Tensions Simmer at League of Women Voters Forum on HUD Housing Settlement
The auditorium at the White Plains Public Library was packed Monday, Sept. 16, as residents from all over Westchester County came to a community forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Westchester and the League of Women Voters of White Plains, to find out exactly what is going on between the county and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The topic was the fair and affordable Housing Settlement Agreement (HSA) between the federal government and the county. The speakers represented positions on both sides of the settlement. The questions on everyone’s mind due to much media coverage of comments by County Executive Rob Astorino that HUD and the federal monitor appointed to oversee execution of the settlement had overstepped their bounds, were: Where do things stand? and What is and is not required?
Before Astorino took office in 2010, then-County Executive Andrew Spano was faced with the potential of up to $180 million in court-imposed fines. The Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro NY had initiated a lawsuit under the False Claims Act alleging that the county had failed to affirmatively further fair housing while applying for and accepting federal funds that required such action. The court ruled against the county. HUD stepped in and negotiated a settlement.
The HSA requires that by 2016, the county develop 750 units of fair and affordable housing in 31 Westchester municipalities referred to in the agreement as “eligible.” According to the 2000 census, the majority of these communities had an African-American population of less than 3 percent and a Hispanic population of less than 7 percent.
During the panel discussion, speakers for each agency represented confirmed that Westchester’s responsibility according to the agreement was for no more and no less than the 750 units specified. A study referenced in recent discussions between the county and James E. Johnson, the Federal Court-appointed Housing Monitor to oversee compliance with the settlement, had suggested Westchester needed 10,000 affordable housing units. Both HUD representatives said this was not so.
The county has had to pay $21.6 million into its HUD account for settlement of claims and an additional $30 million into the county budget for Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH). This $51.6 million represents a cap on the county’s financial obligation.
Speaking on behalf of the mostly democratic county legislature, Judith Myers, (D-Larchmont) said critics of the settlement should be happy to accept the $51.6 million penalty, which is less than one-third of the original $180 million cited by the federal government, and which could be much more if the county does not comply within the time requirement. “If you think taxes are bad now, they could be much worse,” Myers said. “We have lost our ability to think outside the box. The federal government has not given us a punishment, it has given us an opportunity.”
The county is also required to produce marketing plans for the AFFH units.
Statements by panelists Mary Jennings Mahon, Senior Assistant to the County Executive and Norma V. Drummond, Deputy Commissioner, County Planning Dept., indicated the county considers itself well ahead of schedule on the development of the 750 new affordable housing units. Drummond explained that marketing done by the county to attract both buyers and renters to the new affordable units had reached beyond the regular communities with African-Americans representing the largest number of applicants.
“For rentals we have 10 applications per unit and for homeownership we have three applications per unit,” Drummond said. She also indicated the county would be able to fulfill its monetary obligation within the required time-period.
Further requirements of the HSA include approval of source-of-income legislation banning property owners from refusing to accept rental, sale or lease by prospective residents whose income derives from government vouchers. This legislation was recently passed by the county legislature and signed by the county executive.
The remaining requirement, which has caused the most confusion and disagreement between the county and HUD, is an Analysis of Impediments (AI) to fair housing due to racial discrimination and an Implementation Plan (IP) that must be prepared by the county to remedy any offending situations.
The IP includes a model zoning ordinance providing for inclusive housing in Westchester’s 43 municipalities. In the event a municipality fails to promote the HSA’s goals, the county is expected to initiate litigation. While most municipalities have passed the model ordinance, not all are in compliance and the county administration has refused to file any lawsuits. It has determined, based on its own investigations, that there is nothing wrong with zoning practices in the county.
The debate seems to have settled on one of racial versus economic discrimination with HUD representatives stating that certain zoning practices promote segregation.
Bryan Greene, Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing, HUD, said the county was making progress but not enough has been done. “Analysis of zoning is a national responsibility for receipt of money from the federal government,” Greene said.
“The money Westchester County received came from taxpayers all around the country. The Fair Housing Act identifies patterns of segregation that government actions perpetuate, often without realizing it,” Greene further explained. “Zoning regulations, in attempting to serve certain interests, are discriminatory in other ways.”
During attendee Q&A, numerous county residents, several representing real estate companies serving the area, tried to grasp the full meaning of the zoning analysis conducted by the federal monitor.
Johnson, a lawyer, explained that he was using two former cases involving discriminatory zoning practices as precedents for his analysis of Westchester municipalities. “Some of the municipalities have exemplary zoning, others have room for improvement and I have started to work with them,” he said.
As time ran out, many questions remained unanswered, with residents wanting to know why federal housing funding not related to the HSA was being withheld from Westchester municipalities in full compliance with HUD.
