Fenty Unveils Housing Plan For Low-Income, Homeless
By Sylvia Moreno
Washington Post Staff Write
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; B01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302597_pf.html
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced last night a
wide-ranging plan to provide permanent housing for the
city's chronically homeless, to preserve affordable
housing by making it harder for landlords to convert
buildings into high-priced condos and to help fund 500
townhouses affordable to low- and moderate-income
workers.
The proposals were presented to more than 500
Washington Interfaith Network members, who elicited a
promise from Fenty during his 2006 mayoral campaign to
fund, build and preserve 14,000 affordable housing
units over a four-year period. Included in that goal
is the creation of 2,500 units for the chronically
homeless that would come with supportive social
services.
"We are here to make all these commitments for the
residents of the District of Columbia who deserve
them," Fenty (D) told a cheering crowd packed into
First Rock Baptist Church in Southeast.
In July, Fenty announced to the interfaith network
that his administration would allocate $117 million
yearly to protect and create affordable housing. He
pledged to require that 30 percent of new units built
on city-owned land be affordable for low-income
residents. He also called for a partnership between
the city and the interfaith network to build 5,000
homes as part of a project to create housing for
residents who make $25,000 to $60,000 a year. Planning
and construction for the first 500 such homes will
begin next year at three sites in Southeast and one in
Northeast.
Last night, the mayor said the goal is to help a range
of District residents, from the chronically homeless,
to those who struggle to pay rent, to those trying to
save for a down payment on their first home.
"What we have tonight is the nuts and bolts of a
vision that was cast when the mayor first got elected
on how you bridge the gap between the haves and the
have-nots, and that's affordable housing, quality
education and living-wage jobs," said Lionel Edmonds,
the interfaith network co-chairman and pastor of Mount
Lebanon Baptist Church in Northwest's Shaw
neighborhood.
It is critical, said co-chairman Joseph Daniels,
pastor of Emory United Methodist Church in Brightwood,
that longtime residents facing the pressures of
gentrification be able to stay in their homes.
"The fight we have been waging since 2002 has been
that the city fight for our neighborhoods to remain
for those who live there and who want to stay there,"
Daniels said. "Tonight, we gained a major victory."
Under the mayor's plan, 350 homeless people who
primarily live on downtown streets would be moved into
existing apartments and other units. With that housing
would come an array of social services, officials
said. Another 150 units of so-called permanent
supportive housing would be built by Catholic
Charities USA on vacant city-owned land at Fourth and
H Streets NW. That project would also house the
chronically homeless, as well as low-income residents.
Patty Mullahy Fugere, director of the Washington Legal
Clinic for the Homeless, said she welcomed the plan.
Almost 380 people sleep on the streets nightly,
according to the latest survey by the Downtown
Business Improvement District and the Mount Vernon
Square Community Improvement District. But she
cautioned city officials to maintain the safety net of
an emergency shelter near downtown.
"We definitely support the transition of our homeless
system from one that's rooted in shelter to one that's
rooted in permanent housing," Fugere said. "At the
same time, there needs to be some emergency capacity
that has to be maintained. There has to be some place
for people and families to land when they experience
some kind of emergency."
Fenty also said the city would create a rental housing
preservation "SWAT team" targeted at preventing
government-subsidized buildings that accept rent
vouchers -- Section 8, for instance -- and affordable
private rental properties from being converted to
high-rent properties. The team will focus on four
neighborhoods that are most at risk of succumbing to
pressures from gentrification and development, said
D.C. Development Director David Jannarone.
The city has committed to preserving at least 500
units of affordable housing in Columbia Heights and
Brightwood in Northwest, Deanwood Heights in Northeast
and Washington Highlands in Southeast over the next
two years by identifying buildings whose landlords
want to opt out of the federal rent subsidy program.
The city team would negotiate individual rent vouchers
for tenants or help negotiate a sale of the building
to tenants so they can convert it into low- and
affordable-income condos or co-op apartments,
Jannarone said.
Another part of the mayor's plan is to prevent
slumlords from converting deteriorated apartment
buildings into high-priced condominiums. The
legislation will be prepared by the Fenty
administration to prevent landlords with persistent
and unaddressed housing code violations from raising
rents in rent-controlled buildings and from converting
the building into condominiums to be sold at market
rate.
Jannarone said the city already has legislation that
allows it to impose the restrictions and that by
mid-December, a bill will be introduced to strengthen
the administration's ability to proceed.
"It's been a huge problem in the past when landlords
would let buildings deteriorate and either raise rents
or cash out," Jannarone said. "Slumlords can't raise
rents and can't convert to a condominium and cash out
anymore. We're adopting that as an official policy."
____________________________________________________________________________________
We hope TENAC has been helpful to you. We are here to help tenants and promote tenants rights, affordable housing and rent control in the District. To help us, please consider making a donation to TENAC. Simply click here at http://www.tenac.org and scroll down to the DONATE TO TENAC LINK. We appreciate it greatly.
____________________________________________________________________________________
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By Sylvia Moreno
Washington Post Staff Write
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; B01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302597_pf.html
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced last night a
wide-ranging plan to provide permanent housing for the
city's chronically homeless, to preserve affordable
housing by making it harder for landlords to convert
buildings into high-priced condos and to help fund 500
townhouses affordable to low- and moderate-income
workers.
The proposals were presented to more than 500
Washington Interfaith Network members, who elicited a
promise from Fenty during his 2006 mayoral campaign to
fund, build and preserve 14,000 affordable housing
units over a four-year period. Included in that goal
is the creation of 2,500 units for the chronically
homeless that would come with supportive social
services.
"We are here to make all these commitments for the
residents of the District of Columbia who deserve
them," Fenty (D) told a cheering crowd packed into
First Rock Baptist Church in Southeast.
In July, Fenty announced to the interfaith network
that his administration would allocate $117 million
yearly to protect and create affordable housing. He
pledged to require that 30 percent of new units built
on city-owned land be affordable for low-income
residents. He also called for a partnership between
the city and the interfaith network to build 5,000
homes as part of a project to create housing for
residents who make $25,000 to $60,000 a year. Planning
and construction for the first 500 such homes will
begin next year at three sites in Southeast and one in
Northeast.
Last night, the mayor said the goal is to help a range
of District residents, from the chronically homeless,
to those who struggle to pay rent, to those trying to
save for a down payment on their first home.
"What we have tonight is the nuts and bolts of a
vision that was cast when the mayor first got elected
on how you bridge the gap between the haves and the
have-nots, and that's affordable housing, quality
education and living-wage jobs," said Lionel Edmonds,
the interfaith network co-chairman and pastor of Mount
Lebanon Baptist Church in Northwest's Shaw
neighborhood.
It is critical, said co-chairman Joseph Daniels,
pastor of Emory United Methodist Church in Brightwood,
that longtime residents facing the pressures of
gentrification be able to stay in their homes.
"The fight we have been waging since 2002 has been
that the city fight for our neighborhoods to remain
for those who live there and who want to stay there,"
Daniels said. "Tonight, we gained a major victory."
Under the mayor's plan, 350 homeless people who
primarily live on downtown streets would be moved into
existing apartments and other units. With that housing
would come an array of social services, officials
said. Another 150 units of so-called permanent
supportive housing would be built by Catholic
Charities USA on vacant city-owned land at Fourth and
H Streets NW. That project would also house the
chronically homeless, as well as low-income residents.
Patty Mullahy Fugere, director of the Washington Legal
Clinic for the Homeless, said she welcomed the plan.
Almost 380 people sleep on the streets nightly,
according to the latest survey by the Downtown
Business Improvement District and the Mount Vernon
Square Community Improvement District. But she
cautioned city officials to maintain the safety net of
an emergency shelter near downtown.
"We definitely support the transition of our homeless
system from one that's rooted in shelter to one that's
rooted in permanent housing," Fugere said. "At the
same time, there needs to be some emergency capacity
that has to be maintained. There has to be some place
for people and families to land when they experience
some kind of emergency."
Fenty also said the city would create a rental housing
preservation "SWAT team" targeted at preventing
government-subsidized buildings that accept rent
vouchers -- Section 8, for instance -- and affordable
private rental properties from being converted to
high-rent properties. The team will focus on four
neighborhoods that are most at risk of succumbing to
pressures from gentrification and development, said
D.C. Development Director David Jannarone.
The city has committed to preserving at least 500
units of affordable housing in Columbia Heights and
Brightwood in Northwest, Deanwood Heights in Northeast
and Washington Highlands in Southeast over the next
two years by identifying buildings whose landlords
want to opt out of the federal rent subsidy program.
The city team would negotiate individual rent vouchers
for tenants or help negotiate a sale of the building
to tenants so they can convert it into low- and
affordable-income condos or co-op apartments,
Jannarone said.
Another part of the mayor's plan is to prevent
slumlords from converting deteriorated apartment
buildings into high-priced condominiums. The
legislation will be prepared by the Fenty
administration to prevent landlords with persistent
and unaddressed housing code violations from raising
rents in rent-controlled buildings and from converting
the building into condominiums to be sold at market
rate.
Jannarone said the city already has legislation that
allows it to impose the restrictions and that by
mid-December, a bill will be introduced to strengthen
the administration's ability to proceed.
"It's been a huge problem in the past when landlords
would let buildings deteriorate and either raise rents
or cash out," Jannarone said. "Slumlords can't raise
rents and can't convert to a condominium and cash out
anymore. We're adopting that as an official policy."
____________________________________________________________________________________
We hope TENAC has been helpful to you. We are here to help tenants and promote tenants rights, affordable housing and rent control in the District. To help us, please consider making a donation to TENAC. Simply click here at http://www.tenac.org and scroll down to the DONATE TO TENAC LINK. We appreciate it greatly.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better pen pal.
Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how. http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/
========================================================================
TENAC's web site: http://tenac.org
TENAC's Mobalization list archive: http://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/tenac
===================================================
