NAMES IN THE NEWS : Protesters Greet Jimmy Carter
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SAN DIEGO — Former President Jimmy Carter was met by protesters when he arrived at a low-income neighborhood to help build seven homes for impoverished families.
About a dozen pickets who spoke to Carter before he and his wife, Rosalynn, started working on the project Tuesday objected to the number of homes that will be built on the 1 1/2-acre site in southeast San Diego.
About 200 volunteers are working on the project, which several neighborhood residents tried to stop in court because they believe the new homes would increase traffic congestion and lower property values. A Superior Court judge last week declined to grant an injunction that would have stopped the project.
Carter said that he was sympathetic to the residents’ concerns but added that he believes the project is worthwhile.
“I think that within a few months these concerns . . . will be over and gone and forgotten,” Carter said. “They will find that they have seven wonderful new neighbor families, and the community will accept them.”
Habitat for Humanity, based in Americus, Ga., has sponsored projects in more than 600 communities in 30 countries. The Carters worked on homes in across the border in Tijuana today.
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