When Is Emergency Manager Joseph Harris Leaving Benton Harbor?

Rev. Edward Pinkney addressed hundreds at a Benton Harbor, Michigan rally to oppose the imposition of an emergency manager who has fired the mayor and city commission. A march was later held through downtown. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe), a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

When is EM Joseph Harris leaving Benton Harbor?

In September Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris found evidence that $168 K was missing in BH so he contacted the FBI.

Big mistake. Shortly after that, Whirlpool told him he would be leaving his job. Whirlpool and it's real estate corporation Cornerstone Alliance continue to threaten him about losing his job. This is Berrien County, Michigan, after all, where corruption defines the way of life.
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Berrien County Commissioners refuse to help African-American Benton Harbor residents

Regarding the $14 million HUD grant for Benton Harbor, and Benton Harbor only, let's just say it's become another grand-sized theft by Whirlpool and Rep. Fred Upton of money desperately needed in BH. HUD rules require 25% of the 68 homes in a strategic area be "low-income" -- this is the first priority to meet the grant requirement.

If the HUD NSP2* grant was being used in accordance with HUD rules, BH residents would receive housing counseling and home buying and down payment assistance. We can't think of a population more in need of this grant.

Where is the money going this time? Whirlpool and Upton agents, the Berrien County Commissioners, have divided up the grant so that roughly $7 million will go to Cornerstone Alliance for their personal use, and to build houses for upper middle class whites in Harbor Town, the resort "town" which is replacing lakefront BH.

The other $7 million goes to the Berrien County Land Bank Authority ** for acquisition "land-banking" and demolition. As 125 demolitions occur, EM Joe Harris will sell the properties to Cornerstone Alliance for $1.00 each. Yes, that's one dollar each.

For details about this gargantuan misuse of funds and phenomenal civil rights injustice, please call Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001.

Commissioners who are still silent:
Dave Pagel
Mac Elliott
John LaMore
Debra Panozzo
Jon Hinkelman
Zach Perkins
Bob Wooley
Mamie L. Yarbrough
Bryan Bixby
Jeanette Leahey
Cathy Thieneman
Andy Vavra

*Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2

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What is a Land Bank?

The short county website page - link below - states outrightly that:

--Benton Harbor neighborhoods are being "targeted"

--that really it's all about BH, and we know that does not mean lifting residents out of poverty and improving living situations as Neighborhood Stability Programs mandate

--that they are using federal money (NSP2 - HUD)

It's not stated, but if you follow Whirlpool's activies, you know this page is dedicated to eliminating BH residents by any means necessary to create a resort for the 1%. Long ago human suffering became a meaningless term for those in St. Joe and Berrien County who are motivated by greed. Someone, probably at WPool, came up with the Land Bank idea 2009 as another helpful eradication (genocide) tool.

http://berriencounty.org/CommunityDevelopment/LandBankAuthority

A fraction of the information available on wikipedia (Land Banking):

Land banking is the practice of purchasing raw land with the intent to hold on to it until such a time as it is profitable to sell it on to others for more than was initially paid. Land is popular as an investment as it is a tangible asset as opposed to shares or bonds.

The intended increase in value may come from inflation, conversion for use as housing, or potential for extraction of raw materials.

Typically parcels...desirable for land banking are those that lie...in the growth path of rapidly developing cities...The...objective is to identify these parcels well in advance of the developers and wait for the value to be realized.

A...documentary, first aired on BBC...criticized the services offered by many land banking companies...suggesting that they were scamming their customers.

The UK Land Registry issued a press release...advising consumers that the Land Registry has published a guide warning against land banking investment schemes. ...Rudd said that the public were being "misled about the prospects of obtaining planning permission," with well-known banks and developers being falsely cited as partners in the project, and that in some cases forged Land Registry paperwork was being presented to suggest that planning approval existed where it did not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_banking

Rev. Pinkney, 269-925-0001, banco9342@sbcglobal.net
BANCO, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Senior PGA Championship, May 2012, Benton Harbor: Get ready to demonstrate.
Pinkney to Pinkney, blogtalkradio.com, every Sunday, 5-6pm
bhbanco.org