BY DAVE PARRO
Whatever the solution might be to the Aurora Housing Authority fiasco, it's nice to see Alderman Rick Lawrence working with the mayor's office on something.
Maybe it can be the start of a beautiful friendship. Or at least a professional working relationship.
Instead of letting his personal feud with Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner get in the way, Lawrence has been meeting with his 4th Ward predecessor, former Alderman Chuck Nelson, to address problems at Jericho Circle. Nelson, now the mayor's assistant chief of staff, has been helping Lawrence as he tries to get the AHA to clean up the grounds there and reduce crime. At Lawrence's request, the city sent inspectors in, which he calls "a major change of policy."
The AHA dispute is likely to come to a head soon. In addition to better conditions at Aurora's public-housing complexes, hopefully the result will be Lawrence and Weisner putting aside their disdain for each other and realizing that they can accomplish much more as allies than enemies.
If drug addicts (crack heads) weren't allowed to reside in public housing do you think you would have these problems? I say anyone requesting public housing should be drug tested as part of the application process and denied if they fail the test.
So who is this new ED at the AHA? I have searched the internet and Atlanta Ga about this woman and nothing!! Is she for real? Also, this woman has never been a ED or anything close to it from what I read in the paper. Is it another wonderful AHA board decision? That board needs to go, they have done nothing for years and now hire someone who is going to make the outside of buildings look pretty and do the inside. Are they going to watch her every move for at least, let's see. maybe at least 3 months? I hate to see how you watched your prior ED who was never there! Where is the $ coming from? Before they said they had no $ but now MISSY comes in, and everything is being pulled to satisfiy her!! EXCUSE me, but the people who live in these buildings should clean and pick up after themselves. That is what any normal homeowner does. You keep your yard looking nice and if you don't the city will be on you, and the city should not be on the employees of AHA, it is the residents, the people who live there. And look, good old Rick Lawrence promised all of these people wonderful things, and what did he do, he quit the race. All TALK, no action. But he is there with $ in his hand to give to the Residence Council with a Tribune photographer at his side! And of course, lets go to Mr. Rick Brace who is so concerned about all of the people who live at these sights. He would never go onto these sights, and no one never knew who he was until he was fired!! But boy, when they let him go, all of a sudden he was so concerned for the people who lived at these sights, and all of sudden he was best buds with Rick Lawrence, who he could not stand and would not associate with him. But he had to BOO HOO to someone, to get on his side. MR. BRACE, how much did you interact with the people who reside in the AHA community during all of your years at AHA? 3 hours, if that? All I can say to the Mayor now is that there is a wonderful staff at the AHA who have worked there for years and who REALLY CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE AT THE SITES!!! You have had so many ED's, and they have cared so little about the people, why have you never looked inside the AHA, at the staff who have been there for years, and know whats going on and care about the people!!! But then of course, we have a board who have been there for years,and come to their 2 meetings a month, don't really want to know whats going on UNTIL there is a problem. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!