[StBernard] White resident joins housing bias lawsuit in St. Bernard

[Westley Annis]

White resident joins housing bias lawsuit in St. Bernard
November 6, 2006   


Fair housing advocates, joined by a local property owner, last week asked a
federal court to enjoin St. Bernard Parish from enforcing a September
ordinance barring single-family homeowners from renting to anyone except
blood relatives without the special permission of the Parish Council. The
Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) and the owner,
Wallace Rodrigue, are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Parish alleging
that the ordinance disproportionately excludes families of color seeking
housing, and perpetuates the parish's history as a segregated, predominantly
white community. Representing the plaintiffs are the Lawyers' Committee for
Civil Rights Under Law, a national civil rights organization, and the law
firm Relman & Associates. 

The Nov. 2 filing asks the federal court to suspend the discriminatory
ordinance and preserve the pre-hurricane status quo, which allowed the
rental of single-family homes. The suit alleges that the blood-relative
ordinance restricts single-family homeowners like Rodrigue, who is white,
from repairing and providing rental housing that is urgently needed in the
wake of the storm-and disproportionately needed by people of color.
Statistics show that in St. Bernard Parish people of color have a
considerably greater need for rental housing than their white counterparts.
According to 2000 census data, 45 percent of African Americans rely on
rental housing while only 21 percent of whites live in rental units. At the
same time, the blood relative ordinance would effectively limit rentals to
whites only, since virtually all single-family homes in the parish (93
percent, according to 2000 census data) are owned by whites. 

Although St. Bernard Parish officials have denied accusations of housing
bias since the lawsuit was filed, statements allegedly made by parish
councilmen suggest otherwise. As evidence of the council's discriminatory
intent, the fair housing complaint points to statements from the parish
showing the discriminatory intent behind the ordinance. Councilman Taffaro
reportedly told residents that the council's intent was "to maintain the
demographics," while Council Chair Dean conceded that the ordinance was
passed to "block the blacks from living in these areas." The plaintiffs also
cite a recent history of actions by the parish to prevent people of color
from residing in the parish, including the council's decisions
systematically denying permits to owners seeking to lease units in Village
Square, a predominantly non-white neighborhood, while allowing rental in
other areas. 

Based on these factors, the suit claims that St. Bernard passed the
ordinance to intentionally exclude them. The federal Fair Housing Act
prohibits intentional discrimination that "makes unavailable" any housing,
as well as government actions which have a disparate effect on minorities. 

"Given the history and the effect of this ordinance, the facts are clear:
St. Bernard is trying to keep out blacks and Hispanics," said Joseph D.
Rich, director of the Fair Housing and Community Development Project at the
Lawyers' Committee, told U.S. Newswire. In explaining the need for an
injunction, Rich added, "There is a pervasive and immediate need for
housing, particularly among minorities, that demands this kind of
discrimination be struck down quickly and decisively." 

John P. Relman, a nationally-recognized Washington D.C., civil rights
lawyer, noted, "St. Bernard's blood-relation ordinance perpetuates
segregation by pulling up the drawbridge to stop people of color from
entering the parish. It is wrong and illegal." 

In addition to denying rental housing to families in need of them, the
complaint also alleges that it is detrimental to owners who would otherwise
be able to rent out their homes. One of the plaintiffs, Rodrigue, is a
lifelong resident of St. Bernard Parish who owns several single-family
residences there. Before Hurricane Katrina, he and his wife lived in one of
the residences and they were preparing to renovate and rent two others.
After the hurricane, they had hoped to rehabilitate and rent their
single-family properties, but have been prevented from doing so by the
blood-relative ordinance. Because the Rodrigues do not have blood relatives
who are available to live in their single-family residences, these
properties will remain empty despite the severe shortage of housing caused
by the hurricane. Without the income the rental of these single-family
properties would have provided, the Rodrigues cannot afford to rehabilitate
these properties at a time when the need for rental housing reconstruction
is immense.