[StBernard] PRESIDENT'S REPORT: St. Bernard President Craig Taffaro asked Parish Council to support him in withdrawing building permits for apartment complexes

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard President Craig Taffaro asked Parish Council to support him

In withdrawing building permits for apartment complexes

 

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro asked the Parish Council at
Tuesday's council meeting to support him in withdrawing the building permits
for four 72-unit apartment complexes in Chalmette that he said were reissued
last month under duress at HUD's direction. After a closed executive session
with parish attorneys, the council decided to take Taffaro's request under
consideration. The following is the President's Report that President
Taffaro issued at the meeting: 

 

 

President's Report
March 1, 2011

 

Dear Council Members,

I write to you in hopes of conveying to you the current belief that I
believe most, if not all, of us have experienced over the last several
months regarding the housing developments and the characterization that HUD
and Judge Berrigan has formulated to the public about us as a body, as
individuals, and as a community.  My expressions herewith are not meant to
incite or placate but rather to clarify that the importance of the place in
which we stand today cannot be dismissed as simply an agenda of a social,
political, economic, or otherwise nature.  This place is an expression of a
human nature.

The court opined that leaders ought to take people where they need to go
instead of just taking people where they want to go.  Initially, I believed
these words were inappropriate and misapplied, but over time I have come to
see the insightful nature of that directive and that the deeper this issue
has fallen, the clearer the dynamics of this situation have become.


>From the start of this process, concerns were expressed and objections were

levied.  Information was used and spun that seemed to only serve to
strengthen what is now seen as the Provident-HUD stronghold on St. Bernard
Parish.  Meeting with the Provident developers and the Meraux Foundation was
a prelude to their partnership that has formed the root of the current
burden to St. Bernard Parish. Appearing and testifying at the Louisiana
Housing Finance Agency with Mr. Landry and Mr. Cavignac to register an
official position of objection to the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency
granting or upholding the Low Income Housing Tax Credits to Provident for
their projects in St. Bernard Parish did little to sway the support of the
state agency.  In fact, as one Housing Finance Agency member stated, "over
my dead body will I pull the credits.  Being dragged into court and having
to disprove an obvious pre-conceived notion that St. Bernard operates on a
conspiracy to perpetuate racism only fueled the populace belief that a
federal agenda was unfolding in front of us.  Following our "day in court"
we were ordered to release a building permit, despite not having resolved
many construction questions.  Then we watched that permit not be acted upon
for over a year, only to then be told by HUD that not releasing the permit
would result in funding for our projects being stopped.  And after being
extorted to release the permit, despite its expiration, we discovered that
the funding issue was not quite in jeopardy as it was presented to us.
Additionally, we then find that the normal procedures required to access
CDBG funds seemed not to apply to the Provident development, discovering
through information researched by residents the lack of US Army Corps of
Engineers accuracy in the review process in identifying and mitigating
wetland encroachment.  And now at the current state of affairs, Provident
has a forced permit and has not followed the normal building review and
filing process, including reapplying for a current building permit, a
renewed release from the State Fire Marshal, or a letter of clearance from
the Army Corps of Engineers.  We have absolutely been navigated to a point
at which our ability to govern locally has diminished, if not vanished.
While the outcome of this situation may not change the larger outcome of
whether these developments get built or not, there is a larger issue of just
what protection does a local municipality have in governing itself.

This gave me reason to review some basic principles and reflect on both
moments in history and the actions of some historical figures as a gauge of
my actions, or inactions, and the road on which I find myself this day.
Inevitably, some will dismiss this moment as sensationalism, some will
undermine its validity as politicized, and some will waiver that it is too
little too late.  But nevertheless, we have come to this crossroads as a
matter of choice to some degree but as a matter of a controlled and forced
process to a greater degree.

Today, I ask the council to join me in taking a stand- the same stand that
we agreed to take a year ago when we believed that our position to fight for
our community, our future, and our belief that the right to govern ourselves
within the constitutional framework of the United States of America was the
morally right position.  We have been systematically removed from that
stance and as such we are at the verge not preserving our right to be
vindicated in this effort.  For what good is an appeal if the very
precipitant of our challenge becomes moot? If we are cornered to allow these
developments to complete their course and we win our legal challenges in the
end, what really will we have accomplished?

Our stand has been challenged, mostly by outside interests.  Our stand has
been ridiculed, mostly by liberal media.  And our stand has been eroded
entirely by federal pressure.

Today I say no more.  While we are forced to accept the inaccurate
interpretation of our actions to protect the quality of life and property
values, our residents, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, or others shutter.
While we are forced to accept an inappropriate insertion into our community,
the working poor of our community are fed delusions of false protection
while developers balance their spreadsheets.  While we are forced to accept
threats of criminal prosecution, our right to govern locally is stripped
from our buildings.  Today I claim a renewed sense of vigor.  Today I claim
the protection that all citizens are guaranteed in our constitution.  Today
I claim that we are Americans and that that must still mean something for
all classes of citizens- those protected and those unprotected.

The facts of the circumstances that we face in St. Bernard Parish are clear
but have become rather blurred by high powered legal assertions and a
manipulation of information and data that has been misrepresented and
ignored.  Certainly, St. Bernard Parish has a checkered past in racial
divide, as does most of America and most of the world of class driven
societies.  We acknowledge that and rebuke those patterns of the
discriminatory historical behavior of yesterday and denounce those patterns
of today.  It is disturbing that those who oppose our will to govern and
recover our community utilize the veil of equality to perpetuate the very
pattern of economic oppression that exists within the contexts of the
developments in question.  The timing of the Provident project is wrong, the
agenda is flawed, and the implementation is skewed.  At the end of the day,
the developers walk away with their profit, the tenants are herded away from
home ownership opportunities in a recovering community, and the parish is
left with the burden of being left with additional properties expanding the
glut of existing rental and for sale housing.

I must acknowledge that this stance is daunting in the face of the
responsibility to operate and govern a parish that will likely only be the
source of even greater personal scrutiny and a criminalized governance
structure.  To reengage this track, we are likely to encounter severe
federal criticism from the agencies that control and manage millions of
dollars that are set to be delivered to the state and parish.  To reengage
this track, we are likely to receive the ire of the Louisiana Housing
Finance Agency, the very agency which ignored the parish's plea to
reconsider their actions and failed to engage the parish public in their
decision making process.  The LHFA is the very agency that ignored the need
for local support for the awarding projects of this nature and did so
anyway.  The LHFA receives part of its funding from the developments that
they award the credits to: that conflict of interest places the needs and
disposition of the local parish behind those of the LHFA.  

The threat of removing recovery funding from St. Bernard Parish has been at
the crux of our considerations.  As discussions have continued, the threat
by HUD to stop funding has evolved into a reference that a referral by the
Fair Housing Office of HUD to the Department of Justice for criminal charges
of civil rights violations would stop the funding related to any project
included in any such investigation.  This less than genuine interaction is
unacceptable and is at the heart of reengaging the track that was chosen at
the outset of this challenge.  Gentlemen, we either believe that we are
right or we have been wrong.  If we believe that we are right, then I ask
you to stand with me and find a resolution to this challenge that
incorporates the concerns of the federal agencies while maintaining our
ability to govern locally.  If we have come to the decision that we are
wrong, then we must stop expending the valuable time, talent, and money to
extend this argument. I believe that we are right and that we are justified
and that the electorate has asked us to represent them to our fullest
capacity.

There are several requests that I believe are in order and ask that the
council to endorse this direction.

The building permit expired and was reissued under duress from HUD
threatening to cease project funding, therefore all permit required
activities should be completed prior to a new permit being issued.  The
renewed permit was granted at the request of the majority of the governing
authority under circumstances that have changed.  It is proposed that
Provident be made aware of the requirements and act in accordance with such
requirements immediately.  This shall include a wetlands permit from the US
Army Corps of Engineers, a release from the State Fire Marshal, a
comprehensive review of the Water and Sewer Division, and any other agency
involved in the routine approval process.

A request is made for the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency to provide the
records of their publication and public hearing notices for the Provident
Application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits.  Furthermore, it is
requested that the Division of Administration conduct and administrative
review of the procedures followed by the LHFA and specifically employed in
relation to the awarding of the Low Income House Tax Credits to Provident
Realty.

Request HUD to assist St. Bernard Parish in rewriting the comprehensive
zoning ordinance in terms of Fair Housing and endorse the establishment of
rental property guidelines for all properties.

It is further suggested that a request be made to the Louisiana Disaster
Recovery Unit to access additional CDBG funding in order to purchase the
financial interests of Provident Realty and to further redesign the housing
units and establish a metered plan of implementation to match that of a
specific and objective data supported need.

This dynamics of this issue clearly transcends the limits of racial divide
and establishes a clear and purposeful mission of recovery that will
generate positive regeneration of a community just five years removed from
the most horrific hurricane disaster in US history.  By standing our ground
we say that yes St. Bernard will be different in the future, it already is
but it will not be any less than a family oriented, caring and open
community for members of all walks of life for generations to come.  Our
disaster misfortunes have offered great opportunities- we have the
obligation to not pass these opportunities by for any single mission but to
combine in a conscientious and responsible manner.  Thank you for your
consideration and I look forward to standing together in furtherance of St.
Bernard Parish.

 

Sincerely,

 

Craig P. Taffaro, Jr.