HUD STEPS UP ENFORCEMENT OF JOB CREATION REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

HUD No. 10-044 Shantae Goodloe (202) 708-0685

FOR RELEASE Monday March 8, 2010

HUD STEPS UP ENFORCEMENT OF JOB CREATION REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 
3,100 agencies submit 2008 annual reports documenting efforts to hire low-income residents

WASHINGTON – More than 3,100 state and local government agencies have responded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s campaign to expand hiring and contracting opportunities for low-income persons. As a result of the effort, three out of four HUD-funded state and local agencies submitted required annual reports, the largest response since HUD made Section 3 reporting mandatory.

“HUD’s mission is to invest in people as well as buildings,” said John Trasviña, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “This initiative is a huge step toward creating job opportunities for low- and very low-income individuals and ensuring that state and local governments partner with HUD.

In October 2009, HUD contacted more than 3,500 agencies to remind them of their legal obligations to report their hiring and contracting efforts. Under Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, state and local governments that receive HUD funding are required to report how they use the funding to hire low- and very low-income individuals and public housing residents. Agencies are also, “to the greatest extent feasible,” required to contract with companies that hire the residents.

Requiring recipients of HUD funding to report is the initial step in an aggressive two-year Section 3 Implementation Plan to increase hiring and training opportunities. Assisting local and state agencies with implementing and reporting on their Section 3 activities also includes holding them accountable when they fail to do so. For example, under a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) the city of St. Paul, MN reached with HUD, the city will direct $1 million to build the capacity of low-income individuals and businesses to participate in housing construction projects over the next four years.

Specific programs under the VCA will include training on the city’s project development process, construction job preparation, and a no-interest revolving loan fund for Section 3 business concerns. In addition, St. Paul will establish a scholarship fund to help low-income persons pay for such job related expenses as union initiation fees and dues, tools, equipment and work clothing.

HUD will continue to work with labor, business, vocational, educational, and community organizations to help workers become trained and eligible for job opportunities. In 2008, HUD funding generated more than 17,000 new employment and training opportunities for Section 3 residents and facilitated the award of more than $340 million in HUD-funded construction contracts to Section 3 businesses. The funding also enabled about 3,600 Section 3 businesses to receive contracts to complete work on HUD-funded projects.

In addition, HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity has conducted trainings for thousands of HUD recipients, responded to hundreds of requests from state and local governments for technical assistance, and published new guidance materials on its Web site. Future activities will include awarding eight competitive grants ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 to help local governments hire Section 3 coordinators.

For additional information about HUD’s Section3 program, go to: www.hud.gov/section3.

New Office of Sustainability and Communities through HUD

Press release - this is great news.

HUD No. 10-028 Andrea Mead (202) 402-0865 FOR RELEASE Thursday Febuary 04, 2010 HUD SECRETARY DONOVAN ANNOUNCES NEW OFFICE OF SUSTAINABLE HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES  Announcement comes during trip to Portland and Seattle WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a sustainability forum at Portland State University and a speech to the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Seattle, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the launch of HUD’s new Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC). The office will be overseen by HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims who won national recognition for turning King County, Washington into a model for sustainable communities. OSHC is designed to help build stronger, more sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation and building a clean energy economy. Funded by Congress for the first time in HUD’s 2010 Budget, OSHC is a key component of the Obama Administration’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities. "Through our new Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, we will begin to tie the quality and location of housing to broader opportunities such as access to good jobs, quality schools, and safe streets," said Donovan. "By working with DOT, EPA and other federal agencies, and with Deputy Secretary Sims’ guidance, we will finally begin to meet the needs of today without compromising the futures of our children and grandchildren .” Under the management of Director Shelley Poticha, OSHC will be the center-point for all of HUD’s sustainability efforts. The average household spends more than half of its budget on housing and transportation, which have become American families’ two single biggest expenses. With OSHC as lead, HUD will work to improve access to affordable housing and transportation options, saving money for American families while allowing them more time to spend at home and less time traveling. The office will also invest in energy-efficient homes and buildings, in renewable energy, and in next-generation infrastructure to lay the foundation for the clean energy economy America needs to compete and create jobs in the 21st century. To meet that goal, OSHC will strengthen HUD’s Energy Efficient Mortgage product and other energy retrofit financing options—for both single family homes and multi-family rental housing--through a $50 million Energy Innovation Fund. HUD will also make available an Affordability Index that measures the costs of where a home is located in relation to jobs, schools and transportation. Congress provided $150 million to HUD for a Sustainable Communities Initiative. Of that amount, $100 million is available for regional integrated planning initiatives through HUD’s Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program. To demonstrate HUD’s commitment to listening and learning, Secretary Donovan also announced today that a description of the future grant program is available for comment, including through an interactive wiki, on HUD’s web site.  With OSHC’s grant programs, HUD will provide funding to a wide variety of multi-jurisdictional and multi-sector partnerships and consortia, from Metropolitan Planning Organizations and State governments, to non-profit and philanthropic organizations. These grants will be designed to encourage regions to build their capacity to integrate economic development, land use, transportation, and water infrastructure investments, and to integrate workforce development with transit-oriented development. Accordingly, OSHC’s grants will be coordinated closely with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Last June, the DOT, EPA and HUD created the unprecedented interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Rooted in six Livability Principles, the three agencies are working together more closely than ever before to meet President Obama’s challenge to coordinate federal policies, programs, and resources to help urban, suburban, and rural areas build more sustainable communities. Traditionally there has been no coordination among federal housing, transportation and land use investments. For the first time the federal government will speak with one voice when it comes to housing, transportation and environmental policy, and in doing so will be partner to regions and local governments instead of a barrier.  In addition, Secretary Donovan and HUD are committed to providing the highest level of transparency as we work to streamline federal investments. That is why, in addition to launching the office today, HUD is also launching a new website, www.hud.gov/sustainability, so that the American people can track how their tax dollars are being spent and can hold their federal leaders accountable, and so that communities can have access to valuable resources needed to grow and develop. ### HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development ad enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet atwww.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

Cleveland, land bank and others get $41 million to demolish, rehab and improve neighborhoods

This isn't a fix all, but it is a good start for ridding the city of some of the blight. Once more people realize Cleveland is shrinking city and embrace the ideas behind it, the quicker we can all make this a city of choice.

Cleveland, land bank and others get $41 million to demolish, rehab and improve neighborhoods
By Joan Mazzolini, The Plain Dealer
January 14, 2010, 5:24PM

Homes like these in Cleveland could be demolished and turned neighborhood garden with nearly $41 million in federal stimulus funds awarded to the city, land bank and others.

Cuyahoga County's new land bank, along with its partners, received nearly $41 million in federal stimulus funds to demolish blighted homes and renovate others in 20 targeted neighborhoods throughout the county.

Cities, counties and the state of Ohio received a total of $175 million out of $2 billion in awards the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday.

"Vacant homes have a debilitating effect on neighborhoods and often lead to reduced property values, blight, and neighborhood decay," HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan the said in a statement. "This additional $2 billion in Recovery Act funding will help stabilize hard hit communities by turning vacant homes into affordable housing opportunities."

The investment is "helping to eliminate blight, stabilize our community and stop the cycle of abandonment that has occurred. This program is truly helping to improve the quality of life in our region," said Councilman Anthony Brancatelli, chairman of the community & economic development committee.

The new county land bank, along with the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, put in a joint proposal this summer asking for $74 million for 20 targeted neighborhoods.

Fifteen of the neighborhoods are in the Cleveland, and the others include parts of five inner-rung suburbs -- East Cleveland, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, South Euclid and Shaker Heights.

Gus Frangos, president of the land bank said the money will go to acquire abandoned and foreclosed homes in those areas, as well as vacant property.

He said those that still have "good bones" will be rehabbed and financial help will be given to low and moderate income families to purchase the homes with down-payment and closing cost assistance.

Homes that can't be saved will be demolished. The plan was to demolish more than 1,000 vacant homes.

One of the biggest challenges in Cleveland, now with about 380,000 residents, is what to do with the vacant land, Frangos said. And the group's proposal is to turn some of the land into community gardens, parks and even urban forests.

"By rebuilding neighborhoods devastated by the economic crisis, we will improve surrounding property values, create new jobs, and foster long-term economic growth," Sen. Sherrod Brown, said in a statement after joining Donovan in Columbus for the announcement of the awards. "By putting vacant properties and lots to good use and targeting funds to the hardest-hit communities, we can rebuild our downtown's and strengthen our communities.'

The HUD money awarded Thursday, part of the $737 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act plan, was a competitive process, and applicants such as counties, cities non-profits and others had to detail how they would tackle neighborhoods with high foreclosure or vacancy rates.

"Cleveland and the county have been hard hit by the global economic crisis and these additional ... funds will help to rebuild our neighborhoods, providing our residents with affordable homes in revitalized communities," said Mayor Frank G. Jackson.


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