{"id":221,"date":"2019-04-13T23:29:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T23:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/?p=221"},"modified":"2019-04-13T23:45:41","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T23:45:41","slug":"d-c-s-public-housing-stock-requires-2-2-billion-in-repairs-housing-authority-says-wamu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/221\/","title":{"rendered":"D.C.\u2019s Public Housing Stock Requires $2.2 Billion In Repairs, Housing Authority Says | WAMU"},"content":{"rendered":"

wamu.org\/story\/19\/04\/12\/d-c-s-public-housing-stock-requires-2-2-billion-in-repairs-housing-authority-says\/#.XLJw0aQpDYU<\/a>
\nD.C.\u2019s Public Housing Stock Requires $2.2 Billion In Repairs, Housing Authority Says Years of neglect have led to a maintenance crisis in D.C.\u2019s public housing. And as Congress and the Trump administration battle over large proposed cuts to the federal budget for affordable housing, the D.C. Housing Authority has asked local government to step in and help the agency pay for repairs.
\nThe agency\u2019s director, Tyrone Garrett, testified at the agency\u2019s budget oversight hearing Thursday that his most modest request would be for an additional $25 million over the next two years and then up to $15 million for 10 more years. But his most aggressive request would be for up to $50 million per year for 17 years.
\nBecome a sponsor ? The agency said 2,610 of its \u201cextremely urgent\u201d units need attention before the end of this year. The agency has also said an additional 4,445 units of its approximately 8,000-unit portfolio are in \u201ccritical condition,\u201d which means the vast majority of D.C.\u2019s public housing is in serious disrepair. On Thursday, Garrett said the Housing Authority would need $2.2 billion over the next 17 years to get all of D..C.\u2019s public housing back in good shape \u2014 and $343 million is required in the next fiscal year just to address lead and environmental hazards in the city\u2019s most unsafe units.
\nMeanwhile, D.C. Councilmembers have expressed doubts about the agency\u2019s competence as a landlord. Eight councilmembers have co-introduced a bill that would place the agency under the Office of the Mayor. It currently enjoys independent status.
\nWard 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who introduced the bill, said she did so because DCHA is \u201cnot responsive enough to the needs of residents..\u201d
\n\u201cBringing the agency under Mayoral control will make it easier for the Council to shed light on the Housing Authority\u2019s practices, procedures and budget priorities and will allow Council to conduct more thorough oversight,\u201d Nadeau wrote in an email to WAMU.
\nWhat Is The Housing Authority\u2019s Plan?
\nGarrett said the agency has begun working to mitigate lead hazards throughout D.C. housing. Federal guidelines say lead hazards must be addressed within 90 days of a risk assessment in homes with children under 6 years old. In all other homes, DCHA has a year to address lead hazards.
\nGarrett also said 135 families in units designated as \u201cextremely urgent\u201d have been given vouchers that will allow them to permanently relocate from public housing. Garrett said mobility counselors are also working with more families to provide them with project-based vouchers that will allow them to relocate to specific buildings. The Housing Authority could also receive up to $4.5 million dollars from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to address lead hazards at Park Morton, a property slated for redevelopment as part of the New Communities Initiative.
\nBut for the vast majority of families living in conditions designated as urgent, no plan has been set. Garrett said he wants to make sure he communicates with residents before making decisions about relocation.
\n\u201cIf you were here thinking that we were going to roll out decision making and all of these things, that\u2019s not going to happen today,\u201d Garrett said at the DCHA Board of Commissioners meeting on Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019re going to take more time because that\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d
\nGarrett also said Wednesday that the Housing Authority is looking to hire an outside organization with community outreach.
\nThe Housing Authority might be especially focused on its outreach strategy because D.C.\u2019s public housing residents and tenant advocates have been pushing hard against what they call \u201cprivatization.\u201d The Housing Authority has suggested that converting residents from traditional public housing to the housing choice voucher program may be a central part of its strategy for dealing with conditions in public housing. It has also named demolition of public housing properties and the transfer of public housing to third-party ownership as potential strategies.
\nRebecca Lindhurst, an attorney for Bread for the City, said her organization interacts with many tenants who have trouble securing housing with vouchers within the required 6-month period. Lindhurst said this trouble happens for multiple reasons: first, larger units, which are available in D.C.\u2019s public housing, are less available on the private market. Second, application fees and security deposits represent a barrier for low-income voucher holders in a housing search. Garrett testified on Thursday that a DCHA program that could assist residents with security deposit fees has been stalled in its implementation.
\n\u201cAnd then we see flat-out voucher discrimination,\u201d Lindhurst said. \u201cLandlords who actually advertise that they don\u2019t accept vouchers \u2014 or more subtle discrimination, where landlords use credit history or past eviction as a pretext to not rent to a voucher-holder.\u201d
\nCouncilmember Anita Bonds, who chaired Thursday\u2019s budget oversight meeting, said she and D.C.\u2019s Attorney General will likely be looking into housing discrimination. In the meantime, Lindhurst and other advocates have urged the Housing Authority to proceed with caution when considering whether to relocate residents or demolish public housing.
\n\u201cWe are obviously worried that people are living in very serious conditions,\u201d Lindhurst said. \u201cWe certainly don\u2019t want tenants to remain in properties that are unsafe. However, we worry that moving forward with demolition of multiple properties at the same time could result in hundreds of tenants being displaced at the same time, and that could flood the market with vouchers.\u201d
\nWhat Do D.C.\u2019s Councilmembers Say?
\nNadeau told WAMU she thinks D.C. should provide \u201cas much funding as possible\u201d for DCHA\u2019s needed capital improvements. Nadeau also expressed concern that Garrett has suggested that private capital could be part of his solution for rehabbing public housing.
\n\u201cWhile the infusion of private capital, on its face, is not problematic, it does raise concerns about the potential privatization of public housing,\u201d Nadeau said. \u201cThe District\u2019s public housing belongs to the people and it is our duty to maintain it and curb attempts to privatize it.\u201d
\nAt-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman said she found Garrett\u2019s smallest ask \u2014 $25 million over the next two years and $10 to $15 million each year over the following 10 years \u2014 appealing, because it takes advantage of the Housing Authority\u2019s ability to issue bonds. Silverman says the plan would allow the Housing Authority to immediately deal with urgent needs, \u201cestablish a track record\u201d and then leverage bonds to turn guaranteed money over time into more immediately-available funds.
\nA staffer of Councilmember Anita Bonds, who runs the committee in charge of housing oversight, told WAMU that Bonds will wait to take a position on next steps until all of her oversight hearings are complete.
\nJenny Gathright is a reporter in WAMU\u2019s newsroom. <\/p>\n

Mary Bolton 202-390-1208<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

wamu.org\/story\/19\/04\/12\/d-c-s-public-housing-stock-requires-2-2-billion-in-repairs-housing-authority-says\/#.XLJw0aQpDYU D.C.\u2019s Public Housing Stock Requires $2.2 Billion In Repairs, Housing Authority Says Years of neglect have led to a maintenance crisis in D.C.\u2019s public housing. And as Congress and the Trump administration battle over large proposed cuts to the federal budget for affordable housing, the D.C. Housing Authority has asked local government to step […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-housingarchive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}