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8/27 Tenant/Housing News- Tenants Face Eviction For Refusing To Eat!
Landlord Tries To Force Greasy Food On Tenants Then Evicts After They Refuse To Eat!
8/27/ Tenant News/Tenants Face Eviction For Refusing Food
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Stay tuned for the latest in housing news from across the nation...
Eat up or face eviction, says landlord!
Columbus landlord serves 5 eviction notices to people that refuse to eat their food after complaining of getting sick!
Alameda CA, plans to sue slumlords that tried to evict 1,200 renters.
People react to the evictions.
San Francisco Housing Agency in trouble...
Tenant/Housing News In Brief from around the nation; Columbus renters refuse food, Alameda to sue slumlord mass evictiors, Boston defends the poor, San Francisco Housing Agency in trouble, officials oppose Section 8 funding shortfalls, Madison-Wisconsin shortens vacancy time in public housing so the people can move in quicker, more of the poor need Section 8 vouchers to help pay the rents, unused housing vouchers that lack funding, housing ideas from Altadena CA, and many Oakland religious leaders are for Bush no matter how bad the Bush Administration has failed the nation in meeting the goals to assist the poor, working class, and elderly...
The Sidney [MT] Herald reported on August 25, 2004 that voucher funding cut threatens 500 to 800 families in Montana with loss of vouchers.
* On August 25, 2004 the Berkshire [MA] Eagle reported that the North Adams City Council challenges HUD's FY 04 voucher funding formula and supports housing preservation legislation.
* On August 24, 2004 the Baltimore Sun reported that in Westminster, MD, the voucher waiting list goes while buying power of vouchers shrinks.
* The Ames(IOWA) Tribune reported on August 24, 2004 that the Ames, IA, Housing Authority must cut vouchers to 13 families due to FY 04 voucher funding changes.
Roll Back The Rents...
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Tenants evicted for not eating...
Tenants dispute eviction
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer - Aug 27 1:24 AM
A management company for The Ralston, a Columbus apartment building catering to low-income residents on fixed incomes, has begun the eviction process against people who have not purchased a mandatory meal plan.
LaSalle Management Group Limited, the Minnesota-based property management company, had warrants issued through Municipal Court on Tuesday to evict five residents, Regional Property Manager Claudette Boelter said.
If the residents don't appeal, they face eviction in seven days.
Frank Edmunds, 77, is one of the Ralston residents who has received an eviction notice. The mandatory meal plan went into effect July 1 and Edmunds has refused to participate. He attempted to pay his $301 rent payment in July and August, but the property manager returned the checks. That rent check did not include $165 for the meal plan.
"I don't want to pay for food I don't eat and don't want," Edmunds said Wednesday.
"I need to get out of here," Love said. "I don't want to be on the food program. It is greasy food. I used to have diarrhea all the time. I quit eating there in July and have not had diarrhea since."
Tommy Lee Bruce received an eviction notice Tuesday because he didn't pay for the August meal plan. He tried the meal plan in July, but got sick. He didn't pay for it the next month.
"I thought I'd have a place for the rest of my life," Bruce said. "But they said I got to pay for it or I got to go."
There are about 200 residents in The Ralston's 269 rooms.
Many of the residents at The Ralston receive federal rent subsidies through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 program.
Click below for full story...
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/9508130.htm
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From; The Alameda Sun August 26, 2004
... Tenants from the Harbor Island Apartments once again filled City Hall... with an idea to stop the evictions that will ... In November of last year, Alameda resident Katlyn ...
City (Alameda) to Sue Landlords
Council directs city attorney to pursue litigation with Harbor Island apartment complex owners...
City of Alameda also seeks Temporary Restraining Order against the SLUMLORDS for evicting 1,200 Alameda renters, but remains mum about the kind of lawsuit they plan to file...
Tenants spoke of sinks and toilets painted with lead paint, of a recent insect infestation and asbestos in the ceilings.
Lorraine Lilley, also a Harbor Island tenant, said, “In response to complaints to sewage running into the apartments, we have received sewage bills (from the owners).” She asked if the landlords had been fined for code violations.
Click below for full story...
http://www.alamedasun.com/local/082604local1.htm
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Reactionaries Speak Out About Alameda's 1,200 Evictions
LETTERS TO A LOCAL EDITOR
Friday, August 20, 2004
Evictions at Harbor Island
Editor -- Your remarkably lengthy editorial ("Exploited, then evicted," Aug. 19) was a mass of strained rationalizations.
The Harbor Island Apartments are portrayed, correctly, as run down with plumbing failures, electrical problems, leaking roofs.
What you failed to mention was the crime problem. Alameda Councilman Tony Daysog likens it to a pig without lipstick. Yet rents are almost on a par with much nicer units in Alameda.
Certainly there are good people living there. Certainly they suffer because of the careless, destructive and criminal tenants. Perhaps this is an opportunity for them to take the landlord's $1,000 and find a nicer place. Perhaps the city should devote its energy to helping good citizens move on to a better situation, rather than trying to turn businesses into charities.
Tenants and politicians (and the press) doubt the owners' intentions to renovate while simultaneously questioning the point in renovating.
The Harbor Island Apartments are indeed a mess. It's time to cut our losses. Help the elderly and infirm to relocate. Stop expecting property owners to be charities. Let them maximize their return, and the city will maximize its tax revenues. If property rights continue to erode, housing shortages will only increase.
MIKE FENNELLY
Alameda
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Editor -- As a native Alamedan who still has family living in our Pacific Avenue home of 43 years, I am outraged by the situation occurring at the Harbor Island apartments.
What concerns me in particular is that this is not the first time that a group of Alameda residents have experienced mass evictions. The players may be different, but the victims are the same, primarily low-income families and people of color. Are we really going to allow a repeat of the tragic evictions that occurred during the 1960's at the Estuary housing projects?
Forty years ago we watched families and friendships torn apart, Alameda students relocated to other cities, and we did not stop it. Can we afford, ethically and morally, to do this once again?
This is nothing less than purging the island of low-income West Enders. The people of the city and the local government need to make a choice. It is time to stand up and actively choose what kind of community you truly want Alameda to be.
CHRISTINE ALLEN
Grass Valley
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Editor -- Your full-page editorial neglected to put some points in their proper context.
First, it appears for the landlords to lawfully evict the tenants they would have to serve a 30-day eviction notice, which they did. Once they followed the proper legal course, they chose to give all tenants 90 days to relocate once their lease expires plus allowed the tenants a $1,000 relocation stipend, neither of which is legally required.
You also state that these landlords have been neglecting repairs which should never be tolerated. However not making some less critical repairs because they know they are about to embark on a total remodel would be understandable.
It seems that this project is in dire need of dramatic remodeling and the owners should be able to choose how they want to do that and in what time frame. They have legitimate concerns of tenant safety and interference when doing a massive remodel.
Since City Councilman Daysog claims the rents in these run down units are almost on par with nicer units in Alameda, it would seem everyone would be much better served figuring out ways to assist these tenants in relocating to nicer units. It appears from your article the owners of this complex have already gone a long way in helping to do just that.
MIKE SINGER
San Francisco
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Below--Some Update Tenant/Housing News In Brief From Around The Nation...
* Julia Kehoe of Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership defends Section 8 on the Boston Globe editorial page on August 24, 2004 .
* The Berkshire Eagle [MA] reported on August 24, 2004 that the North Adams Housing Authority is appealing HUD's FY 04 voucher funding while preparing to cut voucher recipients.
* The Daily Democrat of Woodland, CA reported on August 23, 2004 that The Yolo County, CA, Housing Authority cut 199 families from its voucher program in response to the FY 05 voucher funding cut.
* On August 20, 2004 the Manchester [VT] Journal reported that Advocates from Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire oppose the voucher funding cuts.
* The Eagan [MN] Sun Currant reported on August 19, 2004 that reductions in the payment standard for Wescott Hills, MN--a result of the FY 04 voucher funding cut--are forcing voucher families to relocate and separating them from community support networks.
* The Kansas City Start reported on August 19, 2004 that Kansas mayors met on 8/18 to oppose voucher funding cuts. "Mayor Carol Marinovich of the Unified Board of Commissioners of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., said more than 1,300 vouchers would be lost across the state of Kansas."
* The Billings [MT] Gazette reported on August 17, 2004 that Montana's governor and Congressional delegation are protesting HUD's FY 04 voucher funding cut. According to spokesperson for Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT), "There's a difference between being fiscally responsible and yanking the rug out from under people...We need to make sure that we're not hurting the people who need the help most."
* The Springfield [IL] State Journal Register reported on August 18, 2004 that The Springfield Housing Authority is proposing nonrenewal of all voucher contracts for units with 2 or more bedrooms as a response to the voucher funding cut. Upon lease expiration, as many as 380 families could lose their housing assistance.
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REDUCING COST OF HOUSING THE POOR
The Boston Globe
August 24, 2004
IN HIS AUG. 23 LETTER, THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT'S MICHAEL LIU MAINTAINS THAT BECAUSE SECTION 8 COSTS HAVE INCREASED IN THE PAST FOUR YEARS, THE PROGRAM, AS IT IS RUN TODAY, IS BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR. AS A PRIVATE-MARKET HOUSING PROGRAM, WHERE EXTREMELY LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, DISABLED INDIVIDUALS, AND ELDERS PAY APPROXIMATELY 30 PERCENT OF THEIR INCOME TOWARD RENT, THESE INCREASED COSTS ARE CAUSED BY ESCALATING HOUSING COSTS THAT OUTPACE EARNINGS FOR THE COUNTRY'S LOWEST-PAID WORKERS.
According to a study published by the Center for Housing Policy, the median hourly wage needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Greater Boston is more than $20. While many of the Section 8 voucher holders our agency serves are employed, their average income is less than $13,000.
Liu's assertion that more families could be served if only housing authorities had an incentive to do so, is misleading. HUD's plan to encourage agencies to cut costs, maximize subsidies, and serve more families would require agencies to charge unaffordable rents, serve fewer families, and assist higher-income households. Section 8 would no longer be the only housing program targeted to extremely low-income households, and it would not continue to function as the best homeless prevention tool. This is ironic, given the Bush administration's stated goal of ending chronic homelessness.
The only way to minimize costs associated with housing the poor is to reduce the incidence of poverty. It should be noted that President Bush's tax cut for the wealthiest Americans was more than HUD's entire budget for this year.
JULIA E. KEHOE
Executive Director Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Boston
Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership administers the Section 8 program in Greater Boston.
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SAN FRANCISCO / Housing agency 'troubled' again / Finances land S.F. authority on federal list
SF Gate - Aug 25 6:36 AM
The federal government has placed San Francisco's Housing Authority on its list of "troubled'' agencies, a designation that could result in the loss of millions of dollars in grant money to rebuild public housing developments and aid residents, local and federal housing officials said Tuesday.
Another potential ramification: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds local housing authorities, could take the rare step of seizing control of San Francisco's troubled agency.
The San Francisco Housing Authority, with a $225 million annual budget, operates 6,400 units in public housing developments throughout the city and administers 10,300 vouchers in the Section 8 and related programs. Thousands of poor residents rely on the agency in a city where rents are among the highest in the nation.
Click below for full story...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2004/08/25/BAGBB8DMKL1.DTL
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Article Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 10:25:33 AM EST
Councilors oppose HUD cuts
By Susan Bush
North Adams Transcript
NORTH ADAMS -- City councilors voted unanimous support for a resolution opposing federal Department of Housing and Urban development Section 8 funding cuts during Tuesday's meeting.
Prior to the vote, Councilor Richard Alcombright termed the cuts "reckless."
Housing Authority Executive Director Marlene Walsh announced earlier this month that 26 out-of-the area families were terminated from the voucher program.
Councilor Ronald Boucher drew applause from about 12 audience members who receive Section 8 assistance when he said, "It amazes me that the government can cut programs to people who need them here and yet we send millions of dollars overseas."
More than 300 city families receive Section 8 vouchers through the city housing authority.
Click below for full story...
http://www.thetranscript.com/Stories/0,1413,103~9054~2357969,00.html
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Families won't lose Section 8 vouchers
Belleville News-Democrat - 55 minutes ago
A $1.6 million federal grant won't help Madison County's Section 8 problem, but officials say 19 families that had received warnings won't lose their vouchers Sept. 1 after all.
Madison County Housing Director John Hamm said the grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development must be used toward building projects and renovations.
However, Hamm said his department will not have to pull any Section 8 vouchers Sept. 1, as had been planned. Housing and Urban Development has revised Madison County's funding, he said, and they have reordered the budget to allow 19 families facing loss of assistance to stay in the program.
The federal Section 8 program provides vouchers to low-income residents for rent assistance. But the Madison County Housing Authority had to cut funding due to a lack of federal funds, and as many as 130 families could have lost their assistance.
Residents and the activist group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now protested at Hamm's office Aug. 12.
"We'll still need some money from (HUD)," he said. "We're sitting on 919 vouchers that we can issue, but we're only able to support 756."
Meanwhile, the $1.6 million grant will go to demolish the Sullivan Homes in Alton,
Click below for full story...
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/9499371.htm
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Requests for rent subsidies increase; Longer Section 8 wait list alarms housing director; Low pay, high costs blamed; Westminster
Athima Chansanchai
The Baltimore Sun
August 25, 2004
High rents are making it nearly impossible for Westminster's working families to live without assistance, the city's housing director has told council members.
"The reality is, people can't pay rent where they are," Karen Blandford, administrator of Westminster's Office of Housing and Community Development, said at a Monday council meeting.
Blandford reported a rise in working families applying for the Section 8 Rental Assistance program, an increase she attributes to escalating rents, low rental vacancies and low-paying jobs.
Very few of those families are on welfare, she said. Many work in businesses around town, including discount stores, fast-food restaurants and department stores.
The 2004 Public Housing Agency plan for Westminster showed 453 families with children on the waiting list for assistance, a jump of 27 percent from the previous year.
Blandford said the expansion of the waiting list alarms her.
The overall waiting list for the vouchers - which also includes individuals and childless couples - jumped to 769 in 2004 from 674 the previous year. Blandford said 367 of those applicants live or work within Westminster city limits, while the rest live elsewhere in Carroll County.
Section 8 vouchers are part of a federal housing program that partially subsidizes rent for eligible participants. Westminster is allotted 289 vouchers, according to the 2004 housing agency plan for Westminster.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave Westminster nearly $2 million in grants to fund the program this year. But midway through the year, the local program's budget was cut by 10 percent as part of a nationwide reduction in allocations, Blandford said.
It is unlikely anyone will leave the waiting list, especially because only 2 percent to 5 percent of the county's rental properties are vacant. She also said that some families are turning to assistance because they are spending up to 70 percent of their income on rent.
Average monthly rents in the Baltimore metropolitan area range from $727 for a one-bedroom apartment to $1,345 for four bedrooms.
The program will pay 10 percent less of the fair market value of rental units starting in October, Blandford said. The program will only be able to pay from $660 for a one-bedroom apartment to $1,352 for four bedrooms. The reduced rate will be applicable to new leases. Current program participants will not see increases on their leases.
"This will really have a negative impact on people," Blandford said. "Not all landlords will accept that, because rents they can get from other people are higher. But our rents are more stable."
Those who can no longer afford their rents are forced to move in with other families, or they live with family members or end up in homeless shelters, she said.
"These are the people who are the last to feel the resurgence of the economy when it gets better," Blandford said. "By definition, these are people living in crisis."
Carroll County landlords said the cuts to the program will have an effect on who gets the scarce rentals available in the county.
"It's going to hurt the people that can afford it least," said Russ Arenz II, president of the Carroll County Landlords Association. He rents 25 units that have rarely been empty for the past few years.
He said he, as a landlord, does not differentiate between Section 8 tenants and others. He said 60 percent of his tenants are in this program. But the reality, he said, is that apartments will go to those who will pay the rent established by the landlord.
"There is an unending source of people that want - that need - housing. It is a seller's market," Arenz said.
He said that if landlords have to choose between someone with a HUD voucher who can pay 90 percent of the rent and someone else who can pay the full price, the landlord will more than likely choose the latter.
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MADISON GETS ITS HOUSES IN ORDER; CITY GOVERNMENT HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES IN MANAGING PUBLIC HOUSING MORE EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY.
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)
August 25, 2004
Madison's public housing agency, once a morass of inefficient bureaucracy, continues to improve its management of almost 900 apartments at 40 sites throughout the city.
Before director Augie Olvera took the helm, the housing unit had received a grade of "F" from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development 10 years in a row. It was taking the agency's work crews more than three months to get a vacant apartment ready to rent, which was driving the occupancy rates down. Meanwhile, a city audit said the agency sometimes couldn't tell how many apartments were empty, or how much back rent was owed. Officials also found numerous errors in agency bookkeeping as well as instances where federal policy was incorrectly applied.
Said Ald. Steve Holtzman at the time: "In any other organization, people would have been fired."
Well, no one got fired (this is city government we're talking about). But fortuitously, the former director quit to take a job with the Doyle administration. That opened the door for Olvera, and he's done a very good job.
For example, in July, crews took just 11 days to get a vacant apartment ready to rent. The number of apartments vacant for more than 30 days dropped to zero. Overall vacancy rates have plummeted to just 3 percent. The amount of past-due rent has also fallen to 7 percent, a level acceptable to HUD.
Olvera's boss, city planning director Mark Olinger, says they've worked hard to improve the agency's performance. Maintenance has been centralized, so instead of having one or two workers at a site, the agency can now send out a crew of seven or eight, so jobs get done faster. Rental procedures have also been centralized, and the application process has been streamlined, so when an apartment becomes available, tenants are ready to move in.
"Remember that audit?" Olinger asked with a chuckle. "Well, we took much of it to heart." He too credits Olvera with turning the agency around.
All that said, there is still a serious shortage of low-income housing in Madison. Olvera estimates the city needs at least 10,000 affordable units. This is a problem that city government can't solve by itself. But good progress has been made now that the housing agency finally has its own house in order.
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From Altadena CA.
New ideas needed
With many needy and deserving families waiting in Pasadena for affordable housing, we must reframe the issue so that we can find the solution. With the increased demand for housing in Southern California, Pasadena's problems are not unique. And with HUD subsidies falling as reported recently, this problem will only get worse.
While the City Council debates how to force developers to pay higher and higher "in-lieu' fees, existing landlords continue to convert apartments to condominiums, reducing the quantity of apartments and raising demand. While the need for housing increases, landlords continue to raise rents, pushing lower income families out of the Pasadena area, likely away from their employers and current schools and beginning a further decline in these families' standard of living.
With increased housing comes increased traffic, but increased traffic and the ever-growing need for affordable housing are two separate issues, each of which demands different solutions. While we can try to use residential "in-lieu' fees [in-lieu of affordable housing] to increase affordable housing, this will provide just a drop in the bucket for the truly dramatic needs for affordable housing and is ignoring the true root causes of this issue.
To address our serious affordable-housing issue, let's reconsider our $95 million City Hall face lift and revisit an earlier structural plan endorsed by a team of nationally recognized California structural engineers that provided a well-designed seismic upgrade similar to what is done consistently in the private sector and priced at one- third the cost. The resulting savings could be employed in providing subsidies to landlords not to convert apartments to condos and not to raise rents and also provide funds necessary for needy families to purchase their first homes or meet the increased rents.
To date, the "in-lieu' fee has been ineffective in producing affordable housing and it does not target increased rents, reductions of rental units, or reduce our traffic. With regards to traffic, the Del Mar station project was recently heralded as a great urban project but it is providing parking [and traffic] for 1.5 more cars to our beloved city for each of its approximately 400 units [and their owners].
As recently proclaimed at a city symposium sponsored by Councilman Madison, this city must support less dense projects, projects with fewer units per acre and not force developers to provide this higher quantity of stalls per unit. For example, it was noted that San Francisco requires only one parking stall for every four residential units, thereby attracting buyers that work locally or enjoy using public transit.
To solve our affordable housing issue and traffic issue, we need new ideas.
David Billnitzer
Altadena CA.
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NOTE: Despite the Bush Administrations sabotage of the housing programs of America, the attacks upon the poor, the American War Crimes happening in Iraq, the loss of over time and loss of jobs overseas, the largest debt in American history, and the worlds corporations polluting our food and communities from here to hell, many homophobic religious leaders of Oakland would still rather vote for the BUSH REGIME.....
What would Jesus say about this state of affairs if he was around?
Love thy neighbor or support thy War Criminals?
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 3:44:33 AM PST
Oakland Tribune
Black religious leaders back Bush
President's stance on gay marriage draws support
By Chauncey Bailey, STAFF WRITER
OAKLAND -- Citing biblical opposition to same-sex marriages, a group of African-American pastors said Tuesday they support President Bush for re-election.
"We are not selecting a party but a principle," said the Rev. Lester Cannon Sr. of Cornerstone Baptist Church. He said Democratic presidential contender Sen. John Kerry would usher in "a change in the environment for same-sex marriages and (acceptance of) homosexuality. God made Eve, not Steve, (for Adam)."
Nineteen other pastors, standing with Cannon, said they're concerned about an erosion of values and the negative message same-sex unions sends to children. Comparing gay rights to civil rights is "an insult," they said.
At the core of their argument, however, is biblical scripture that says homosexuality is a sin. While pastors may tolerate the sinner, they said, they cannot condone sin.
Among pastors who spoke were the Revs. Harvey Smith, Walter Humphries, Kevin Barnes, Keith Clark, Daniel Stevens and Dr. Earl Crawford. "This will be my first time ever voting Republican," said Smith. "But we stand for what the Bible says."
The Oakland pastors said Kerry favors letting the states decide whether to allow same-sex marriages.
Democrats have countered Republicans are using the controversy as a "wedge issue" to further divide the nation.
Bush has said marriage should only involve a man and woman, and backed by the ultra-conservative religious right, he has favored a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions.
Other black Bay Area pastors have said they, too, had been contacted in recent months by Republicans who stated the president's stand on the issue and noted he favors faith-based initiatives or church-run social service programs. To some pastors, even subtle promises of faith-based program funding sounds like
an attempt to "buy" votes or a key endorsement.
A number of other local black pastors declined to join the group, saying it was the wrong move politically.
Asked if funding for faith-based programs may be viewed as a payment for votes or support, Cannon said, "No one is buying our votes ... but that is not Republican money ... it's federal money and we pay taxes so that money would just be coming back to our communities. We are taking the high road."
During the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, the Rev. Herbert Lusk of Philadelphia made a passionate statement for Bush.
Two months ago, Lusk received $1 million for faith-based programs, said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
"The lure of money is worrisome," he said. The group has filed a complaint with the IRS, which has declined to comment on the case.
"A pastor has the right to endorse anyone," said Lynn. "Where it gets questionable is if they imply they are speaking for entire congregations."
Black churches have historically been sounding boards for liberal or moderate Democrats running for public office after pastors have invited them to speak in the interest of voter education.
Opinion polls show the vast majority of African Americans are supporting Kerry. And in recent presidential elections, blacks have voted for Democrats over Republicans by margins of 10 to 1.
A poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, based in New Jersey, said 65 percent of Americans don't believe churches should endorse candidates.
RETURN TO TOP
For the latest in tenant/housing news from around the nation, join Roll Back The Rents.
Just send an e-mail to;
rollbacktherents-subscribe [at] yahoogroups.com
Stay tuned for the latest in housing news from across the nation...
Eat up or face eviction, says landlord!
Columbus landlord serves 5 eviction notices to people that refuse to eat their food after complaining of getting sick!
Alameda CA, plans to sue slumlords that tried to evict 1,200 renters.
People react to the evictions.
San Francisco Housing Agency in trouble...
Tenant/Housing News In Brief from around the nation; Columbus renters refuse food, Alameda to sue slumlord mass evictiors, Boston defends the poor, San Francisco Housing Agency in trouble, officials oppose Section 8 funding shortfalls, Madison-Wisconsin shortens vacancy time in public housing so the people can move in quicker, more of the poor need Section 8 vouchers to help pay the rents, unused housing vouchers that lack funding, housing ideas from Altadena CA, and many Oakland religious leaders are for Bush no matter how bad the Bush Administration has failed the nation in meeting the goals to assist the poor, working class, and elderly...
The Sidney [MT] Herald reported on August 25, 2004 that voucher funding cut threatens 500 to 800 families in Montana with loss of vouchers.
* On August 25, 2004 the Berkshire [MA] Eagle reported that the North Adams City Council challenges HUD's FY 04 voucher funding formula and supports housing preservation legislation.
* On August 24, 2004 the Baltimore Sun reported that in Westminster, MD, the voucher waiting list goes while buying power of vouchers shrinks.
* The Ames(IOWA) Tribune reported on August 24, 2004 that the Ames, IA, Housing Authority must cut vouchers to 13 families due to FY 04 voucher funding changes.
Roll Back The Rents...
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Tenants evicted for not eating...
Tenants dispute eviction
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer - Aug 27 1:24 AM
A management company for The Ralston, a Columbus apartment building catering to low-income residents on fixed incomes, has begun the eviction process against people who have not purchased a mandatory meal plan.
LaSalle Management Group Limited, the Minnesota-based property management company, had warrants issued through Municipal Court on Tuesday to evict five residents, Regional Property Manager Claudette Boelter said.
If the residents don't appeal, they face eviction in seven days.
Frank Edmunds, 77, is one of the Ralston residents who has received an eviction notice. The mandatory meal plan went into effect July 1 and Edmunds has refused to participate. He attempted to pay his $301 rent payment in July and August, but the property manager returned the checks. That rent check did not include $165 for the meal plan.
"I don't want to pay for food I don't eat and don't want," Edmunds said Wednesday.
"I need to get out of here," Love said. "I don't want to be on the food program. It is greasy food. I used to have diarrhea all the time. I quit eating there in July and have not had diarrhea since."
Tommy Lee Bruce received an eviction notice Tuesday because he didn't pay for the August meal plan. He tried the meal plan in July, but got sick. He didn't pay for it the next month.
"I thought I'd have a place for the rest of my life," Bruce said. "But they said I got to pay for it or I got to go."
There are about 200 residents in The Ralston's 269 rooms.
Many of the residents at The Ralston receive federal rent subsidies through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 program.
Click below for full story...
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/9508130.htm
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From; The Alameda Sun August 26, 2004
... Tenants from the Harbor Island Apartments once again filled City Hall... with an idea to stop the evictions that will ... In November of last year, Alameda resident Katlyn ...
City (Alameda) to Sue Landlords
Council directs city attorney to pursue litigation with Harbor Island apartment complex owners...
City of Alameda also seeks Temporary Restraining Order against the SLUMLORDS for evicting 1,200 Alameda renters, but remains mum about the kind of lawsuit they plan to file...
Tenants spoke of sinks and toilets painted with lead paint, of a recent insect infestation and asbestos in the ceilings.
Lorraine Lilley, also a Harbor Island tenant, said, “In response to complaints to sewage running into the apartments, we have received sewage bills (from the owners).” She asked if the landlords had been fined for code violations.
Click below for full story...
http://www.alamedasun.com/local/082604local1.htm
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Reactionaries Speak Out About Alameda's 1,200 Evictions
LETTERS TO A LOCAL EDITOR
Friday, August 20, 2004
Evictions at Harbor Island
Editor -- Your remarkably lengthy editorial ("Exploited, then evicted," Aug. 19) was a mass of strained rationalizations.
The Harbor Island Apartments are portrayed, correctly, as run down with plumbing failures, electrical problems, leaking roofs.
What you failed to mention was the crime problem. Alameda Councilman Tony Daysog likens it to a pig without lipstick. Yet rents are almost on a par with much nicer units in Alameda.
Certainly there are good people living there. Certainly they suffer because of the careless, destructive and criminal tenants. Perhaps this is an opportunity for them to take the landlord's $1,000 and find a nicer place. Perhaps the city should devote its energy to helping good citizens move on to a better situation, rather than trying to turn businesses into charities.
Tenants and politicians (and the press) doubt the owners' intentions to renovate while simultaneously questioning the point in renovating.
The Harbor Island Apartments are indeed a mess. It's time to cut our losses. Help the elderly and infirm to relocate. Stop expecting property owners to be charities. Let them maximize their return, and the city will maximize its tax revenues. If property rights continue to erode, housing shortages will only increase.
MIKE FENNELLY
Alameda
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Editor -- As a native Alamedan who still has family living in our Pacific Avenue home of 43 years, I am outraged by the situation occurring at the Harbor Island apartments.
What concerns me in particular is that this is not the first time that a group of Alameda residents have experienced mass evictions. The players may be different, but the victims are the same, primarily low-income families and people of color. Are we really going to allow a repeat of the tragic evictions that occurred during the 1960's at the Estuary housing projects?
Forty years ago we watched families and friendships torn apart, Alameda students relocated to other cities, and we did not stop it. Can we afford, ethically and morally, to do this once again?
This is nothing less than purging the island of low-income West Enders. The people of the city and the local government need to make a choice. It is time to stand up and actively choose what kind of community you truly want Alameda to be.
CHRISTINE ALLEN
Grass Valley
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Editor -- Your full-page editorial neglected to put some points in their proper context.
First, it appears for the landlords to lawfully evict the tenants they would have to serve a 30-day eviction notice, which they did. Once they followed the proper legal course, they chose to give all tenants 90 days to relocate once their lease expires plus allowed the tenants a $1,000 relocation stipend, neither of which is legally required.
You also state that these landlords have been neglecting repairs which should never be tolerated. However not making some less critical repairs because they know they are about to embark on a total remodel would be understandable.
It seems that this project is in dire need of dramatic remodeling and the owners should be able to choose how they want to do that and in what time frame. They have legitimate concerns of tenant safety and interference when doing a massive remodel.
Since City Councilman Daysog claims the rents in these run down units are almost on par with nicer units in Alameda, it would seem everyone would be much better served figuring out ways to assist these tenants in relocating to nicer units. It appears from your article the owners of this complex have already gone a long way in helping to do just that.
MIKE SINGER
San Francisco
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Below--Some Update Tenant/Housing News In Brief From Around The Nation...
* Julia Kehoe of Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership defends Section 8 on the Boston Globe editorial page on August 24, 2004 .
* The Berkshire Eagle [MA] reported on August 24, 2004 that the North Adams Housing Authority is appealing HUD's FY 04 voucher funding while preparing to cut voucher recipients.
* The Daily Democrat of Woodland, CA reported on August 23, 2004 that The Yolo County, CA, Housing Authority cut 199 families from its voucher program in response to the FY 05 voucher funding cut.
* On August 20, 2004 the Manchester [VT] Journal reported that Advocates from Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire oppose the voucher funding cuts.
* The Eagan [MN] Sun Currant reported on August 19, 2004 that reductions in the payment standard for Wescott Hills, MN--a result of the FY 04 voucher funding cut--are forcing voucher families to relocate and separating them from community support networks.
* The Kansas City Start reported on August 19, 2004 that Kansas mayors met on 8/18 to oppose voucher funding cuts. "Mayor Carol Marinovich of the Unified Board of Commissioners of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., said more than 1,300 vouchers would be lost across the state of Kansas."
* The Billings [MT] Gazette reported on August 17, 2004 that Montana's governor and Congressional delegation are protesting HUD's FY 04 voucher funding cut. According to spokesperson for Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT), "There's a difference between being fiscally responsible and yanking the rug out from under people...We need to make sure that we're not hurting the people who need the help most."
* The Springfield [IL] State Journal Register reported on August 18, 2004 that The Springfield Housing Authority is proposing nonrenewal of all voucher contracts for units with 2 or more bedrooms as a response to the voucher funding cut. Upon lease expiration, as many as 380 families could lose their housing assistance.
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REDUCING COST OF HOUSING THE POOR
The Boston Globe
August 24, 2004
IN HIS AUG. 23 LETTER, THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT'S MICHAEL LIU MAINTAINS THAT BECAUSE SECTION 8 COSTS HAVE INCREASED IN THE PAST FOUR YEARS, THE PROGRAM, AS IT IS RUN TODAY, IS BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR. AS A PRIVATE-MARKET HOUSING PROGRAM, WHERE EXTREMELY LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, DISABLED INDIVIDUALS, AND ELDERS PAY APPROXIMATELY 30 PERCENT OF THEIR INCOME TOWARD RENT, THESE INCREASED COSTS ARE CAUSED BY ESCALATING HOUSING COSTS THAT OUTPACE EARNINGS FOR THE COUNTRY'S LOWEST-PAID WORKERS.
According to a study published by the Center for Housing Policy, the median hourly wage needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Greater Boston is more than $20. While many of the Section 8 voucher holders our agency serves are employed, their average income is less than $13,000.
Liu's assertion that more families could be served if only housing authorities had an incentive to do so, is misleading. HUD's plan to encourage agencies to cut costs, maximize subsidies, and serve more families would require agencies to charge unaffordable rents, serve fewer families, and assist higher-income households. Section 8 would no longer be the only housing program targeted to extremely low-income households, and it would not continue to function as the best homeless prevention tool. This is ironic, given the Bush administration's stated goal of ending chronic homelessness.
The only way to minimize costs associated with housing the poor is to reduce the incidence of poverty. It should be noted that President Bush's tax cut for the wealthiest Americans was more than HUD's entire budget for this year.
JULIA E. KEHOE
Executive Director Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Boston
Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership administers the Section 8 program in Greater Boston.
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SAN FRANCISCO / Housing agency 'troubled' again / Finances land S.F. authority on federal list
SF Gate - Aug 25 6:36 AM
The federal government has placed San Francisco's Housing Authority on its list of "troubled'' agencies, a designation that could result in the loss of millions of dollars in grant money to rebuild public housing developments and aid residents, local and federal housing officials said Tuesday.
Another potential ramification: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds local housing authorities, could take the rare step of seizing control of San Francisco's troubled agency.
The San Francisco Housing Authority, with a $225 million annual budget, operates 6,400 units in public housing developments throughout the city and administers 10,300 vouchers in the Section 8 and related programs. Thousands of poor residents rely on the agency in a city where rents are among the highest in the nation.
Click below for full story...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2004/08/25/BAGBB8DMKL1.DTL
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Article Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 10:25:33 AM EST
Councilors oppose HUD cuts
By Susan Bush
North Adams Transcript
NORTH ADAMS -- City councilors voted unanimous support for a resolution opposing federal Department of Housing and Urban development Section 8 funding cuts during Tuesday's meeting.
Prior to the vote, Councilor Richard Alcombright termed the cuts "reckless."
Housing Authority Executive Director Marlene Walsh announced earlier this month that 26 out-of-the area families were terminated from the voucher program.
Councilor Ronald Boucher drew applause from about 12 audience members who receive Section 8 assistance when he said, "It amazes me that the government can cut programs to people who need them here and yet we send millions of dollars overseas."
More than 300 city families receive Section 8 vouchers through the city housing authority.
Click below for full story...
http://www.thetranscript.com/Stories/0,1413,103~9054~2357969,00.html
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Families won't lose Section 8 vouchers
Belleville News-Democrat - 55 minutes ago
A $1.6 million federal grant won't help Madison County's Section 8 problem, but officials say 19 families that had received warnings won't lose their vouchers Sept. 1 after all.
Madison County Housing Director John Hamm said the grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development must be used toward building projects and renovations.
However, Hamm said his department will not have to pull any Section 8 vouchers Sept. 1, as had been planned. Housing and Urban Development has revised Madison County's funding, he said, and they have reordered the budget to allow 19 families facing loss of assistance to stay in the program.
The federal Section 8 program provides vouchers to low-income residents for rent assistance. But the Madison County Housing Authority had to cut funding due to a lack of federal funds, and as many as 130 families could have lost their assistance.
Residents and the activist group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now protested at Hamm's office Aug. 12.
"We'll still need some money from (HUD)," he said. "We're sitting on 919 vouchers that we can issue, but we're only able to support 756."
Meanwhile, the $1.6 million grant will go to demolish the Sullivan Homes in Alton,
Click below for full story...
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/9499371.htm
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Requests for rent subsidies increase; Longer Section 8 wait list alarms housing director; Low pay, high costs blamed; Westminster
Athima Chansanchai
The Baltimore Sun
August 25, 2004
High rents are making it nearly impossible for Westminster's working families to live without assistance, the city's housing director has told council members.
"The reality is, people can't pay rent where they are," Karen Blandford, administrator of Westminster's Office of Housing and Community Development, said at a Monday council meeting.
Blandford reported a rise in working families applying for the Section 8 Rental Assistance program, an increase she attributes to escalating rents, low rental vacancies and low-paying jobs.
Very few of those families are on welfare, she said. Many work in businesses around town, including discount stores, fast-food restaurants and department stores.
The 2004 Public Housing Agency plan for Westminster showed 453 families with children on the waiting list for assistance, a jump of 27 percent from the previous year.
Blandford said the expansion of the waiting list alarms her.
The overall waiting list for the vouchers - which also includes individuals and childless couples - jumped to 769 in 2004 from 674 the previous year. Blandford said 367 of those applicants live or work within Westminster city limits, while the rest live elsewhere in Carroll County.
Section 8 vouchers are part of a federal housing program that partially subsidizes rent for eligible participants. Westminster is allotted 289 vouchers, according to the 2004 housing agency plan for Westminster.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave Westminster nearly $2 million in grants to fund the program this year. But midway through the year, the local program's budget was cut by 10 percent as part of a nationwide reduction in allocations, Blandford said.
It is unlikely anyone will leave the waiting list, especially because only 2 percent to 5 percent of the county's rental properties are vacant. She also said that some families are turning to assistance because they are spending up to 70 percent of their income on rent.
Average monthly rents in the Baltimore metropolitan area range from $727 for a one-bedroom apartment to $1,345 for four bedrooms.
The program will pay 10 percent less of the fair market value of rental units starting in October, Blandford said. The program will only be able to pay from $660 for a one-bedroom apartment to $1,352 for four bedrooms. The reduced rate will be applicable to new leases. Current program participants will not see increases on their leases.
"This will really have a negative impact on people," Blandford said. "Not all landlords will accept that, because rents they can get from other people are higher. But our rents are more stable."
Those who can no longer afford their rents are forced to move in with other families, or they live with family members or end up in homeless shelters, she said.
"These are the people who are the last to feel the resurgence of the economy when it gets better," Blandford said. "By definition, these are people living in crisis."
Carroll County landlords said the cuts to the program will have an effect on who gets the scarce rentals available in the county.
"It's going to hurt the people that can afford it least," said Russ Arenz II, president of the Carroll County Landlords Association. He rents 25 units that have rarely been empty for the past few years.
He said he, as a landlord, does not differentiate between Section 8 tenants and others. He said 60 percent of his tenants are in this program. But the reality, he said, is that apartments will go to those who will pay the rent established by the landlord.
"There is an unending source of people that want - that need - housing. It is a seller's market," Arenz said.
He said that if landlords have to choose between someone with a HUD voucher who can pay 90 percent of the rent and someone else who can pay the full price, the landlord will more than likely choose the latter.
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MADISON GETS ITS HOUSES IN ORDER; CITY GOVERNMENT HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES IN MANAGING PUBLIC HOUSING MORE EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY.
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)
August 25, 2004
Madison's public housing agency, once a morass of inefficient bureaucracy, continues to improve its management of almost 900 apartments at 40 sites throughout the city.
Before director Augie Olvera took the helm, the housing unit had received a grade of "F" from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development 10 years in a row. It was taking the agency's work crews more than three months to get a vacant apartment ready to rent, which was driving the occupancy rates down. Meanwhile, a city audit said the agency sometimes couldn't tell how many apartments were empty, or how much back rent was owed. Officials also found numerous errors in agency bookkeeping as well as instances where federal policy was incorrectly applied.
Said Ald. Steve Holtzman at the time: "In any other organization, people would have been fired."
Well, no one got fired (this is city government we're talking about). But fortuitously, the former director quit to take a job with the Doyle administration. That opened the door for Olvera, and he's done a very good job.
For example, in July, crews took just 11 days to get a vacant apartment ready to rent. The number of apartments vacant for more than 30 days dropped to zero. Overall vacancy rates have plummeted to just 3 percent. The amount of past-due rent has also fallen to 7 percent, a level acceptable to HUD.
Olvera's boss, city planning director Mark Olinger, says they've worked hard to improve the agency's performance. Maintenance has been centralized, so instead of having one or two workers at a site, the agency can now send out a crew of seven or eight, so jobs get done faster. Rental procedures have also been centralized, and the application process has been streamlined, so when an apartment becomes available, tenants are ready to move in.
"Remember that audit?" Olinger asked with a chuckle. "Well, we took much of it to heart." He too credits Olvera with turning the agency around.
All that said, there is still a serious shortage of low-income housing in Madison. Olvera estimates the city needs at least 10,000 affordable units. This is a problem that city government can't solve by itself. But good progress has been made now that the housing agency finally has its own house in order.
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From Altadena CA.
New ideas needed
With many needy and deserving families waiting in Pasadena for affordable housing, we must reframe the issue so that we can find the solution. With the increased demand for housing in Southern California, Pasadena's problems are not unique. And with HUD subsidies falling as reported recently, this problem will only get worse.
While the City Council debates how to force developers to pay higher and higher "in-lieu' fees, existing landlords continue to convert apartments to condominiums, reducing the quantity of apartments and raising demand. While the need for housing increases, landlords continue to raise rents, pushing lower income families out of the Pasadena area, likely away from their employers and current schools and beginning a further decline in these families' standard of living.
With increased housing comes increased traffic, but increased traffic and the ever-growing need for affordable housing are two separate issues, each of which demands different solutions. While we can try to use residential "in-lieu' fees [in-lieu of affordable housing] to increase affordable housing, this will provide just a drop in the bucket for the truly dramatic needs for affordable housing and is ignoring the true root causes of this issue.
To address our serious affordable-housing issue, let's reconsider our $95 million City Hall face lift and revisit an earlier structural plan endorsed by a team of nationally recognized California structural engineers that provided a well-designed seismic upgrade similar to what is done consistently in the private sector and priced at one- third the cost. The resulting savings could be employed in providing subsidies to landlords not to convert apartments to condos and not to raise rents and also provide funds necessary for needy families to purchase their first homes or meet the increased rents.
To date, the "in-lieu' fee has been ineffective in producing affordable housing and it does not target increased rents, reductions of rental units, or reduce our traffic. With regards to traffic, the Del Mar station project was recently heralded as a great urban project but it is providing parking [and traffic] for 1.5 more cars to our beloved city for each of its approximately 400 units [and their owners].
As recently proclaimed at a city symposium sponsored by Councilman Madison, this city must support less dense projects, projects with fewer units per acre and not force developers to provide this higher quantity of stalls per unit. For example, it was noted that San Francisco requires only one parking stall for every four residential units, thereby attracting buyers that work locally or enjoy using public transit.
To solve our affordable housing issue and traffic issue, we need new ideas.
David Billnitzer
Altadena CA.
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NOTE: Despite the Bush Administrations sabotage of the housing programs of America, the attacks upon the poor, the American War Crimes happening in Iraq, the loss of over time and loss of jobs overseas, the largest debt in American history, and the worlds corporations polluting our food and communities from here to hell, many homophobic religious leaders of Oakland would still rather vote for the BUSH REGIME.....
What would Jesus say about this state of affairs if he was around?
Love thy neighbor or support thy War Criminals?
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 3:44:33 AM PST
Oakland Tribune
Black religious leaders back Bush
President's stance on gay marriage draws support
By Chauncey Bailey, STAFF WRITER
OAKLAND -- Citing biblical opposition to same-sex marriages, a group of African-American pastors said Tuesday they support President Bush for re-election.
"We are not selecting a party but a principle," said the Rev. Lester Cannon Sr. of Cornerstone Baptist Church. He said Democratic presidential contender Sen. John Kerry would usher in "a change in the environment for same-sex marriages and (acceptance of) homosexuality. God made Eve, not Steve, (for Adam)."
Nineteen other pastors, standing with Cannon, said they're concerned about an erosion of values and the negative message same-sex unions sends to children. Comparing gay rights to civil rights is "an insult," they said.
At the core of their argument, however, is biblical scripture that says homosexuality is a sin. While pastors may tolerate the sinner, they said, they cannot condone sin.
Among pastors who spoke were the Revs. Harvey Smith, Walter Humphries, Kevin Barnes, Keith Clark, Daniel Stevens and Dr. Earl Crawford. "This will be my first time ever voting Republican," said Smith. "But we stand for what the Bible says."
The Oakland pastors said Kerry favors letting the states decide whether to allow same-sex marriages.
Democrats have countered Republicans are using the controversy as a "wedge issue" to further divide the nation.
Bush has said marriage should only involve a man and woman, and backed by the ultra-conservative religious right, he has favored a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions.
Other black Bay Area pastors have said they, too, had been contacted in recent months by Republicans who stated the president's stand on the issue and noted he favors faith-based initiatives or church-run social service programs. To some pastors, even subtle promises of faith-based program funding sounds like
an attempt to "buy" votes or a key endorsement.
A number of other local black pastors declined to join the group, saying it was the wrong move politically.
Asked if funding for faith-based programs may be viewed as a payment for votes or support, Cannon said, "No one is buying our votes ... but that is not Republican money ... it's federal money and we pay taxes so that money would just be coming back to our communities. We are taking the high road."
During the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, the Rev. Herbert Lusk of Philadelphia made a passionate statement for Bush.
Two months ago, Lusk received $1 million for faith-based programs, said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
"The lure of money is worrisome," he said. The group has filed a complaint with the IRS, which has declined to comment on the case.
"A pastor has the right to endorse anyone," said Lynn. "Where it gets questionable is if they imply they are speaking for entire congregations."
Black churches have historically been sounding boards for liberal or moderate Democrats running for public office after pastors have invited them to speak in the interest of voter education.
Opinion polls show the vast majority of African Americans are supporting Kerry. And in recent presidential elections, blacks have voted for Democrats over Republicans by margins of 10 to 1.
A poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, based in New Jersey, said 65 percent of Americans don't believe churches should endorse candidates.
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