A p ril 30. 2014
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Page 7
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Driven by Weapons of Mass Deception
Affordable
housing goals
under attack
covery, dow n 2.5 percent since 2000.
T he Jo h n so n -C rap o bill is driven
by w eapons o f m ass deception that
since the early 1990s - and through
a reduced governm ent guarantee -
w e are extrem ely concerned that the
John so n -C rap o bill w ill lead to cost
increases that m ake hom eow nership concerns about this bill in its cu r
u n affo rd ab le fo r the m illions o f rent form.
w orking and m iddle-class A m eri
T o d a y ’s m ortgage m arket e x
cans w ho have already borne the cludes fam ilies o f co lo r alm ost e n
brunt o f the im pact o f the fo reclo tirely.
sure crisis, w iping out the m ajority
A ccording to the m o st recent
o f fam ily w ealth am assed during the H om e M o rtg ag e D isclo su re A ct
last decade.
data, there w ere 1.3 m illion co n v en
T his bill w ould also exacerbate tional m ortgage loans m ade in 2012;
som e o f the w idening econom ic d is o f th o se, L atin o s re c eiv e d only
parities highlighted in the N ational 69,217 loans, A frican-A m ericans
U rban L eag u e’s 2014 State o f Black received 29,405 loans, and A sian
A m erica report. F o r exam ple, the A m erican Pacific Islanders received
black-w hite hom eow nership E qual 2,697 loans. T here w ere 4.9 m illion
ity Index is now only 60 percent, and refinance loans m ade in 2012, o f
blacks are three tim es as likely to be w hich L atinos received 76,038, A f
d enied on a m ortgage application. rican-A m ericans received 75,785,
O ur report also shows that blacks and A sian A m erican Pacific Island
have a m edian w ealth o f $6,314 vs. ers received 10,611.
whites at $ 110,5 0 0 -a w e a lth equality
T h e Jo h n so n -C ra p o p ro p o sa l
index o f a dism al 6 percent. W ith the does not adequately address this
critical role that homeownership plays ongoing inequity nor does it p ro
in w ealth accum ulation, any further vide an inclusive w ay forw ard for
It w as caused by irresponsible fi im pedim ents to m inority and low-to-
w orking and m iddle class com m uni
nancial products and a subprim e m iddle-incom e hom eow nership will
ties to participate in the future h o u s
lending m arket that w ere faulty and only w iden that gap.
ing m arket.
predatory in design, a result o f reck
T hat is w hy the N ational U rban
H ousing finance reform is n eces
less greed and doom ed to fail from L eague jo in e d w ith the L eadership
sary. B ut w e believe that it should
the start.
C onference on C ivil and H um an be true refo rm - and not retro g res
By repealing the affordable h o u s R ights, N A A C P, N ational C oalition sion. Its goal should be to create a
ing goals that have been in place for A sian Pacific A m erican C om m u
secure housing finance system that
perpetuate the m yths that affo rd
able ho u sin g goals and the C o m m u
nity R ein v estm en t A ct created the
by M arc H. M orial
housing crisis w hen nothing could
A new housin g re
be fu rth er from the truth. T he
form proposal slated for I * “
affordable housing goals o f Fannie
a S enate B anking C om -
and F reddie did not cause the
m ittee vote this w eek
crisis. In fact, according to the
could accelerate the a l
Fiscal C risis Inquiry C om m ission,
re a d y sig n ific a n t p o st-re c e s sio n the body that w as created to in v es
decline in hom eow nership am ong tigate the causes o f the financial
com m unities o f co lo r and all w o rk crisis, the affordable housing goals
ing and m iddle-class com m unities. only “m arginally contributed” to the
T he bill, w hich is co-sponso red crisis. B ut they m ade a trem endous
by Sens. T im Johnson, D.-S.D., chair im pact on helping responsible b o r
m an o f the banking com m ittee, and row ers purchase hom es.
M ike C rapo, R -Idaho, the ranking
A s a resu lt, acco rd in g to the
m em ber, w ould w ind dow n F annie N ational C om m unity R einvestm ent
M ae and F reddie M ac and replace C oalition, du rin g the last 10 years,
them w ith a new agency, the Federal m ore than 60 m illion hard-w orking
M ortgage Insurance C orporation.
fam ilies have benefited from the a f
T his new agency w ould end the fordable housing goals.
affordable housing goals o f F reddie
T he foreclosure crisis- w as not
and Fannie, w hich helped boost the cau sed by irresponsible borrow ers.
p ercen tag e o f A frican A m erican
hom eow nership to a pre-recession
all-tim e h igh o f 50 percent. T he
c u rre n t
A f r ic a n
A m e r ic a n
hom eow nership rate is 43 percent,
and A frican A m ericans are the only
group that continues to experience
a hom eow nership decline in the re
nity D evelopm ent, N ational C o u n
cil o f La Raza, N ational Fair H ousing
A lliance, and C en ter fo r R esp o n
sible L ending to voice o u r serious
is open and available to all c re d it
w orthy borrow ers and that p rovides
affordable m ortgages to families with
lesser incom es and w ealth.
I n s te a d
of
e x p a n d in g
hom eo w n ersh ip opportunities, the
Johnson-C rapo proposal tells w o rk
ing and m iddle-class fam ilies that
hom eow nership w ill be reserved for
the fortunate few. It says that these
fam ilies do not deserve low -cost
credit; that ow ning a hom e is not
im portant to fam ily w ealth; and that
com m unities no longer need a stable
tax base to fund schools, police, fire
and libraries. T hat is sim ply w rong,
and w e can do better.
T h e N a tio n a l U rb an L e a g u e
strongly urges the Senate B anking
C om m ittee to change course on this
bill now , ensure the inclusion o f
affordable housing goals, and pass
legislation that w ill help to ensure
access to affordable m ortgage credit
for all creditw orthy borrowers, w hile
at the sam e tim e protecting taxpay- •
ers from bearing the cost o f a h ous
ing dow nturn.
A s it stands, w orking fam ilies -
and the essence o f the A m erican
D ream - cannot afford Johnson-
Crapo.
Marc H. Morial is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League.
A Lifetime Investment in Deserving Kids
The Neil Kelly
Memorial
Scholarship
by J.
B yron K ellar
E ach spring, for the past
16 years, I have seen the
youth o f the w orld pass
before m y eyes. V ietnam ,
Ethiopia, Cam bodia, G uatem ala, San
S alvador - and yes Portland. I have
seen teenagers w ho have im m igrated
here, m any fleeing poverty and p er
secution, face the challenges o f lan
A lbina R otary F oundation has
built a m odest endow m ent o v er the
past 16 years that funds the N eil
K elly M em orial Scholarship.
N am ed after one o f Portland ’ s
legendary com m unity leaders,
the scholarship is dedicated to
re c o g n izin g h ig h sch o o l se
niors, w ho live in the A lbina
R otary Service A rea, fo r their
dedication to their c o m m u n i
ties. W hile they all earn good grades,
the h ig h er selection criteria for o ur
co m m ittee is th eir passion fo r co m
m unity in all its forms: family, school,
church and volunteer com m unity
organizations.
T h o u g h p a s t w in n e r s h a v e
c o m e fro m J e ffe rs o n , B e n so n ,
M a d iso n , C le v e la n d , D e L a S a lle
N o rth ,
C e n tra l
C a th o lic ,
R o o se v e lt, G ra n t, O p en M ead o w
h ig h s c h o o ls a n d th e M c C o y
A c a d e m y th ey h a v e all sh ared a
guage, custom s and contem porary
society. I have also seen m any bom
here w ho face a different set o f c h al
lenges, obstacles m uch m ore d au n t
ing than m ost o f us w ould ev er
experience.
In this o n ce-a-y ear assignm ent, I
help decide w hich four am ong d o z
ens o f north and northeast Portland c o m m o n v a lu e th a t p u ts o th e rs
high school seniors w ill receive a b e fo re th e m se lv e s, a tru e m easu re
m odest $8,000.00 ($2,000 a year for o f th e ir c h a ra c te r.
up to 4 years) college scholarship
T hese young volunteers are in
from the A lbina R otary Foundation volved in such diverse o rg an iza
w hen so m any deserve so m uch tions as, N ational H onor Society,
more.
school m entoring program s. H abi
tat for H um anity, S elf E nhancem ent
In c ., O reg o n F o o d B ank, local
churches, and youth groups, w hile
often w orking part tim e and w eek
end jo b s to assist their fam ilies. I
have seen docum entation o f h u n
dreds o f hours o f com m unity ser
vice, w hich tells m e these kids u n
d erstan d the value of; w ork, ed u ca
tion and truly giving back to their
com m unities.
A lbina R otary Foundation m arks
the 17th anniversary o f the Neil Kelly
M em orial S cholarship this year, as
well as the 67th anniversary o f N eil’s
start in o u r com m unity. O ur 2014
goal is to continue to build the e n
dow m ent to continually increase the
am ount o f scholarship we aw ard
o ur w inners.
T he strength o f o u r city lies in the
rich diversity o f o u r com m unity.
T hese north and northeast Portland
students can take genuine pride in
w hat they accom plish now and, in
tim e, w hat they will “ pay forw ard”
to o ur com m unity for the next g e n
erations. O ur jo b is to m ake certain
they have all the enco u rag em en t we
can m uster.
W hen I first becam e involved
w ith this program I thought it was will be on M ay 16 from 11:45 a.m. to
about Neil K elly, now I know w hat 1:30 p.m. at the R ose Q uarter. Please
Neil knew , it’s about investing in R SV P M argie D avidson by em ail at
these kids w ho are absolutely d eter rodandm argie @ gmail .com or phone
m ined to succeed. Kids w ho will a t503-287-6930.
continue to giveback to us all. There
J. Byron Kellar is president o f
is no better investm ent.
Albina Rotary and a member o f the
O ur A w ards L uncheon this year Neil Kelly Scholarship Committee.
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C.
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd, Portland, Oregon
Portland: (503) 244-2080
Hillsoboro: (503) 244-2081
Facsimile: (503) 244-2084
Email: Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com
diversity in T,lt Portland ( Observer
( ali 503-288-0033 ads@portlandobs erver.com
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