Mary C. Johns, Editor-in-Chief
For the last year, a battle about tenant councils has been brewing between the resident Central Advisory Council, the Chicago Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
There are two issues. The first is whether public housing residents living in tax-credit financed units in the new CHA mixed income communities can vote and be a part of existing Local Advisory Council elections. The other issue is whether public housing residents occupying those types of units can form a separate tenant council. Public housing residents are represented by Local Advisory Councils in dealings with CHA. The councils also tackle occupancy issues, social service needs as well as public safety concerns.
Each development had one LAC, and all of the LAC presidents formed the Central Advisory Council, which negotiated on behalf of residents with CHA, HUD, the police department and other agencies.
Council formation is governed by federal law. According to Section 964.125 of the federal code, "Any member of a public housing household whose name is on the lease of a unit in the public housing development and meets the requirement of the by-laws is eligible to be a member of a resident council."
Such councils, federal law states, may represent residents in scattered sites buildings, row houses, contiguous buildings, developments or in a combination of buildings and developments.At the time of this report, HUD agreed that residents in mixed-finance developments may choose to create public housing councils, join broader neighborhood associations or do both. But CHA isn't acknowledging the rights of relocated residents living in those communities to do so.
CHA says residents should only join neighborhood associations with market-rate buyers and renters in the new communities. The questions arose soon after closure of the Robert Taylor Homes in late 2005, according to an August 18, 2006 letter from HUD Regional Director Steven Meiss to CAC counsel Richard Wheelock. To read more click here
Thanks to the Residents
Submitted by dan on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 2:40pm.
Thanks to the Residents Journal for posting this to Vocalo! The full story appears here on their site.
Dan
vocalo host/producer
Great topic- what an
Submitted by navraaz on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 2:32pm.
Great topic- what an interesting debate. I could see how people who are living within those communities would object to someone who is from public housing attending their council meetings. But, at the same time, I could also see how people living within public housing would want to be a part of the meetings which affect the places that they live in. As residents of the communities, they should have a right to the decision making process in their environments. What would be even more interesting would be to listen in on conversations within these meetings as to why or why not public housing citizens should be a part of these meetings. Thanks for the thoughts.