[StBernard] Be judicious in St. Bernard Parish rental fight: an editorial

[Westley Annis]

Be judicious in St. Bernard Parish rental fight: an editorial
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune 
October 23, 2009, 4:55AM
For more than three years, St. Bernard Parish officials have been entangled
in a costly and unsuccessful campaign to restrict who can live in the
parish. A federal court has ruled parish policies to be illegal and
discriminatory, and more recently that the parish's very purpose was to
discriminate against minorities. 

Now St. Bernard officials face a decision over their latest proposal, a
ballot measure to ban large apartment complexes. The Parish Council put the
proposal on the Nov. 14 ballot, but parish attorneys are urging the council
to withdraw it or risk more legal problems and possibly losing federal aid. 

The parish's stubborn campaign to get around fair housing laws has been
wrong, and that should be enough for council members to stop. But if moral
arguments don't sway them, officials should rescind the ballot ordinance to
avoid hurting the parish's recovery.

A parish attorney said this week that passage of the ballot proposal would
jeopardize St. Bernard's appeals to previous adverse rulings. In addition,
federal officials have made it clear to Parish President Craig Taffaro that
St. Bernard is risking federal grants if it continues its illegal efforts to
thwart multi-family housing. Councilman Wayne Landry said he did not want to
risk federal money for a proposed hospital in the parish. 

Parish officials have repeatedly said their post-Katrina housing measures
simply aim to encourage home ownership and that they worry about
poorly-maintained rental properties. But most other communities address
those goals without trampling over federal laws, by having effective code
enforcement. 

St. Bernard refused to go after some code violators recently, tabling a
proposed crackdown on owners of overgrown yards. In addition, council
members and residents have said fines and liens against code violators are
being arbitrarily reduced or dismissed. Correcting these code enforcement
deficiencies would improve quality of life and property values -- the
officials stated goals -- without violating federal laws. 

Parish officials should heed their lawyers' advice and rescind the ballot
proposal. It will save the parish a heap of trouble, and more importantly,
it's the right thing to do.