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Neighbors Challenge Proposed Rowhouse
Boise group wants the Housing Our Families
development stopped
By Tonya Y. Parker
Of The Skanner News
Article originally published 01-27-1999
A
group of Boise neighborhood resi-
dents and business owners wants to
block construction of low-income
rowhouses by a community development
corporation because they say it can’t man-
age what it already has.
Plus, they think the area is too crammed
with subsidized housing and is bearing
more than its share for the city. They also
accuse Housing Our Families of being
deceptive for originally telling them the
units would rent at market rate.
The community development corporation
plans to build 10 units on North Fargo
Street and Kerby Avenue for families earn-
ing 60 percent of median income, or what’s
affordable to a single-parent bank teller or
teacher’s assistant, for instance. According
to Chris Brown, Boise Neighborhood Asso-
ciation cochair, at least four different
organizations are managing or building
low-income housing projects in the area.
“If these are so great, why don’t we share
the wealth?” he said. “That’s the ugly secret
people don’t want to talk about.”
To speak out against the project, the group
of about 20, which includes neighborhood
association and Mississippi Avenue Target
Area steering committee members, has
launched a petition drive and letter-writing
campaign. They say because Housing Our
Families can’t seem to keep a lid on prob-
lems such as drug dealing around its Betty
Campbell apartment building on North Mis-
sissippi Avenue and Shaver Street, it doesn’t
need another to manage.
They list what they considered misman-
agement, including failing to screen
potential tenants properly, lack of security
around the building and unresponsiveness
to neighbors’ complaints.
Their efforts have proved successful. The
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development sent Steve Rudman, the city’s
HUD director, a letter Jan. 19 stating his
bureau must respond in writing to neigh-
bors’ complaints within 15 workdays if the
Fargo Street project plans to use federal
money.
The city also has put its funding for the
project on hold temporarily, said Robin
Boyce, Housing Development Financing
section manager for the Portland Develop-
ment Commission.
She said the agency is offering Housing
Our Families a low-interest loan and
deferred-interest-payment loan of $361,000
from federal funds. PDC also wants to help
the organization assess its operations and
practices, she said.
“We continue to have money set aside for
that project,” Boyce said. But “we will not
proceed towards a legally binding agree-
ment until we’re comfortable the issues
Week on the Web
The housing was built despite protests that there was too much affordable
housing.
have been resolved.”
The two sides possibly could come
together soon to talk and hammer out a
good neighbor agreement, said Terrell Gar-
rett, Mississippi Avenue Target Area
steering committee cochair and a property
owner across the street from the building.
“We want to discuss some issues and have
no basic, preconceived notions.”
Barbara Willer, Housing Our Families
interim executive director, said she is not
against brokering a good neighbor agree-
ment and welcomes the chance to talk. “I’m
a believer that when people have good com-
munication and then they have to come to
each other with something, things don’t fall
apart.”
Although Willer doesn’t deny a longtime
tenant recently was evicted from the build-
ing because of drug-related problems, she
said the organization isn’t turning a deaf ear.
See FAMILIES on page 7
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Page 6 The Portland and Seattle Skanner v BLACK HISTORY EDITION v February 22, 2012