EBALDC Employee Threatens Poor People's Free Bread

Press Release --- For Immediate Release

(Hard Copy faxed to over 40 Bay Area Media Locations,
attorneys and politicians)

(E-mailed to thousands)

From: Housing & Tenant Activist, Lynda Carson
510/763-1085 829 E. 19th St. #2 Oakland, CA. 94606

Note: EBALDC - East Bay Asian Local Development
Corporation

January 17, 2008

EBALDC Employee Threatens Poor People's Free Bread

Effies House Tenants Demand That Manager Stay Away From Free Bread Table

Oakland - On Thursday January 17, the tenants of
Effies House were SHOCKED to learn that the manager
(Rodney Winters) of the 20 unit building ran amok in
anger, harassing people and repeatedly was stealing
any and all information pertaining to Food Not Bombs
free bread, that has been distributed to the poor
people of Effies House during the past 12 weeks.
Winters removes anything that says the bread is for
the tenants.

Thanks to local clergy in Berkeley, Lydia Gans, Lynda
Carson and the local Food Not Bombs chapter of
Oakland, free surplus bread from Whole Foods grocery
store in Berkeley has been delivered to Effies House
on a weekly basis during the past 12 weeks, with over
600 loaves of bread being served at no cost to the
tenants. Deliveries of free bread started after
permission was granted by Rodney Winters for Food Not
Bombs to make weekly deliveries to the tenants of
Effies House. Suddenly on January 17, Winters ran amok
and suddenly claimed that he never heard of Food Not
Bombs, after stealing their brand name logos and
bumper stickers.

Due to their shock and dismay at Winters bizarre
behavior on January 17, the tenants are demanding that
Rodney Winters (EBALDC Employee) must stay away from
the bread table, and to stop harassing and stealing
from those trying to bring free bread and information
to the poor people of Effies House.

Problems with the free bread first began when Rodney
Winters (EBALDC employee) was seen by tenants to be
taking large quantities of bread from the tenants
bread table. When questioned, Winters claimed that he
had MANY poor friends and stated that the tenants
bread had to be shared with them also. When told that
the bread was for Effies House tenants, in a
threatening manner Winters became belligerent and
demanded that the tenants bread should be available
for anyone, including himself and all of his friends.

Feeling threatened by this EBALDC employee trying to
take control of the tenants bread with this unexpected
development, Lydia Gans and Lynda Carson decided to
bring in even larger quantities of bread so that there
would be enough for the tenants no matter how much
bread the EBALDC Employee would take from the tenants
and their families. E-mails are available to verify
this situation.

Since Winters came to Effies House tenants have
complained that pest control no longer goes to their
apartments, common area floors no longer are vacuumed
weekly, the building was nearly burned down recently
by youth using faulty Bar-B-Q cookers, and dope
smoking and violence is on the rise in the building.


Before joining EBALDC and managing Effies House,
Rodney Winters worked for Oakland Community Housing,
Inc., (OCHI). OCHI was sued on August 2, 2005 by 43
tenants who complained of rat, roach and bedbug
infestations in the California Hotel in Oakland, due
to employee incompetence.

Currently, Latinos and Whites continue to face
discrimination due to housing policies that
discriminate. As of May, 2004, 39% of EBALDC's renters
are African American, 44% are Asian & Pacific
Islander, 4% are Latino, 5% White and 8% represent
other ethnic groups.
http://www.ebaldc.org/pg/14/about-ebaldc/community

As a result, since 2000, Whites have only been allowed
to move into Effies House 20 unit building on 3
occaisions, and Latinos even less. Currently Rodney
Winters manages Effies House as the enforcer of these
racist housing policies that discriminate against
Latino's and Whites while using HUD funded subsidies
from local and federal tax dollars.

For more, please feel free to call 510/763-1085