A Trump administration will probably be hostile to affordable housing programs

A Trump administration will probably be hostile to affordable housing programs

By Lynda Carson - November 14, 2016

Oakland - According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Oakland Housing Authority has 13,422 federally subsidized housing units in it’s section 8 inventory, and 2,122 units in it’s low rent inventory, formerly known as public housing units.

San Francisco has 9,711 units in it’s section 8 subsidized housing inventory, and 3,756 units in it’s low rent inventory. San Francisco is in the process of privatizing more than 4,584 public housing units under the RAD program. South San Francisco has 80 units in it’s low rent inventory.

The Richmond Housing Authority has 1,851 units in it’s section 8 subsidized housing inventory, and 559 units in it’s low rent inventory.

Berkeley Housing Authority has 1,935 units in it’s section 8 subsidized housing inventory, and has sold it’s 75 public housing town homes to some out of state billionaires.

Alameda Housing Authority has 1,845 units in it’s section 8 subsidized housing inventory. The Alameda County Housing Authority has 6,341 units in it’s section 8 subsidized housing inventory, and one low rent housing development managed by the agency.

In Contra Costa County, there are 6,921 units in their section 8 subsidized housing inventory, and 1,177 low rent units.

In Marin County, there are 2,162 units in their section 8 subsidized housing inventory, and 496 low rent units.

Tens of thousands of low-income households in the Bay Area, including veterans, the chronically ill, elderly and disabled, are being placed at risk of homelessness if the Republicans have it their way, now that they are gaining full control of the House and Senate, including the White House. In recent years, it has become apparent that the Republicans want to dismantle HUD, and all of it’s subsidized housing programs.

President-elect Donald J. Trump, allegedly a sexual predator, who was sued for discriminating against African-Americans at his apartment buildings, and was raised by his father who was allegedly arrested at a Ku Klux Klan brawl with the cops, has picked alleged bigot Stephen Bannon as his “chief strategist and senior counselor,” to help bring into realty the plans for his first 100 days in the White House.

Trump fans and White Nationalists are delighted by the pick of Stephen Bannon by Trump for his administration. This does not bode well for our nation’s affordable housing programs, and the millions of families being assisted by these life saving housing programs.

Once president-elect Donald J. Trump gets into office in the White House, the Trump administration will probably be very hostile to the nation’s affordable housing programs. This includes public housing, the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8 voucher program) and project-based voucher rental assistance programs that millions of families, including the elderly, poor, disabled, and veterans depend on.

President-elect Donald J. Trump has repeatedly threatened, that if he gets into the White House he plans to cut our nation’s non defense domestic programs, including housing and poverty programs, so that the money he grabs from the domestic non defense programs can be shifted to military offense/defense programs, including the massive over-bloated pentagon budget.

Trump claims that he wants to cut our nation’s non defense domestic poverty programs by 1% a year, which threatens millions of families across the nation with displacement from their affordable housing units. Making matters worse, with Trump in the White House, and Republicans controlling the House and the Senate, this allows Congressman Paul Ryan to follow through with his threats to make massive spending cuts to the Department of Housing and Development (HUD), and our nation’s affordable housing programs.

According to Politico, Pamela Patenaude may be considered to run HUD for the Trump administration. Pamela Patenaude served under the disgraced HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson during the Bush administration.

According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, Pamela Patenaude would be a better choice to run HUD than Rob Astorino or Ken Blackwell, who may also be under consideration to run HUD during a future Trump administration.

Meanwhile thousands of protesters have been hitting the streets in Oakland in protest against the election of Donald J. Trump as the next president of the United States.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com