[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish should not reignite housing battle: An editorial

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish should not reignite housing battle: An editorial

Published: Saturday, March 05, 2011, 7:52 AM

 By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune 

St. Bernard Parish leaders had seemed ready to stop a lengthy and costly
battle against low-income rental housing, but now they are re-entering the
fray, and that's discouraging.

Parish residents will face the consequences if their local officials defy
the federal government.

Parish President Craig Taffaro urged the Parish Council to do just that in a
fiery speech that sought to equate the parish's discriminatory housing
policies with the ideals of the American Revolution.

His rhetorical efforts won applause from angry constituents who had packed
the Parish Council meeting to object to the apartments. It also seemed to
influence Parish Council members, who had been ready to repeal multi-family
housing restrictions that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development say violate federal civil rights laws.

But there's nothing noble about what St. Bernard has tried to do to with
housing following Hurricane Katrina. That includes an ordinance authored by
then-Councilman Taffaro that sought to limit housing rentals to those who
were related by blood to landlords and ordinances that severely restrict
multi-family housing.

It also includes the long, expensive battle to block Provident Realty
Advisors from building 288 mixed-income apartment units.

U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan found that St. Bernard Parish intended
to discriminate against African-Americans with these laws. That's
indefensible, and St. Bernard Parish has already paid $1.5 million in
attorney fees and settlements in its losing legal battle with Provident.

Continued - http://is.gd/5JzFgE