There will be a Minneapolis City Council Committee public hearing on a proposal mandating the acceptance of Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) (also known as Section 8) on Wednesday, March 22nd at 10:15 AM. If you live in or have property in the City of Minneapolis:
- Call your council members NOW and tell them to oppose Council Member Glidden’s proposal mandating acceptance of HCV’s. Minneapolis Ward Finder, and
- Plan on attending the hearing next Wednesday at City Hall, 350 South 5th Street.
We strongly supported the HCV program. We oppose the city mandating participation in a voluntary federal housing program because it will not correct the problem or address the real issues.
KEY ISSUES:
- MPHA must be reformed. The recently released (2/20/17) Quadel report outlines MPHA’s lack of operational efficiencies and need for serious reform. The reforms seem to have been embraced by the new MPHA leadership. However, many of the more difficult reforms will take significant time to implement. Fix the program before forcing landlords to work with this program.
- The Family Housing Fund has voiced serious concerns with this ordinance. In a recent report they stated “…the ordinance alone will not meet its goal because it doesn’t help families and PHAs overcome the practical, administrative issues with the HCV program. The OMCO and Quadel reports offer a clear conclusion that improving the public-private partnership will move the system closer to this goal.” Family Housing Fund
- This proposal is NOT addressing the real issues. According to the Twin Cities Metro Area Fair Housing Implementation Council, the top impediment to fair housing in the Twin Cities is a “Limited number of rental units with 3+ bedrooms”. In fact, many of the vouchers that are most challenging for renters to redeem are held by large families. There are two reasons why this proposal does not address this issue. First, there is already a very limited supply of rental housing stock with 3+ bedrooms. Second, the proposal exempts out many of the single-family homes and duplexes where that housing stock is most likely to be found.
- This proposal may destabilize a historically stable rental market. According to a recent report, over 75% of rental housing in Minneapolis currently exceeds the fair market rents allowed by HUD. This mandate and its unintended consequences will likely cause rent increases for those renters who can least afford it.
- Property owners take existing fair housing laws very seriously. The implication that there is widespread discrimination happening with Minneapolis’ professional management companies and owners is blatantly false.
- Why the rush to pass this? Why is this going to a Joint Committee, and then to the full council two days later? Why haven’t there been any public meetings about this? There have been no meetings with tenants OR landlords with the full council. There have been no listening sessions either, unlike the safe/sick time or $15 minimum wage.
CALL YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS TODAY AND ATTEND THE HEARING ON WEDNESDAY