ACORN steps in to save Chamberlayne homes
A couple of weeks ago we ran a story about two historical homes on Chamberlayne that had demolition permits filed against them. Local resident and the Ginter Park Residents Association were working hard to find a buyer before the neighborhood lost these two old houses to newer construction. Earlier this week ACORN sent out an email to all of its contacts urging someone to make an offer on the two properties — and someone has.
The Robbins foundation, owner of the properties, has said that it will consider all serious offers.
The foundation is asking for $425,000 for both properties *combined*.
“More on ACORN’s site”:http://www.richmondneighborhoods.org/ as well as from “NBC12″:http://www.nbc12.com/global/story.asp?s=12066210.
ACORN has stopped using ACORN and now prefers to be called the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods, due to ongoing harassment by the ill-informed wingnuts.
Yeah, but, it makes my headlines so dreadfully long.
(I’m guilty of the same.)
Who are the ill-informed winguts?
For ACORN ideologues, “ill-informed wingnuts” means anyone who disagrees with their methods, partners, source of funds etc.
For anti-ACORN ideologues, the phrase is a martyr-enabling pejorative worn with pride.
But that doesn’t change the fact that the organization should be viewed in a local context–i.e., in Brooklyn, it’s evil and partners with big developers to drive small homeowners and business owners out of their property, in RVA, they try and find buyers for distressed property of historical significance.
I don’t know who they are, but for a while last fall they came out of the woodwork and called to scold us regularly. Explaining it to them became a hassle, and in the end didn’t seem to help. Now it’s just the occasional confused phone call. There’s also a notary supply company that goes by ACORN that we get stray calls for periodically.
Wingnuts: http://www.amazon.com/Wingnuts-Lunatic-Fringe-Hijacking-America/dp/0984295119#noop
ACORN: As we can see from one poster here, some still cannot read “Association for the Conservation of Old Richmond Neighborhoods” and realize that there is no association to the national ACORN.
There is crazy ACORN and then there is The Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods which is the group that help save these houses. They have no connection to that other ACORN group at all.
The folks that are so *enraged* about the left/right talking point du jour that they’ll jump into it at any chance given without really knowing what they’re talking about.
Not to be confused with the well-informed wingnuts, who also happen to be your neighbors:
http://thewingnutrva.wordpress.com/