Public Hearing on Housing Behind Hanks

[avatar]

Dear ChatGPT,

Are you aware of any controversies or criticism related to Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington?

ChatGPT says:

"Rent Increase and Evictions (2023): In 2023, Catholic Charities acquired an apartment complex in Spokane. Subsequently, tenants, including seniors and individuals with disabilities, reported significant rent increases of up to $500 per month, leading to evictions due to unaffordability. This move attracted criticism, especially given the organization's mission to support vulnerable populations." (source: Reddit)

That is very helpful. Thank you, ChatGPT!

~ Chris Campbell (Winthrop)

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Hi, ChatGPT. It's me again.

What about any documented connections between Rosauers grocery stores and Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington? Can you find any?

ChatGPT says:

"Catholic Charities Eastern Washington (CCEW) and Rosauers Supermarkets have collaborated to support vulnerable communities in the region. In 2020, Rosauers, under the leadership of CEO Jeff Philipps, made a notable donation to CCEW, highlighting the partnership between the two organizations. Rosauers emphasizes community engagement, focusing on supporting licensed 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that provide essentials like food and shelter."

Interesting! Thanks again, ChatGPT!

~ Chris Campbell

[karlukkid]

Thank you Chris,,, both of these posts are very interesting. Bruce Herron Wolf Creek

[damyanp]

There's an article on the KREM website with more details about the rent increases titled "Residents at Catholic Charities apartment navigating rent increases". It doesn't particularly contradict chatgpt's response, but it took me a while to dig up something to corroborate it so figured I'd share.

(I think external linking is against the bb rules so didn't include one)

[Reapward]

Chris, thanks for posting the dropbox link. This is what I have been wanting, so I didn't have to go to Town hall to get it.
From the stats you presented, I am wondering if Catholic Charities could downsize the project. Perhaps their funding won't let them for some archaic reason.
Also, read that rents would be determined by income in the paper.

[krh]

The County Commissioners had an interesting conversation about this yesterday during the Public Works weekly update. You can watch the video at this link: https://media.avcaptureall.cloud/meeting/10d6a6c9-d363-4176-bf11-e026fb64e2cd.

There are two places in the video where this is discussed.

At time stamp 1:57:50 Josh Thomson (public works director) talks about the Twisp/Carlton road access for about 2 minutes. They then move to other topics, and come back to the conversation about the housing project at 2:13:15. This discussion lasts about 8 ½ minutes.

If you are interested in the growth plans for the town of Twisp, I highly recommend checking it out!

FYI – notes on all county commissioner meetings can be found at www.countywatch.org. These notes are taken by volunteers and published weekly. A weekly summary of topics discussed is posted to this bulletin board and sent to the County Watch mailing list. To get on the list, just go to www.countywatch.org and scroll down to the bottom of the home page. You can enter your email address to receive the weekly update.

[Solstice]

Thanks Katie,
Very pertinent information. Traffic studies. Elevation info. Lombard St. Population projections. Better than ChatGPT!

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Jim, hello. The wonderful thing about ChatGPT is that it puts a world of real facts right at the fingertips of anyone and everyone, and in most cases names its sources so that one can then verify said information for oneself, within mere seconds. I find it to be very helpful and use it daily. It's not 100% foolproof, true enough, but again, it speeds up one's research into any topic under the sun, and allows for personal verification. It's a revolutionary and democratizing tool, in my humble opinion. (My somewhat snarky humor is perhaps NOT so helpful in these matters. My apologies for that!). Please, if anyone has further comments about ChatGPT they would like to share, please share them in a separate thread. This thread is about one of the most important issues current Valley residents are facing today, and it deserves serious, undivided attention and discussion.

I see that I did fail to note that the source for the information about the historical relationship between Rosauers and Catholic Charities is Rosauers' own website (Rosauers.com).

Now, my own unfiltered (and un-snarky) thoughts on this issue are as follows . . .

There seems to be pretty wide consensus among individuals, businesses and local governments in our greater Valley community that a significant number of current Valley residents find it very difficult to secure affordable housing. A lot of CURRENT valley residents who are fully or partially employed or competing with other people for the relatively few jobs that are available, and who want to continue to live here.

My question is, how could a project like this address that problem for current valley residents? How would it not actually EXACERBATE the problem? Apart from being what I personally consider to be a lot more very unattractive and urban style housing that just doesn't make sense here in the still mostly rural Valley, how does it make sense to introduce hundreds of more people with similarly insufficient financial resources into the community, to create further competition for the few available jobs and services? This project would not create new jobs, and has been noted by others, would not even give any preference whatsoever to current valley residents! How is is not potentially just a Pandora's Box of further problems, or additional strain on precious local resources, or something that will permanently change the fabric of this beautiful valley, and not in ways that are good or desired by current, average residents?

~ Chris Campbell

[Reapward]

The Town wants growth, period.

[lil-red-rooster]

~~ this delves into the deep politics of agendas like the WEF ... (smart cities, everything within walking distance) - ( you will own nothing and be happy). The idea behind the burn off of Pacific Palasades ( a revision of LA restructured in smart cities and land grab)

~~ Interesting the corporation Rosauers (which happens to be a chain of grocery stores from Spokane has contributed financially to Catholic Charities of Eastern Wa, the very source of this public housing project. How does Rosauers benefit from this potential pool of labor as well as housing ??

~~ I anticipate some of the residents of this public housing (who can't make rent) to be subsidized by the state inviting unemployment and drug trafficking.

~~ there are not enough jobs in Twisp to employ this volume of people !!