Feedback Buffalo Report's readers say. . .
A Buffalo Report reader with extensive experience in local government added these comments to the Govindaraj report on the city's housing initiative:
Tuesday, 28 Dec 2002
Given Fannie Mae (Bob Bannister) and Rep John J. LaFalce's efforts to help Canisius and D'Youville establish employer assisted housing programs that encourage their employees to buy homes in targeted neighborhoods around each campus, the city's move to do this is admirable. And, getting city employees to become homeowners instead of renters is admirable also.
However, a couple of points struck me as interesting.
For the Govindaraj's to label BURA as "a nonprofit organization affiliated with City Hall" ends the description too early. BURA is completely controlled by the mayor and its employees are political employees of the mayor with a few civil servants! It may legally have a non-profit status, but to describe is as merely affiliated with City Hall misleads us about its highly political nature.To hear that many city employees were angry because they are already homeowners in the city and thus cannot qualify for the program was noteworthy. Either the city did a lousy job of explaining the program up-front, or we have a bunch of greedy city employees.
To hear Fred Heinle, a capable person doing a very difficult job in very difficult circumstances, note that there may not be any funding available to continue the program next year (sounds familiar to the problem with the West Side Initiative, eh?) belies the chronic problems involving the city and housing and community development. The City continues to waste and squander federal Community Development Block Grant and other HUD funds on projects with little to no viability or chance of success. The redevelopment of Lakeview HOPE VI is but one example of good intentions gone horribly awry.
The Pratt follow-up was straight-on target: for EAH programs to really work, there has to be a targeting of neighborhoods. That is not the case here. Of course, getting many of these city employees to own property in the city is a big enough task (and what does that say about the city?), and so I guess the mere fact that some are becoming homeowners and paying property taxes to the city which employs them is an important step.
In any event, I was glad to see the Govindaraj's article, but thought Buffalo Report's readers should be aware of these other important factors.
.
© 2002 Buffalo Report, Inc.