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HomeNews Institute for Justice representative to meet with Justice Department

Institute for Justice representative to meet with Justice Department

Christina Walsh, Director of Community Organization, Institute for Justice
Christina Walsh, Director of Community Organization, Institute for Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will host a fact finding meeting on November 20 at 7 p.m. at the New Providence Outreach Center, 207 Oak Street, in Clarksville. This is a precursor to a larger public forum on downtown redevelopment issues.

The redevelopment plan was first brought to the attention of federal officials this summer, when local NAACP President Jimmie Garland submitted some concerns to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

William Dirl, field office director of the Nashville HUD office, expressed concerns in a letter to Clarksville Mayor Johnny Piper that the redevelopment plan did not emphasize providing housing rehabilitation to existing residents.

Elected officials, community leaders and civic organizations have been invited to attend. The meeting is also open to interested members of the public.

Christina Walsh serves as the Coordinator for the Institute for Justice’s Castle Coalition. Through her outreach efforts and grassroots organizing, she helps property owners nationwide to fight eminent domain abuse.

Walsh travels the country, educating and organizing property owners and activists whose properties are threatened by eminent domain for private gain. Through community meetings, rallies, protests and workshops, Walsh has helped defeat tax-hungry governments that seek to condemn perfectly fine properties for land-hungry private developers. She successfully organized home and small business owners in Chicago, Ill., Wilmington, Del., New York City, and across New Jersey, and has forged strong alliances that span the philosophical spectrum. Walsh has been quoted extensively in news outlets across the country.

Walsh provides legislative support to state and local lawmakers, and coordinates Perspectives on Eminent Domain Abuse, a new series of independently authored reports published by the Institute for Justice that examine the issue of eminent domain.

Christina received her undergraduate degree in Political Theory from the University of Virginia in 2004, and joined the Institute upon graduation.

This meeting format will best help identify to USDOJ and HUD the issues and non-compliance that will and have already come about since this redevelopment plan was put together. The USDOJ and HUD will use the information gathered at this meeting to determine the best possible way to effectively engage the community in the next phase of this process.  Please RSVP to Terry McMoore at the Urban Resource Center, terrymcmoore@hotmail.com

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