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The following Op-Ed article by Mr.
Wolfe-Bertling was published in December, 2006
"The vast
majority of us have the good fortune of living in a home, either as
owners or renters, which is safe, comfortable and hopefully, affordable.
I would
wager that most of us do not give that reality a second thought. Maybe
we think about our housing when we pay the mortgage or the rent at the
first of each month. Certainly we think about our housing when we find
our current home getting to be too large or not large enough. However,
there are certain professionals, including mortgage bankers, realtors,
builders and housing experts, who give a lot of thought to how and where
we live.
Over the
past year housing professionals, elected and appointed officials
associated with the City of Covington and the Housing Authority have
been actively discussing how we provide housing for our residents, what
programs and initiatives are currently being offered, and how we will
address the future needs of our residents.
This
process has included looking at families who are able to compete for
housing in the market place based on their own financial resources and
those families who because of age, disability or limited income find
securing affordable housing a challenge. As a community we have long
recognized the value that all households bring to the fabric of our
neighborhoods and have offered a helping hand to families with housing
needs.
For
instance, Covington provides down payment assistance to young families,
helping them purchase their first home. Deferred payment loans are
provided to replace that worn out furnace in the home of an elderly
grandmother. And rental assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher
Program or Public Housing is available to financially burdened
households.
Our ability
as a community to help address these housing needs has become stretched
to the breaking point by the continued reductions in financial support
from the federal government, particularly the funds provided through the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Last year alone
the city saw a reduction of 10 percent in the funds that are used to
provide Emergency Home Repair Loans and Downpayment Assistance. Over the
past five years the funding for the Housing Authority has been reduced
by 20 percent, forcing the Authority to repair rather than replace
systems in buildings that were constructed in the 1930's.
With
continued reductions on the horizon the Housing Development Department
and the Housing Authority determined that we would be acting
irresponsibly if we did not begin to develop a plan to aggressively
address these reductions. The plan that was developed offers a
reasonable, sensible and responsible approach to this reduction in
funding while securing our ability to address the future housing needs
of Covington's residents.
The first
step in the plan is forging a joint venture between the City's Housing
Development Department and the Housing Authority. In "HUD Speak" this
venture is called a Consortium. The joint venture encompasses the 964
units of public housing owned by the Authority with the 1,074 units
associated with the Voucher Program administered by the City. This
creates the third largest municipal housing provider in the
Commonwealth.
The
Consortium will result in increased coordination and an immediate
savings in salary and benefits as there will be one Executive Director.
It will also reduce overhead costs as we begin to share office machines,
software, and maintenance contracts. HUD related reports will be cut in
half. Currently two sets of financial reports, two Administrative Plans
and two audits are sent to HUD from Covington.
The second
step in the process is the reinvention of Public Housing in Covington.
The existing developments that no longer meet the needs of their
residents will be replaced with newly constructed or renovated scattered
site housing. This investment will be the cornerstone for the
revitalization of these neighborhoods. Already the City and the Housing
Authority in partnership with the Model Group is undertaking a $4
million renovation of an abandoned grade school into 26 units of housing
for seniors. And the City in partnership with the Model Group is on the
brink of bringing back to life 24 units of housing on Covington's east
side that has been vacant for over four years.
The
administrative streamlining and cost savings of the Consortium along
with these new housing developments are the first steps in what will be
a long journey toward developing housing that is affordable to the
residents of Covington and Kenton County but not wholly dependent on HUD
for its ongoing operation . It is our goal that the innovative
partnerships and financial scenarios that we are creating to develop
affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods will become a model for
other communities in Kentucky and the nation."
- Aaron Wolfe-Bertling |
