An affordable housing coalition issued a lengthy letter in response to last week's crime in which vandals smashed the windows of Ald. Joe Moreno's office at 2740 W. North Ave. and scrawled "gentrifier" next to the door in spray paint. View Full Caption Ald. Joe Moreno's Office

HUMBOLDT PARK — Local affordable housing organizations are speaking out against the recent vandalism of 1st Ward Ald. Joe Moreno's office, saying the crime — in which someone spray-painted the word "gentrifier" next to the front door — does nothing to solve the real housing problems facing the ward.

Chicago Housing Initiative, a coalition of 10 housing organizations committed to affordable housing, including the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, issued a lengthy letter in response to last week's crime in which vandals smashed the windows of Moreno's office at 2740 W. North Ave. and scrawled "gentrifier" next to the door in spray paint.

In the letter, the group argues the vandals "have named a problem that is real but taken a course of action that lacks vision and provides no leadership."

"Yes, an unregulated housing market is going to wreak havoc on all communities where developers see a profit potential, and yes, profit potential in an unfettered capital system is synonymous with displacement. Communities that can be flipped are communities that can be profited from. .... And yes, it needs to be transformed," the letter reads.

"But smashing windows doesn’t transform. It doesn’t educate, it doesn’t call us together or build our capacity to make change. It just scapegoats a single public official for a broken system, very little of which he has control or influence over."

The group described the vandals as "carrying out a campaign to demonize a single alderman," when they should be focused on banding together to fight for inclusionary zoning and others tools to bring more affordable and low-income housing to the ward.

"Pretending that a single alderman is, or could be, responsible for either causing or ending gentrification is false analysis that leads us nowhere," the group wrote.

"Significantly, since this 'issue cut' of the problem is false, carrying out a campaign to demonize a single aldermen for the impact of free market forces will do very little to change the material circumstances of the families with whom we organize."

According to the group, Moreno is one of the few aldermen who is fighting for affordable housing in the city — all while escaping protest from "leftist cool kids."

In closing, the group wrote: "Let’s think and act bigger. We need a systems change. Let’s stop venting like children and organize for it."

Moreno touted the letter, posting it on his Facebook and Twitter pages.

It's unclear who vandalized the outside of Moreno's office. The Chicago Housing Initiative said a "self-proclaimedly anti-capitalist group" has taken responsibility for the crime.

In a blog post, the group claiming credit for the attack accused Moreno of selling out the ward.

"We see the families being torn apart and pushed out of this neighborhood. We see the luxury condos going up and the yuppies moving in," the group posted.

"We tried the old channels for creating change, and we know they are dead ends. We’re not waiting any longer to act. ... Every time you sign your approval onto a new luxury condo, know that we are watching, waiting, and planning our attack."

The authors of the blog post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police could not confirm whether the group was involved and said no one had been charged in the incident as of Tuesday afternoon.

Read the full letter below:

CHI Statement Response to Vandalism of Moreno's Office by Mina Bloom on Scribd