To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: CPPH_Info-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are 5 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. Rainier Vista - Seattle P-I story From: Grant 2. Fwd: Seattle -- Injunction temporarily stops public housing demolition From: Grant 3. New GAO report on HOPE VI From: Grant 4. GAO report on HOPE VI leveraging From: Grant 5. Fwd: [Fwd: set aside ordinance] From: Grant ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 07:04:21 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: Rainier Vista - Seattle P-I story --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: > Rainier Vista - Seattle P-I story SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/98718_rainier06.shtml Judge halts demolition of homes at Rainier Vista housing project Advocates for poor hail reprieve; agency fears a costly delay Friday, December 6, 2002 By PHUONG CAT LE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER A federal judge has temporarily stopped the demolition of homes at the Rainier Vista housing project -- a victory for those who say redevelopment plans for the area will leave the city's poorest people without enough places to live. The Seattle Housing Authority says the action could cost it millions of dollars. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour on Tuesday ordered the demolition suspended until a lawsuit by tenants and housing advocates could be heard in court. The housing authority was initially defiant yesterday morning, telling the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that it was not subject to the judge's order. Work crews continued to raze several World War II-era duplexes that have housed some of the city's poor in the South End for decades. But the authority suspended demolition by 1 p.m. after Coughenour issued a second order clarifying that the agency had to comply. Advocates and tenants have fought for months to stop redevelopment at Rainier Vista, which got a $35 million federal HOPE VI grant to replace 481 low-income units with 1,010 mixed-income apartments and homes. They say the redevelopment would displace the poor and result in fewer units for them. "It's not just what happens to the building, it has to look at what effects destroying 481 units will have on the people," said Hong Tran, an attorney with the non-profit Northwest Justice Project, which represents two Rainier Vista residents. "This is an important decision for us in moving forward," Tran said. Last Friday, the housing authority began demolishing some of the wood duplexes west of Martin Luther King Jr. Way near South Columbian Way. Authority spokeswoman Virginia Felton said delays from this week's court order could cost millions. If the agency loses its demolition contract, it may incur added costs and push back construction for a year, she said. "We're talking millions because there's strong potential that we could lose the (demolition) contract," Felton said. "It's very significant." The housing authority, an independent public entity, has already spent $8 million in design, community organizing and relocation, she said. Other non-profit housing projects to be built at that site may be at risk if the delay lasts too long. Providence Health System, formerly Sisters of Providence, is building 78 units of housing for the low-income elderly. Housing Resources Group is constructing a 50-unit low-income apartment building, with almost half the units serving people with disabilities. "If indeed the demolition and regrading is delayed for more than two months, we are in danger of losing funding" from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Sarah Lewontin, real estate development director for Housing Resources Group. Dan Smerken with Providence Health System shared her concern. He said his group has already asked for a second extension relating to a HUD grant. Since Congress created the urban revitalization program in 1992, HUD has awarded more than $5 billion to remake 171 housing sites across the country. Seattle has four HOPE VI projects, all in the South End and West Seattle. Housing activists have fought the HOPE VI projects across the country. Supporters say the program revitalizes some of the country's worst housing stock, but critics says it merely displaces poor tenants in favor of people with higher incomes. Two residents, a neighborhood group Friends of Rainier Vista and the Seattle Displacement Coalition filed a lawsuit July 19 to stop the project after the city granted the housing authority the right to rezone the development. They argue that the city did not take account of how the redevelopment would affect the dislocation of residents, the loss of 500 trees, changes in traffic patterns and other repercussions. Judge Coughenour rejected earlier requests for an injunction, saying the citizens' arguments didn't have merit. In his order Tuesday, Coughenour noted that "the court's firm view remains unchanged." He issued a temporary injunction, noting that the expedited schedule for when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears the lawsuit would create minimal delay and "will not substantially injure" the project. The housing authority filed a motion yesterday afternoon to reconsider. "It's a big victory for us to put a stop to the continued demolition of perfectly good housing," said John Fox with the Seattle Displacement Coalition. He and others argue that housing should be preserved, not torn down. Some aren't so sure. Outside her two-bedroom duplex at Rainier Vista yesterday, Dalita Kalehuloa, 24, said she was looking forward to moving into one of the new units because it will have carpet, washer and dryer and a dishwasher. For two years, she lived on the west side of the housing project, where the beige and blue duplexes are now boarded up, the perimeter is fenced in and construction will begin first. Some of the homes lie crumbled in a pile of wood and glass, and trees have been cut down. "It's time for them to come down. They're really old," said Kalehuloa, who lives with her two young daughters and works nearby. She moved to the east side of Rainier Vista to make way for demolition. Some of her neighbors took federally subsidized vouchers and found housing elsewhere in the city. She's confident that she'll be able to return to the new units when they're built and hopes that her low rent of $150 a month will remain the same. > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 07:02:18 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: Fwd: Seattle -- Injunction temporarily stops public housing demolition --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: Date: Fri, 6 – - Injunction temporarily stops public housing demolition Housing authority stops Rainier Vista demolition By The Associated Press In the Seattle Times 12/6/2002 The Seattle Housing Authority halted its demolition and redevelopment of the Rainier Vista public-housing project yesterday in response to an injunction issued two days earlier by U.S. District Judge John Coughenour. The injunction blocks any further demolition until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the merits of a lawsuit brought by the Seattle Displacement Coalition and others who claim the redevelopment plan will result in fewer units for the poorest residents. The Housing Authority is leveling the dilapidated 481-unit apartment project and replacing it with a mixed-income community of 1,010 new homes. The agency denies that the new development will offer fewer extremely low-income units, and Coughenour has dismissed fair-housing claims brought against it. Coughenour has also denied previous requests for an injunction, saying opponents' claims did not merit one. This time, he granted the injunction, noting that the case is on track for expedited review by the 9th Circuit, and that an injunction would ensure the plaintiffs a chance to seek "complete relief." But he also wrote that "the court's firm view remains unchanged" that the demolition opponents' case will fail. The brief delay caused by the injunction will not substantially hurt the Housing Authority, Coughenour said. The Housing Authority disputed that claim. "With a contractor already in place on the site, and demolition already in progress, this delay has the potential to cost millions of dollars," Executive Director Harry Thomas said. "Even with an expedited appeals process, work could be suspended for 90 days, and we could lose our contract with the current contractor." > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 07:14:07 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: New GAO report on HOPE VI --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: >> > I received the following Tuesday from Craig Castellanet , > staff attorney > of the National > Housing Law Project in Oakland CA, and am forwarding it > to my own list with > apologies to any of you who are on his list or the GAO > list and have > already > received this. Wayne > > ================ > > > > >December 3, 2002 > > > > > >The General Accounting Office (GAO) today released the > following reports, > >testimony, and correspondence: > > > >LETTER REPORT > > > >Public Housing: HOPE VI Leveraging Has Increased, but > HUD Has Not Met > >Annual Reporting Requirement. GAO-03-91, November 15 > >http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-91 > > > > > >These and other recent GAO reports and testimonies may > be found at > >http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/recent.php. > > > >Printed copies of any of these items are available from > GAO's Document > >Distribution Center, 202-512-6000. Members of the press > may request copies > > >from the Office of Public Affairs, 202-512-4800. > > > >Instructions for subscribing to this daily e-mail alert > about GAO products > > >can be found at > >http://www.gao.gov/subtest/subscribe.html. > > > >============================================================= > >This list is produced by the U.S. General Accounting > Office > >to provide timely information about GAO Reports and > Testimony > >related to Housing. You may access GAO on the web at > > http://www.gao.gov > > > =========================================================================== > ====== > > Craig Castellanet > Staff Attorney > National Housing Law Project > 614 Grand Avenue, Suite 320 > Oakland, CA 94610 > 510-251-9400 (ext. 106) > fax 510-451-2300 > ccastellanet@nhlp.org > > > > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 07:09:44 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: GAO report on HOPE VI leveraging --- Wayne Sherwood wrote: HOUSING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS -- THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2002 from Sherwood Research Associates GAO ISSUES REPORT ON HOPE VI LEVERAGING (by Wayne Sherwood) This week the US General Accounting Office (GAO) released its report GAO-03-91, "HOPE VI leveraging has increased, but HUD has not met annual report requirement" (dated November 2002). My first concern came upon reading the first paragraph of the report, where GAO defines what it means by 'leveraging,' i.e. to "attract funding from other sources, including other federal, state, local, and private-sector sources." (p.3) This is a very broad definition of leveraging. It is important to be very clear about whether one is talking about merely re-shuffling governmental resources (public housing capital funds, HOPE VI, CDBG, HOME) and tax-credit housing expenditures around from one site to another, knowing that these expenditures would have occurred someplace anyway, or whether one means that there was an increase in non-governmental investment in affordable housing as a result of HOPE VI. If one is simply talking about re-shuffling the location of the investment of governmental resources and tax-credit housing expenditures so that more of these investments (that would have occurred someplace anyway) are concentrated at HOPE VI sites, then that is probably not what most people would consider to be the definition of leveraging. My next concern came in the first paragraph where GAO says, "Housing authorities that received revitalization grants in fiscal years 1993 through 2001 estimate that they will be able to obtain an additional $9 billion in public and private funds for their HOPE VI sites." I think that accountants (as in "General Accounting Office") are supposed to report on what actually happened, not merely on hopes or estimates. This statement sounds disturbingly like some of Arthur Anderson's reports on Enron, for example "Enron estimates that its profits for the coming quarter will be $65 billion". By highlighting this statement in the first paragraph of its report, GAO makes it seem as though this is a well-documented and important finding. In reality, however, this assertion is not backed up by facts about what has actually happened. HUD's "Best Practices" report of July 2002 stated that after 10 years of HOPE VI, only 15 HOPE VI projects have been completed and only a little over 4,000 units of housing other than public housing have been built. The reality so far is considerably different from the estimates. That is what accountants are paid to report. Even using Housing Authority estimates in lieu of actual results, GAO reports that very little private money is being leveraged by HOPE VI. The report states that "when low-income housing tax credit funding is included, 79 percent of the budgeted funds are from federal sources. The remaining 21 percent of budgeted funds are from nonfederal sources, including private sources (12 percent) and state and local governments (9 percent)." (p.4) Repeat: Only 12 percent of the total estimated spending in conjunction with HOPE VI will come from non-governmental sources. And it's still not clear whether the private sector will actually come up with this much. The GAO report goes on to say: "Although HUD has been required to report leveraging and cost information to the Congress annually since 1998, it has not done so. Section 535 of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 requires HUD to submit an annual report to the Congress on the HOPE VI program. The Act provides that this annual report is to include, among other things, the cost of public housing units revitalized under the program and the amount and type of financial assistance provided under and in conjunction with the program. HUD has not issued these required annual reports to the Congress...neither HUD's most recent budget justification nor its most recent performance and accountability report contains detailed information on the amount of leveraged funds or the cost of public housing units revitalized under the HOPE VI program." (p.5-6) I guess that's GAO's excuse. GAO based its report on Housing Authority "estimates" because there aren't any actual figures. I think that GAO should have stated that more clearly up front. Instead, both in the title and throughout the report, GAO says that "HOPE VI leveraging has increased." This seems to me to be misleading, but is probably a statement that will be quoted by HUD and in Congress over and over again, unfortunately. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 5 Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 14:40:11 -0800 (PST) From: Grant Subject: Fwd: [Fwd: set aside ordinance] --- Stacey Flint wrote: Hi, just wanted to make sure you knew about the set aside ordinance that ald. Preckwinkle introduced on Tuesday. In addition, we are convening a celebratory breakfast at the Chicago temple on Weds, the 11th from 9a.m to 9:45a.m., after which, we will attend the H&Rcomittee hearing on the 3rd quarterly DOH report. One of the focus we will speak to is the high cost of unit development for some of the CHA activities. . I would like to assure that CPPH leadership attends could you please pass this on . . . I want to also extend an invite to them to attend the breakfast also. give me a call. Gené > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/