Residents Fight
to Save Low Income Housing
By Madeleine Fletcher
November 2001
Volume 38, Number 9
In the midst of the DistrictÕs low-income housing crisis,
thousands of public housing residents, mostly African-Americans, are
facing involuntary displacement because of several federally-funded
ÒHOPE VIÓ redevelopment projects. ÒImproving the living environment
for public housing residentsÓ is the stated purpose of HOPE VI, which
stands for ÒHomeownership Opportunities for People EverywhereÓ. However,
based on recent nationwide statistics compiled by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), only 12.5 percent of original residents
have been moved back into HOPE VI communities. Low-income housing advocates
say that families in greatest need are more likely to be left out because
of the way the HOPE VI process is designed and implemented.
D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) was recently awarded a $35
million HOPE VI grant to redevelop Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Dwellings,
a public housing community of 707 units adjoining the Navy Yard in Southeast
Washington. A fact sheet distributed to residents on the day of the
announcement vaguely promised Òthe opportunity for current residents
to return to the redeveloped community,Ó that Òthe level of relocation
effecting families will be determined by the public planning process,Ó
and that Òno person or families need think about relocating any time
during the next twelve months.Ó Stephen Davis, a resident at Carrollsburg,
was skeptical of the cityÕs intent to return low-income residents to
the site. He said that the daily struggles of his fellow residents to
shelter, feed, and clothe their families are not bringing big dollars
to the city. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has characterized the
area where Davis resides, which has convenient Metro and bus access,
as Òone of the most valuable pieces of property on the East Coast, five
minutes from the Capitol.Ó
At the press conference announcing the award, Mayor Williams
publicly reaffirmed the cityÕs commitment to Òone-to-oneÓ replacement
of demolished public housing units. However, a closer look at the HOPE
VI application reveals that the existing 707 very-low income units will
in fact be replaced by 417 low-income units, the remaining subsidized
units being for moderate-income housing. Only 340 low-income units will
actually be at the current site, while another 77 units will be relocated
off-site, 65 of them to a former garbage transfer station, a site that
the application acknowledges may have contaminated soil. Further diluting
the availability of subsidized housing to truly needy families, the
application states that so-called Òlow-incomeÓ units will be subject
to a rent ceiling applicable to families with an income as high as $51,360,
while average annual income for current residents is $7,942. Families
with incomes as high as $68,480 will qualify for subsidized homeownership.
In his rap entitled ÒGentrificationÓ, Brian Green-White,
a Carrollsburg resident, referred to his community as Òa poor black
Ôhood destined to be torn downÓ and to the project as Òa war on the
poorÓ. He wrote:
My community lacks unity thatÕs truly a fact
But politicians wonÕt run us out of our Ôhood like that
Not going out without a fight IÕm throwing blows with all my might
If not, IÕll look up one day and have nowhere to stay at night.
Residents Organize
In a recent letter to HUD secretary Mel Martinez an organizing
committee called ÒResidents and Friends of Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg
DwellingsÓ demanded a suspension of the HOPE VI project pending substantive
changes, including a switch to new developers selected by residents,
and an alternative plan to revitalize the community that would avoid
displacing the residents from their jobs and schools. They wrote: ÒWe
are fighting to retain badly needed low-income and very-low income housing
on site for all of our residents who are currently eligible for public
housing, at current rent guidelines, and we do not want to lose our
long-standing, close-knit community to unscrupulous developers.Ó
They went on to write that complete demolition and rebuilding
was not necessary, that many buildings were structurally sound and that
renovations had recently been made. Keeping renovation costs down, they
felt, would ensure that the renovated housing units would remain truly
affordable for current residents. Says Davis, one of the signatories:
ÒWe want to fix HOPE VI so that it works for us, not against us.Ó
The organizers appear to have support from their community.
They were able to collect signatures from 67 percent of the current
405 households in town homes and walk-up apartments. Similarly, in a
poll of 76 residents the organizers conducted in early August, over
85 percent of respondents said they were not in favor of the plan and
were willing to join an eventual lawsuit to block it.
Residents feel betrayed by the fact that a community development
corporation (CDC) is being formed to represent them, but without public
discussion or vote. Although project manager Paul Rowe seems well informed
about the CDC, no information has been provided to residents about its
structure, membership, and by-laws, or even when and where it meets.
The CDC will be empowered to negotiate with developers on behalf of
residents, but because of the secretive way it is being set up, it may
not democratically represent the residents or be accountable to them.
Public Officials Make Empty Promises
The limited extent of relocation help to be provided was
revealed in a letter DCHA sent to each resident in July: ÒWhen DCHA
decides on a date to demolish your unit and you are eligible for Relocation
Assistance, you will be given advisory services, including referrals
for replacement housing and at least 90 days advance written notice
of the date you will be required to move.Ó Providing Òadvisory servicesÓ
falls far short of providing actual housing. The current plan to relocate
the residents amounts to forced displacement, and will effectively render
many residents homeless. Some residents would be issued ÒSection 8Ó
vouchers, which would take them out of public housing and make them
search for a federally-subsidized unit on the private market. However,
Section 8 units are at critically low levels in the District, with 16,434
families already on the waiting list. Over half the people given a voucher
are unable to find housing prior to its expiry date. Even after a unit
is found, the landlord can refuse to renew the lease after one year,
and the search has to start all over again. The remaining residents
would be relocated to other public housing developments or to unsubsidized
housing. However, public housing in the District is 98 percent occupied,
leaving only about 140 units available, and an existing waiting list
of 11,097 families.
In a recent letter to one of the resident organizers,
Larry Dwyer, the DCHA director of planning and development, stated:
ÒDCHA cannot guarantee that every single resident of the Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg
neighborhood will come back to the new community, this is a matter of
individual choice.Ó The use of the word ÒchoiceÓ masks the fact that
many families in financial distress will be prevented from returning
by strict screening criteria, including credit history and five-year
rent payment history. Application fees and substantial downpayments
are other obstacles. Few residents realize that even if they are among
the few to make it back, payment guidelines are not as flexible as for
public housing, where rent is adjusted at 30 percent of gross income.
A family who returned to subsidized housing at the redeveloped Ellen
Wilson property learned that the hard way: although their income substantially
declined since their return, they remained locked in a higher income
bracket and had to continue making payments at a higher level than they
could afford, or lose their home.
Returnees to HOPE VI units face HUDÕs more restrictive
Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) requirements. FSS requirements require
residents to participate in training and employment programs, which
are often of untested and unmonitored quality. Residents can be evicted
if they fail to make demonstrable progress, which places them at the
mercy of potentially arbitrary decisions by others. FSS requirements
are widely discredited by affordable housing advocates as discriminating
against people with very low incomes.
A Bad Deal For D.C. Taxpayers
The project should ring alarm bells for the average taxpayer
because of the massive diversion of public money and land to private
developers. Demolition and relocation costs will total $6.5 million.
The privatization of public land is an aspect of the proposed project
that has so far escaped public attention. DCHA will use the proceeds
of the land sale to build subsidized housing on what will become private
land. Much of the land will be used for building market-rate homes,
and office buildings providing over 600,000 square feet of office and
retail space.
Another $1.8 million of taxpayer money will be used to
buy up over two dozen private homes and locally-owned small businesses,
Òif necessary by eminent domain.Ó Eminent domain refers to the overriding
right of government to take possession of private property for a public
purpose. However, in this instance, private homes and locally-owned
small businesses will be turned over to large-scale private developers.
The total input of public funds will be $89.8 million,
including $34.9 million in federal money and $54.8 million in city money,
with an additional $98.6 million in tax-exempt bonds. Outside evaluation
of the project by the Howard University Center for Urban Progress may
be compromised by the fact that much of the data will be controlled
by DCHA and developers.
The credentials and accountability of the proposed developers,
Mid-City Urban LLC, The NOAH Group, LLC, and Edgewood Management Corporation,
which all operate out of the same Silver Spring office, are questionable.
The co-founder of Mid-City Urban, Scott Nordheimer, is a convicted real
estate felon who also owes the D.C. government $18,121 in unpaid back
taxes, according to a recent article in The Common Denominator. Edgewood
Management Corporation was mentioned in a Baltimore Sun article as the
target of a planned lawsuit, because of its abysmal performance record
ranging from Òa lack of security to poor maintenance to safety hazards
and shoddy construction.Ó
Michael Kelly, executive director of DCHA, also has a
questionable track record. He has said he wants to work with residents
at Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg, yet he was recently named as defendant
in a lawsuit by public housing residents in New Orleans, who are fighting
to hold the housing authority he headed there accountable for promises
made. During the time Kelly headed the New Orleans housing authority
(HANO), HANO did not satisfactorily administer its HOPE VI grants and
failed to significantly improve housing, according to HUDÕs Office of
the Inspector General. ÒIf HANO were a Section 8 landlord, HUD could
prosecute it for failing to provide housing that meets contract standards,Ó
the report said.
Fix or Stop HOPE VI?
Residents at District properties affected by HOPE VI
are contemplating lawsuits to protect their rights, building on other
lawsuits filed against HOPE VI projects in Miami, New Orleans, and elsewhere.
In Boston, public housing residents won a negotiated agreement that
earned every displaced resident one of the new units, ensured that two
thirds of the new units would be for people earning less than 30% of
area median income, and gave residents enough power to block any plans
they disagreed with. Jay Rose of Greater Boston Legal Services, who
referred to HOPE VI as Ògovernment-funded gentrification,Ó cited their
campaign slogan, ÒPeople who lived there during bad times should get
the benefit of the good times.Ó He noted: ÒResidents refused to move
out and demanded jury trials for each eviction.Ó
Readers interested in supporting the efforts of District
public housing residents to organize should contact United Public Housing
Residents of Washington, DC at 202-547-3039 or at UnitedPublicHousingResidents@hotmail.com.
Madeline Fletcher resides in Washington, DC and is
a member of ÒUnited Public Housing Residents of Washington, DC, which
is an informal alliance of public housing residents and their supporters.
