CHA Says No Firm Plan In Place To Do Away With College Hill Courts Or East Lake Courts

  • Tuesday, September 30, 2014
  • Gail Perry

Eddie Holmes, board member of the Chattanooga Housing Authority, said at a public hearing Tuesday, "We are now only seeking information. There are no plans on the table about the future” of either East Lake Courts or College Hill Courts.

 

Mr. Holmes, standing in for Chattanooga Housing Authority Executive Director Betsy McCright at the board meeting, said that the purpose of the public hearing was to receive comments about the proposed 2015 and five-year agency plan from the general public.

At the meeting, representatives of organizations involved with public housing in Chattanooga spoke about their concerns.

The common goal was to be assured that people will be provided affordable housing if they are displaced due to the sale or demolition of property.

 

One of the three spokespersons from the NAACP suggested using the vacant boarded-up homes for housing those forced to move, by working with the owners to bring them up to standards.

 

Another speaker in charge of housing for the NAACP said she was concerned by the manner in which people are moved with nowhere to go. The housing vouchers that they are given have a time limit for use and there are not enough houses available. She said she understood the costs involved in upkeep and maintenance and that in some cases the sale of property contributes to progress making the city a better place to live, but she added “I don’t get the reckless way it is being done.” She said each displaced person should be tracked and children that are moved should have the resources that they need.

 

Using the sale of the Harriet Tubman complex as an example, she said many of the displaced residents have no jobs nor will they be able to get one because some are felons, some will fail drug tests or they have no high school diploma.

 

A third speaker from the NAACP listed the problems as he sees them. He recognizes a lack of affordable housing in the city and closing existing housing will especially affect security of the elderly. Gentrification of the areas that were once public housing is causing some of the problems, he said. The average income for some public housing residents is below the poverty rate and requires them to spend one third of it for rent. He also said that these things dilute the African American vote.

 

A resolution from the Westside Neighborhood Association asked for the consideration of consequences for any plan that would dislocate residents. It listed the need for new construction and the thousands of people on waiting lists for vouchers without finding landlords that will accept them.

 

He said that the Neighborhood Association has submitted ideas for minimizing impact to the residents but has gotten no reply. In summary, the resolution adamantly opposes demolition of either College Hills or East Lake Courts.

 

Other personal concerns cited include the need of a way for public housing tenants to communicate with staff and the board. CHA officials have appointed a resident advisory board instead of allowing a city-wide association that the residents want, it was stated. The speaker said he also would like to see a procedure in place to investigate if a site manager is using sexual abuse to threaten a tenant.

 

A resident from Brainerd expressed her concern with the “new class of the homeless” that was created with the loss of the Poss Homes and Harriet Tubman. She said, “We are over burdened with the 24-hour walkers.” She asked what was done with money from the sale of property and suggested it be used to update the many boarded-up houses on “the other side of the Wilcox Tunnel.”

 

A resident of the Westside agreed and said she sees homeless people not only in Brainerd but all over the city. Some of these people have been provided housing in hotels which, she said, is not a place to live in and stigmatizes children. “You need to do something about it or be fired,” she said.

 

A speaker who identified himself as a landlord/taxpayer who accepts vouchers said that he is required to maintain his property and is inspected yearly. He questioned why public housing is being demolished due to delayed maintenance, and asked if CHA did not require the same standards for themselves as they do for individual landlords.

 

Mr. Holmes ended the meeting by assuring the audience that every comment that was made at the board meeting will be included in the plan that CHA will submit to HUD. He emphasized that as of now there is no plan in place yet to close either College Hills or East Lake. He also said there is a HUD plan for relocating people when needed. The final draft of the plan will be available on the CHA website or at the CHA offices.

 

The overall mission is to create strong, sustainable inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all, to improve quality of life. Special needs will be addressed through increasing housing vouchers.

 

Changes in the Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) include:

·         giving preference to residents who have been subject to CHA mandated displacement due to renovation of either CHA owned or non-public housing

·         applicants will not be deemed unsuitable because they are victims of domestic and/or LGBT based violence

·         that applicants deemed suitable for admission will be provided with a Notice of Rights under the violence against women act, and those denied will receive prompt written notice

·         clarification has been made concerning income verification, continued occupancy of over-income residents and about terms of repayment

·         to update the types of income excluded when determining eligibility

·         to clarify applicability of utility allowances and surcharges for residents that elect flat rent

·         if the division of a lease is due to affording protection under the Violence Against Women Act, the victim will be given the opportunity to establish eligibility as a head of household

·         A transfer from one unit to another will be allowed to be instigated by either the Executive Director or the resident victim for reasons such as harassment, abuse or the threat of imminent harm

 

Changes have also been made to the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) that includes:

·         a policy to determine which families housing assistance payment contracts (HAP) to terminate if loss of funding for the program occurs

·         stipulation that a landlord’s request for rent increase is restricted to five percent of the current contract

·         payment standards will be 100 percent of HUD’s standards determined by zip codes

·         a new policy standard will designate two people per bedroom

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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