Boston Globe: Suit says housing authorities were cheated

[Guest guest]

At least they took the people out of some of the worse units, but there are

still people living in moldy, infested apartments; but who cares? They are

just poor people. Who cares about their health?

Mulvey son

(http://www.boston.com/news/globe/)

Suit says housing authorities were cheated

Contends Romney violated state law

By Saltzman, Globe Staff | November 21, 2006

Three of the largest public housing authorities in Massachusetts filed a

lawsuit yesterday accusing the Romney administration of shortchanging the

state's nearly 250 local authorities by millions of dollars, causing housing

conditions to deteriorate and forcing the closing of hundreds of substandard

apartments.

The housing authorities in Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline contend that

Governor Mitt Romney violated state law by freezing subsidies for operating and

maintenance costs starting in 2003. The move has resulted in a " near crisis "

for authorities that run nearly 50,000 apartments statewide for poor,

elderly, and disabled residents, the suit said.

" If something isn't done now to fully fund or properly fund these housing

units, then the next time the budget process comes around, it's going to be

fiscal year '09, and by then the number of units that will have deteriorated

and

have to be taken off the market is enormous, " Steve Young, a lawyer for the

three authorities, said in an interview.

The three authorities manage about 4,000 apartments, but proponents of the

suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court hope it will address subsidies for all

housing authorities in the state.

The suit was filed a month after state Auditor A. ph DeNucci issued a

scathing report that said Romney's funding of public housing has left thousands

of residents living in squalid conditions. DeNucci's office reviewed

conditions in about a quarter of the 247 housing authorities.

His report found that more than 1,000 apartments were in such disrepair --

with missing hand railings, cracked and damaged foundations, extensive mold

and midew damage, and rodent and insect infestation -- that they had to be

taken off the market. Meanwhile, 81,000 people were on waiting lists for

apartments, DeNucci said.

Steve Carvalho -- chief of staff for the Department of Housing and Community

Development, which funds the housing authorities -- said his department

recognizes that costs to authorities have risen and increased subsidies for

operating and maintenance costs by 7 percent in fiscal 2007. But he declined to

comment further, citing the litigation. His department and the Executive Office

of Administration and Finance are the defendants in the suit.

P. Russ, executive director of the Cambridge Housing Authority, said

the 7 percent increase does not begin to address years of underfunding. His

authority, which manages 663 apartments, had to close more than a dozen

apartments in the past year at Jefferson Park Apartments because of problems

that

ranged from mold to worn floors.

" It's been awful, " he said. " Basically, I feel like we have a lot of good

things going on in the state, but the public housing that the state funds has

been sort of like a forgotten asset, " he said.

A 1971 state law caps the rent paid by residents of public housing

apartments at no more than one third of a household's income, the lawsuit said.

..

In 2001, the average household income in such apartments was less than

$15,000.

The law requires the state to make up the difference between what

authorities receive in rent and the cost of operating and maintaining

apartments, the

suit said.

But a study by the Harvard Graduate School of Design found last year that

despite the subsidy, authorities were losing on average about $140 a month for

each apartment, said Young. That translated into an annual shortfall of about

$79 million for the authorities, which manage 49,968 apartments, according

to the Harvard study.

The lawsuit blames the problem on a freeze on subsidies for operating and

maintenance costs other than heat and electricity. The freeze fails to take

into account dramatic increases in a variety of costs, said the suit. For

example, the cost of property insurance for the Cambridge Housing Authority

rose

279 percent from fiscal 2000 to fiscal 2005.

In July, the Legislature's Subcommittee for Public Housing issued a report

that agreed with the housing authorities.

It said that the state should have given authorities $194 million in 2002 to

cover operating and maintenance costs, instead of $115 million.

Young said that underfunding the authorities will only cost the state more

in the long run.

" A lot of these units are for elderly and disabled people who aren't able to

maintain these properties themselves, " he said. " If you don't maintain them

.. . . you're going to have a tremendously costly process of remedying that. "

Saltzman can be reached at _jsaltzman@..._

(mailto:jsaltzman@...) .

© _Copyright_ (http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright) 2006 The

New York Times Company

[Guest guest]

Ultimately, I think their goal is to drive people out of public housing. And

rent-stabilized housing.

Some people, like those pesky ones on fixed incomes, just don't get the

hint, I guess.

These housing units were built, often, during the period during the postwar

period when housing was

scarce and labor was also scarce and needed to house workers. Now they are

sitting on valuable real estate and

the political will is not there to continue the rent subsidies under this

administration.

So they are an endangered species. In cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles

and New York, the number of rent stabilized

apartments is astronomical. If the attacks on rent stabilized apartments

succeed, millions will have to find other housing and

there is no way they will be able to afford to pay market rate, which is

often more than their entire income. What are those people going to do.

How will businesses find employees if there is no place for the ones who

don't make a LOT of money to live? In places like the Bay Area, the commute

distance from areas where rents are 'naturally' low (the Central Valley) is

very long... poor people in particular won't be able to afford to commute

two hours each way to jobs that only pay seven or eight dollars an hour. And

public transportation would need to be far better than it is because many

poor people don't own cars. Also, there are only so many hours in the day.

On 11/21/06, MLMJ75@... <MLMJ75@...> wrote:

>

>

> At least they took the people out of some of the worse units, but there

> are

> still people living in moldy, infested apartments; but who cares? They are

>

> just poor people. Who cares about their health?

>

> Mulvey son

>

>

>

> (http://www.boston.com/news/globe/)

> Suit says housing authorities were cheated

> Contends Romney violated state law

> By Saltzman, Globe Staff | November 21, 2006

> Three of the largest public housing authorities in Massachusetts filed a

> lawsuit yesterday accusing the Romney administration of shortchanging the

> state's nearly 250 local authorities by millions of dollars, causing

> housing

> conditions to deteriorate and forcing the closing of hundreds of

> substandard

> apartments.

> The housing authorities in Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline contend that

> Governor Mitt Romney violated state law by freezing subsidies for

> operating and

> maintenance costs starting in 2003. The move has resulted in a " near

> crisis "

> for authorities that run nearly 50,000 apartments statewide for poor,

> elderly, and disabled residents, the suit said.

> " If something isn't done now to fully fund or properly fund these housing

> units, then the next time the budget process comes around, it's going to

> be

> fiscal year '09, and by then the number of units that will have

> deteriorated and

> have to be taken off the market is enormous, " Steve Young, a lawyer for

> the

> three authorities, said in an interview.

> The three authorities manage about 4,000 apartments, but proponents of the

>

> suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court hope it will address subsidies for

> all

> housing authorities in the state.

> The suit was filed a month after state Auditor A. ph DeNucci issued a

> scathing report that said Romney's funding of public housing has left

> thousands

> of residents living in squalid conditions. DeNucci's office reviewed

> conditions in about a quarter of the 247 housing authorities.

> His report found that more than 1,000 apartments were in such disrepair --

>

> with missing hand railings, cracked and damaged foundations, extensive

> mold

> and midew damage, and rodent and insect infestation -- that they had to be

>

> taken off the market. Meanwhile, 81,000 people were on waiting lists for

> apartments, DeNucci said.

> Steve Carvalho -- chief of staff for the Department of Housing and

> Community

> Development, which funds the housing authorities -- said his department

> recognizes that costs to authorities have risen and increased subsidies

> for

> operating and maintenance costs by 7 percent in fiscal 2007. But he

> declined to

> comment further, citing the litigation. His department and the Executive

> Office

> of Administration and Finance are the defendants in the suit.

> P. Russ, executive director of the Cambridge Housing Authority,

> said

> the 7 percent increase does not begin to address years of underfunding.

> His

> authority, which manages 663 apartments, had to close more than a dozen

> apartments in the past year at Jefferson Park Apartments because of

> problems that

> ranged from mold to worn floors.

> " It's been awful, " he said. " Basically, I feel like we have a lot of good

> things going on in the state, but the public housing that the state funds

> has

> been sort of like a forgotten asset, " he said.

> A 1971 state law caps the rent paid by residents of public housing

> apartments at no more than one third of a household's income, the lawsuit

> said. .

> In 2001, the average household income in such apartments was less than

> $15,000.

> The law requires the state to make up the difference between what

> authorities receive in rent and the cost of operating and maintaining

> apartments, the

> suit said.

> But a study by the Harvard Graduate School of Design found last year that

> despite the subsidy, authorities were losing on average about $140 a month

> for

> each apartment, said Young. That translated into an annual shortfall of

> about

> $79 million for the authorities, which manage 49,968 apartments, according

>

> to the Harvard study.

> The lawsuit blames the problem on a freeze on subsidies for operating and

> maintenance costs other than heat and electricity. The freeze fails to

> take

> into account dramatic increases in a variety of costs, said the suit. For

> example, the cost of property insurance for the Cambridge Housing

> Authority rose

> 279 percent from fiscal 2000 to fiscal 2005.

> In July, the Legislature's Subcommittee for Public Housing issued a report

>

> that agreed with the housing authorities.

> It said that the state should have given authorities $194 million in 2002

> to

> cover operating and maintenance costs, instead of $115 million.

> Young said that underfunding the authorities will only cost the state more

>

> in the long run.

> " A lot of these units are for elderly and disabled people who aren't able

> to

> maintain these properties themselves, " he said. " If you don't maintain

> them

> . . . you're going to have a tremendously costly process of remedying

> that. "

> Saltzman can be reached at

_jsaltzman@...<_jsaltzman%40globe.com>_

>

> (mailto:jsaltzman@... <jsaltzman%40globe.com>) .

>

> © _Copyright_ (http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright) 2006

> The

> New York Times Company

>

>