The Ladies Auxiliary of Wheatfield, NY





Uuuhhhh, guys...........

.....the more you open your mouths, the worse you make things appear.

So go out, and pass the hat around the neighbourhood, and hire a reputable P.R. firm with the proceeds, 'cause Christ knows, you really need one.

Right, so whilst I'm not really too into getting back to this, I had seen the following in an article in The Buffalo News (I'm not putting anymore Buffalo News links on here, because they shut 'em down after 14 days, and make 'em archive-only, which only allows you to see 'em for a buck-ninety-nine a pop).....and man!! These explanations are just stunning!! Check it, Yo! (Buffalo News story text in red font):


Riegel has been through this process enough times in the past 25 years to conclude that race and class are at the heart of the opposition - a charge that residents vehemently dispute.

A 64-unit affordable-housing project called the Townhomes at Shawnee Landing, is getting a lot of attention. Neighbors have turned out by the hundreds in the past two weeks to complain, and opponents argue that the new housing would adversely impact drainage, result in congested traffic and crowd Niagara-Wheatfield Central School District classrooms.

But an anonymous flier and thinly veiled references to race at a recent standing-room-only town meeting - combined with a pro-development town supervisor's spur-of-the-moment call for a three-week building moratorium - make this anything but a typical development fight.

Some residents say they had no idea multiple-unit housing was being built at the site on Klemer Road, just around the corner from homes selling for a quarter-million dollars.

Others say they knew about the project but had been led to believe it was designed for senior citizens, not for low-income families.

Steve Kishel of Trails End, who was elected president of the group, said previous accounts of residents' remarks were not representative of the committee. (ed. note - or, at least that Wheatfield residents should NOT have made these remarks when television cameras were present)

OK, so, in Wheatfield, NY (a suburb of both, Niagara Falls, NY and Buffalo, NY that sits equidistant between the two that was created by White Flight from both cities) we have anonymous notes left on the doors of residents stating "....this development will bring in people of all colours into Wheatfield....." and a local church leader screaming at a recent town board meeting about how they don't want "the gang-bangers" and all of the other sorts of elements that low-income housing might bring in.

"You know what type of people will be there," said Jim Adams, of the nearby Timberlake subdivision. "I'm sorry if that offends anybody." (ed. note - homes in the Timberlake subdivision sticker price around $350,000 - $550,000.....amongst the highest priced in Western New York)



Soooooo, now?

NOW, the townsfolk of Wheatfield, embarrassed at appearing to be racist (ed. note - "appearing"??), are now backtracking, stating theeee most unbelievable shit, like how they are just concerned that......uuuuhhh.....too much development might bring a strain on schools and the local infrastructure in general. Yeah, yeah, that's it, it's not blacks or low-income people we don't want here (or, Christ forbid, low-income African-Americans)....naw, it's just that were against over-development of our town......yeah.....that's it.

Yeah.....yeah, that's it. That's what we meant! Yeah, I mean, we're just against development in general.....that's all we're saying!! We're not against any specific group of people.....nooooo......

Ahhhh......no guys. Nice try.....

Actually, they woulda looked A LOT better if they just literally came out and stated the facts. The residents should have drafted a joint statement that would have looked like this:

"Well, yes, actually, Wheatfield IS a very homogeneous European-American town, and, yes, the vast majority of residents in this township did NOT originate here a few generations ago on farming homesteads, but rather most of us came here in droves in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and today as a result of White Flight from Niagara Falls and Buffalo!"

"So, really now: Do you think that we wish to invite these same Blacks INTO our new neighbourhood now, since they were the ones that we were trying to escape from in the first place??? They DO NOT have our purchasing power and they are culturally unlike us. And besides, they all go out and rob all the time!"

"I mean, yeah, when we thought that this was a low-income housing project FOR SENIORS....well, OK, then....because those 65 or better generally don't commit crimes.....even the Darkies! They quit robbing after about age fifty, which is when they add about five seconds to their 40-yard-dash time, and our corpulent Law Enforcement agents are able to almost catch 'em."


The sad fact is that there had been almost noooooooooooo town resident opposition to almost ANY OTHER subdivisions in the Town of Wheatfield....yet, yet, for just one example, the three Wheatfield subdivisions of Forest Lake, Spice Creek and Eaglechase (just three of the dozens of subdivisions that, existing and proposed, have sprung up in Wheatfield in the past six years or so) have a combined total of MORE THAN 350 new lots/houses.

Ummm.....the proposed Townhomes at Shawnee Landing low-income housing development??

It has 65 units......

Soooooo, wait: WHICH ONE is the bigger strain on schools, fire, water, sewer, police, and the infrastructure again??

Right, but the good people of the Town of Wheatfield crave racial diversity, and regularly enjoy welcoming lower-income folks into their community!!! It's just that they want NO MORE DEVELOPMENT and the associated strain that it puts on the infrastructure.....yeeeeaaaah.....that's all it is.

OK, so THAT is the only reason they are opposed to the Townhomes at Shawnee Landing. No more development. Cool....great!

Now, since that's the case, the next 213 lot subdivision (that will have an average house price of $500,000 to $750,000) that gets proposed to the town planners of Wheatfield will be VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED by the residents.

I mean, these good upstanding citizens of Wheatfield are well above ANY hypocrisy.......they will be against ANY future development in Wheatfield.....even if it increases their home's resale value........right?

Right?

Right.......?

Hello.....................................?

Direct quote from Steve Kishel, President of Wheatfield Residents Action Committee: "We don't want to stop development. We want to make sure we hold elected officials accountable."

READ AS - "Well, I mean, we weren't talking about stopping ALL development...but we're asking the Planning Board to use the following guideline in the future: "If it's affluent, and it's White, then it's all right! If it's poor, and it's Black, then send that shit back!"













New house as displayed in the 2006 Niagara County Builders Association Parade of Homes




MERRY CHRISTIMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.....

.....now, please get the fuck out of my suburb before I call the police.

-E-