Will housing Agency Plans Create More Homelessness?

As reported by Fred Clasen-Kelly of The Charlotte Observer, The Charlotte Housing Authority is considering giving thousands of public housing residents a choice: Get a job or get out.

No job, no housing subsidy under plan

Agency weighs making heads of households work 30 hours a week to keep federal subsidy.

The Charlotte Housing Authority is considering giving thousands of public housing residents a choice: Get a job or get out.

Agency leaders are proposing a plan that would force tenants to find work to keep their government housing benefits.

The idea has prompted criticism from some advocates for the poor who say it would be wrong to impose the rule during the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

But backers say it's only right to make able-bodied adults work and try to gain self sufficiency.

“There's never a perfect time to start a change,” said Jennifer Gallman, a spokeswoman for the Housing Authority. “This is a positive change.”

Under federal guidelines, recipients generally put 30percent of their household income toward rent. The federal government subsidizes the remainder.

The proposal would require the head of each household to work at least 30 hours a week by April 1, 2011, to keep the subsidy. Elderly and disabled residents would be exempt.

The Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners will decide next month whether to implement the rule.

It would impact many of the 15,000 people in Charlotte who live in public housing apartments or rent homes from private landlords using government-issued Section 8 vouchers.

A recent survey conducted for the Housing Authority found that the head of the household was employed in 31percent of public housing units. The head of the household was working in 43percent of homes rented with Section 8 vouchers.

The employment rule is one of several restrictions the Housing Authority has implemented or weighed in recent years. Residents who move into some newer, recently built developments must now meet work requirements designed to move them out of public housing in five years.

But the latest idea surfaces just as the unemployment rate in North Carolina has reached 7.9percent, the highest figure in 25 years.

Alfred Riley, who lives in the Boulevard Homes public housing complex in west Charlotte, said he has tried hard “for a long time” but can't find work.

The proposed rule “comes at the worst time ever,” Riley said. “People can't even find work at a fast-food restaurant.”

Advocates for the poor fear the rule could add to Charlotte's growing homeless population.

Many public housing tenants cannot afford daycare for their children and don't have needed transportation or job skills, said Ted Fillette, lead attorney with Charlotte's Legal Aid office.

Some 30,000 people in North Carolina are on waiting lists for affordable daycare, Fillette said. Affordable daycare typically costs about $175 a week, he said.

The Housing Authority has not promised to help pay to remove such barriers, Fillette said.

Revoking subsidies is “tantamount to evicting families who have the least capacity to survive in the non-subsidized market,” he wrote in a letter to other local advocates for the poor.

Gallman, the Housing Authority spokeswoman, noted that tenants would have two years to find work. More HERE

Housing Research says: We will be following this issue. We hope HUD and the new Obama administration will be following this too. Stay tuned.

Baton Rouge Area Foundation Executive Vice President John Spain (from left), East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority Chairman John Noland and LSU Chancellor Michael Martin in front of the HOPE VI redevelopment project on East Polk Street.

As reported by Business Report.com, Old South Baton Rouge didn’t need another plan.

At least that’s what folks who live in the historic but downtrodden area north of LSU told the Baton Rouge Area Foundation five years ago.

“People told us, ‘We’ve had a lot of people tell us they’re going to reinvent this neighborhood, and they talked and talked and talked, and nothing much has happened,’” BRAF Executive Vice President John Spain says. “There is a lot of cynicism, and rightfully so.”

BRAF became involved in Old South through its work with HOPE VI, an $18.6 million federally funded effort to tear down old housing projects and build new single- and multi-family homes. The foundation quickly realized a revitalization effort for the surrounding community was needed for HOPE VI to thrive.

HOPE VI ended in September, but BRAF is committed to Old South for at least the next 10 years, Spain says. Working with the Center for Planning Excellence and the Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, BRAF plans to develop a “gateway project” at Highland Road and Terrace Avenue, once one of the worst corners in the city. Seven other areas were targeted for development in the 2006 master plan, and design standards have been approved to keep new buildings in line with neighborhood character.

Private developers are showing interest, especially along Nicholson Drive. Nicholson Estates, a partnership between Lafayette oilman Mike Moreno and Florida-based White Sands Development Group, is assembling about 20 acres for a possible mixed-use development designed by Steve Oubre [White Sands didn’t want to talk about the project for this story]. Property values are starting to creep up. Old South is potentially one of the prettiest places to live in the city, Spain says. More HERE

Homelessness Czar Focused on Permanent Housing

Philip F. Mangano in Boston, before he left Massachusetts government to join the Bush administration. He says he is working with Obama aides but is unsure about his future.

Detractors Cite Mangano's Frequent Travel, Including Trips Abroad

The Washington Post reports: Since he became the Bush administration's homelessness czar in 2002, Philip F. Mangano has attempted to sell officials in the United States and around the world on his preferred solution for getting people off the streets, asking them to focus on providing permanent housing instead of temporary shelters.

With a small staff and budget, the former seminarian and music agent has taken his ideas on the road, traveling an average of 18 weeks per year, records show. His critics contend that his tenure has been more public relations than substance, and Democrats in Congress have tried in vain to cap his travel budget.

Mangano's supporters, however, say he deserves some of the credit for a steep decline in the national homelessness rate in recent years. A Department of Housing and Urban Development-- before the economic crisis kicked in -- noted a 12 percent drop in the number of homeless people from 2005 to 2007. The percentage of those classified as "chronically homeless" dropped even more sharply. report earlier this year

Mangano's "housing first" approach has won admirers in several big cities. D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) instituted a similar program in August, placing nearly 500 people in apartments across the city, with more such moves planned. About 300 cities and counties, along with the states of Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Utah, have their own 10-year supportive housing plans in place, Mangano's staff said.

"I have disagreed with almost every housing policy in this administration, but Philip Mangano is a godsend," said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak (D), who credits Mangano with helping the city adopt its homelessness plan and "focus" its scant resources.

Mangano, 60, refers to homeless people as "consumers" and said he thinks that decades of government policies to reduce the homeless population were misguided.

"When you ask the consumer what they want, they don't simply say a bed, blanket and a bowl of soup," he said in an interview. "They say they want a place to live. We have resources being provided to us at record levels. If you look at the numbers for chronic homelessness, we're winning."

As head of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, Mangano has employed PowerPoint presentations to encourage homeless "business plans" -- ambitious goals for cities and counties that push for permanent housing and the creation of one-day workshops to connect the homeless to federal resources. Most important, Mangano said, he has tried to "promote accountability," by putting local officials in charge of their own homelessness policies.

"There needs to be someone, at the local level, who can take ownership of these ideas," he said.

Mangano grew up in the Boston area, graduating from Boston University and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary before moving to California. He became an agent and manager for members of Buffalo Springfield and Peter, Paul and Mary in 1970s Los Angeles.

After returning to Boston, Mangano said, he felt a "spiritual awakening" when he watched Franco Zeffirelli's film about St. Francis of Assisi, "Brother Sun, Sister Moon."

"I never knew you could dedicate your life to the service of the poor," Mangano said. "As bad as it sounds, I learned more in that two-hour movie than I did at three years in seminary school. "

More HERE

Atlanta's Centennial Place has a renewed purpose

Here is a great report from Eric Stirgus at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding Centennial Place in Atlanta, Georgia and how a decade later, proponents hail the HOPE VI housing experiment a success.

Enlarge this image

HYOSUB SHIN / hshin@ajc.com

The Atlanta Housing Authority tore down Techwood Homes, the nation’s first public housing complex, and rebuilt it as Centennial Place. A decade later, some say the experiment worked.

File photo / 1995

Eric Stirgus writes: It was one of the great civic experiments in recent memory. Tear down Techwood Homes, one of the Atlanta Housing Authority’s roughest public housing complexes. Rebuild it and get renters willing to pay market rate to live alongside public housing tenants.

Then, build a new school nearby that specializes in math, science and technology.

Finally, construct a YMCA that offers activities for children and job training.

The experiment, Centennial Place, began in 1998 with the Y’s grand opening. A decade later, many involved say without Centennial Place, the area might not have been attractive enough for the likes of the new Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola. “None of that would had been built if Techwood Homes was there,” said Egbert Perry, a developer involved in the project. “Nobody was going to invest real money with 60 acres of that [Techwood Homes].”

Proponents also believe Centennial Place showed mixed-income communities can work, such as the Villages of East Lake. The community, once known for brazen violence, went through a similar transformation and is now considered a success.

But some are not sure that the experiment has worked. A team of Georgia State University professors — with help from tenant leaders and community activists — released a study earlier this month that found most elderly and disabled tenants in public housing don’t want to leave. The tenants are familiar with their current surroundings and worry it will be more difficult to get to public transportation, health care and other services if they live elsewhere.

The researchers also questioned whether tenants who take vouchers to help offset rent payments rather than live in public housing are better off.

“It is … unclear whether residents who remain in private-market housing [with or without a subsidy] have experienced improved living conditions in neighborhoods with less poverty,” the study said.

Techwood Homes was the original experiment. Opened in 1936, it was the nation’s first public housing complex. It housed 604 families in seven two-story row houses and 13 two-story apartments with modern amenities such as closets in every room, built-in bathtubs and hot and cold water. Techwood Homes was desegregated in 1968, but by then, the complex was no longer a modern marvel. In 1981, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development department approved $17 million to replace the roofs, flooring, heating, plumbing and windows at Techwood and its nearby neighbor, Clark Howell Homes.

Tenant Beverly Fambro moved to Techwood in 1972 with her two young children. In her first years there, Fambro said it was a nice place, with pink and white dogwoods lining the quiet streets she walked without fear, even at 2 a.m. More HERE

Katrina cottage occupants face new displacement

Rick Jervis at USA Today is reporting on how thousands of cottages housing hurricane victims on the Mississippi Gulf Coast will be vacated next month, even though many of their occupants aren't ready to move and may have no place to go if forced out.

USA Today reports, The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency distributed the one-, two- and three-bedroom structures to temporarily house displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There are still 2,300 occupied cottages in Mississippi, said Mike Womack, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Many of the cottages sit on residents' lots while they rebuild wrecked homes, he said.

TRAILERS: Judge rejects class-action status in trailer suits

According to agreements between the state agency and cities, the cottages will need to be emptied by the end of January and removed by March, Womack said.

Housing advocates, residents and some local officials worry that forcing out residents, many of whom are trying to rebuild their homes, will aggravate an already dire housing situation.

"If these (cottages) are gone, there's just not going to be enough affordable housing," said Tim Kellar, county administrator of Hancock County, which includes Waveland. "We don't have an alternate plan if that happens."

FEMA distributed the cottages, free of charge, as an alternative to the temporary trailers that first housed hurricane victims. The program was applauded as Mississippi officials acquired and distributed thousands of the cottages; neighboring Louisiana lagged behind.

The cottages were always meant to be temporary, not a permanent housing solution, Womack said. The structures may not withstand another powerful storm and many violate zoning rules, he said.

"We just can't allow these cottages to stay in place where they're unsafe or degrading the property values of homes around them," Womack said. More HERE

Influx of black renters raises tension in Bay Area

Associated Press is reporting on how an influx of black renters is raising tension in Bay Area—

Karen Coleman and her husband, Thomas Coleman, section 8 housing voucher recipients, look out the window of their home in Antioch, Calif., Friday, Dec. 12, 2008. "A lot of people are moving out here looking for a better place to live," said Karen Coleman, a mother of three who moved here five years ago from a blighted neighborhood in nearby Pittsburg. "We are trying to raise our kids like everyone else. But they don't want us here." (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Paul Elias reports how more and more black renters began moving into this mostly white San Francisco Bay Area suburb a few years ago, neighbors started complaining about loud parties, mean pit bulls, blaring car radios, prostitution, drug dealing and muggings of schoolchildren.

In 2006, as the influx reached its peak, the police department formed a special crime-fighting unit to deal with the complaints, and authorities began cracking down on tenants in federally subsidized housing.

Now that police unit is the focus of lawsuits by black families who allege the city of 100,000 is orchestrating a campaign to drive them out.

"A lot of people are moving out here looking for a better place to live," said Karen Coleman, a mother of three who came here five years ago from a blighted neighborhood in nearby Pittsburg. "We are trying to raise our kids like everyone else. But they don't want us here."

City officials deny the allegations in the lawsuits, which were filed last spring and seek unspecified damages.

Across the country, similar tensions have simmered when federally subsidized renters escaped run-down housing projects and violent neighborhoods by moving to nicer communities in suburban Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles.

But the friction in Antioch is "hotter than elsewhere," said U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesman Larry Bush.

An increasing number of poor families receiving federal rental assistance have been moving here in recent years, partly because of the housing crisis.

A growing number of landlords were seeking a guaranteed source of revenue in a city hard-hit by foreclosures. They began offering their Antioch homes to low-income tenants in the HUD Section 8 housing program, which pays about two-thirds of every tenant's rent.

Between 2000 and 2007, Antioch's black population nearly doubled from 8,824 to 16,316. And the number of Antioch renters receiving federal subsidies climbed almost 50 percent between 2003 and 2007 to 1,582, the majority of them black.

Longtime homeowners complained that the new arrivals brought crime and other troubles. In 2006, violent crime in Antioch shot up about 19 percent from the year before, while property crime went down slightly.

"In some neighborhoods, it was complete madness," said longtime resident Gary Gilbert, a black retiree who organized the United Citizens of Better Neighborhoods watch group. "They were under siege."

So the Antioch police in mid-2006 created the Community Action Team, which focused on complaints of trouble at low-income renters' homes.

Police sent 315 complaints about subsidized tenants to the Contra Costa Housing Authority, which manages the federal program in the city, and urged the agency to evict many of them for lease violations such as drug use or gun possession. Lawyers for the tenants said 70 percent of the eviction recommendations were aimed at black renters. The housing authority turned down most of the requests.

Coleman said the police, after a complaint from a neighbor, showed up at her house one morning in 2007 to check on her husband, who was on parole for drunken driving. She said they searched the house and returned twice more that summer to try to find out whether the couple had violated any terms of their lease that could lead to eviction.

The Colemans were also slapped with a restraining order after a neighbor accused them of "continually harassing and threatening their family," according to court papers. The Colemans said a judge later rescinded the order.

Coleman and four other families are suing Antioch, accusing police of engaging in racial discrimination and conducting illegal searches without warrants. They have asked a federal judge to make their suit a class-action on behalf of hundreds of other black renters. Another family has filed a lawsuit accusing the city's leaders of waging a campaign of harassment to drive them out.

Police referred questions to the city attorney's office.

City Attorney Lynn Tracy Nerland denied any discrimination on the part of police and said officers were responding to crime reports in troubled neighborhoods when they discovered that a large number of the troublemakers were receiving federal subsidies.

"They are responding to real problems," Nerland said. Read MORE HERE

Housing Research.org says: This is happening across the country, when federally subsidized renters have escaped run-down housing projects and violent neighborhoods by moving to nicer communities in suburban Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles. Let's hope this plays out positively. Hopefully HUD and the justice department and monitoring and taking the appropriate action on these cases.

ResearchWorks HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

ResearchWorks is the official newsletter of U.S. HUD's Office of Policy Development & Research. ResearchWorks includes new publication announcements, relevant case studies, and success stories highlighting the efforts of those who care about housing, and who work to make it more affordable, more accessible, more energy and resource efficient, and above all, more readily available. HUD's stated intent is to create a bridge between the research and practitioner communities; check out the latest issue to see how we're doing in that regard.

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President Barack Obama, HUD, and Low-Income Homeowners

The Examiner.com is reporting on HUD in a great article regarding the man who will take over HUD. Wendy Gittleson of the North Denver Real Estate Examiner writes:

24 days from today, the man who campaigned on promises of “Hope” and “Change”, will be sworn in as the 44^th President of the United States. You’d arguably have to look back to FDR to see a new administration faced with so many dire challenges. While the cause of our situation is open for debate, it’s up to President Barack Obama to make fresh lemonade from the rotten lemons he’ll be handed.

If you’ve ever turned on a TV, read a blog or newspaper, or even walked down your block, you know the housing market is in deep trouble. Nationally, home values are down over 10% from a year ago. In nearly every neighborhood, there are homes in disrepair, showing signs of abandonment. Risky mortgages and job losses have put people in a position where they can’t afford their mortgage payments. They can’t sell without taking a serious loss, so they often just walk away and destroy their credit in the process. North Denver is faring better with a slight increase in property values, but hope is still a rare commodity in the real estate world.

The President Elect’s website lays out an ambitious agenda designed to help all homeowners, not just those in trouble. In my ongoing series, I’ll examine his policy agendas and his decisions and how they will affect the real estate market, especially in North Denver.

Until Obama takes office, we have little to judge but his promises. However, he has made some very concrete decisions in the form of cabinet nominees. One such nominee, Shaun Donovan, who has been chosen to head up the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has received rave reviews from economists and from the National Association of Realtors.

Donovan is currently the New York City Housing Commissioner. Senator Charles Schumer of New York calls Donovan, “one of the most effective housing commissioners in New York City’s history.” Prior to that position, he was a managing director at Prudential Mortgage Capital, where he was in charge of its portfolio of investments in affordable housing loans. Donovan worked for HUD under the Clinton administration.

Donovan will be part of an economic team lead by Tim Geithner, Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, and Larry Summers, who will chair Obama's National Economic Council. As head of HUD, Donovan’s main challenge will be to confront the escalating foreclosure crisis. Despite the country’s deficit situation, Donovan will not be without funding. Obama plans on using the second half of the $700 billion bailout money to help homeowners in need. Congress set aside $300 billion to help homeowners trade their current mortgages for more affordable ones, though few have applied.

Donovan has a proven record of curtailing foreclosures and of making homeownership more affordable. His approach is to the left of center, though not anti private sector. In 2006, he was quoted as saying, “I’m in government because of the role of government in setting rules and working in partnership with the private sector. On the other hand, there’s no way you could ever get to a scale that can really affect the housing problems in this country without working with the market.” More HERE
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Daytona Beach - Housing officials have HOPE for more improvements

By John Bozzo Journal Online.com

DAYTONA BEACH -- With three successes under their belt, Housing Authority officials here are considering tackling another demolition-and-reconstruction project.

Five older public housing developments in the city need more than $13 million in upkeep, but annual maintenance funding from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department runs about $1 million.

"Even if I got the same thing for 10 years, I could never catch up," said Joyours "Pete" Gamble, Daytona Beach Housing Authority chief executive officer.

Gamble plans to ask the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners in January to select the most-needy development as a target for another demolition-and-reconstruction grant.

The timing might be good.

Much of the nation's public housing was built during the Great Depression in the 1930s, and, once again, federal officials are considering infrastructure projects to stimulate an economy in crisis.

"If the administration authorizes more funding, it could provide opportunities for housing authorities," Gamble said.

Two possible targets for reconstruction are the Windsor and Maley apartments on South Beach Street, which are reserved for elderly and disabled people.

"I would like to see a new building for the elderly," Gamble said.

The Windsor and Maley are both 13-story towers, with 150 units each and dramatic views of the Halifax River. Developers have contacted the Housing Authority in better economic times, asking to rebuild the towers, possibly as luxury condos with public housing for the elderly and disabled built elsewhere.

"That's something we're interested in," Gamble said.

John Kretzer, vice chairman of the Daytona Beach Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, said the recent successful demolition-and-reconstruction projects should help get another grant.

"We have a good reputation with HUD," he said, adding that the three Daytona Beach projects demolished and rebuilt with $24.6 million in grants from the federal HOPE VI program were "under budget and on time."

The HOPE VI projects replaced aging, deteriorating apartments with modern townhouse communities: Pine Haven on Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard; The Villages at Halifax on International Speedway Boulevard; and Lakeside Village on South Street.

Although Congress might approve more funding for HOPE VI, the economy could "hurt, hinder or slow down" the program, Gamble said. More HERE

HUD secretary, could rebuild agency's Clinton-era HOPE VI initiative

Source: Baltimore Sun Editorial

In choosing Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan for secretary of education this week, President-elect Barack Obama tapped a leader with demonstrated hands-on experience navigating the pitfalls of urban public policy debates and the conflicting demands of rival political constituencies.

Mr. Duncan, a Harvard graduate and longtime ally of Mr. Obama's, has headed Chicago's public school system since 2001, where he earned a reputation for moving forcefully to improve troubled schools without alienating teachers and their unions.

As Mr. Obama's education secretary, he would be ideally positioned to mediate between two contending groups: advocates of greater school accountability and tougher teacher standards, and those who believe government isn't doing nearly enough to help failing schools.

Having served as superintendent of the nation's third-largest school system, Mr. Duncan showed his dedication to innovation as well as a keen awareness of the problems facing urban schools when he shut down the failing Dodge Renaissance Academy on Chicago's West Side in 2002, then reopened it as a lab school staffed by classroom teachers seeking advanced education degrees. The experiment has been cited as a model of reform that could be replicated in failing schools across the country.

Mr. Obama indicated a similar sensitivity to the problems of cities by his choice of Shaun Donovan, head of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, as secretary of housing and urban development. Mr. Donovan is best known as a leading advocate of affordable housing initiatives in New York and elsewhere. As HUD secretary, he could build on that reputation by revitalizing the agency's Clinton-era HOPE VI initiative, which provided money for cities like Baltimore to demolish crime-ridden high-rise public housing complexes and replace them with new, mixed-income, low-rise developments and urban green space.

More HERE

Yonkers - Affordable apartments ready for occupancy

YONKERS – Source: Mid Hudson News - A new $23 million, 60-unit affordable housing project has been completed in southwest Yonkers and city officials came out Monday to celebrate the fact.

Croton Heights Apartments was developed by The Richman Group Development Corp. and will be managed by Landex Corporation.

Built on the site of an old, unused parking lot formerly owned by the Yonkers Parking Authority at 193 Ashburton Avenue, the building features one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units, and 1,500 square feet of community space with a well-appointed community room, a state-of-the-art fitness facility, a resident computer center, broadband wiring, on-site storage space, parking and a children’s tot lot. The complex is less than five minutes from City Hall, the Metro North train station, city bus transportation, the city’s new waterfront, as well as other redevelopment projects in Yonkers central business district.

“The benefits of creating safe, affordable housing go well beyond bricks and mortar,” said Mayor Philip Amicone. “It creates jobs; encourages stability in our neighborhoods; generates important tax revenues; sparks new investment; and, perhaps most important, restores pride in our great city.”

The Croton Heights Apartments is part of the larger HOPE VI Revitalization Plan that... More HERE

Update: Chaos erupts at Cherry Tree Crossing housing projects

NBC Augusta.com is reporting Chaos erupted at the Cherry Tree Apartments Sunday evening after police shot a man who allegedly tried to run them over with his car. Around a hundred people took to the streets and set fire to several dumpsters.

Angry residents threw rocks and glass bottles at fire fighters and police—holding them back from dealing with the fires. The mob even attacked NBC Augusta 26 News.

Dozens of gun shots could be heard as the air filled with the smell of gun powder and burnt trash. Police rushed back to the scene in full force and prepared for a clash with the mob. They suited up with riot gear, defense sticks, some carried fully-automatic assault rifles.

After deputies announced anyone caught outside would be arrested, the crowd slowly dispersed. Deputies patrolled the area throughout the night in an effort to keep the peace. MORE HERE

More later....

UPDATE:

Even though the streets have calmed down, six dumpsters were set on fire at Cherry Tree Crossing, with Richmond County deputies patrolling the area. Much different from the night before when crowds of people swarmed 15th Street.

It all started Sunday afternoon when the Sheriff's Office got information that Justin Elmore was driving a dark colored SUV in the Cherry Tree Crossing area with drugs and weapons inside. Deputies spotted the SUV and tried to stop it on Carver Drive off 15th Street. There was one patrol car in front of Elmore's vehicle and another behind it.

"The weapon was not drawn until the officer was approaching the driver, and once he saw that driver put the vehicle in reverse, he knew something was fixing to happen," Sheriff Ronnie Strength said.

Sheriff Strength says the officer fired his weapon at Elmore's vehicle, hitting the front windshield, and into the front passenger window as Elmore drove by. Investigators say Elmore then drove through yards on Carver Drive until the car stopped at a fence. Elmore was taken to MCG.

And while investigators were securing the scene waiting for the GBI to arrive, several hundred people gathered.

Sheriff Strength says some of the crowd was unruly, throwing glass bottles and rocks at deputies. No one was hurt, but four patrol cars were damaged.

"Rumors, speculation, stories, and everything else last night and they didn't know what they were talking about. But they should wait till the investigation is completed," Sheriff Strength said.

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Career Opportunity, Chicago, IL: Public Housing Revitalization Specialist

Department: Department Of Housing And Urban Development
Agency: Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
Job Announcement Number:
H09-MP-226085-KPz


Public Housing Revitalization Specialist
Salary Range: 84,519.00 - 109,880.00 USD per year
Open Period: Monday, December 08, 2008
to Monday, December 22, 2008
Series & Grade: GS-1101-13
Position Information: Full Time Career/Career Conditional
Promotion Potential: 13
Duty Locations: 1 vacancy - Chicago Metro area, IL
Who May Be Considered:
Status Candidates (Merit Promotion Eligibles)
Job Summary:
Opening Doors to a career with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This position is provides perfect advancement for a career expert looking for a chance in a great Federal agency.

HUD is seeking highly qualified individuals who are willing to meet the challenges of public service and supports the agency's mission. Pay is only part of the compensation you will earn working at HUD. We offer a broad array of benefits and program activities to develop your career, such as: professional development opportunities; work assignments that may consist of projects related to different housing programs; advanced technology; networking opportunities, recognize and reward creativity and performance; teamwork; and innovate work interests; and create opportunities to use and build skills.

Our mission focuses on expanding homeownership, increasing access to affordable housing, strengthening communities through economic development, fighting housing discrimination, and tackling homelessness issues.

To learn more about HUD's mission and programs, click here. Benefits include the following: health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans; paid leave and holidays; flexible work schedules; transit subsidies; retirement investment options (401K-type plan); Flexible Spending Accounts; long-term care insurance; and childcare subsidies. Exceptional difficulty in recruiting a highly or uniquely qualified candidate may or may not result in a repayment of a Student Loan benefit being offered.

This position is located in the Special Applications Center (SAC). US HUD Headquarters, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, Special Applications Center (SAC), Washington, DC (Outstationed position: Chicago, IL). The PHRS reports to the Director of the SAC or subordinate supervisor as assigned.

TAG:VacancyID

Key Requirements:

• United States Citizen or National to apply for this vacancy.
• This announcement may be used to fill more than one vacancy.
• Must be able to successfully pass and maintain a security investigation.
• Travel and Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• Resumes emailed/mailed directly to this office will not be accepted.

Major Duties:

As a Public Housing Revitalization Specialist (PHRS) the incumbent will:

• provide senior technical oversight and administers all aspects of the Special Applications Center (SAC) in connection with special applications plans review, process and approvals;
• serve as the National Policy Liaison and provides expert technical assistance to Field HUBs, Program and Management Center offices and Troubled Agency Recovery Centers (TARC) as required to answer questions on general complex issues in connection with review and processing of Special Applications Plans;
• identify technical assistance needs, develops tailored informational packages to address needs and disseminates information and resource materials on SAC related issues to Field HUBs, program and Management Center offices and TARCs;
• provide technical assistance and training to subordinate SAC staff, Housing Authorities and industry groups in connection with Special Applications Plans processing;
• utilize available computer equipment and data systems to input necessary data relative to the Special Applications;
• coordinate with Field HUBs, Program and Management Center offices and TARCs to ensure that they are following up with their data input;
• initiate and serves as team leader in meeting involving the assessment of SAC operations and performance and assists in identifying resolution and preparing recommendations for improved SAC operations and performance;
• lead or participates in team meeting to conduct targeted performance assessments of public housing authorities using the Diagnostic, Problem Resolution, and Follow up phases to review AC areas;

Qualifications:

Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level or comparable pay band in the Federal service, which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience is typically in or related to the work of the position as described in the Major Duties above.

To meet the basic qualification requirements for this position, you must have:

For the GS-13 : you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as:

• experience in Public Housing Authority operations, use of the Public Housing and Indian Housing Center (PIC), the SAC Assignment Planning System (APS) and an overall knowledge of the processing of the applications currently worked on by the SAC: Homeownership, Designated Housing, Section 18 and Eminent Domain.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's website at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

Education

There is no education substitution at this grade level.

Requirements

Candidates must meet time-in-grade and qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

You may apply for this announcement if you are in one of the following categories: *Current Federal employees serving under a career/career conditional appointment in the competitive service; *former Federal employees with reinstatement eligibility; *persons eligible for noncompetitive appointment under a special hiring authority; or *veterans who are preference eligibles or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after 3 or more years of continuous active service (VEOA).

Candidates that do not meet one of these categories may apply under the announcement open to all sources of candidates, H09-DE-227346-DK.

How You Will Be Evaluated:

Once the application process is complete, a review of your application will be made to ensure you meet the job requirements. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your resume, supporting documentation and narrative responses will be made. The numeric rating you receive is based on a comparison of the language in your resume and your narrative responses provided in the online occupational questionnaire. The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the knowledge, skills and abilities required of this position that are listed below. If, after reviewing your resume, supporting documentation, and narrative response, and determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating.

The Competencies listed below will measures your ability to demonstrate that you possess the required specialized experience. We strongly recommend that you provide narrative responses to the statements below when you complete the online Occupational Questionnaire. Failure to provide narrative responses may result in an overall low rating:

1. Demonstrated experience of public and assisted housing programs, policies and procedures.

2. Demonstrated experience to analyze PHA management problems and to present findings and recommendations.

3. Demonstrated experience to provide technical assistance through effective communication of program knowledge to others – PHAs State and local officials, residents, concerned citizens and interested groups.

4. Demonstrated experience to communicate in writing.

A COMPLETE APPLICATION PACKAGE MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOUND IN THE "HOW TO APPLY" SECTION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. PLEASE REFER TO THIS SECTION TO DETERMINE THE APPROPRIATE DOCUMENTS THAT MUST BE SUBMITTED BASED ON YOUR STATUS. FAILURE TO PROVIDE ALL OF THE NECESSARY AND RELEVANT DOCUMENTS WILL RESULT IN YOUR APPLICATION NOT BEING CONSIDERED.

More HERE

Shaun Donovan Named HUD Secretary by Obama

As reported by Mike Fletcher at the Washington Post, President-elect Barack Obama today named Shaun Donovan, New York City's commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development, to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

As head of New York City's housing agency, Donovan, 42, helped lead what was called the nation's largest affordable housing plan, which aims to build or preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing by 2013. He also has led efforts to provide legal and credit assistance and financial education to homebuyers seen as being most prone to predatory lending. Most recently, he has worked as an Obama campaign adviser, after taking a leave of absence from his job in the administration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Donovan previously worked as a deputy assistant secretary of HUD during the Clinton administration and at Prudential Mortgage Capital Co., as managing director of the firm's Federal Housing Administration loans and affordable housing investments.

Obama announced Donovan's selection in his Saturday radio address, calling HUD an agency that will play a pivotal role in ending the nation's economic crisis. More HERE

NAACP Claims Misuse of Katrina Funds

The Wall Street Journal is reporting on how Advocates for the poor filed a lawsuit Wednesday trying to derail Mississippi's plan to use $570 million of Hurricane Katrina disaster grants to rebuild and expand the state's commercial-shipping port in Gulfport.

In the lawsuit, filed in Washington, the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP and other plaintiffs contend that the Bush Administration did not do required reviews to make sure the disaster grants would benefit low- and moderate-income residents when it accepted the state's plan to super-size the port.

The plaintiffs asked Federal District Court Judge James Robertson to freeze the money, which they say should be used to rebuild low-income housing. Their lawyers said they believe the Obama Administration will be less deferential to Mississippi's governor, Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a big backer of the port expansion.

The dispute over the state's use of $5.48 billion of federal disaster grants is flaring up at a time of economic turmoil as well as political transition. International shipping has slowed while unemployment has been rising, though at 5.7% the unemployment rate in Gulfport and neighboring Biloxi is under the national average of 6.1%.

Gov. Barbour has long argued that Gulf Coast residents need jobs as well as housing. In response to the lawsuit, he issued a statement saying restoration of the port "is critical to recovery of the Gulf Coast from the worst natural disaster in American history."

A spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which manages the disaster-grant program, said the agency hasn't seen the lawsuit. In the past, HUD officials have expressed misgivings about the port plan but said the agency didn't have the power to block it.

Though New Orleans received most of the national attention after its levees failed and Hurricane Katrina flooded the city in 2005, the storm swept away entire communities in Mississippi. It also damaged the port, which before the hurricane mainly handled imports of bananas and exports of frozen chickens. The port today is handling shipping, but hasn't recovered to its previous level of activity.

The state government has been praised for its swift response to the disaster, but critics in Mississippi and Washington, D.C., contend that state-run recovery programs have favored the well-to-do, especially a grant program for homeowners.

Mississippi officials say 40% of the grants went to homeowners of low or moderate income, and that a second $605 million grant program is directed at those homeowners.

But programs to rebuild rental units have been slower to get off the ground, and efforts to build new apartments didn't get under way until last summer.

More than 5,500 families still live in trailers and temporary government housing, according to the lawsuit, and many others can't find adequate housing because rents have soared. Four low-income women and the Gulf Coast Fair Housing Center, an advocacy group, joined the NAACP in filing the lawsuit. More HERE

Feds Pushed Subprime Loans, Execs Say

Source: Michael P. Tremoglie, The Bulletin

Some former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that provide liquidity for the mortgage market, said they were pressured by the federal government and advocacy groups to purchase high-risk mortgages.

During a Dec. 9 hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which was investigating the role the companies had in the current mortgage crisis, four former CEOs; Richard Syron and Leland Brendsel of Freddie Mac, as well as, Franklin Raines and Daniel Mudd of Fannie Mae, were asked by U.S. Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., if they ever felt pressure by Congress to make risky loans.

“In order to fulfill your affordable housing goal … given to you by Congress … did you feel pressure from Congress to do riskier mortgages?” Mr. McHenry asked.

Initially, there was some confusion by Mr. McHenry’s use of the word Congress. Three of the four replied that the goals were furnished to them by HUD, not by Congress — and that they did feel pressure to make high risk transactions.

“The goals came from HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) and meeting those HUD goals created pressure,” Mr. Mudd said.

“As the goals went up, and the goals were specified by HUD, you … had to take more risk,” said Mr. Syron.

Mr. Raines said that the goals set by HUD were forcing the companies “to entertain loans they would not have otherwise entertained.”

Mr. McHenry then asked if there were pressure from advocacy groups and Mr. Syron responded that was true.

U.S. Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, asked Mr. Raines if the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) provided the “fuel” for increasing subprime loans.

Mr. Raines acknowledged the legitimacy of his point. He said it could have been possible they acted as a catalyst. But, he added, it was difficult to know if a policy went from participating in the market to encouraging bad behavior.

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., said information gained from corporate communications, in the committee’s possession, indicated that warnings were issued to all of them about the dangerous ratio of loans to assets and the types of loans. But these warnings were ignored despite the fact the companies were jeopardized.

Mr. Lynch said that there was a huge commitment by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase loans of “questionably quality.” Thirty-three percent of their total 2006 and 2007 mortgage portfolio came from these types of loans.

But not everyone wanted to blame Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., defended the companies and criticized those who questioned them.

“We have heard some people claim that poor people are to blame for this,” he said during the hearing. “[T]he way this argument goes, the federal government forced the banks to give mortgages when they shouldn’t have — to people who were not credit-worthy, then forced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up those bad mortgages.” More HERE

Tuscaloosa Housing Authority Under Fire!

TUSCALOOSA | Tuscaloosa Housing Authority officials are working on a response to a corrective action plan recommended by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“I’m just one commissioner, but my inclination is to do exactly what HUD asked us to do,” said Jim Phillips, a member of the Housing Authority board of commissioners. “I don’t understand any other position but that.”

In September, HUD officials made an on-site visit to the Housing Authority and generated a report in October. The report took exception to some recent THA real estate purchases, its relationship with the nonprofit Tuscaloosa Affordable Housing Corp. and personnel and management issues.

The corrective action plan addresses each of the issues raised in the report and asks the authority what steps it will take to remedy the problems.

Rick Herbert, THA executive director, took issue with some of the recommended remedies.

“Some of this stuff we’ve answered repeatedly,” Herbert said. “How many times do we have to answer them before they’re answered?”

He also said that since HUD drafted the corrective action plan, THA has been taken off “manual review.” That means that HUD no longer reviews all of THA’s expenditures before the agency spends money.

The most pressing issue for THA is property bought with loans that encumber Housing Authority assets. HUD has told THA that it must repay any federal funds used to buy the property or make debt service on the property. And THA can’t make any debt service with federal funds.

The Housing Authority has some non-federal funds that it can use to make debt payments, Herbert said.

“I’ve got enough right now to do debt service, and the banks are willing to give us an extension,” Herbert said.

The property will be refinanced and eventually transferred into the Tuscaloosa Affordable Housing Corp.’s name.

But the THA board hasn’t determined yet how it will repay the loans without federal funds. The nonprofit has no dedicated funding source.

If necessary, THA can sell the property, Herbert said. He said he’s been approached by a developer who offered to buy all of it. But he hesitates to do that because it would kill the authority’s chances of getting a Hope VI grant.

In its corrective action plan, HUD wants a list of property that has been and will be deeded to Tuscaloosa Affordable Housing and copies of the deeds. It also wants specifically to know when a house purchased from City Council President Harrison Taylor is transferred to the nonprofit.

HUD wants a complete list of loans used to purchase the property and it wants documentation showing the loans have been terminated or transferred to Tuscaloosa Affordable Housing Corp. THA must repay $153,000 in developers’ fees from the McKenzie Court Hope VI project, $15,000 from the THA operating fund and $9,400 from the THA rental account used to make interest payments on the loans. Repayment must come from non-federal funds. More HERE

Who Obama Pick To Run HUD

Obama Teams Casting a Wide Net

According to Andrew Ackerman , Audrey Dutton , Peter Schroeder , and Patrick Temple-West

at Financial-Planning.com Obama's choice for Housing and Urban Development would likely revitalize the department, according to sources who contend it has lost its focus on helping communities with affordable housing initiatives in favor of home ownership under the Bush administration.

"The first way to start making things better is stop making them worse," said Anthony Freedman, a tax lawyer with Holland & Knight LLP here.

During the past eight years, the White House has tried to severely cut funding for, or kill, several HUD programs that provide funds used in conjunction with bonds, claiming the programs are inefficient. The administration has tried to downsize the community development block grant program, which provides grants to state and local governments to fund economic development projects financed by muni bonds. It has tried to abolish the HOPE VI program, which provides grants to public housing authorities to demolish severely distressed public housing units and replace them with mixed-use, mixed-income developments. The grants are often used as leverage for projects that are financed with tax-exempt bonds.

Freedman contends an Obama administration would fully fund the CDBG program and "provide a sufficient budget for the department to function."

Obama and Democratic lawmakers could put HUD in a better position to work on new affordable housing initiatives, he said.

"Those two factors would lend to a significantly increased role for HUD and really a serious effort to rebuild the department's capacity," Freedman said. "I think there are a lot of department alumni who have hopes for a resurrected Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can only imagine what a reinvigorated HUD could do."

Another housing advocate agreed. "Regardless of who it is - and we're not pushing anyone - we won't have to play defense as we've had to do the past eight years," he said.

Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin are among the leading candidates for the top HUD [pst, with Diaz currently thought to be the favorite for the position, according to housing sources.

Diaz, a Cuban native who immigrated to the United States when he was seven years old, has served as Miami's mayor since 2001. During his tenure, he oversaw the city's bond rating upgraded from junk to single-A by all three rating agencies. Since 2008, he also has served as the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Due to term limits, Diaz's tenure as Miami mayor will end in 2009.

Franklin has served as Atlanta's mayor since 2001, and has been praised for reining in the city's budget deficit and repairing its ailing sewer system.

Other names mentioned for the post include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Saul Ramirez Jr., a former deputy HUD secretary and executive director of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, Bronx borough president Adolfo Carrion Jr., and Nelson Diaz, a former judge and HUD general counsel.

Vallaraigosa told reporters last week that while he spoke with Obama about positions in the new administration, he will not accept any because he wants to stay on as mayor.

Shaun Donovan—who left his position as chairman of the New York City Housing Development Corp. and commissioner of the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development to work on the Obama campaign—has been mentioned for a "high post" in HUD, though sources have indicated he would not get the top spot. More HERE

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Career Opportunity: Housing Authority of the City of High Point, Chief Operating Officer (COO)

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER (COO): Under the administrative direction of the Chief Executive Officer and working with senior staff, assumes operating responsibility for one or more departments of the Authority to include housing administration, development, community social, cultural and individual programs for tenants and administers grants and assistance programs as required.
• Plans and organizes activities according to standard and established procedures.
• Supervises activities in areas of housing/asset management, financial administration, housing development and revitalization, and in the administration of state and Federal housing grant programs.
• Evaluates and analyzes short and long term housing needs and housing development opportunities of community.
• Makes systematic surveys of community leaders, interest group and general public to determine changing housing needs of the community.
• Evaluates community and inter-governmental resources that are available to meet perceived needs.
• Prepares short-term and long-range plans to meet housing needs.
• Assures preparation of grant applications and private proposals.
• Prepares for submission approved proposals to government and private agencies for funding.
• Negotiates terms and conditions of approved projects with state, Federal and private funding sources.
• Prepares and recommends operating budget.
• Oversees the administration of the operating budget, including investment strategy.
• Makes administrative adjustments to affect economies.
• Oversees management of the Authority's housing stock, including the selection of tenants and assistance programs to meet the social and health needs of tenants.
• Maintains relationships with state. Federal and community representatives to assure timely and efficient use of staff and awareness of development opportunities.
• Interviews, evaluates and employs staff and recommends consulting services.
• Oversees the administration personnel policies and regulations for staff members.
• Prepares narrative and statistical reports for the Board of Commissioners upon request.
• Makes such reports to the Board of Commissioners as directed by the CEO.
• Attends civic and professional meetings to promote the interests of the Authority.
• Participates in professional housing and public administration organizations to remain current in the field.

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE: The knowledge and skills required would generally be acquired with a Master's degree; six years of progressively responsible experience in business or not-for profit administration including two years of experience as a unit or division supervisor: or a combination of education and/or equivalent experience of five years in housing administration, planning and development. A working knowledge of the principals and methods of administration as it relates to budgeting, accounting and procurement. Ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner in both oral and written methods which includes, but is not limited to, the preparation and presentation of various administrative and financial reports and presentations to the public. Ability to direct subordinates. Ability to identify and understand the needs and problems of economically disadvantaged individuals and their families. Successfully passing certification requirements as a Public Housing Manager within the first year of employment. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Must possess a valid driver’s license and safe driving record.

Interested candidates may fax cover letter with salary requirements and resume to (336) 887-2472, e-mail to Rmatthews@hpha.net, or mail to:

Housing Authority of the City of High Point
Human Resources
P. O. Box 1779
High Point, NC 27261

Applications and resumes will be accepted until position is filled.
HPHA is an equal opportunity employer.

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Just write us at: HousingResearch.org@GMail.com We will send you a form to fill out via email. You will make a once a year payment of $225.00 (this will help in the cost of operating the website and blog) and your name will be included in our data base. For your protection, all payments are made through PayPal through a corporate or personal American Express, Master Card, Visa or Discover Card. Once payment has been processed a confirmation receipt will be sent via email by PayPal and HousingResearch.org.

For further information on the registration and payment process write us at: HousingResearch.org@GMail.com

Career Opportunity: Director (Chicago, CHAC)

Provides leadership and day-to-day oversight for:

•New admissions activities including waiting list administration, intake and leasing of public housing relocation referrals, special admissions, and waiting list applicants.
•All project-based administration including Mod Rehab, Project-Based Vouchers, McKinney supportive housing, and Regional Housing Initiative
•Processing of portability vouchers in and out of the City of Chicago
•Processing of new contracts and subsidy payments

•Develops the strategies and timetables for achieving department and company goals and objectives. Directs the activities, monitors and holds accountable the team leaders and coordinators in this regard.

•Provides oversight to administrative services group, responsible for reception area staffing, electronic document imaging services (scanning), and trouble-shooting facilities issues.

•Assures the efficient coordination of workflow and communication between departments, and with other sub-contractors and vendors.

•Assures that the department’s work is in compliance with all relevant HUD regulations, CHA Administrative Plan and policies and procedures.

•Interfaces with directors and managers of Satellite and Central Offices, Performance Management to identify program, system and staffing challenges, and develop and implement strategies or design training initiatives that address these issues, including staff development.

•Provides direct reports with frequent feedback on their performance, works with them to establish team objectives and individual and personal development goals. Oversees the team leaders’ and coordinators’ supervisory responsibilities that include assigning and reviewing work, training, addressing employee problems, and holding employees accountable.

•Tracks and monitors activity, productivity, quality, and customer service and utilizes the data to effectively manage the department. Prepares and submits reports as required.

•As a member of the executive team, participates in evaluating performance, staff development, establishing policy and procedure, and creating innovative solutions to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

QUALITIFICATIONS REQUIRED

This position requires the following skills, competencies, and experience:

•Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Public Administration, Urban Affairs, Sociology, Government, or related field. Minimum eight years of progressively more responsible experience with at least three of those years in the management of a housing or similar project or department, including supervision of a sizable staff.

•Demonstrated excellent interpersonal and oral and written communication skills, including public speaking skills.

•Demonstrated analytical skills and ability to create Excel spreadsheets, understand and manipulate data, prepare Power Point presentations, and write narrative reports

•Demonstrated ability to take initiative to meet the needs of clients, property owners, and staff, and anticipates changing conditions and makes appropriate adjustments.

•Commitment to a strong results-oriented and performance management focus.

•Familiarity with the Housing Choice Voucher Program, Family Self-Sufficiency, mobility counseling, homeownership, and Family Unification Programs preferred but not required.

•Certification by Quadel in Housing Choice Voucher Program Proficiency within 90 days of hire.

Visit our website to learn more about this opportunity www.quadel.com

Harry Byrd Jr., New Spartanburg Housing Authority Director,

New housing chief building foundation

Byrd setting sights on HOPE VI bids

The new Spartanburg Housing Authority director was instrumental in planning and implementing four federal HOPE VI grant projects, including one that transformed blighted housing units in Charlotte, N.C., into an attractive, $93 million development.

Harry Byrd Jr., the new Spartanburg Housing Authority director, talks about his plans for the agency at his office in Spartanburg.

Harry Byrd Jr. has been on the job for just four weeks, but he has met with staffers and key players in other partnering agencies, including the city of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County, to determine the agency's strengths and weaknesses.

The Housing Authority board of directors voted unanimously to hire Byrd after a nearly year-long search when former director Roy Johnson resigned to accept a similar position in Vancouver, Wash.

Byrd will oversee a $13.4 million budget, 941 public housing units and a staff of about 100. The housing authority also issues about 2,000 housing vouchers annually.

Byrd was the owner of The Harkin Group LLC of Huntersville, N.C., where he spent 10 years consulting housing authorities in the Southeast, primarily on how to submit and implement successful HOPE VI federal grants. He was the senior vice president and chief operating officer for the Charlotte Housing Authority from 1991 to 1998, when four successful HOPE VI grants were planned and executed. More HERE

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Joining Housing Research Directory of Consultants is easy!

Just write us at: HousingResearch.org@GMail.com We will send you a form to fill out via email. You will make a once a year payment of $225.00 (this will help in the cost of operating the website and blog) and your name will be included in our data base. For your protection, all payments are made through PayPal through a corporate or personal American Express, Master Card, Visa or Discover Card. Once payment has been processed a confirmation receipt will be sent via email by PayPal and HousingResearch.org.

For further information on the registration and payment process write us at: HousingResearch.org@GMail.com