Beware of the Affordable Housing Advocates

A group of affordable housing advocates have formed the Affordable Housing Coalition to pressure the City to expend resources to provide mechanisms to develop "affordable housing", whatever that is.

The City has already established a Housing Advisory Board with the following charter.

The purpose of the Housing Advisory Board is to ensure that the City has affordable housing for residents of all income levels. The Board is responsible for providing long-range housing research and policy recommendations with the housing element of the City’s comprehensive plan. The Board is also responsible for reviewing and making recommendations regarding housing developments that request City support for state and federal funding.

 The City also apparently established a permanent staff position of "housing coordinator". 

The City has recently approved three new developments using federal tax credits. The City currently has a larger percentage of tax credit developments than the surrounding cities and more developers are applying for city support.

It is only a matter of time until affordable housing advocates pressure the City into applying for HUD housing grants. This will be the kiss of death for city sovereignty with respect to property rights and city control of land use.

HUD will impose Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) on Georgetown as a condition for granting housing funds to the City.

AFFH gives FREE federal grant money to the cities. But what they don't tell you is that by taking the money, the city will be forced to gentrify your neighborhoods with low-income racially diverse high density housing.

1) HUD is imposing requirements that go far beyond what the 1968 Fair Housing Act demands

2) Moves high density low income (rental) housing to the neighborhoods

3) The new rule restricts private choice, local government authority, and the evolutionary history of American residential growth patterns

4) HUD grantees must consider statistical data such as education and transportation that are only remotely related to housing

 
5) Communities threatened with huge legal expenses from allegations by HUD and Civil Rights groups

6) HUD requires racial analysis of demographic data that should instead be colorblind

All Georgetown citizens need to be vigilant and make sure the City does not get entangled with HUD grants.

There are many ways the City can encourage affordable housing that does not involve the Federal or State government. Those methods will be explored in a later post.