ESI President Stephen Mullin was quoted by NewsWorks.Org on his participation in the Germantown United Community Development Corporation (GUCDC) community forum on the “Big G: Gentrification in Germantown: How it works, and for whom?”on April 26th. The round table discussions permitted community engagement in a conversation in order to promote awareness, solutions, and actions. 140 community leaders, organizers and residents were in attendance to hear answers on the future of Germantown and its residents.

An excerpt from NewWorks.org’s coverage on Mr. Mullin’s speech:

Representing the business community at the forum was Steve Mullin, president of ESI and former city commerce director. He said stability doesn’t exist in any community. “There’s no such thing as equilibrium,” he said. “You’re either declining or growing, and change is even more rapid now.” He also warned against use of the word “community,” because it’s dangerous to think of any group as homogenous. “People move in and out, and a neighborhood belongs to anybody” who lives there, he said. Gentrification does have a “nasty connotation,” he said, and “hell, yes, it’s a racial thing.” The “three sides of the same coin” which led to Germantown’s decline, Mullin said, are the lack of new housing stock, the lack of equitable distribution of wealth and its dearth of quality schools, which “determine the desirability of a neighborhood.” > Read More