Valerie Jarrett-managed Slum Apartments to Be Torn Down with Federal Cash
2nd September 2011
Valerie Jarrett, a close friend of the Barack and Michelle Obama is the former CEO of Habitat Company, which managed Grove Parc, a federally subsidized apartment complex on Chicago’s South Side that can be accurately described as a slum. Jarrett is now a senior adviser to the president.
On Wednesday with great fanfare the awarding of a $30.5 million federal grant to revitalize Grove Parc–by tearing it down–was announced.
The irony is thick here. Jarrett’s Habitat runs Grove Parc into the ground, and now the federal government funding its demolition and the building of its replacement.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Sen. Dick Durbin, and US Rep. Bobby Rush attended the Grove Parc ceremony. Jarret was not there. In fact, no mention of her role in mismanaging the unhappy homes was mentioned by the Chicago Sun-Times or the Chicago Tribune.