[StBernard] Landrieu Grills HUD Official on Public Housing

Westley Annis Westley at da-parish.com
Wed Sep 26 23:00:03 EDT 2007


Landrieu Grills HUD Official on Public Housing Testifies on Dodd-Landrieu
Housing Bill.



WASHINGTON - United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today joined the
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a hearing
on a bill she introduced with Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the Chairman
of the Committee. The Gulf Coast Housing Improvement Act, S. 1688, replaces
public housing units destroyed by the 2005 hurricanes and the subsequent
flooding. It also provides additional flexibility to the local housing
authority and developers to create mixed-income communities.

"This housing bill is an urgent piece of legislation before the Senate,"
Sen. Landrieu said. "There were 5,000 people living in public housing before
Katrina hit New Orleans and every one of them deserves an affordable place
to live in this city we are rebuilding.

"The bill is a middle of the road approach that has a broad coalition of
support, including Republicans and Democrats."

A companion bill, H.R. 1227, sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., passed the House of
Representatives in March.

On Friday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said
that HUD would move forward with the demolition of four public housing units
without giving Sen. Landrieu or Rep. Waters' bills a chance for
congressional approval. HUD has only provided Sen. Landrieu with plans to
rebuild one of the sites, Lafitte. Sen. Landrieu immediately responded with
a letter to Secretary Jackson asking him to reconsider his intent to
demolish the units without sufficient plans to replace them.

At the hearing today, Sen. Landrieu questioned HUD Assistant Secretary for
Public and Indian Housing Orlando Cabrera on the agency's objections to the
Dodd-Landrieu bill. Cabrera seemed unsure of HUD's position on the bill and
during the hearing had to consult with his staff.

"This gentleman is the assistant secretary of HUD, and if he doesn't know
why or why not he's supporting the bill, you can see how far we have to go,"
Sen. Landrieu said.

Senator Jack Reed, D-R.I., who was chairing the hearing, said Cabrera's
answers "exposed more questions that answers."

"The numbers [of housing units] that you are proposing to replace are much
less than the numbers that are out there," Reed told Cabrera.

In addition to Sen. Landrieu and Cabrera, other witnesses -- all of whom
testified in favor of Sen. Landrieu's bill -- included: James Perry,
executive director, Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center; Alan
Brown, vice president of operations and chief operating officer, United
Methodist Senior Services of Mississippi Inc.; James R. Kelly, CEO,
Providence Community Housing and Catholic Charities; Emelda Paul, resident,
Lafitte Resident Council; Amy Liu, deputy director of the Metropolitan
Policy Program, The Brookings Institution; and Edgar Bright, president,
Standard Mortgage Corp.

Provisions in the bill include:

* Interviewing former public housing residents to see if they want
to return to New Orleans. The study ensures residents have sufficient time
to make decisions and return home.

* Requiring that the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO), as
part of its replacement plans, contact individuals on the pre-Katrina
waiting list (almost 6,000 people) and give those residents consideration
for any units not needed for returning residents.

* Replacing all 5,000 pre-Katrina occupied public housing units with
affordable units. For the remaining units, HANO may replace these with hard
units or with project-based vouchers tied to units in low-income
neighborhoods and areas undergoing revitalization.

* Redeveloping blighted, abandoned or tax delinquent properties with
a $25 million New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) pilot program.
These funds would serve as seed money for NORA to begin acquiring property.
The Senate bill also includes an additional $5 million for NORA to provide
soft-second mortgages to assist low-income homebuyers.

* Providing $25 million in funds for LHFA to provide funds to other
parishes for redevelopment programs similar to the NORA pilot program. This
will spur community redevelopment in Southwest Louisiana parishes that were
hard hit by Hurricane Rita.


* Removing the requirement that Road Home recipients use that money
to immediately pay off their SBA loans.



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