It will no doubt come as a relief that I won't respond point-by-point, but here are a
couple reactions to others.
Mr. Cullen, you weren't at all confrontational. You were wrong on a few important
points, however.
All of the public funding for Armadillo Flats is in the form of loans. All of the
units are affordable. 8 4-BR units happen to also be assisted through Project-based
Section 8, meaning the tenants in those units only pay 30% of their income toward the
established rents. The rent schedule you cited for PPL in comparison to your Whittier
and East-side St. Paul units was also wrong. You cited the maximum allowable rents as
PPL rents. In fact our rent schedule is below yours in keeping with your beliefs as
stated yesterday.
0 BR $363 PPL actual $469 Cullen
1BR $490 PPL actual $599 Cullen
2BR $537 PPL actual $699 - 739 Cullen
3BR $696 PPL actual $950 Cullen
4BR $913 PPL actual $1190 Cullen
The rehab scope has been substantial, including new roofs, exterior siding, windows,
kitchens, baths, interior finishes and come Spring, landscaping.
With respect to vacancies, you cite the rates for the cheapest and therefore smallest
apartments. In this markets those units, plus luxury units, have the highest
vacancies. The unit type PPL is building new are multi-BR family units like at
Collaborative Village where the need is great. Just check the recent report released
by MHFA, the Family Housing Fund and the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund.
Dyna Sluyther, I don't know where you are coming from. The one thing we have done in
Hawthorne is work cooperatively with the Hawthorne Area Community Counicl to build
several new single-family homes on vacant lots. If thats what you wanted, thats
exactly what you got from PPL in cooperation with your legitimate neighborhood
organization. By the way, I don't have an enemies list.
On the issue of poverty trends, the macro forces affecting poverty are well beyond the
reach of local policy. When the economy is good, poverty declines as it did throughout
the mid-90's and into the early part of this decade, including in Minneapolis. When
the economy turns south poverty increases as it has nationally and I presume locally
for the last two years. Having said that, as a person who has spent 25 years working
in various ways at the local level, what we do or don't do locally has an impact at
the margins. I would argue that policies and programs in Minneapois and the Twin
Cities have, on balance, have had a positive impact on poverty trends on that margin
where local actions can have an effect. (I can hear the keyboards clicking already.)
Finally to all List participants, I tried to be as measured as I could be while still
communicating the absolute outrage I felt about Jim Graham's latest attack. I don't
apologize for that. Everyone has a right to use this medium and this forum to express
their views as they wish, but I assume people need to be prepared to take as well as
give! I certainly am.
Steve Cramer
Executive Director, PPL
Northrup resident
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