Bill Cullen wrote: Mr. Wilson wants policy debates, yet when I have made more professional posts on these topics in the past, I don't remember him responding to the policy questions. I am happy to enter into a debate and be part of a professional group looking into these issues.
"Mr" Wilson replies: My suggestion is that the mayor set up a blue-ribbon panel with someone like Patrick Born as the chair. The purpose of the panel is to evaluate the current housing subsidy programs in the same way that the McKinsey evaluation looked at city departments. I think that what the public misses about housing programs is that the product or delivery is really a public financing issue. That's why I think the finance people should head up such an effort. First explain what the subsidies are and how they work. Then allow people to make suggestions. There are plenty of landlords, housing program staff, bankers, inspectors, lawyers, and community advocates who know how the existing programs work and don't work. Some things won't be changed, but there are ways to structure subsidies and programs that the mpha and the mcda successor have control over. If we are trying to get at efficiencies and solve problems, with the various stakeholders buying in, then it would be a worthwhile activity. My answer to Bill Cullen will take the form of an example. The people who own and operate the Section 236 housing program operate "as if" it were a regulated industry. The 236 program (example, Seward Towers at 25th and Franklin or the Skyway Towers in St. Paul) is a subsidized mortgage program administered by HUD. A private developer takes out a deeply discounted mortgage and agrees to structure the rents to reflect this and to make them affordable to low-income people. The deal is structured to include replacement reserves, operating reserves. The owner submits an operating plan to HUD and if they fulfill the plan they are able to take out a dividend at the end of the year. The Section 8 program, on the other hand, subsidizes the rent of individual low-income people who seek rentals in privately owned housing. They can rent apartments, duplexes, single family homes, house trailers etc. The tenant's rent is subsidized through a payment from the local housing authority. They sign leases with the landlord, and the landlord signs a contract with the housing authority for the subsidy. There are regulations, but it does not operate as a regulated industry. The major differences between the programs is the structure of the subsidy and the time frame. Section 236 projects have 40 year mortgages; Section 8 is a year-to-year lease. My simplification of the 2 programs masks a lot of complexity and detail, but the overall view shows what our discussion could be. There are plenty of problems with both programs, but we hardly ever hear from the owners of Section 236 housing. They run their business, collect their money, and the public is served. The subsidies are long-term and they are structured so that there is continuity in the operations. The Section 8 landlords (such as the group of posters to the Mpls-Issues listserv) are always kvetching and carping about how the government has it's hand in their pockets and that they are constantly being told how to run their businesses. Section 8 is short-termed, and there is very little continuity in the operations. I can go on and on but I won't. I can sing a tango about what is right and wrong in the world but I won't do that either. What I will do is work to get the city to convene the type of study that I suggested. Use it to educate the public, get valuable information to city staff and elected officials, and use it to start a series of productive policy debates. David Wilson Loring Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
