anxiety and wanting kids to get back to "normal" is the impetus for the suggestion of removing masks. There is no going back to pre-2020 normal. We need to embrace what is our current normal and what will become our new normal.

I would continue to send my children to school in masks, and I worry about bullying or teasing. We preach being kind and respectful, but not every student practices being kind or respectful. It is hard being a kid who is perceived as different, and kids would continue to be anxious.

The Agency of Education needs to focus on pupil weighting, legislative redistricting and the change in special education funding, rather than on dropping masks in our schools. When our students return to school with no masks, we will see more transmission in our schools and again will be putting vulnerable populations at risk.

Tara Arneson

Richmond

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Letters to the Editor (3/2/22) | Letters to the Editor - Seven Days

Read on for the expert opinion of Dr. Lauren McDonough, DMD, Vice President of Practice Owner Development, Aspen Dental, who writes in with 5 ways to improve access of care.

Its a story weve heard from patients time and time again: when life gets hectic, or bills start to pile up, or the days seem too short, going to the dentist can easily fall off the list. Oral healthcare frequently gets put on the back burner and deprioritized as a want or nice-to-have, instead of a need, despite its important role in overall health.

The reality is, many patients do value oral healthcare but they often face barriers such as financial difficulties, fear of the dentist, and confusion about dental care. As healthcare providers, we can work to remove these barriers and improve the experience for all our patients.

By committing to improving access to care, dentists can bridge this existing gap and help patients live healthier lives.

PRIORITIZE FLEXIBLE HOURS

Not having time is one of the most common reasons patients skip the dentist especially when appointments are only available from 9am to 5pm. This timetable means patients are forced to call out of work to receive care, which can translate to lost wages.

Rigid office hours become an even bigger problem when it comes to emergency care. Patients are forced to seek out urgent care facilities to relieve the pain, instead of seeing a qualified dentist. Although a visit to urgent care may temporarily take care of the pain, it does little to address the root cause, creating an ongoing cycle and allowing the problem to increase over time.

A lack of options impacts different populations in different ways. For example, in Houma and Gonzalez, Louisiana, Dr. Chedly Vincent, DMD, is committed to expanding access to care by bringing care to rural communities who consistently face barriers to that access. Patients may face a longer drive, which can cut further into wages, not to mention present real scheduling hurdles particularly for caregivers who may have multiple children or aging parents to pick up and support.

A native of Louisiana, Dr. Vincent knew she wanted to work in the area after dental school and create more opportunities for oral health education and care.

At the same time, veterans face challenges accessing oral healthcare. Unless a veteran is 100% disabled, has a service-related mouth injury, or was a prisoner of war, they are not eligible for dental benefits through the Veterans Administration. And even if they do meet these qualifications, extreme backlogs and wait times make it difficult to get an appointment.

To combat this issue in his own community, Aspen Dental practice owner Dr. Jere Scott Gillan, DMD, works to provide flexible hours in the early morning and late evening, and accommodates walk-in appointments. A veteran himself, Dr. Gillan is passionate about expanding care and rolls out the blue carpet to ensure his patients know they are receiving the best care possible, at times that work for them. Dr. Vincent employs many of these same scheduling modifications to better reach patients in her community.

In addition to walk-ins, consider extending your office hours to make life easier for patients, not harder. Aspen Dental practices often have early morning or late evening hours to accommodate schedules and some are open on weekends depending on community needs. A little flexibility goes a long way and may even create more job opportunities.

KEEP COSTS TRANSPARENT

Many patients associate dentists offices with high costs and surprise fees, and this fear can often prevent patients from seeking care. When it comes to dental pain, patients may not have an understanding of whats truly wrong and may feel like theyre paying over and over again to discover what the problem is something thats even scarier for patients without insurance.

In the healthcare industry, price is not typically transparent and often, it can be confusing. But we know its the right thing to do. Along with each treatment plan, we provide a detailed breakdown of cost so that patients understand their treatment plan and the cost associated with it, so they can make informed decisions regarding their health. Weve all heard stories about patients getting charged more than they anticipated as more and more follow up appointments are made.

Just one negative payment experience can cause trepidation from a patient for life.

Instead, adopt a philosophy of no surprises. If a patient requires a specific treatment or procedure, let them know right away for dental deprioritizers, this may be their only shot for care before life gets in the way again. Offer financing options to help patients plan appropriately. And when possible, prioritize care. Almost all Aspen Dental practices offer a free new patient exam and X-ray to help lay the groundwork for patients and jumpstart their oral health journey.

EDUCATE YOUR PATIENTS

Many patients arent aware of the link between oral healthcare and overall wellbeing. Although they know they should brush their teeth twice a day and floss, they dont realize the link between gum disease and other health challenges like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Help make dentistry more accessible by ensuring patients understand that routine care is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle by educating them over the course of an appointment.

Dr. Laura Ortega, DMD, is an Aspen Dental practice owner with locations across Florida, where a substantial amount of her patients speak only Spanish or Creole. Committed to building trust with every patient she serves, Dr. Ortega is intentional about making sure a language barrier doesnt inadvertently become an education or access barrier.

She strategically hires bilingual staff members to ensure that patients can fully understand what is happening over the course of an appointment. Her staff supports patients at all stages, sharing forms and care instructions in the correct language to make sure patients feel listened to and have every opportunity to ask questions and receive answers.

KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY

Theres no one-size-fits-all blueprint when it comes to improving access to care. Each community is different and requires different needs and supports. Its important to understand the specific barriers preventing your neighbors from seeking care and implementing what makes sense for your practice and team. Take time to talk to your patients and identify what will make an impact for them.

Looking at another Aspen Dental care team in Florida provides an example of how to make an impact in your community. Dr. Cristina Dominguez Griffee, DMD, is a practice owner in Florida, operating six offices along with her husband Dr. Justin Griffee, DMD, and has invested significant time and resources to establish a footprint in their community. If we can truly know our patient community, we can better build on the trust and connective qualities that put patients at ease with their selection of us as their provider, Dr. Dominguez Griffee shares.

The team often sponsors local clubs and teams in the community and participate in fundraisers, and Dr. Dominguez Griffee is often stopped by patients outside of the office to say hello. Building relationships with patients at all stages is a critical part of operating a practice that truly meets your community members where they are.

BE INTENTIONAL

When it comes to improving access to care, the most important place to start is with intention. Think about your current services and structure and consider: what change can I make today that will support a patient tomorrow?

Consider what barriers currently exist and how you can make a change today to make appointments as easy as possible. Aspen Dental offices are completely ADA accessible to support disabled patients and offer ASL interpreters for patients who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Many of our teams offer a wide variety of services in house, eliminating the need to seek out specialists for extra care. Instead, oral surgeons and endodontists travel to different Aspen Dental offices in the community to provide services under one roof. And we frequently take a wider range of health insurances than most offices, expanding options for our patients.

Intentionally evolving and growing is the most important thing care teams can do for patients. Whether thats attending continuing education courses and bringing that knowledge back to your own community, or implementing new technologies that improve accessibility, theres always a way to move forward.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Lauren McDonough is the Vice President of Practice Owner Development for Aspen Dental, the dental arm of The Aspen Group (TAG) healthcare organization. She previously owned several practices in the Aspen Dental network and now uses her experience to help guide other Aspen Dental doctors on their ownership journey.

FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: StockSnap from Pixabay.

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Access to Care and 5 Ways to Improve It - Dentistry Today

Following the trend of classic horror movie reboots, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) attempts to introduce new social commentary into a world that was previously slashed with surface-level gore.

One of the most influential films in the horror movie genre was Tobe Hoopers 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

In addition to creating the legendary villain Leatherface, the film gave way to eight more adaptations, including its newest installment of the same name which came out this February on Netflix.

The newest film in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre universe creatively diverged from its traditional roots by largely incorporating the issue of social class through the issue of gentrification.

The film takes place about 50 years after the events of the first film and follows a group of millennial business owners who have bought an abandoned town in Texas called Harlow to turn it into a fashionable neighborhood.

While attempting to liven up this ghost town, the business owners wrongly evict the elderly owner of an orphanage, where the notorious murderer Leatherface has been living since he was young. Following the eviction, the owner has a heart attack and dies on the way to the hospital, prompting a grieving Leatherface to go on a killing spree.

The movie then takes on the battle of Leatherface versus gentrification, where wealthy young entrepreneurs push poor rural people out of their own neighborhoods in order to make a profit. I enjoyed this particular direction because it takes the franchises place as a series of hicksploitation films to a new level of social critique.

A hicksploitation film is a genre of film, typically a subgenre of thriller and horror, that uses fears and anxieties possessed by privileged white audiences about other white people coming from poor rural communities to evoke fear.

The Texas Chainsaw series fits comfortably within this subgenre. It uses the same hicksploitation tropes in a way that directly addresses issues like income inequality, whereas most hicksploitation films merely allude to them. In addition to exploiting anxieties surrounding class differences, the film acts as a cautionary tale about gentrification.

The premise of the film doesnt hold up those being terrorized by Leatherface as completely innocent as theyve unjustly thrown a woman out of her house, resulting in her death. This completely changes the dynamic between horror villain and victim.

In most slasher horror movies, the victims arent usually painted as being in the wrong or bringing the terror onto themselves. Instead, the violence is usually brought about through the villains inherent urge to kill.

In this Texas Chainsaw sequel, however, the catalyst that brings Leatherface to kill again is a particularly tragic instance of eviction. The film gives the impression that it all could have been prevented if the business owners had listened to the owner of the orphanage and refrained from calling the police to have her forcefully removed from her home.

In forcing viewers to think beyond the innocent victim trope, the director reminds them of the actual real-life horror of gentrification and white privilege that is currently haunting the streets of multiple American cities. The films willingness to approach a modern, political issue provided the reboot greater meaning and proved the director and writer were very intentional with the creation of the film and not looking to make a quick profit.

While I hope to see new horror films instead of sequels and adaptations, the most recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a reminder of the need for horror films to address the real modern horrors behind the gore.

Lucia Pieto is a junior in the College. Hoya Horror appears online and in print every other week.

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Hoya Horror | Leatherface Versus Gentrification: 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (2022) - Georgetown University The Hoya

By Javacia Harris BowserFor The Birmingham Times

Authenticity is a word used a lot around the offices of The World Games 2022 (TWG 2022) in downtown Birmingham.

We have always had a code around here with our team that we encourage and expect everyone to bring their authentic selves to our office every day, said Nick Sellers, CEO of TWG 2022. We are all shaped by different experiences, andfinally in Birminghamwere recognizing that our diversity gives us strength.

Key to that team are three Black women: Kathy Boswell, who serves as vice president of community relations for the Games, leads the charge for recruiting volunteers for the Games, and is at the helm of several key programs; Pam Cook, director of multicultural marketing and community affairs for Coca-Cola UNITEDs Central Region, who serves as chief marketing officer for the Games; and Rashada LeRoy, who, along with her company LRY Media Group, is producing the opening and closing ceremonies and managing The World Games Plaza.

TWG 2022, which will draw elite athletes from more than 100 countries around the globe, will take place from July 7 through July 17, 2022, at various venues across the Birmingham metro areaincluding Protective Stadium, Legion Field, the Birmingham CrossPlex, and the Hoover Metropolitan Complexand is expected to have an estimated $256 million in economic impact.

(On Monday, The World Games Birmingham Organizing Committee announced that it had banned Russian and Belarusan athletes from the competition).

Just as Sellers believes authenticity will help TWG 2022 be a success, Boswell believes its the key to individual success, toothe kind of success that leads one to being on the planning committee for the largest event to ever come to Birmingham.

Never become something to fit, she said. Always know that who you are is enough. Walk in the full freedom of who you are.

Sellers describes Boswell as the heartbeat of TWG 2022 team: She has a way of being our emotional leader in so many different ways, and we lean on her for that, he said.

Boswell has worked in several different industries, including shipping, telecommunications, health care, and education. At the center of each role, however, has been customer service.

What I bring to the Games is my passion for people, she said. When you look at planning any event, there are two things that you will never be withoutprocesses and people. So often, the processes end up dominating because thats where you find the operations and all the checklists, but the people piece is where you find the dynamics. You have to be willing to see people for who they are and meet them where they are.

This is the attitude Boswell holds on to as she recruits volunteers for TWG 2022. She wants everyone to know that the volunteer program is open to all.

So many things dont require a skill set, Boswell said. They just require willingness.

TWG 2022s sustainability program, which Boswell leads, focuses on more than recycling, using compostable food containers, and obtaining products from local gardens. Birmingham Southern College and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which are hosting the athlete villages, will prepare three meals each day for athletesand all unused food will be donated to local community kitchens.

Boswell is also developing programs to support Birminghams homeless residents: We must support that community during the Games and after, she said.

Through the Live Healthy, Play Global program, Boswell and her team have partnered with Blue Cross Blue Shield to create a digital toolkit for teachers. And the World of Opportunity program seeks to give Black-owned, woman-owned, and other diverse, small, local businesses a chance to be a part of TWG 2022.

Stop thinking that small cant do big. Stop thinking that small cant do great. Stop thinking that small cant do grand because they can, Boswell said. All they need is a chance. For us to continue to move forward in this city, weve got to give people a chance and think differently.

Boswell believes LeRoy is the perfect example of the big things small businesses can do. To be able to see a Black-owned, woman-owned small business have this opportunity at this historic moment [demonstrates] the capability of Black-owned businesses, Boswell said of LeRoy, president and CEO of LRY Media Group.

LeRoy calls Boswell our biggest cheerleader, and has felt supported by Boswell from the beginning. When LeRoy first pitched her vision for the opening and closing ceremonieswhich highlight Birminghams history and heritageBoswell was in the room. I was looking at her, and I didnt know who she was, but I could feel the love, LeRoy said. I was super-nervous, but she was hugging my spirit, so I just kept going.

Sellers said Cook understands the media landscape, and shes able to help us really get clarity on our message and on our vision and know how to strategically deliver on all of those different channels.

Cook wants local churches to get involved, too. Load up that church van and those church buses and bring all the kids in your congregation down to [The World Games Plaza] for a day, Cook said. What an experience theyll have!

The World Games Plaza in downtown will feature live entertainment, food, sports demonstrations, and ongoing coverage of sports competition.

Many companies and corporations have been buzzing about diversity and inclusion since 2020, but Cook has been walking the talk for years. Shes served in her current position at Coca-Cola UNITED since 2018 and has been with the company since 2015. Shes also had a long career in marketing and advertising, including stints with Cox Radio and Charter Media.

Boswell said of Cook, She really brought a heightened understanding of what global marketing was about. Because of the depth and the breadth of the people she works with in her role at Coca-Cola, she has brought a perspective to the marketing strategy for the Games that has allowed us to move the Games forward in a way that we would not have been able to had she not come with that expertise.

Cooks job is to help The World Games live up to its name: This is The World Games, and the world doesnt look one way. I am very intentional about making sure we are talking to various communities, she said.

The World Games 2022 will take place from July 7 through July 17, 2022, at various venues across the Birmingham metro area. For more information, visit twg2022.com.

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Planners on What it Takes to Make Birmingham's Largest-Ever Event a Success - Birmingham Times

Changing the Narrative is a research project with a purpose. The program seeks to change the way the general public views the houseless population by creating graphic novels based on the lived experience of people who have experienced houselessness. Dr. Kacy McKinneya Portland State professor and lead researcher for Changing the Narrativesaid the project is [a] collaborative, community and arts-based research project that seeks to change the ways that we talk, think and teach about houselessness and poverty.

McKinney saw houselessness and housing insecurity firsthand in her classrooms at PSU, where several of her students struggled with these issues. A Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative (HRAC) study conducted in 2019 revealed that 44.6% of students that participated in the HRAC study experienced housing insecurity within 12 months of taking the surveyand 16.1% were or had been houseless. The study outlined the need for an urgent response since housing insecurity can be a significant barrier to education for many students.

Changing the Narrative seeks to transform perspectives on housing, and make research profound through more accessible presentation in comic form.

I think it is really important to start a conversation about redefining what research is and what is considered valid and what is considered valuable research, said research assistant Kimberla Reffu during the PSU panel presentation. Because often research is inaccessible to the public.

The project attempts to correct the current public discourse around homelessness, which McKinney believes are incredibly harmful to individuals and communities.

[These discourses are] stigmatizing, stereotyping, denying dignity and respect, McKinney said. [They are] influencing policy and how we treat one another.

The idea to make Changing the Narrative a comic came from a similar project called El Viaje Ms Caro, or The Most Costly Journey, which is a comic that tells the story of migrant farmworkers in Vermont.

Comics provide a unique and digestible way of telling and understanding the stories of others. They also allow greater reader identification with the characters, given their immersive nature. Scott McCloudauthor of Understanding Comics: The Invisible Artsaid, When you look at a photo or realistic drawing of a face, you see it as the face of another. But when you enter the world of the cartoon, you see yourself.

Researchers chose ten PSU students that had faced housing insecurity, houselessness and poverty to participate in three interviews. After the interviews were completed, the participants stories were given to the artists. According to McKinney, nearly all of the interviewees gave multiple iterations of feedback to different drafts.

Trauma-informed interviews were of utmost importance to the researchers. Shawn Hardy, a research assistant on the project, explained the importance of sensitivity during the PSU panel.

It is up to the interviewee to give their stories to us, Hardy said. We cant force them to disclose anything that they would be uncomfortable with or find triggering so their narrative is very much their narrative.

The artists on the project were intentional with their work, doing their best to create something that would be relatable to the reader. Marin Jurgens, artist for the comic Toward Light, stated in an interview with Street Roots that it is the beauty of comics that can achieve this.

You can really speak about issues that are very serious, but in a way that people may be more susceptible to learning about, Jurgens said. In the end, I definitely realized how powerful comics and graphic novels can be in that way.

In Jurgens art, we follow the story of a woman named Star as she becomes houseless after leaving an abusive relationship in order to protect her baby daughter Light. Light is the only aspect that creates any color on the panels in the foremost part of Stars story. Jurgens said that the portrayal of Stars daughter was meant to serve as the source of not just happiness, but strength, throughout the comic.

Some of the comics in the project chose to acknowledge and focus on the inevitable tragedy, as Jurgens did in Lights story. McKinney said that some of these themes repeated themselves throughout the project.

We saw in [the stories] common threads of injustice and oppression, [a] lack of support system and services, and the overwhelming lack of affordable housing in the area for students, she said.

Other artists chose to take a more tragicomic approach, often as a way to represent the students personality. Christina Tranartist of Caldo pala Cruda, a comic about a woman named Danielasaid in her interview with Street Roots that the characters energy and outlook are purposefully vibrant.

The way she tells her story included bits of humor, so I really wanted to incorporate that into the comic and show her personality, Tran said.

The story follows Daniela as she grows up experiencing poverty, housing insecurity and houselessness. A few memories detailed include a time when cockroaches crawled out of her households toilet paper rolls, or when a knife fell on her leg when she was nine because her parents used it to mud a wall. While these are challenging experiences, the comical illustrations capture the view of Daniela in these memories, and support how she chose to tell them.

Tran said she owed this ability to the medium of comics in general.

[Comics] allow for a kind of intimacy with the storytelling thats also really accessible, she said.

To get the comics out to the general public, the team from PSU partnered with Street Roots, who printed and distributed the comic through their vendors. Editorial Producer Kanani Cortez noted their popularity at the PSU panel.

[The comics] sold like hot cakes, Cortez said. They sold like fried chicken.

The PSU and the Street Roots team are currently looking for more ways to make the comic books accessible to the public.

The stories told in the projects comics demand that some readers interact with worlds outside their current comprehension, while other readers can see pieces of themselves portrayed in artmaybe for the first time.

In addition, the stories insist that people stop seeing the houseless as an inconvenience or as an annoyance and start seeing them as real people deserving of respect and dignity. Tran Cortez said that this is one of her goals with her work on the project: I hope these stories keep helping people turn towards the real people behind the stories.

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Changing the narrative of houselessness through comics - Vanguard - Psuvanguard.com

Photo by Frederik Trovatten.com on Unsplash

If you need a ride to the airport, wish to order a pizza, plan a vacation, or search for a job, there is a good chance that you will use an app to get it. We live in a platform world, where technological apps connect consumers directly with goods and services. Electronic transaction platforms like Amazon, Uber, Grubhub, and Airbnb have perhaps permanently changed the way that we live and work. Platform apps seem to offer convenience at low cost and with little effort. But their impact on workers and economies is far from positive.

Seven of the 10 largest American companies are platform companies. In 2021, the five largest platform companies in the worldGoogle, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoftaccounted for 19 percent of all US market capitalization, valued at a whopping sum of $10.2 trillion. The booming platform economy includes well-known online marketing businesses such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy; transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft; food delivery services such as Instacart and Grubhub; and freelancing contractor apps such as Taskrabbit and Upwork. These platform companies have not only grown their economic power, they also enjoy near-monopoly control over their industries. For instance, Uber has transformed the taxi industry in the decade following its inception in 2009,and now dominates 69 percent of the ride-sharing market.

Even as these companies rake in massive profits and outperform their more traditional competitors, the life of the platform worker is not getting better. And the workforce is steadily growing: in the United States, the number of platform workers increased by 34 percent in 2021, one out of three workers has become defined as a temporary or freelance worker, and so-called independent contractors are expected to be the majority of the workforce in the near future. Yet, because of their designation as independent contractorsthat is, because they are not defined as full-time employees of a companyplatform workers have very few protections or benefits. This contractor status makes it easy for companies to exploit platform workers by forcing them to pay high premiums for affiliation with the platform or even refusing to pay them for jobs. Uber workers, for instance, are required to pay extortionary commission fees to the company that amount to 25 percent or more of all ride fees. As corporate algorithms minutely track each drivers labor, workers are vulnerable to dismissal without recourse in response to customer dissatisfaction.

Though some jurisdictions like California have recently proposed to classify drivers and delivery persons as company employees with worker benefits, platform companies have worked hard to overturn these efforts. In 2020, multiple platform companies, including Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and Postmates, spent over $205 million to pass Proposition 22 in California, a law that classifies platform workers as independent contractors, not employees. For these companies, defining workers as outside of the scope of traditional employment is an important strategy that allows them to slash labor costs by avoiding such rules as minimum wages, overtime pay, and workplace safety regulations.

To slash labor costs even further, some of these companies are heavily investing in automation technology that replaces human workers with robots. Uber even thought of removing all labor costs of drivers by investing heavily in self-driving automobiles. Although Uber terminated this plan in 2020, selling off its self-driving technology, many platform companies are on the way to developing technology that works to replace their human employees. In the face of this drive to make them obsolete, workers are organizing to resist platform hegemony and create new forms of cooperation.

Collective action has historically been the most successful way to address injustice in the workplace. The labor movement has usually consisted of workers negotiating with companies over wages and working conditions or pushing for social change. In the United States, labor unions developed in the wake of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s and gave rise to legal protections enshrined in federal law in the early twentieth century, such as the 1935 National Labor Relations Act which provides workers the right to unionize, or the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which created the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, and the right to time-and-a-half pay for overtime work.

Similarly, there has been a global rise of worker-managed platform cooperatives in response to the rise of platform companies. These platform cooperatives use the same technology as platform companies but operate as cooperatives owned by the workers themselvesnot by a small number of investors and executives that steer companies like Uber or Airbnb. These platform cooperatives seek to deliver a higher portion of company revenues back to workers in the form of higher wages and more benefits. Platform cooperatives also have democratic decision-making processes, so that members of the cooperative have power over the way that the business is run.

These organizations have emerged out of the everyday experience of platform economy workers who want to put a stop to their exploitation. For instance, the Drivers Cooperative in New York started in an educational classroom among Uber and Lyft drivers, after workers became tired of paying high commission fees to these platform companies while also being required to pay for their own job expenses such as insurance and repairs. Drivers talked about their dream to somehow run their own app as an alternative to Uber. After one year of planning, New Yorks Drivers Cooperative was born in May of 2021, with a goal to launch an on-demand app owned by workers themselves which customers can use as an alternative to Uber and Lyft for hailing rides. The development of a fully functioning on-demand app is expected to bring more visibility to the cooperative rideshare community in the coming year. To support this vision, the Drivers Cooperative has been successful in raising more than $1.4 million through its ongoing crowdfunding campaign. Today, it has over 5,000 members.

Following these successful developments in New York, the Drivers Cooperative has an ambitious plan to expand to other cities in the future, so that drivers and customers will be able to use the same worker-managed rideshare in communities across the United States. The organizers at the Drivers Cooperative have been talking with possible international community partners as well. To achieve these goals, the Drivers Cooperative faces substantial challenges.How to raise capital to develop a sophisticated app that is able to compete with Uber? How to build significant partnerships in order to boost prominence and achieve a growing customer base?

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As some of the most powerful civic institutions that exist in this country, labor unions have long played a critical role in improving the wages and living conditions of workers. Since the mid-1990s, labor unions have revitalized themselves to focus on the direct organizing of workers, building broader partnerships with various community organizations and expanding their scope into sectors or industries where workers dont already have union protections. But unions have had difficulty organizing platform economy employees because of their classification as independent contractors, which excludes them from protections under the National Labor Relations Act. Organizing and achieving collective action among platform workers is often difficult because workers are decentralized, lacking a common workplace and a means to communicate with each other.

In response to these new and often challenging conditions, labor unions have tried to embrace new forms of organizing fit for a decentralized workforce. For instance, union leaders such as Larry Williams Jr. founded UnionBasean online organizing platformin 2015 to promote digital social networking among union members. SEIU supported Coworker.org, a digital political advocacy organization that lobbies for policy change and helped create the Workers Lab. These promising innovations show how labor unions have tried to stand in solidarity with platform workers by embracing new strategies that serve worker needs, pursue policy changes, and pioneer campaigns among platform workers.

The global financial crisis in 2008 also led labor unions to re-imagine new partnerships with various worker cooperatives, both in and out of the platform economy. The largest worker cooperative in the US, Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA), is a union co-op, whose homecare worker-owners has been affiliated with SEIU 1199 since 2003. Recently, SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU- UHW West) in Oakland California also helped launch AlliedUP, a cooperative staffing firm owned by allied professional healthcare workers, by investing in startup costs. For the past five years, SEIU- UHW West has explored union-coops as a solution to the crisis of healthcare staffing shortages and other problems relating to poor pay and poor working environment. In January 2016, SEIU-UHW West organized licensed Vocational Nurses (IVNs) to create a union-co-op, Nursing and Caregivers Cooperative, Inc.although this cooperative fizzled due to the lack of a contract with hospitals for workers. As co-op owners, workers receive $35 an hour on average, which is $3 to $5 more than what other healthcare workers receive. AlliedUP workers even receive worker benefits and patronage dividends at the end of a fiscal year.

Connections between labor unions and industries especially impacted by the platform economy have helped cooperatives come into being. These connections are often fostered between union workers who learn about platform worker exploitation. For example, local CWA 7777 president Duncan Harrington opened his office in 2004 to immigrant taxi drivers so that they could talk about creating a different kind of business that is less exploitative.The result of this solidarity was the formation of two union cooperatives: Union Taxi in 2009 and Green Taxi Cooperative in 2016. Although there are still only a few labor unions supporting platform cooperatives, there are emergent connections between Communication Workers of America (CWA) 7777 and the platform drivers cooperative.

Even though these first two union cooperatives left the CWA 7777 some years later, it was not the end of the unions efforts. Now, the union is showing support for rideshare drivers by organizing the Colorado Independent Drivers Union (CIDU) in Denver, supported by CWA District 7. It has also welcomed the concept of a platform drivers cooperative, entering into a partnership with the Drivers Cooperative in New York. A growing collaboration between these two organizations is genuine, as both organizations seek to address the mounting challenge of platform exploitation of workers in their communities.

How can unions overcome powerful platform corporations? For now, a large part of their efforts is in the political arena: In 2020, labor spent $5.28 million on political lobbying, and another $1.8 billion on the presidential election. While lobbying and elections are important ways for unions to deploy their political power in the service of worker empowerment, established unions could also pursue the promising strategy of supporting platform cooperatives, so that these grassroots organizations can have the organizing infrastructure and financial support they need to develop technology platforms that can compete with powerful multinational companies like Uber and Airbnb.

It may seem idealistic to imagine a world where different communities organize platform cooperatives in partnership with labor unions, so that local people begin using platforms that their own community groups are invested in, but as Rebecca Lurie has written for NPQ, these collaborative strategies are exactly what is needed to advance worker empowerment and transform the economy. Instead of people simply using Uber by default, driver cooperatives could be organized in cities in the US and around the world, all using direct-to-consumer apps designed with union support and owned by the workers themselves rather than by platform economy corporations. Instead of using the Grubhub app, local restaurants could organize their own collective platform and band together to localize delivery efforts, keeping money and power in local communities.

These efforts are quickly becoming a reality, as the movement to organize platform workers has already started to make change in a growing number of communities. In helping platform workers see these organizing efforts through to completion, labor unions are one of the best natural allies to stand side-by-side with platform cooperatives. In the digital and platform era, intentional alliances between labor unions and platform cooperatives are necessary to create a stronger labor movement. It all begins with working-class solidarity between labor unions and the growing worker cooperative movement.

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Raising the Floor of the Platform Economy: Co-ops, Unions, and the Struggle to Transform Technology - Non Profit News - Nonprofit Quarterly

From innovative design spaces (think drive-thru only storefronts and special locations that serve universities and military bases) to a punch-powered social media presence to an ever-changing yet traditional menu that has maintained and recruited customers for over five decades, its clear that Wendys knows what its doing.

Per the company's last earnings report, Wendy'sreported a revenue of $470.3 million in Q3 of 2021, up 4% year over year.

And as the brand sets its sight on growth, its choosing to focus in on what really pumps and drives business and builds community its franchisees.

Weve had a lot of change and evolution in our franchise system over the last five, seven years, we've gone through a big effort around what we call system optimization, Abigail Pringle, Wendy's President, International and Chief Development Officer tells Entrepreneur exclusively. Were a 52-year-old brand, so we've had folks that have been in the system for a long time, and we've gone through a lot of succession planning. We have next generation franchisees coming into the system, but we've also been actively recruiting new franchisees. And we're now accelerating that.

A whopping 95% of Wendys restaurants are franchised, and now the company is making moves to increase both accessibility for and diversity among franchisees through its new initiative dubbed Own Your Opportunity, which aims to specifically increase Wendys ownership among women and people of color.

We really want to increase the diversity of our franchisees. And so importantly, we have a very intentional focus on bringing more women and bringing people of color and they are definitely not the majority of our profile, Pringle says. And we have been increasing it over the last few years. But we think we need to accelerate even further.

Pringle explains that standard Wendy's franchisees are people that arewell-capitalized with a strong growth mindset but more importantly, have the leadership profile that fits the Wendys MO: investing in the people that they serve (through creating long-lasting careers with training development, fostering a strong and exciting work culture) and representing the communities that their restaurants serve.

Related:Wendy's President Reveals the Special Sauce Behind Their Design Strategy

Though Wendys hasnt specifically benchmarked their franchisee profile to date (the company began doing so within the last year) Pringle explains that franchisees are encouraged to self-identify though its not a requirement, explaining that women are definitely more of the exception, not the rule when it comes to the standard franchisee and that they are on the minority side.

With the Own Your Opportunity initiative, the company is taking specific steps to change that.

One of the big things we saw that was a hindrance was how do we find great women entrepreneurs and how do we narrow the gap in terms of getting them access to capital, Pringle tells us, explaining that the chain partnered last year with First Womens Bank, the first women-founded and owned bank based in Chicago. Were a mission partner of that bank and they're helping us find great women entrepreneurs, they're helping finance some of these new franchisee deals.

Pringle says that the company has also doubled down on efforts to talk to existing women franchisees through focus groups and networking events in an effort to connect franchisees from different communities with each other and help find a way to attract new female entrepreneurs that would be interested in owning their own little slice of the fast-food titan.

Wendys has also changed its financial requirements for interested franchisees in an attempt to make opportunities more accessible to those in underrepresented communities.

We realized we weren't very competitive and it really was a high bar in order to be able to come into the system, Pringle admits. We can be financially smart and also be more competitive, so we changed our financial requirements forallnew or existing franchisees."

This includes changing benchmarks for net worth and liquidity for aspiring franchisees, while also making an effort to increase effort to capital for those interested by creating financing opportunities with major lending partners like City National Bank, Huntington National Bank and Wintrust Franchise Finance.

They're really partnering with us to make access to capital much more approachable for candidates who want to build one restaurant and then build two and then build three right over time. And so that's a really big unlock, I think that will change our ability to recruit more folks, Pringlesays.

Wendys has also launched a Build-to-Suit development fund which will take most of the heavy lift off of franchisees who hope to start with the company.

Related:'I Have Tears In My Eyes From Laughing So Much': Wendy's Rips Into McDonald's French Fries In Savage New Billboards

We're putting our own money into this equation, Pringle tells us. We actually have a turnkey program where we find the site, we build the location, and we hand over the keys to a new franchisee. And so they have part of the financial requirements, but we also are investing our capital to create an opportunity through building the restaurants. It really does change the game, I think, to be able to say, Gosh, I don't have a background in development or I'm not sure how to go and buy real estate. We've done all of that for them and engage and partner with them on that kind of a program.

The variation in different Wendys restaurant design types allows for massive (and seemingly endless) options and opportunity for those looking to open a their own franchise.

Though standard Wendys restaurants aremostcommon in the U.S. (which is the companys biggest market), theyre not the only store design option for franchisees.

The DNA, the core design and the experience is the same, but the way we bring [Wendys] to life can be different in each community. And I think that's part of better serving the community that we're in, Pringle says. I think that design evolution has changed things. And I think it will open up the door.

Design evolution certainly helped the company succeed through the pandemic where so many faltered amid restaurant closings due to pandemic protocols and early-day lockdowns.

Its this success and momentum within the company that has the company in the ideal position to double down on franchisee expansion and to look at the future with an accelerated pace.

I think that the brand is never been stronger. Our brand is in a really healthy position. In the U.S. we're now the number two hamburger chain, we are growing market share traffic and dollar share we are doing that in all other parts of the world, Pringle says. We believe that we can grow the brand. There's a huge opportunity to be able to better serve customers in the communities. We want to be able to grow.

Wendys was up nearly 6% year over year as of Monday afternoon.

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Exclusive: Wendy's President Talks New Franchisee Initiative Zeroed In On 'Diversity of Franchisees' - Entrepreneur