Page One

To the Editor: 

Chris Kavanaugh's rebuttal to my letter regarding the city's housing policies admirably recited the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) doctrine, but the HTF is only one of several funding opportunities offered. In fact it's hard to tell how much the city receives in housing funds and where the money is going. Reading through the Housing Element, CAPERS and Redevelopment statements I see that two nonprofit housing corporations have been certified as self-monitoring and self-inspecting, and they receive the lion's share of city housing funds. Project-based Section 8 limits tenants' freedom to contact codes and inspections or other agencies regarding repairs since tenants who complain risk homelessness. Without the protection of the Good Cause Eviction Ordinance and an annual inspection program there is nothing to compel corporate landlords to maintain city funded properties. 

As a member of Redevelopment's PAC, my concern about the city's housing funds began when I noticed that the city's official housing reports mentioned only the Redevelopment Agency's 20 percent set-aside contribution, ignoring over $6.5 million in additional agency subsidies. One project with a final value of less than $403,000 received $411,207 in agency funds – more than the total required for the project. Agency contributions are credited to the HTF while others are simply omitted, such as $2.5 million-plus for the Rumford Plaza project and $650,000 for the UA Hotel. City- and agency-owned properties are listed “in danger of conversion to market rate” (a criteria for more funding) while a “covenant of affordability” was recorded on a three-foot parking easement. The HTF made a questionable “loan” to the Redevelopment Agency in 1997, which stayed with the HTF to administer. Though this $1 million has been repaid twice, it's still carried as agency long-term debt with more than $950,000 in added interest. The housing funds have more irregularities than space exists to print them. The PAC has repeatedly requested accounting for these funds over the last several years with no results. 

I stand by my original statements. Projects funded by the city need to be evaluated and monitored by an agency that doesn't have a financial interest in the properties. 

Rhiannon, 

Berkeley