...my blood pressure immediately rose, thinking in impolite terms, that, well hell, more people might have attended if someone had effing bothered to tell Cairo residents that there was going to be a damn meeting.

My ire calmed when the article went on to explain that the "sparsely attended meeting" (which in my mind was an implied slam at apathetic residents of Cairo) was not our fault:

Only about a dozen people attended the meeting with Durbin held at the ACHA’s Connell F. Smith apartment complex. Because of an apparent snafu, residents did not know about the opportunity to meet with Durbin. The senator apologized numerous times to those who made it on last-minute notice for part of the meeting.

John Normoyle, an aide to the senator, said afterward that Durbin’s staff was under the impression that the HUD managers overseeing the ACHA were going to let residents know about the opportunity at Wednesday’s tenant meeting, where there was a much larger crowd.

HUD spokesman Jereon Brown said HUD officials knew Durbin was coming, but that he personally did not know anything about a request that HUD take on the responsibility of informing the residents of the meeting. The HUD administrators based in Cairo also were not in attendance, as they had returned to their homes in Chicago and other places for the weekend.

Though the mix-up didn’t appear to be intentional on the part of HUD or Durbin, it was odd given that only two days prior at the tenant meeting, Macon encouraged residents to reach out to their senators and ask for funding assistance for rehabilitation and new construction in Cairo, given that she had been denied for the grant. As earmarks for special district projects are no longer an option in Congress, Durbin said special priority funding would be HUD's discretion.

The back-and-forth highlights the fact that there are no easy answers for addressing the housing crisis in this deeply rooted and resilient but economically depressed town at the bottom tip of Illinois. Because of that, state and federal politicians and governmental leaders have resorted largely to deflecting and passing the buck.

Yeah, right...

...it's also highly likely the various parties did not want a repeat of the angry reaction that occurred on April 9th at the packed meeting when HUD announced the closing of McBride and Elmwood. HUD officials had the advantage of surprise that night, catching residents off guard. This time, attending residents would have been forewarned, so HUD officials probably felt it was better to be back home in Chicago.

Chickensh*ts.

Hopefully you can access the remainder of the article despite The Southern Illinoisan's paywall restrictions.

(Cheating Hint: Borrow someone else's digital device that has not used up their "access tickets" for the month. Also, if you have more than one device, sometimes you can slip by on the other.)

From THE SOUTHERN ILLINOISAN