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HUD NEWS BRIEFING
Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs,
U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
By TechMIS
www.techmis.com/hud
TO:
DATE:
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development & Staff
Thursday, July 16, 2015 7:00 AM ET
U.S. expanding Internet access in low-income
communities (McClatchy DC) ...................... 15
HUD News
Obama Program to Connect Public Housing
Residents to Web (New York Times) ............ 8
FACT SHEET: ConnectHome: Coming
Together to Ensure Digital Opportunity for All
Americans (Houston Style Magazine, TX) ... 15
Obama announces pilot program to expand
broadband to low-income households
(Washington Post) ........................................ 9
Google expands free Internet service for
public housing residents to all Fiber markets
(Venture Beat) ............................................. 16
Google to Offer Internet Service for Free in
White House Program (Bloomberg Politics) 10
Google to Offer Free Internet to Low-Income
Housing Residents (PC Magazine).............. 16
UPDATE 2-Obama launches project for more
broadband in public housing (Reuters) ....... 11
Obama pushing broadband for low-income
households (The Hill) .................................. 11
Obama to expand broadband in public
housing: How wide is the digital divide?
(Christian Science Monitor) ......................... 17
The government found a smart way to
connect the poor to the Internet: Put it in
public housing (Washington Post)............... 12
Obama to Launch Program Increasing
Internet Access for Low-Income Households
(The Root) ................................................... 17
Google will offer free broadband to lowincome families in White House pilot program
(MSN) ......................................................... 13
Obama unveils ConnectHome to get lowincome households online (CNET) .............. 17
White House launches broadband pilot
program for low-income households (SNL) . 18
Bringing Broadband to Kids Who Really Need
It (The Atlantic CityLab) .............................. 13
Google expands Web access to public
housing (USA Today).................................. 14
Obama Extending Broadband Internet Access
to Public Housing Residents (CNSNews.com)
.................................................................... 18
HUD to Help Connect Low-Income Families
with Internet Access (Affordable Housing
Finance) ...................................................... 14
HUD to widen web access in low-income
areas (San Antonio Express-News, TX) ...... 19
Obama Pledges to Bring Broadband Internet
to Poor Households (NBC News) ................ 20
1
Obama unveils high-speed Internet help for
low-income homes (KHNR-FM, HI)............. 20
[MA] Pilot program hooks up free Web for lowincome students (Boston Herald, MA) ......... 27
Obama unveils rural Internet access program,
dings constantly connected teens (Politico) 20
[MA] HUD Secretary Castro attends opening
of HUD-funded Quincy Heights (Bay State
Banner, MA) ................................................ 28
President Obama Announces Program
Expanding Broadband Internet Access
(Essence) .................................................... 21
[CT] Low-income Meriden residents to receive
access to high-speed Internet (RecordJournal, Meriden, CT) .................................. 28
White House Unveils New Plan To Get
Affordable Broadband Access To Low-Income
Households (The Consumerist) .................. 21
[CT] Meriden Public Housing Tenants With
Kids Can Get $10/month Internet (Hartford
Courant, CT) ................................................ 28
Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds
ConnectHome Broadband Initiative
(Civilrights.org) ............................................ 21
[NY] New York City to wire 5 public housing
developments with free broadband Internet
(Fox Business)............................................. 29
Obama launches free high-speed Internet
service for low-income households (UPI).... 22
[NJ] Newark, Camden to get high-speed
Internet under federal program (NJ Advance
Media, NJ) ................................................... 29
Move Over Obamaphone, Now There’s the
ObamaNet! (Breitbart.com) ......................... 22
[NJ] Online initiative to help Camden’s poor
(Courier Post, NJ) ........................................ 29
How Obama’s New Housing Rules Help Fight
Modern-Day Segregation (The Nation) ....... 23
[NJ] Camden turnaround plan advances
(Courier Post, Camden, NJ) ........................ 30
HUD Announces New Rule to Combat
Housing Discrimination (Black Press USA) . 23
[PA] ConnectHome aims to close the digital
divide (philly.com, PA) ................................. 30
Who Will Pay the Political Price for Affordable
Housing? - Op-Ed (New York Times).......... 24
[PA] New Program To Bring Broadband
Service To Low Income Families In
Philadelphia And Camden (KYW-TV, CBS
Philly, PA) .................................................... 31
Recent SCOTUS Decision On Disparate
Impact A Win For Lenders? (MortgageOrb) 24
Finalists Selected for Choice Neighborhoods
Grants (Affordable Housing Finance).......... 25
[PA] Camden, Phila. picked for low-income
free Internet program (Philly.com, PA) ........ 31
MBA supports, suggests mods to HUD loanlevel certifications (HousingWire) ................ 25
[SC] Spartanburg misses out on HUD grant
for Northside (Spartanburg Herald-Journal,
SC) .............................................................. 32
[MA] Springfield chosen for national pilot
program to boost low-income Internet access
(Sunday Republican, MA) ........................... 26
[TN] Memphis selected as finalist for up to
$30 Million in HUD Grants
(WMCActionNews5, Memphis, TN) ............. 32
[MA] 10,000 low-income Boston households
to get high-speed Internet (Boston Globe, MA)
.................................................................... 26
[TN] Google Fiber to offer free Internet service
in Nashville public housing (Nashville
Tennessean, TN) ......................................... 32
[MA] Specifics scarce in Obama pilot program
for low-income Internet access in Springfield
(Springfield Union-News & Sunday
Republican, MA) ......................................... 26
[FL] Tampa part of Obama plan to bring highspeed Internet to needy homes (Tampa
Tribune, FL) ................................................. 32
[MA] Springfield To Get Broadband In Public
Housing Under Federal Program (WAMC
Northeast Radio) ......................................... 27
2
[FL] Feds won’t bring discrimination charges
against Lauderhill (Fort Lauderdale SunSentinel, FL)................................................ 33
[OK] ConnectHome Will Bring More Kids
Internet (U.S. News & World Report)........... 40
[OK] President to announce new internet
access program in Durant (NewsOK.com, OK)
.................................................................... 41
[TN] Free Internet initiative is big step for
Nashville (Nashville Tennessean, TN) ........ 33
[TN] Memphis is one of several cities selected
for high-speed Internet programs for lowincome families (WREG-TV Memphis
Channel 3, TN)............................................ 33
[OK] President Obama makes historic visit to
Choctaw Nation (North Texas e-News, TX). 41
[OK] Obama debuts Internet initiative during
historic Durant stop (Herald Democrat, TX) . 41
[TN] Chattanooga not among grant winners
for new Obama high-speed Internet initiative
(Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN) ......... 34
[OK] What you need to know about President
Obama’s ConnectHome initiative (KFOR-TV
NBC 4 Oklahoma City, OK) ......................... 42
[TN] Google Fiber To Connect 2,700 Nashville
Households For Free (Nashville Public Radio,
TN) .............................................................. 34
[TX] Obama’s ConnectHome to Bring
Broadband to San Antonio, 27 Other
Communities (Rivard Report, TX)................ 42
[MO] Kansas City is selected for program to
expand low-income residents’ access to highspeed Internet (Kansas City Star, MO) ....... 35
[TX] Robert E. Lee H.S.: To be or not to
be...renamed (KENS5.com San Antonio, TX)
.................................................................... 43
[LA] Baton Rouge, New Orleans among 27
U.S. pilot cities for new federal program aimed
at closing digital divide (Baton Rouge
Business Report, LA) .................................. 36
[TX] Federal Web Program to be Rolled Out in
S.A. (KTSA-AM 550, TX) ............................. 43
[KS] President Obama unveils ConnectHome
to get low-income Kansas City households
online (KSHB-TV NBC 41 Kansas City, MO)
.................................................................... 43
[OH] Obama to expand broadband for lowincome families (Northeast Ohio Media
Group, OH) ................................................. 36
[CO] LGBT Elder Americans Act Introduced in
Senate (The Advocate)................................ 44
[OH] Any update on Sandusky’s housing
scandal? (Sandusky Register, OH) ............. 37
[CO] LGBT Elder Americans Act reintroduced
(Washington Blade, DC) .............................. 44
[OH] Expanded high speed Internet coming to
Cleveland, CMHA (WKYC-TV NBC 3
Cleveland, OH) ........................................... 37
[AZ] HUD ends its Prescott discrimination
investigation (The Daily Courier, Prescott, AZ)
.................................................................... 45
[IL] Grant to expand home Internet access for
underprivileged kids (WREX-TV NBC 13
Rockford, IL) ............................................... 38
[CA] Fresno to connect low-income families
with Internet access (Fresno Bee, CA) ........ 45
[IL] HUD selects Rockford for low-income
project ConnectHome (WREX-TV NBC 13
Rockford, IL) ............................................... 38
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
Key Lawmakers Object to FHA Loan
Certification Proposal (National Mortgage
News) .......................................................... 45
[IL] Ferndale halts $132K payout for jailed
housing official (Detroit Free Press, IL) ....... 38
Rare Coalition Urges Limits on MortgageRelated Bank Lawsuits (Wall Street Journal)
.................................................................... 46
[IA] White House announces plan to close
‘digital divide’ (Des Moines Register, IA) ..... 39
[OK] President to Announce New Program
During Durant Address (KTUL-TV ABC 8, OK)
.................................................................... 39
Lawmakers Raise Concerns About FHA
Lending Proposal (MReport) ....................... 47
3
Obama Administration Finds New Way to Let
Criminal Banks Avoid Consequences (First
Look) ........................................................... 47
[NY] CB2 Committee approves Pier 6 Tower
Plan on Brooklyn Bridge Park (Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, NY) ................................................... 54
Chicago Tribune: Surviving Spouses Benefit
Under New Reverse Mortgage Rules
(ReverseMortgageDaily) ............................. 48
[NY] Community Board Says No to Staten
Island Mental Health Facility (DNAinfo New
York, NY) ..................................................... 55
Home Ownership
[NY] Affordable rental housing complex opens
in Newburgh (Middletown Times HeraldRecord, NY) ................................................. 55
Mortgage Limits May Increase (Wall Street
Journal) ....................................................... 49
[NY] Class-warriors misfire on tax break for
builders (New York Post, NY) ...................... 55
How On-Demand Technology Helps
Americans Age in Place (Reverse Mortgage
Daily) ........................................................... 49
[NY] HCR, State Office for People with
Developmental Disabilities, Join Officials at
Dedication of Independence Square;
Providing 74 Units of Affordable Housing
(New York Housing Finance, NY) ................ 56
Will Tiny Homes Become the Next Retirement
Trend? (Reverse Mortgage Daily) ............... 49
Millennials Who Are Thriving Financially Have
One Thing in Common (The Atlantic).......... 50
[MA] Habitat housing project moves ahead in
Truro (WickedLocal.com-Truro, MA) ........... 50
[NY] On the Market: One57’s Tax Breaks Are
Myriad; Work Begins on JFK’s Animal Ark
(New York Observer, NY) ............................ 56
[NY] Home Ownership Doesn’t Equal Security
for Millennials, Jeffrey Gundlach Says
(Kingston Daily Freeman, NY) .................... 51
[NY] Residents show support of housing
development involved in two lawsuits against
town (Spotlight Newspapers, NY) ................ 56
[NY] Land banks offer hope for zombie homes
(Newsday, NY) ............................................ 51
[NY] Community Board Approves
Redevelopment Plan for Brooklyn Public
Library Branch (New York Times, NY)......... 57
[PA] Flight 93 area homes eligible for repair
funds (Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, PA) .. 52
[NJ] Wildwood’s affordable housing
development to get facelift (Shore News
Today) ......................................................... 57
[ND] State Housing Agency Secures
Counseling Grant (RoundUp Web, ND) ...... 52
[AL] Did Hope VI help rebirth of downtown
Birmingham? Housing is crucial, Habitat
leader says (Huntsville Times, AL) .............. 57
Affordable Housing
[CT] Milford housing plan moves ahead
despite public outcry (New Haven Register,
CT) .............................................................. 52
[TN] East Nashville project includes affordable
housing (Nashville Tennessean, TN)........... 58
[NY] Bed-Stuy is Focus of Concerns Over
Fate of Community Gardens (City Limits, NY)
.................................................................... 53
[CA] LGBT-friendly apartments for low-income
seniors planned in Sacramento (Sacramento
Bee, CA) ...................................................... 58
[NY] The Luxury Tower, The Tax Break And
Some Expensive Affordable Housing (WNYC
- New York Public Radio, NY) ..................... 53
Fair Housing
Obama commends HUD’s new fair housing
rules (Florida Realtors, FL) .......................... 58
[NY] Extell’s big tax break on One57 revealed
(Crain’s New York Business, NY) ............... 54
Contention: If You Take the King’s Shilling…
(Commentary).............................................. 59
[NY] City Says Luxe Tower One57 is Exhibit A
for Need to Reform 421-a Tax Breaks
(DNAinfo New York, NY) ............................. 54
New rule is another government overreach
(American Press, Lake Charles, LA) ........... 59
4
Parker: Liberals don’t want racial strife to end
(Amarillo Globe-News, TX) ......................... 60
[NJ] Strong housing market fuels upswing in
Union County Clerk revenues and more help
for homeless (NJ.com, NJ) .......................... 65
[IL] Effingham Mobile Park Settles
Discrimination Complaint (WJBD 1350-AM &
100.1-FM, IL) .............................................. 60
[DC] Mental illness can push even the
brightest people into homelessness (New
Orleans Times-Picayune, LA) ...................... 66
[IL] Lake in the Hills commission moves group
home changes to full board (Northwest
Herald, IL) ................................................... 60
[VA] Va. Beach churches raise $180,000 for
homeless center (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, VA)
.................................................................... 66
[AZ] Fair housing law integrates Tucson
communities (Tucson News Now, AZ) ........ 61
[NC] Aetna breaks ties to man who sold
policies to hundreds of homeless (Charlotte
Observer, NC) ............................................. 67
Section 8
Want to end homelessness? Provide more
housing vouchers (The Hill) ........................ 61
[TN] Minister Seeks to Build ‘Village’ of MicroHomes for the Homeless (Ebony)................ 67
[PA] Housing authority instructs landlords on
legalities of Section 8 rentals (Johnstown
Tribune-Democrat, PA) ............................... 62
[FL] The New Face Of Homelessness (Folio
Weekly, FL) ................................................. 67
[TX] City Dismisses Joan Cheever’s
Homeless Feeding Citation (Rivard Report,
TX)............................................................... 68
[LA] Council approves Section 8 advertising
(Baton Rouge Advocate, LA) ...................... 62
Homelessness
[AZ] Dignity (Tucson Weekly, AZ)................ 68
Homeless veterans: Let’s give our vets the
homes, dignity and respect they deserve (Fox
News).......................................................... 63
[OR] New homeless camp awaits veterans at
Eugene Mission (Eugene Register-Guard,
OR) .............................................................. 69
[MA] Difficult times for overnight shelter
program in Plymouth (Quincy Patriot Ledger,
MA) ............................................................. 63
[OR] Our Homeless Crisis: Portland Business
Alliance urges City Hall to find more
emergency beds (Portland Oregonian, OR) 69
[NY] Ali Forney Center to Break Ground on
New Residence Named for Bea Arthur (EDGE
New York City, NY) ..................................... 63
[CA] Survey: SF homeless population getting
sicker, older (Modesto Bee, CA) .................. 69
[CA] The Numbers are Out and the Jury is In
(North Coast Journal, CA) ........................... 70
[NY] Mount Kisco Officials Seek To Remove
Encampments Used By Homeless (Somers
Daily Voice, NY) .......................................... 64
[CA] S.F. homeless population getting sicker,
older, survey says (San Francisco Chronicle,
CA) .............................................................. 70
[NY] Bratton: Media attention worsening
man’s schizophrenia (Capital New York, NY)
.................................................................... 64
[HI] Lawmakers Should Not Have ‘Our Heads
in the Sand’ (Honolulu Civil Beat, HI) .......... 71
[NY] NYPD cracking down on vagrants in city
parks (New York Post, NY) ......................... 64
Public and Indian Housing (PIH)
[NY] Residents avoid eviction thanks to PIX11
story, but what’s next, housing advocates ask
(WPIX-TV PIX 11, NY) ................................ 65
[NY] Stringer: NYCHA has made little
progress in clearing repair backlog (Brooklyn
Daily Eagle, NY) .......................................... 71
[NY] Undercover reporter exposes intolerance
for homeless people outside Gracie Mansion
(New York Post, NY) ................................... 65
[NY] Audit Slams the New York City Housing
Authority for Misleading Data on Repairs to
Public Housing (ProPublica) ........................ 71
5
[NY] Tenants Scrutinize NextGen NYCHA
(Chelsea Now, NY) ..................................... 72
[FL] Greening Our Community – Moving
Forward with Sustainable Tallahassee
(Tallahassee Democrat, FL) ........................ 77
[NJ] In ‘backward’ move, Trenton Housing
Authority appoints ex-director to top post
(Trenton Times, NJ) .................................... 72
Community Planning and Development (CPD)
[MA] 65 Massachusetts communities to
receive $26 million for housing and other
services (Springfield Union-News & Sunday
Republican, MA) .......................................... 77
[NJ] ‘Shame! Shame!’ shouted as ‘Bucky’
Leggett selected to lead Trenton Housing
Authority (Trentonian, NJ) ........................... 73
[PA] PHA to consider banning smoking in
some units (Philly.com, PA) ........................ 73
[MA] Holyoke’s poorer neighborhoods getting
extra police patrols, other help (Springfield
Union-News & Sunday Republican, MA) ..... 78
[PA] Philadelphia Housing Authority considers
smoking ban (WJAC 6, PA) ........................ 74
[MA] Visualizing the rapid development of
East Boston (Boston Globe, MA) ................. 78
[VA] Development Firms Announce Plan to
Rehab Historic Danville Building, Create
Apartments (WSET-TV ABC 13, VA) .......... 74
[CT] Baker awards $26M to local communities
(Connecticut Post, CT) ................................ 78
[MS] JRA won’t disclose new convention
center hotel proposals (Mississippi Business
Journal, MS)................................................ 74
[NY] Renewal Projects, Down to the
Sidewalks, Highlight Social Divides (New York
Times) ......................................................... 79
[IL] Housing authority saves thousands with
Siemens energy program (Water Technology)
.................................................................... 75
[NY] Town of Woodstock updates hiring policy
to conform with rules for receiving NY state
storm-relief aid (Kingston Daily Freeman, NY)
.................................................................... 79
[IL] Mayor Larry Morrissey statement on New
Towne Drive housing (Rockford Register Star,
IL)................................................................ 75
[NJ] Sea Bright amends 2015 budget due to
delay in grant funding (The Hub, NJ) ........... 80
[IL] Day after plan pulled, Rockford Housing
CEO talks to community about New Towne
Drive development (WREX-TV NBC 13
Rockford, IL) ............................................... 75
[PA] Collaborations Unify City of Sharon’s
Development Goals (Youngstown Business
Journal, PA)................................................. 80
[OH] CMHA officer charged with stalking exgirlfriend (Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH) ....... 76
[PA] Up to 200 residents near Flight 93
National Memorial in are eligible for home
repair funds (Greenfield Daily Reporter, IN) 80
[NV] Housing authority board members
question calculus (Review-Journal, Las
Vegas, NV).................................................. 76
[VA] Ambitious plan to redevelop aging
Fairfax suburb clears another hurdle
(Washington Post) ....................................... 81
[NV] Housing Authority board votes to table
job cuts discussion (KLAS-TV Channel 8 Las
Vegas, NV).................................................. 76
[GA] Troubling Echoes of Urban Renewal in
an Atlanta Suburb (The Atlantic CityLab) .... 81
[GA] Why aren’t we talking about Marietta,
Georgia? (City Observatory, GA)................. 82
[NV] Housing Authority board votes to save
jobs (KLAS-TV Channel 8 Las Vegas, NV) . 77
[TN] Metro Council to consider Bordeaux land
sale to developer (Nashville Tennessean, TN)
.................................................................... 82
[NV] Housing authority delays budget
decision, layoffs (Las Vegas Review-Journal,
NV).............................................................. 77
[LA] BioFund loans $3 million to New Orleans
startups (New Orleans Times-Picayune, LA)
.................................................................... 82
Sustainability
6
[MN] St. Paul: Developers’ contributions to
parks debated (St. Paul Pioneer Press, MN)
.................................................................... 83
Dodd-Frank Turns Five (Huffington Post) .... 89
4 numbers that explain Bofa’s higher profit
(Charlotte Observer, NC)............................. 89
[WA] Mo’ money downtown (Bremerton
Patriot Reporter, WA).................................. 83
Fed: Economy grew in all 12 districts in May
and June (USA Today) ................................ 89
[HI] Nearly $9M Granted to Hawaiian Home
Lands (Big Island Now, HI) ......................... 83
Fitch: Fannie, Freddie risk-sharing deals will
become more common (HousingWire) ........ 90
National News
The Debt Americans Gripe About Even More
Than Credit Cards (The Leader, NY)........... 90
Bank of America’s Earnings Surge in Quarter
(New York Times) ....................................... 84
The cities where Americans are most likely to
spend more than half of their paycheck on
rent (Washington Post) ................................ 91
Bank of America’s Earnings — Recap (Wall
Street Journal) ............................................ 84
Bank of America 2Q net income soars to $5.3
billion (HousingWire) ................................... 85
The Exact Moment Big Cities Got Too
Expensive for Millennials (Bloomberg
Business) ..................................................... 91
Bank of America profit up as consumer credit
improves (USA Today) ................................ 85
[MA] Local Real Estate Market Is Seen As
Healthy (WAMC Northeast Radio) ............... 92
Bank Of America Beats Wall Street Forecasts
As Expenses Fall To 2008 Levels (Forbes) 85
[TX] Shifting office market benefits tenants
(Houston Chronicle, TX) .............................. 92
Bank of America profit more than doubles
(MarketWatch) ............................................ 86
Headlines
Bank of America profits jump as legal costs
drop (Houston Chronicle, TX) ..................... 86
The Washington Post .................................. 92
The New York Times ................................... 92
Bank of America says it’s No. 2 for mortgage
customer satisfaction. So does Chase.
(MarketWatch) ............................................ 86
The Wall Street Journal ............................... 93
ABC News ................................................... 93
NBC News ................................................... 93
See which mortgage companies got the most
consumer complaints (San Francisco
Chronicle, CA)............................................. 87
CBS News ................................................... 93
Washington Schedule
MBA: Mortgage applications drop 1.9%
(HousingWire) ............................................. 87
President ..................................................... 93
Vice President ............................................. 93
Moderate Growth for Subservicers in New
Ranking, Nonbanks Continue to Dominate
(Inside Mortgage Finance) .......................... 87
Senate ......................................................... 93
House of Representatives ........................... 95
Senate Banking puts CFPB and Cordray in
the crosshairs (HousingWire) ...................... 88
Garage or Backyard? Here’s What First-Time
House Buyers Want (MSN Money) ............. 88
Editorial Note: This Brief represents summarized content - click on the hyperlink to access full-text articles for
these news summaries.
7
HUD News
Obama Program to Connect Public Housing Residents to Web (New York Times)
New York Times
(7/15/2015 9:43 AM, Dionne Searcey)
The Obama administration on Wednesday announced a program to connect thousands of public housing
residents across the nation to the Internet at low prices or free, part of a broader effort to close the so-called
digital divide and help low-income Americans succeed in a technology-driven society.
Appearing at a school in Durant, Okla., in the heart of the Choctaw Nation, where 32 percent of children live in
poverty, Mr. Obama said it was unacceptable for young people not to have access to the same technological
resources in their homes that their wealthier counterparts do. Among them could be “the next Mark Zuckerberg,
the next Bill Gates,” he said.
“If we don’t get these young people the access to what they need to achieve their potential, then it’s our loss; it’s
not just their loss,” Mr. Obama told an audience of 900 at Durant High School that included women in colorful
dresses and children with paper headdresses.
“They’ve got big dreams,” he added. “We’ve got to have an interest in making sure they can achieve those
dreams.”
Over all, 275,000 households, including 200,000 children, will be eligible for free Internet connections or, in
some areas, broadband hookups that cost as little as $9.95 a month.
Jeff Zients, director of the National Economic Council at the White House, called the program a major step in
the president’s effort to provide every community in the nation with affordable Internet access.
“We all know the transformative effect technology has had on the American economy,” Mr. Zients said on a call
with reporters.
The announcement was timed to coincide with the release of an analysis on Wednesday from the White House
Council of Economic Advisers that highlights how some Americans, especially low-income families with children,
do not benefit from broadband service, despite the rapid increase in Internet use in America in recent years.
Nearly two-thirds of the lowest-income households own computers, but less than half have home Internet
subscriptions, according to the report.
“While many middle-class U.S. students go home to Internet access, allowing them to do research, write papers
and communicate digitally with their teachers and other students, too many lower-income children go unplugged
every afternoon when school ends,” a statement about the report said. “This ‘homework gap’ runs the risk of
widening the achievement gap, denying hard-working students the benefit of a technology-enriched education.”
The pilot program, ConnectHome, will be carried out in different forms in public housing units in 27 cities and in
one Native American tribal area, largely focusing on households with school-age children. The program will
involve city officials; eight Internet providers, like Cox Communications; at least one university; and even Best
Buy, which will offer computer training to residents in some cities.
In Macon, Ga., the program will offer residents a chance to buy tablets with educational software installed for
$30 each. Other communities will receive free help with SAT preparation and free technical support. Google
Fiber will offer free Internet connections to some public housing residents in Atlanta; Durham, N.C.; Kansas
8
City, Mo.; and Nashville.
Mr. Obama announced the ConnectHome program in the capital of the Choctaw Nation, where 425 public
housing residents will be eligible to receive low-cost Internet connections and free digital literacy classes.
The program is an extension of the president’s ConnectED initiative, which was announced in 2013. It aimed to
link 99 percent of the students from kindergarten through 12th grade to high-speed Internet in classrooms and
libraries over the next five years.
The housing secretary, Julián Castro, in his first public speech in the role last year, cited expanding broadband
access as a priority, mentioning how people lean against the windows outside a library in the Bronx in search of
free Wi-Fi for their phones.
Mr. Castro on Wednesday also announced rules that would require new public housing and major renovations
to include infrastructure to support broadband connections. He noted that while computers are not being
provided to residents now, the agency is exploring opportunities with partners to do so. “We’re not just making
the Internet more accessible, but more meaningful,” he said.
Some municipalities have already begun programs. Austin, Tex., for example, offers free broadband
connections to nearly 2,000 households in public housing, as well as the chance to earn a free refurbished
computer after completing a training course.
Doing homework or applying for a job is much easier on a computer screen than on a tiny smartphone screen,
said Catherine Crago, strategic initiatives manager for Austin’s housing authority. Also, she said, some
websites, including government sites, do not interact well with smartphones.
Obama announces pilot program to expand broadband to low-income households (Washington Post)
Washington Post
(7/15/2015 9:49 AM, Katie Zezima)
DURANT, Okla. -- President Obama announced a pilot program to bring broadband to low-income households
in public housing on Wednesday, attempting to close a gap that leaves many without high-speed Internet.
The plan, called ConnectHome, will launch in 27 cities nationwide and is expected to reach 275,000 publichousing households, including 200,000 children. The program will also come to the Choctaw Nation in
Oklahoma, where Obama spoke here Wednesday.
"The internet is not a luxury, it’s a necessity," Obama said, noting that the people who "could benefit the most
from the latest technology are the least likely to have it."
The plan is part of a broader White House strategy to upgrade the nation’s technology infrastructure much like it
would roads or bridges, and bring high-speed Internet to every corner of the country. The administration has
pledged to bring high-speed broadband and wireless Internet to 99 percent of the nation’s schools by 2017.
Earlier this year ahead of the State of the Union Obama called for high-speed Internet to be more widely
available and less expensive nationwide, and criticized state laws that deter competition among Internet service
providers.
The ConnectHome program will partner with Internet service providers, nonprofit groups and private companies
to provide faster Internet in the communities and tribal nation, which were chosen by the Department of Housing
and Urban Development based on criteria including local commitment to providing fast Internet. The cities
include Los Angeles, Newark, and Rockford, Ill.
9
"Less than half of the poorest American households have a home Internet subscription and they face real
barriers when trying to lift themselves up and better their lives because of it," Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development Julian Castro said in a conference call.
ConnectHome has secured $70 million in private-sector commitments, Castro said. The Agriculture Department
will provide a $50,000 grant to help outfit the Choctaw Nation with broadband, he said.
Obama’s trip to the Choctaw Nation was his second trip to an Indian reservation as president. Obama visited
the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe last year.
Google to Offer Internet Service for Free in White House Program (Bloomberg Politics)
Bloomberg
(7/15/2015 9:44 AM, Toluse Olorunnipa)
President Obama has made expanding broadband access a priority, pushing for more airwaves for mobile
Internet access and greater funding for high-speed Internet in schools.
Google Inc. and other companies will offer free or low-cost Internet service to more than 275,000 low-income
households as part of President Barack Obama’s effort to expand U.S. broadband service, the White House
said.
The program, called ConnectHome, is designed to bridge the so-called digital divide between poorer residents
in cities and their wealthier neighbors. Google will offer some residents of public housing communities free
subscriptions to its Google Fiber service. Companies including Sprint Corp. and CenturyLink Inc. will offer free
plans or prices as low as $9.95 a month, according to a White House statement.
Companies and private groups have committed to spending $70 million over the next few years on
ConnectHome, and a $50 million federal grant will extend broadband to the Choctaw Tribal Nation, Julian
Castro, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, told reporters on a conference call
Wednesday.
“Today we’re going to take another step to close the digital divide in America and make sure everybody in
America has access to high-speed broadband Internet,” Obama told about 900 people at a high school in
Durant, Oklahoma, on Wednesday.
The president has made expanding broadband access a priority, pushing for more airwaves for mobile Internet
access and greater funding for high-speed Internet in schools.
‘High-Speed Economy’
“The idea here is how do we get more Americans into this high-speed economy and into higher paying jobs, and
our children online for the education that they need,” Megan Smith, the White House chief technology officer,
said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s so important for our economy to have Internet access at high speeds
available to all Americans.”
ConnectHome will start as a test project in 27 cities and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, based in Durant.
The program goes beyond the service providers -- HUD will ensure that new housing projects don’t have “dead
spots” that can’t get Internet access, Best Buy Co. will provide computer training, and the Public Broadcasting
Service and American Library Association are helping with programming and resources.
10
“While many middle-class U.S. students go home to Internet access, allowing them to do research, write
papers, and communicate digitally with their teachers and other students, too many lower-income children go
unplugged every afternoon when school ends,” according to a White House statement about the program.
In connection with the announcement, the Council of Economic Advisors released a study that said use of the
Internet in homes drops off significantly in communities with lower incomes. Affluent areas have adoption rates
above 80 percent, while those with lower median household incomes have rates of around 50 percent.
UPDATE 2-Obama launches project for more broadband in public housing (Reuters)
Reuters
(7/15/2015 8:10 PM, Alex Wilts and Julia Edwards)
U.S. President Barack Obama announced a pilot project on Wednesday aimed at expanding broadband access
for people who live in public housing, part of an effort to close what Obama called the "digital divide" between
rich and poor.
Eight Internet service providers, including Google Inc and Sprint Corp, have signed on to make the Internet
cheaper and more accessible in 27 cities and the Choctaw Tribal Nation in Durant, Oklahoma.
Private and public institutions have pledged to invest $70 million in the plan. The federal government is only
contributing $50,000, Julian Castro, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, told reporters on a
conference call.
The initiative will reach 275,000 households with almost 200,000 children.
"While high-speed Internet access is given for millions of Americans, it’s out of reach for far too many," Obama
said at Durant High School to a crowd that included many children in traditional tribal garb.
The Choctaw Tribal Nation is working with four local providers to bring the Internet to 425 homes.
In Atlanta, Durham, Kansas City and Nashville, Google will provide free Internet connections in some public
housing areas.
In select markets, Sprint will offer free wireless broadband access to families with kids in public housing. In
Seattle, CenturyLink Inc will provide broadband service for public housing residents for $9.95 a month for the
first year.
Cox Communications Inc is offering home Internet for $9.95 a month to families with kids in school in four cities
in Georgia, Louisiana and Connecticut.
The program also includes free training and technical support. Best Buy Co Inc will offer free training to the
Choctaw Tribal Nation and in some cities, the White House said.
Obama pushing broadband for low-income households (The Hill)
The Hill
(7/15/2015 9:01 AM, David McCabe)
President Obama on Wednesday will announce plans to work with local governments, telecommunications firms
and nonprofits to provide broadband service and digital training to more than a quarter million low-income
households.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pilot program — dubbed ConnectHome — is
11
designed to bring residents of public or assisted housing online in 28 communities.
The plan will bring broadband Internet service and training to close to 200,000 low-income children, the
administration said.
“While many middle-class U.S. students go home to Internet access, allowing them to do research, write
papers, and communicate digitally with their teachers and other students, too many lower-income children go
unplugged every afternoon when school ends,” the White House said.
“This ‘homework gap’ runs the risk of widening the achievement gap, denying hardworking students the benefit
of a technology-enriched education.”
The president will formally announce the program in Durant, Okla., the White House said. Speaking with
reporters on Wednesday, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro painted access to
broadband Internet as an economic necessity for children and their parents.
“The stakes are clear: families living in the 21st century need 21st century tools to thrive,” he said.
Eight Internet service providers, including CenturyLink, Cox Communications, Sprint and Google Fiber, will
provide low-cost or free broadband service to HUD residents in the chosen communities.
Companies and non-governmental organizations will also back programs aimed at bolstering residents’ digital
literacy and technical skills.
HUD will also be directed to take additional steps to make broadband a part of its assisted housing.
Castro said that the administration will evaluate the program’s success for possible future expansion.
"My hope is that it will demonstrate great results and will give us the opportunity in the future to think through
how we could help expand it beyond this point," he said. "But, right now, it’s a demonstration project in these 28
communities."
The government found a smart way to connect the poor to the Internet: Put it in public housing
(Washington Post)
Washington Post
(7/15/2015 12:18 PM, Brian Fung)
The White House is kick-starting a new push to connect low-income Americans to high-speed Internet. Under
the program, which is being announced Wednesday by President Obama, hundreds of thousands of families
and school-age kids will get Web access and computer training. Here’s everything you need to know, in a few
questions.
What is this program and will it help me?
The initiative is called ConnectHome. You can think of it as Obama’s attempt to address a socio-economic gap
in residential Internet access, as opposed to his earlier efforts to close the digital divide in schools with an
initiative called ConnectED.
This will depend on the city, but generally to take advantage of the program, you must be living in public or
assisted housing. That’s because the White House is announcing ConnectHome in connection with the
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
12
Why target public housing residents?
The average public housing household makes $13,000 a year, according to the government. Although poorer
Americans are more likely than others to use the mobile Internet, they’re far less likely to have high-speed
Internet access in the home. In 2013, the Pew Research Center found that roughly a third of people making less
than $20,000 a year aren’t online at all. Another third do use the Internet, but don’t have broadband at home,
according to Pew.
Google will offer free broadband to low-income families in White House pilot program (MSN)
MSN
(7/15/2015 10:53 AM, Micah Singleton)
ConnectHome will initially affect 27 cities around the US
A new pilot program called ConnectHome may be the first step in changing the online experience of low-income
families around the country. Today the White House announced that Google, along with ISPs like Cox, Sprint,
and Century Link will be providing 275,000 low-income families with free or deeply discounted broadband
service. President Obama is expected to announce the plan during a speech at a high school in Durant,
Oklahoma later today.
ConnectHome will roll out in 27 cities across the country, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Newark,
New Orleans, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The initial rollout is focused on reaching low-income
families with school-aged children. "While many middle-class US students go home to internet access, allowing
them to do research, write papers, and communicate digitally with their teachers and other students, too many
lower-income children go unplugged every afternoon when school ends," the White House said in a statement,
first reported by Bloomberg. The announcement comes after a new report from the White House Council of
Economic Advisers that shows income is still the biggest barrier to gaining broadband access, even over
geography.
Google Fiber will offer free service for low-income families in Atlanta, Durham, Kansas City, and Nashville, while
Cox will offer broadband for $9.99 a month to families in cities including Macon, Georgia, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, and New Orleans. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will also require new public
housing developments to support broadband going forward. Best Buy PBS, the American Library Association,
and Boys and Girls Clubs of America will offer internet training to low-income families as well in a number of
cities.
Bringing Broadband to Kids Who Really Need It (The Atlantic CityLab)
The Atlantic CityLab
(7/15/2015 3:39 PM, Laura Bliss)
A White House initiative to bring broadband to low-income students could help free up community-based
services everywhere.
The Internet, it might be said, is a web of new languages: Source codes, slang words, memes, and more. These
discourses are rapidly evolving.
But in the U.S. alone, there are millions who’ve scarcely had the chance at basic Internet literacy. This is largely
a class divide: Out of the 20 percent of Americans who do not use the Internet, four out of five live below the
poverty line. Children living in low-income households are particularly affected, as they lack the benefits that
technology provides to their after-school studies.
13
There’s much more than emoji at stake: How do you improve educational outcomes or odds of quality
employment for disadvantaged households when they lack something so basic as a web connection?
The White House announced Wednesday one new effort to close the digital divide: ConnectHome, an initiative
to expand broadband access for low-income families, especially K-12 students living public housing, in 27 cities
and one tribal nation.
Google expands Web access to public housing (USA Today)
USA Today
(7/15/2015 3:47 PM, Brett Molina)
Google is opening up its Fiber Internet network to public housing residents free of charge, the company
announced in a statement Wednesday.
The arrangement is connected to Google’s partnership with the program ConnectHome, launched by the White
House and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to bring Internet access to low-income families.
The service will initially be available in Atlanta, Durham, N.C., Nashville and Kansas City before expanding to all
current and future cities that host Google Fiber.
"The web is where we go to connect with people, learn new subjects, and find opportunities for personal and
economic growth. But not everyone benefits from all the web has to offer," says Erica Swanson, the head of
community impact at Google Fiber, in a statement.
HUD to Help Connect Low-Income Families with Internet Access (Affordable Housing Finance)
Housing Finance
(7/15/2015 6:42 PM, Christine Serlin)
The ConnectHome pilot will launch in 28 communities across the nation.
Despite the nation’s progress on the high-speed broadband front, one in four American families, particularly
those with low incomes and children, do not have access to high-speed Internet at home.
To combat that, President Obama and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián
Castro on Wednesday announced an initiative to extend high-speed broadband to families living in HUDassisted housing in 28 communities.
The ConnectHome initiative will bring broadband, technical assistance, and digital literacy training to families in
public and assisted housing. The pilot is expected to initially reach 275,000 low-income households and nearly
200,000 children.
The communities, which include 27 cities and one tribal nation in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Washington, D.C., were selected through
a competitive process that accounted for local commitment to expanding broadband, the presence of placebased programs, as well as other factors.
HUD is collaborating with EveryoneOn and US Ignite, who have worked with private- and public-sector leaders
to build partnerships and gather commitments for the initiative. Eight Internet service providers from around the
nation also have announced they are partnering with mayors, public housing authorities, nonprofits, and forprofit groups to bridge the broadband gap.
14
“America’s challenge in this 21st century is to remain the world’s undisputed land of opportunity,” says Castro.
“By expanding broadband adoption, ConnectHome will provide more Americans with the same high-speed
access to knowledge and opportunity that millions of people already enjoy.”
Castro also announced several other tools for improving digital opportunity, including providing communities
with the flexibility to spend portion of Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grants on broadband initiatives and
starting rulemaking to require HUD-funded new construction and substantial rehab developments to support
broadband connectivity.
U.S. expanding Internet access in low-income communities (McClatchy DC)
McClatchy DC
(7/15/2015 3:47 PM, Corinne Kennedy)
WASHINGTON -- A new program to connect low-income households in public housing with Internet access and
Internet-capable devices announced Wednesday will aim particularly at children and include training to help
program participants maximize their use of the new devices and technology.
ConnectHome will link 270,000 households, and 200,000 children, with broadband access in 28 communities
including the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma.
“It’s not just making the Internet more accessible,” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro
told reporters as the White House unveiled the program. “It’s making it more meaningful for students and
parents by providing digital literacy training.”
According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, 4G wireless broadband is available to 98 percent
of Americans. However, many low-income households are unable to take advantage of this even if they own a
computer, because they do not have home Internet subscriptions.
“ConnectHome will help bridge the digital divide at its widest point,” inside the home, said Jeff Zients, director of
the National Economic Council.
Communities were chosen for the pilot program based on a record of trying to increase broadband access in the
past. Zients and Castro said the program could be expanded in the future if it is successful.
FACT SHEET: ConnectHome: Coming Together to Ensure Digital Opportunity for All Americans
(Houston Style Magazine, TX)
Houston Style Magazine
(7/15/2015 1:03 PM, Jo-Carolyn Goode)
Today, the President will travel to Durant, Oklahoma, to announce ConnectHome, a new initiative with
communities, the private sector, and federal government to expand high speed broadband to more families
across the country. The pilot program is launching in twenty-seven cities and one tribal nation and will initially
reach over 275,000 low-income households – and nearly 200,000 children – with the support they need to
access the Internet at home. Internet Service Providers, non-profits and the private sector will offer broadband
access, technical training, digital literacy programs, and devices for residents in assisted housing units.
ConnectHome is the next step in the President’s continued efforts to expand high speed broadband to all
Americans and builds on his ConnectED initiative that is on track to connect 99 percent of K-12 students to
high-speed Internet in their classrooms and libraries over the next five years. ConnectHome will help ensure
that these students still have access to high-speed Internet once they are home.
Since the President took office, the private and public sectors have invested over $260 billion into new
15
broadband infrastructure, and three in four Americans now use broadband at home. Thanks to smart spectrum
policies and world-leading technology, fast 4G wireless broadband is now available to over 98 percent of
Americans — up from zero percent since 2009.
Google expands free Internet service for public housing residents to all Fiber markets (Venture Beat)
VentureBeat
(7/15/2015 6:42 AM, Emil Protalinski)
Back in November, Google announced its participation in Unlocking the Connection, a new initiative by the
Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) to “help close the digital divide for the 4,300 people who live in
public housing.” The company essentially promised to give Austin’s public housing residents free Google Fiber
connections for 10 years. Now it has promised to expand that offering to every other current and future Google
Fiber market.
The move is part of U.S. President Obama’s ConnectHome program, launched by the White House and the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with the goal of bringing Internet connectivity to more
school-aged children and families living in HUD-assisted housing in 27 communities across the country. HUD
has chosen four communities (Atlanta, Durham, Nashville, and Kansas City) to start, but Google promises the
program will extend to all all its Google Fiber cities: public and affordable housing properties will pay $0/month
and Google will waive the installation fee.
Google cites a Pew study from last month that found 26 percent of households earning less than $30,000 per
year don’t access the Internet, compared to just 3 percent of adults with annual incomes over $75,000. The
company goes on to say that “people can only take advantage of the many benefits of the Web when they
understand why it matters and know how to use it.”
As such, Google is also partnering with ConnectHome and local community groups to create computer labs for
developing basic computer skills training in each Fiber market. This isn’t just a connectivity push, it’s an
education push.
Indeed, Google did the same in Austin and saw great results. The company worked with HACA,
EveryoneOn.org, Austin Free-Net, and Austin Community College to enroll residents in digital literacy classes
and help them access computers for free.
Google to Offer Free Internet to Low-Income Housing Residents (PC Magazine)
PC Magazine
(7/15/2015 11:45 AM, Angela Moscaritolo)
The program is launching in every current and future Google Fiber market for free with no installation fee.
Google will provide free Internet to residents in select public and affordable housing properties across the
country.
The program is launching in every current and future Google Fiber market, costing $0 a month with no
installation fee, the Web giant said. At this point, Google Fiber is available in the Kansas City area; Austin,
Texas; and Provo, Utah but Google plans to soon expand it to Atlanta; Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C;
Nashville, Tenn.; Salt Lake City; Phoenix, Portland, Ore., San Antonio; and San Jose, Calif.
The initiative is part of ConnectHome, a new program from the White House and U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) that aims to bring Internet connectivity to more school-aged children and
families living in assisted housing in 27 communities across the country.
16
"We’re proud to partner with HUD to connect families in four of the communities they’ve selected — Atlanta,
Durham, Nashville and Kansas City," Erica Swanson, head of community impact for Google Fiber, said in a blog
post. "We’ll also extend the program to every other current and future Google Fiber market."
Obama to expand broadband in public housing: How wide is the digital divide? (Christian Science
Monitor)
Christian Science Monitor
(7/15/2015 2:34 PM, Gretel Kauffman)
A new initiative will bring cheaper and easier internet access to people living in public housing across the
country.
President Obama is introducing a new initiative that will expand broadband access for public housing residents.
The pilot project, called ConnectHome, is the administration’s latest effort to bridge the “digital divide” between
the haves and have-nots.
ConnectHome will make it cheaper and easier for more than 275,000 low-income households, including almost
200,000 children, to get home Internet, according to a White House statement. Internet Service Providers, nonprofits, and the private sector will offer broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs, and
devices to people living in assisted housing units in 27 cities across the country and one tribal nation.
The president is scheduled to speak about the program on Wednesday in Durant, Okla., where the Choctaw
Nation is working with four local providers to bring the Internet to 425 homes.
Obama to Launch Program Increasing Internet Access for Low-Income Households (The Root)
The Root
(7/15/2015 1:09 PM, Breanna Edwards)
President Barack Obama will officially announce the ConnectHome initiative, which will launch in 27 cities and
one tribal nation and reach more than 275,000 low-income households and nearly 200,000 children.
President Barack Obama is traveling to Durant, Okla., on Wednesday to officially announce a new initiative
geared to bringing high-speed broadband to more families across the nation.
The ConnectHome pilot program—set to launch in 27 cities and one tribal nation—is expected to reach more
than 275,000 low-income households and almost 200,000 children, giving them the support they need to access
the Internet from the comfort of their own homes.
According to the White House, Internet service providers, nonprofits and the private sector have all chipped in to
offer broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs and devices for the residents in “assisted
housing units.”
“The stakes are clear: Families living in the 21st century need 21st-century tools to thrive,” Julián Castro, the
secretary of housing and urban development, told reports on Wednesday, according to The Hill.
Obama unveils ConnectHome to get low-income households online (CNET)
CNET
(7/15/2015 11:01 AM, Don Reisinger & Marguerite Reardon)
The pilot program will launch in 27 cities and one tribal nation and reach more than 275,000 low-income
households. Some communities will receive broadband connections at no charge.
The Obama administration on Wednesday announced a broad initiative that aims to provide high-speed Internet
17
service to low-income households.
Dubbed ConnectHome, the new initiative will bring high-speed broadband access to over 275,000 low-income
households across the US. According to the White House, the pilot program will launch in 27 cities including
New York, Boston and Seattle, as well as the Choctaw Tribal Nation in Oklahoma. The effort will initially connect
nearly 200,000 children to the Web, according to the White House.
The pilot program is part of the Obama administration’s continuing effort to close the digital divide, ensuring that
everyone, regardless of income, has access to high-speed Internet service. The president in March created the
Broadband Opportunity Council, comprising 25 federal agencies and departments charged with giving more
people access to broadband, which Obama sees as a critical component for US economic growth and
competitiveness.
ConnectedHome is being funded by private industry, nonprofit organizations and local leaders, Julian Castro,
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said during a press call Wednesday. Together, they have
committed to spending $70 million over the next several years, Jeff Zients, director of the White House National
Economic Council, said on the call. The federal government will not be contributing money beyond the $50,000
allocated by the Department of Agriculture for broadband-related equipment deployed in the Choctaw tribal
nation, Zients said. He also confirmed that the 27 local governments where the program is launching will not be
required to pay for the program.
Castro said the program has been limited by design in order to show that it works.
"My hope is that it will demonstrate great results, which will provide an opportunity to help expand it," Castro
said. "This is a demonstration project, and we’re focused on making sure it’s done right."
White House launches broadband pilot program for low-income households (SNL)
SNL
(7/15/2015 12:21 PM, Kyle Daly)
The White House is launching a program to provide free or low-cost Internet service to low-income households.
ConnectHome, a pilot program within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will roll out to
roughly 275,000 households, including 200,000 children, across 27 cities and one tribal area in the Choctaw
Nation of Oklahoma. President Barack Obama was set to officially announce the program at a high school in
Durant, Okla., on July 15. In a fact sheet on the ConnectHome initiative, the White House said the program is
intended to help close the digital divide between low-income students and middle-class and wealthy students.
CenturyLink Inc., Cox Communications Inc. and Google Inc. all confirmed their participation in the program
within eligible markets. CenturyLink said its participation will entail adding digital literacy training programs to its
$9.95-per-month Internet Basics offering in Seattle. Cox will be partnering with local public housing authorities to
likewise provide broadband to low-income households for $9.95 per month in four of its markets, while also
selling 1,500 tablets for $30 apiece to low-income students and families in Macon, Ga. Google noted that it will
be offering free Google Fiber service to "select public housing properties."
Sprint Corp. is also among the eight companies in total participating in the initial launch of ConnectHome,
pledging to work with HUD to provide free wireless broadband service to eligible K-12 students who live in
public housing.
Obama Extending Broadband Internet Access to Public Housing Residents (CNSNews.com)
CNSNews.com
18
(7/15/2015 12:04 PM, Susan Jones)
(CNSNews.com) - The information superhighway is heading straight into taxpayer-subsidized housing.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday announced an initiative to extend
affordable broadband access to families living in HUD-assisted housing.
The project, launching in 27 cities and one tribal nation, is called ConnectHome. (President Obama planned to
discuss ConnectHome later Wednesday at the Choctaw Indian reservation in Oklahoma.)
Internet Service Providers, non-profits and the private sector will arrange broadband access as well as technical
training, digital literacy programs, and devices for residents in public housing units.
“America’s challenge in this 21st century is to remain the world’s undisputed land of opportunity," said HUD
Secretary Julián Castro. “By expanding broadband adoption, ConnectHome will provide more Americans with
the same high-speed access to knowledge and opportunity that millions of people already enjoy.”
HUD to widen web access in low-income areas (San Antonio Express-News, TX)
San Antonio Express-News
(7/15/2015 3:28 PM, Bill Lambrecht)
WASHINGTON — A new White House initiative announced by Housing Secretary Julian Castro brings together
public and private partners with the goal of keeping low-income students in San Antonio and other selected
cities connected to the Internet when they arrive home from school.
Later in the pilot project spelled out Wednesday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will check
graduation rates and take other measurements to determine whether supplying thousands of public housing
residents with Internet at home is worth the commitments.
The success of the so-called ConnectHome project — or lack of it — could follow Castro on his career path
given that he pressed for the initiative, will run it and describes it as a signature achievement in his tenure as
HUD secretary.
San Antonio was one of 27 cities chosen by HUD to help families with what Castro characterized as a matter of
survival in the digital era. All told, the program could enable 275,000 households, including 200,000 children, to
be eligible for free or $10 monthly broadband access.
The former San Antonio mayor said HUD would implement new rules, among them a requirement that new
housing construction and large rehab projects it funds include infrastructure for high-speed broadband.
The initiative is aimed at the “homework gap” — an inability of students in many low-income homes to keep
pace in their studies when the school day ends.
Castro observed that more than 90 percent of college applications are submitted over the Internet and 80
percent of job applications appear on line.”The stakes are clear: Families living in the 21st century need 21st
century tools to survive,” he said, speaking to reporters in Washington.
President Barack Obama traveled to tribal land in Oklahoma later to trumpet the initiative. Choctaw Nation, one
of the chosen sites along with cities, has 400 public housing residents who will be eligible for $10-a-month
Internet.
The program involves an array of commitments from public and private partners with virtually no cost for now to
19
taxpayers. The Agriculture Department kicked in $50,000 to cover broadband equipment and training on
Choctaw land.
In San Antonio, Sprint will be the Internet provider. Best Buy, among the participants, is offering residents in
HUD-supported housing in San Antonio and several other cities computer training and technical support.
Obama Pledges to Bring Broadband Internet to Poor Households (NBC News)
NBC News
(7/15/2015 8:56 PM, Devin Coldewey and James Eng)
President Barack Obama has unveiled a new initiative as part of his pledge to expand high-speed broadband
access to all Americans. Speaking from Durant, Oklahoma, the president on Wednesday introduced
ConnectHome, a pilot project to help "close the digital divide" by bringing broadband to poorer communities.
"In this digital age when you can apply for a job, take a course, pay your bills, order pizza, even find a date" by
using your connected phone, Obama said, "the internet is not a luxury, it’s a necessity." He said while more than
90 percent of households headed by a college graduate are connected, fewer than half of households with less
than a high-school education are plugged in.
Obama unveils high-speed Internet help for low-income homes (KHNR-FM, HI)
KHNR-FM
(7/15/2015 7:58 PM, Associated Press)
Calling the Internet a 21st century necessity, President Barack Obama on Wednesday unveiled a program to
bring faster Internet connections to more low-income households, particularly to help students living in public
and assisted housing stay ahead in school. Under ConnectHome, the public, private and nonprofit sectors have
pledged to work together to provide high-speed connections and digital devices to more families at lower cost.
More than 90 percent of households headed by a college graduate have Internet access, Obama said. But
fewer than half of low-income households have similar access. In this day and age, Obama said the "digital
divide" puts these individuals at a disadvantage by limiting their educational and economic opportunities
because the Internet is increasingly needed to find a job, finish homework or keep in touch with family and
friends.
"In this digital age, when you can apply for a job, take a course, pay your bills ... with a tap of your phone, the
Internet is not a luxury. It’s a necessity," Obama said in Durant, Oklahoma, on the first day of a two-day visit to
the state.
Obama unveils rural Internet access program, dings constantly connected teens (Politico)
Politico
(7/15/2015 9:39 PM, Sarah Wheaton)
President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged the expansion of high-speed Internet access to low-income
children in rural communities by talking about a young woman who once had to stand on a rock to get cellphone service. But first, he couldn’t resist picking a bone about his meetings with some otherwise constantly
connected teenagers.
“They have their phone out. I’m standing right in front of them,” Obama said. “I gotta tell them, ‘Young man, put
down that phone, shake the hand of your president, then after you shake my hand and look me in the eye and
tell me your name, then you can maybe go back to taking pictures.”
Obama’s new broadband initiative, called ConnectHome, would help 200,000 low-income students, including
members of the Choctaw Nation and 27 other cities, get high-speed Internet access at home. The collaboration
20
among the Department of Housing and Urban Development, private companies and non-profit groups is meant
to help overcome the “homework gap” that, Obama said, fuels an achievement gap later in life.
President Obama Announces Program Expanding Broadband Internet Access (Essence)
Essence
(7/15/2015 5:53 PM, Taylor Lewis)
President Obama announced a new initiative today that will bring Internet access to more than a quarter million
homes. Funded by local governments and tech corporations, ConnectHome will bring broadband service to 28
cities, affecting a nearly 200,000 children who currently lack online access at home.
"While many middle-class U.S. students go home to Internet access, allowing them to do research, write papers
and communicate digitally with their teachers and other students, too many lower-income children go unplugged
every afternoon when school ends," White House officials said in a statement.
Eight Internet providers, including Sprint and Google Fiber, have partnered with the initiative and will offer their
services at a reduced rate in the yet-to-be-announced communities. Additionally, companies like Best Buy will
provide technical support to residents who receive the services. White House officials said that they hope the
increased access will help narrow the achievement gap by providing low-income students with the at-home
resources they need to successfully complete their homework. "The stakes are clear," Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development Julian Castro said at a press conference today. "Families living in the 21st century need
21st century tools to thrive."
White House Unveils New Plan To Get Affordable Broadband Access To Low-Income Households (The
Consumerist)
The Consumerist
(7/15/2015 7:21 PM, Kate Cox)
By 2015 it seems like everyone has broadband access, but that “everyone” is very deceptive. Although the vast
majority of middle- and high-income homes in the United States have broadband access at home, low-income
homes are much less likely to.
While most of us don’t have much choice in providers, we do at least have access from someone. But that
access is out of reach for millions of households at the lowest levels of income. The latest Census Bureau
estimates say that about 25% of the nation still lacks broadband access at home. So how do you get internet
access to more of the nation’s poorest families? The answer is deceptively simple: go where they live.
The White House today announced a new initiative to do just that. The pilot program, ConnectHome, is a
partnership with non-profit agencies, local governments, and private business to bring broadband access to
public housing around the U.S. The plan is to bring no- or very-low cost broadband into public housing so that
low-income families can get online.
It’s not municipal broadband; private companies are, instead, opening up their wires a bit in markets that they
already serve. Participating ISPs include CenturyLink, Cox, Sprint, and Google Fiber, among others. The
businesses will provide internet access in the range of $0 to $14.95 for eligible families in public housing in 28
pilot areas.
Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds ConnectHome Broadband Initiative (Civilrights.org)
Civilrights.org
(7/16/2015 1:03 AM, Civilrights.org)
WASHINGTON –Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president and director of policy at The Leadership Conference on
Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s announcement
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launching ConnectHome, an initiative to expand broadband access to residents in assisted housing. The
ConnectHome pilot program will provide more than 275,000 families and nearly 200,000 children with the
support they need to access high-speed Internet at home, and will help close the homework gap that exists for
far too many low-income children who currently do not have home broadband access:
“The initiative announced today by President Obama and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián
Castro acknowledges that broadband has become an essential service in modern life. It is as important now as
electricity was during the last century, enabling people who use it to perform a full range of online activities, and
giving more Americans access to digital education, health care, social services, and job opportunities.
And yet millions of Americans—disproportionately people of color and lower income—still lack home broadband.
Cost is a significant factor. Fortunately, Lifeline, the only federal program that directly addresses the cost of
broadband, has the potential to provide significant assistance to those who are without broadband access at
home and thus are trapped in the homework gap. Modernizing Lifeline to include broadband has widespread
support, and we are hopeful that the Federal Communications Commission can complete this process within the
year.
Narrowing the digital divide and giving more Americans, regardless of their race, income, or ZIP code, access to
education, job opportunities, health care, and social services, is a national imperative. This public-private
partnership has the potential to ensure that all people in the United States are able to benefit from the most
advanced technologies and the opportunities technology that can bring.”
Obama launches free high-speed Internet service for low-income households (UPI)
UPI
(7/16/2015 4:42 AM, Tomas Monzon)
DURANT, Okla., July 15 (UPI) -- President Obama announced Wednesday his ConnectHome plan, which aims
to expand high speed broadband internet access to more families nationwide.
The program will launch in 27 cities and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, initially servicing over 275,000 lowincome households and almost 200,000 children with internet service providers (ISPs) providing broadband
internet access, technical training, digital literacy programs and Internet access devices for individuals living in
assisted housing units.
The initiative is a cooperation between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the
Obama administration.
Google will be one of the companies offering Internet services, as will Sprint Corp. and CenturyLink Inc. Some
services such as Google Fiber will be free while others will cost as low as $9.95 a month. Best Buy will be in
charge of offering technical training and support in some places while software developing site GitHub has
donated $250,000 to Obama’s initiative.
Move Over Obamaphone, Now There’s the ObamaNet! (Breitbart.com)
Breitbart.com
(7/15/2015 11:08 PM, Warner Todd Huston)
Capitalizing on his huge expansion of the Obamaphone program that gave millions of low-income Americans a
free cell phone, President Obama is now angling to give millions of Americans free Internet access. On
Wednesday, Obama announced plans to provide free Internet to some 275,000 low-income families in 28
communities across the country.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program is to work in cooperation with local
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governments, a group of telecommunications companies, and nonprofits. “While many middle-class U.S.
students go home to Internet access, allowing them to do research, write papers, and communicate digitally with
their teachers and other students, too many lower-income children go unplugged every afternoon when school
ends,” the White House said in a statement. “This ‘homework gap’ runs the risk of widening the achievement
gap, denying hardworking students the benefit of a technology-enriched education,” the White House added.
How Obama’s New Housing Rules Help Fight Modern-Day Segregation (The Nation)
The Nation
(7/15/2015 10:40 AM, Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO of PolicyLink)
Armed with a better understanding of not only which neighborhoods are struggling, but why they are struggling,
local officials can develop solutions for the unique problems in their areas.
Consider my hometown. When I was growing up in St. Louis in the 1950s, segregation permeated every aspect
of life—where you went to school, where you could work, and where you could live. Though many of the overtly
discriminatory policies of my youth are now illegal, the patterns of racial segregation of decades past overlap
almost completely with patterns of poverty and disinvestment today, leaving many low-income communities of
color cut off from the kind of community assets—good schools, healthy environments, job opportunities—that
would allow them to thrive.
For instance, in zip code 63106, a distressed neighborhood in northern St. Louis, 96 percent of residents are
black and 52.5 percent of families live in poverty—more than three times the national poverty rate. A child born
and raised here is expected to live only 69 years—10 years below the national average—and attend schools
deemed so substandard that the state was forced to take them over in 2013. Drive 20 minutes southwest and
you reach Clayton (zip code 63105), an affluent and predominately white suburb of St. Louis, where residents
live on average 16 years longer, and their children attend schools in one of the best districts in Missouri.
This is what modern-day segregation looks like. The new rule, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH),
seeks to remedy such conditions by empowering local leaders to more effectively recognize racism,
discrimination, and persistent patterns of segregation and address these issues by ensuring that all their
residents have access to vital community resources.
With the release of the AFFH rule, the US government is renewing its commitment to fair housing at a crucial
moment in our country’s history. America is rapidly becoming a majority people of color; already more than half
of children under five are of color. If we stand idle now, we will watch the same patterns of discrimination that
marked the past century rob this and future generations of the chance to reach their potential. To succeed as a
nation, we must build the kinds of inclusive communities where everyone can access opportunity, regardless of
their zip code or racial heritage. The AFFH rule is a pivotal step towards this goal.
HUD Announces New Rule to Combat Housing Discrimination (Black Press USA)
Black Press USA
(7/16/2015 5:14 AM, Zenitha Prince)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently released a new rule to assist the
department’s grantees in meeting their anti-segregation and anti-discrimination mandates.
Under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, HUD and its program participants are not only barred from discrimination
based on race, color,national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status, but are also required to
affirmatively undertake actions to overcome historic patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice and
opportunity, and achieve truly integrated, inclusive communities that are free from discrimination. But HUD
participants have not always been as successful in fostering fair housing as they should have been.
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“As a former mayor, I know firsthand that strong communities are vital to the well-being and prosperity of
families,” HUD Secretary Julián Castro said in a statement. “Unfortunately, too many Americans find their
dreams limited by where they come from, and a ZIP code should never determine a child’s future. This
important step will give local leaders the tools they need to provide all Americans with access to safe, affordable
housing in communities that are rich with opportunity.”
Through the new regulation, entitled “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing,” HUD clarifies existing fair housing
obligations and provides clear standards and transparency for the process. The department will also provide
improved, publicly open data on housing, demographics, and other local conditions to help communities
establish and meet fair housing priorities and goals, and also offer tools that can be customized to suit each
jurisdiction.
Black leaders are praising the new regulation.
“For far too long, we have unfairly deprived under-served communities of the educational and economic
investments necessary for equitable success,” U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) said in a statement.
“[This] announcement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is a critical step in
addressing the harmful effects of housing segregation and inequality across our nation, and I applaud Secretary
Castro and the Obama Administration for releasing a final rule that seeks to redress such a harmful cycle of
inequality.”
Who Will Pay the Political Price for Affordable Housing? - Op-Ed (New York Times)
New York Times
(7/15/2015 7:59 AM, Thomas B. Edsall)
For generations, working- and middle-class opponents of anti-discrimination laws have argued that more
affluent whites support such laws without having to bear any of the costs.
Now, the Democratic loyalty of better-off white liberals will be tested by two recent developments: the June 25
Supreme Court decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities
Project, Inc. and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s issuance of a new rule on July 8,
“Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.”
The court’s decision, which the Obama administration sought in an amicus brief, together with the HUD
regulation, are major victories for civil rights advocates, who argue that moving poor minorities, especially young
children, out of high-poverty neighborhoods can produce improvements in education, earnings and marriage
stability.
If these two rulings survive further legal and legislative challenges, they will set in motion much tougher
enforcement of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, and will require predominantly white communities to build
significantly more low-income housing.
Recent SCOTUS Decision On Disparate Impact A Win For Lenders? (MortgageOrb)
MortgageOrb
(7/15/2015 1:37 PM, Patrick Barnard)
The mortgage banking industry initially let out a collective gasp of horror when the U.S. Supreme Court last
month upheld a circuit court’s ruling that the legal doctrine of disparate impact applies to the Fair Housing Act.
However, the decision is actually a win for mortgage lenders, two mortgage professionals recently told
MortgageOrb, as it provides greater clarity with regard to the circumstances under which borrowers might bring
class-action lawsuits.
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The 5-4 decision means borrowers who feel they were discriminated against when their loans were denied can
bring class-action lawsuits against lenders - regardless of whether a lender’s policies are found to be
intentionally discriminatory.
In writing the court’s decision, however, Justice Anthony Kennedy says that although minorities who allege
racial discrimination don’t have to prove intent to sue, mere statistical evidence of a policy’s impact on a minority
group might not in and of itself be grounds for a suit.
Finalists Selected for Choice Neighborhoods Grants (Affordable Housing Finance)
Housing Finance
(7/15/2015 4:36 PM, Donna Kimura)
Nine communities have been selected as finalists for the 2014/15 Choice Neighborhoods Implementation
Grants by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Following on the heels of HOPE VI, the Choice Neighborhoods program aims to address struggling
neighborhoods with distressed public or HUD-assisted housing through a comprehensive approach to
neighborhood transformation.
Approximately $76 million is available to be awarded. Individual grants of up to $30 million will be awarded.
Being selected a finalist does not mean that the community will receive a grant award.
The nine finalists have completed a comprehensive local planning process and developed a Transformation
Plan to redevelop their target neighborhoods. In the coming weeks, HUD teams will visit the targeted housing
authorities and neighborhoods to meet with the applicants and partners to get a clear understanding of their
individual Transformation Plans.
HUD anticipates announcing awards in September.
MBA supports, suggests mods to HUD loan-level certifications (HousingWire)
HousingWire
(7/15/2015 3:35 PM, Trey Garrison)
Program critical lenders, FHA and consumers
The Mortgage Bankers Association sent a letter to the Department of Housing & Urban Development on the
proposed changes to its loan-level certification form, HUD 92900-A, HUD/VA Addendum to Uniform Residential
Loan Application.
The goal of this revision to the certification is to clarify the scope of liability associated with errors that can occur
in the origination of Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages, and to foster a strong culture of quality
control in the program.
MBA says it agrees with this goal because it is in the best interests of lenders, FHA, and consumers, to ensure
that the FHA can operate safely while continuing to serve as a gateway for affordable mortgage credit.
MBA also believes it is in the best interest of all stakeholders to have a loan- level certification that
acknowledges the commitment to high-quality, good faith underwriting exhibited by the vast majority of
lenders.hardworking students the benefit of a technology-enriched education,” the White House added.
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[MA] Springfield chosen for national pilot program to boost low-income Internet access (Sunday
Republican, MA)
Sunday Republican
(7/15/2015 9:43 AM, Shira Schoenberg)
President Barack Obama is set to announce on Wednesday that Springfield and Boston are two of 27 cities
nationwide selected for a pilot program to boost Internet access for low-income households.
Obama will announce the new program, called ConnectHome, during a trip to Durant, Oklahoma.
According to the White House, ConnectHome will seek ways to offer low-income residents free or discounted
Internet service. It will provide training in digital literacy. It will provide devices and technical support for people
in federally subsidized public housing.
ConnectHome will involve partnerships between public and private organizations and Internet service providers
that can work in the communities to increase Internet access and bring broadband, technical assistance, and
digital literacy training to students living in public and assisted housing, according to the White House.
[MA] 10,000 low-income Boston households to get high-speed Internet (Boston Globe, MA)
Boston Globe
(7/15/2015 6:00 PM, Jack Newsham)
About 10,000 low-income Boston households will gain access to high-speed Internet service as part of a
presidential pilot program announced Wednesday. Boston was one of 27 cities selected to take part in
ConnectHome, a national effort to link up people in public housing with broadband service.
The connections will be run through the Sprint cellphone network, and businesses and nonprofit groups will
pitch in to offer technical training and provide educational services. Overall, 275,000 households, including
200,000 children, will be eligible for free Internet connections or, in some areas, broadband hookups that cost
as little as $9.95 a month.
The White House said the goal is to help narrow a “digital divide” that leaves one in four households without fast
Internet access. Minorities, families earning under $25,000 a year, and high-school dropouts are most likely to
fall into that category, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That makes job-hunting
and applying for college harder, the agency said. The US housing secretary, Julián Castro, in his first speech in
the role last year, cited expanding broadband access as a priority, noting that people lean against windows at a
library in the Bronx in search of free Wi-Fi. On Wednesday, he also announced rules that would require new
public housing and major renovations to include infrastructure to support broadband connections.
[MA] Specifics scarce in Obama pilot program for low-income Internet access in Springfield (Springfield
Union-News & Sunday Republican, MA)
Springfield Union-News & Sunday Republican
(7/15/2015 5:57 PM, Shira Schoenberg)
The White House announced Wednesday that Springfield was one of 27 cities and one tribal nation selected to
pilot a new program to provide Internet access to public housing residents
Local officials say they are still figuring out exactly what benefits Springfield will get from the program, which
involves partnerships with private companies and non-profits but no federal money.
Mary Ellen Lowney, a spokeswoman for the Springfield Housing Authority, which manages the city’s public
housing units, said the White House asked the authority if it was interested in participating, but did not give them
specifics until the initiative was made public. "It sounds to me ... like we’re going to have to come up with our
own proposal, and that’s what we’re working on," Lowney said.
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"It’s not funding," said Geraldine McCafferty, director of housing for the city of Springfield. "My understanding is
it’s more of a planning framework for understanding issues about lack of Internet connectivity among low
income people and trying to put together a strategy for improving that, with assistance from (the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development) and probably others as well."
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro said other than a $50,000 grant for broadband
equipment for the Choctaw Tribal Nation, the federal government will not spend any public money on the
program. The total investment in the program is $70 million from private corporations. Cameron French, a
spokesman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said communities will be invited to
send a representative to a meeting in Washington, D.C., in a few weeks, where corporations, nonprofits and
public agencies will discuss the program’s implementation.
The most significant investment appears to be from private Internet companies providing free or discounted
service. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sprint will be the partner in
Springfield. The Department of Housing and Urban Development said in its announcement that Sprint will work
with HUD to make free wireless broadband Internet access service available to school-age children in public
housing. Sprint is already participating in a larger federal program referred to as ConnectED, a $10 billion fiveyear program to expand high speed Internet in schools and libraries.
[MA] Springfield To Get Broadband In Public Housing Under Federal Program (WAMC Northeast Radio)
WAMC Northeast Radio
(7/15/2015 6:48 PM, Paul Tuthill)
Federal officials on Thursday will detail an initiative to increase access to high speed broadband in public
housing. Boston and Springfield are two of just 28 cities picked for the pilot program. Springfield Housing
Authority Executive Director William Abrashkin said the agency is excited to have been selected by U.S.
Housing and Urban Development ( HUD) to be part of the project. He said an estimated 75 percent of the 2,300
families in Springfield public housing do not have internet access. "That is a huge problem because everything
is done online, and without being able to get online you are pretty isolated and excluded," said Abrashkin.
HUD will not be providing funding for the pilot program, but will enlist internet service providers, nonprofits and
private companies to offer broadband access, training, and internet connected devices to public housing
residents.
[Editorial note: AUDIO at source]
[MA] Pilot program hooks up free Web for low-income students (Boston Herald, MA)
Boston Herald
(7/16/2015 12:14 AM, Jordan Graham)
A new pilot program will bring free Internet access to low-income Boston students as part of an initiative
announced by the White House yesterday.
“It focuses on the broadband gap when students leave the (school) building. That becomes a barrier,” said
Jascha Franklin-Hodge, the city’s chief information officer. “Broadband is necessary in today’s world to have
access to academic activities, have access to employment, job training,”
The program, Connect- Home, aims to bring broadband to 270,000 homes and 200,000 children in 28
communities across the country. The initiative is a joint effort between cities, federal government and broadband
providers.
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development said it will require that new HUD-funded construction
support broadband, and will allow parts of a HUD grant to be used for broadband improvements.
[MA] HUD Secretary Castro attends opening of HUD-funded Quincy Heights (Bay State Banner, MA)
Bay State Banner
(7/16/2015 5:09 AM, Sandra Larson)
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro joined Mayor Martin Walsh
on July 7 to celebrate the official ribbon-cutting for Quincy Heights, an affordable housing complex made
possible in part by a $20.5 million HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Grant awarded in 2011.
“Congratulations on getting this done,” said Castro, speaking under blazing midday sunshine on a sweltering
day.
“The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, created by President Obama, is responsible for transforming what were
once vacant lots, crumbling parks and storefronts and distressed housing into the vibrant new Quincy Corridor
that you see today,” said Castro. “It has become one of our nation’s most important tools in the fight to ensure
that no matter where a child is born, that child has the resources and strong foundation to succeed.”
Boston was among the first cities to receive funding under the Choice Neighborhood Initiative, and is the first to
bring a residential project to completion.
“Today we are able to add another first to Boston’s long and storied list. And we couldn’t have asked for a better
partner on this journey,” continued Castro, praising the city of Boston for exemplary “collaboration,
perseverance and leadership.”
[CT] Low-income Meriden residents to receive access to high-speed Internet (Record-Journal, Meriden,
CT)
Record-Journal
(7/15/2015 12:20 PM, Molly Callahan)
The city is set to be one of 28 communities across the country to receive access to high speed Internet as part
of a trial period for a federal initiative to expand affordable broadband access to families living in low-income
housing.
According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the program called
ConnectHome, is an initiative to extend affordable broadband access to families living in HUD-assisted housing.
According to the release: since 2009, the private and public sectors have invested over $260 billion into new
broadband infrastructure, and three in four Americans now use broadband at home. Despite this significant
progress, one in four American families still don’t access the Internet at home, particularly lower-income families
with children. While nearly two-thirds of America’s lowest-income households own a computer, less than half
have a home Internet subscription. HUD’s ConnectHome initiative strives to ensure that students can access
the same level of high-speed Internet at home that they possess in their classrooms.
[CT] Meriden Public Housing Tenants With Kids Can Get $10/month Internet (Hartford Courant, CT)
Hartford Courant
(7/15/2015 12:26 PM, Hartford Courant)
A federal initiative to offer discounted Internet service in public housing complexes will include Meriden in the
first group of 27 cities.
The program was announced Wednesday by the White House and the Department of Housing and Urban
28
Development.
Cox Communications will offer Internet service for $9.95 a month to families with school-age children in Meriden
public housing units.
"As Internet-based homework quickly becomes the norm, students who don’t have Internet at home struggle to
keep up. This is especially challenging for low-income families who are disproportionately on the wrong side of
the digital divide," said Jay Allbaugh, senior vice president and region manager, Cox Communications.
[NY] New York City to wire 5 public housing developments with free broadband Internet (Fox Business)
Fox Business
(7/16/2015 2:17 AM, Associated Press)
NEW YORK – New York City is poised to begin providing free Internet broadband access to more than 16,000
residents of its sprawling public housing system.
Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH’-zee-oh) is set to make the announcement Thursday with federal
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. City officials told The Associated Press about the
plan beforehand.
The city will spend $10 million to deliver the Internet to one development in the Bronx, two in Brooklyn and two
in Queens.
City officials have said they want to change the perception that access to high-speed Internet is a luxury rather
than a utility.
The city’s public housing system has more than 400,000 residents, about the population of Miami.
Castro also plans to announce the federal government has struck a deal to provide wireless Internet devices to
Bronx schoolchildren.
[NJ] Newark, Camden to get high-speed Internet under federal program (NJ Advance Media, NJ)
NJ Advance Media
(7/15/2015 11:10 AM, Jonathan D. Salant)
WASHINGTON — Newark and Camden are two of the 27 U.S. cities and one Indian nation to get high-speed
Internet connections under a program being announced Wednesday by President Obama.
The communities were chosen through a competitive basis by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development. Known as ConnectHome, the program includes both private and public support for broadband
connections, plus training and educational software.
While most low-income households have computers, they don’t have Internet access at home, and the program
at the beginning is designed to bring broadband connections to 275,000 families, including nearly 200,000
children.
Maps provided by the White House showed that less than two-thirds of residents were hooked up to the Internet
in Camden County areas with an average annual income below $54,000. More than 84 percent of households in
areas of Northern New Jersey with an average annual income exceeding $90,000 were connected.
[NJ] Online initiative to help Camden’s poor (Courier Post, NJ)
Courier Post
29
(7/15/2015 9:11 AM, Jim Walsh)
CAMDEN – The city’s public-housing residents would see improved Internet access under a pilot program
announced by the White House Wednesday.
Camden is one of 27 communities included in ConnectHome, a program intended to reach nearly 275,000 lowincome households nationwide.
The initiative, overseen by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, is also expected to
benefit nearly 200,000 children across the country.
The White House called ConnectHome “the next step” in Obama’s efforts to expand high-speed broadband to
all Americans. Another program,the ConnectEd initiative, has the goal of connecting almost all K-12 students to
high-speed Internet in classrooms and libraries over the next five years.
A report released Wednesday by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers found nearly two-thirds of the
country’s poorest households own a computer, but less than half have a home internet subscription.
That limits the ability of poor children to pursue an education and hampers their parents in the search for jobs,
HUD Secretary Julian Castro said in a conference call.
“ConnectHome would help bridge the digital divide at its widest point," said Jeff Zients, director of the National
Economic Council.
HUD also announced plans to help communities improve “digital opportunity” for residents.
[NJ] Camden turnaround plan advances (Courier Post, Camden, NJ)
Courier Post
(7/15/2015 1:30 PM, Jim Walsh)
The city is among nine finalists for a $30 million federal grant that would spur redevelopment in three
impoverished neighborhoods, the state’s U.S. Senators announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will choose five recipients for its Choice
Neighborhood grants later this year, said Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker.
The federal grant, if approved, would support sweeping improvements to the Whitman Park, Liberty Park and
Centerville neighborhoods, according to the city’s housing authority.
“The city, along with the Housing Authority, put forth an exceptional application which I believe will be one of the
five chosen later this year,” Mayor Dana Redd said in a statement. She thanked the region’s congressional
delegation for its support of the city’s bid.
Camden earlier this year was designated a HUD “Promise Zone,” which gives it an edge in the competition for
federal dollars.
[PA] ConnectHome aims to close the digital divide (philly.com, PA)
philly.com
(7/15/2015 2:01 PM, Jonathan Takiff)
Poverty zones and public housing projects in Philadelphia and Camden are on President Obama’s priority fix list
for ConnectHome, a new initiative to expand high speed broadband to more families.
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Engaging service providers, community groups and content creators, the multi-aspect project builds on the
president’s ConnectED initiative to wire 99 percent of K-12 students to high speed Internet in their classrooms
and libraries over the next five years. ConnectHome now aims to guarantee those students also have access to
high speed Internet when they get home, focusing on the kids living in “assisted housing units.”
According to new research from the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, a computer is owned by twothirds of households in the lowest-income quintile, but less than half have a home internet subscription, creating
a “homework gap” for hardworking students who can’t complete their assignments.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is assuming a leadership position in ConnectHome. New
rulemaking will require HUD-funded rehab projects and new residential construction to support broadband
internet connectivity. Communities will be able to spend portions of Choice Neighborhood Implementation
Grants on broadband initiatives and connectivity.
[PA] New Program To Bring Broadband Service To Low Income Families In Philadelphia And Camden
(KYW-TV, CBS Philly, PA)
KYW-TV CBS Philly
(7/15/2015 2:16 PM, Pat Loeb)
Philadelphia and Camden are among the 27 cities selected for a new White House initiative to expand internet
access in low income households.
Seventy million dollars has been committed for a pilot project called “Connect Home,” which would provide free
or discounted broadband service to families in subsidized housing. National Economic Council Director Jeff
Zients says it’s part of an effort to keep the playing field level, technologically.
“So that low and moderate income Americans aren’t left behind in an increasingly digital age,” he says.
Philadelphia Housing Authority Director Kelvin Jeremiah says PHA has already been working on closing the
digital divide, providing free laptops and training to residents. He says internet access, though, has been a
barrier.
“With an average income of $11,000, most of our residents find it too expensive to afford the monthly
subscription,” Jeremiah explains.
[PA] Camden, Phila. picked for low-income free Internet program (Philly.com, PA)
Philly.com
(7/15/2015 6:10 PM, Allison Steele)
Thousands of low-income families in Philadelphia and Camden will receive free or reduced-cost Internet service
under a pilot program announced Wednesday by the White House. Philadelphia and Camden are two of 27 U.S.
cities - as well as one tribal nation in Oklahoma - selected for the ConnectHome program, which will provide
high-speed broadband Internet in more than 275,000 households, and improve online access for almost
200,000 children, according to the White House.
ConnectHome is aimed at closing the "homework gap" between students who can use the Internet at home and
their less affluent peers. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisors, about half of the children
in low-income families throughout the country have no online access at home. The program is run by the federal
Department of Housing and Urban Development, which had selected Philadelphia and Camden as "Promise
Zone" communities.
31
[SC] Spartanburg misses out on HUD grant for Northside (Spartanburg Herald-Journal, SC)
Spartanburg Herald-Journal
(7/15/2015 7:41 PM, Jenny Arnold)
Local officials are disappointed to learn that the city of Spartanburg did not receive a $22 million HUD grant for
Northside redevelopment, but say the commitment to the area’s revitalization is as strong as ever. The city and
local Housing Authority applied for the Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant from the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development in February. The city received word Wednesday that it has not been chosen
as a finalist, City Manager Ed Memmott said.
“It’s a disappointment,” Memmott said. “A lot of effort went into the grant application. But we knew there was no
guarantee going into it. Success is not dependent on this grant.” Officials don’t know why the city was not
chosen, although Memmott expects to learn more during a debriefing in three months or so, after HUD has
made its final selection.
[TN] Memphis selected as finalist for up to $30 Million in HUD Grants (WMCActionNews5, Memphis, TN)
WMCActionNews5
(7/15/2015 12:39 PM, Kendall Kirkham)
Memphis has been chosen as a finalist for a federal housing assistance grant from President Obama’s Choice
Neighborhoods program.
Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) announced this week the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) selected the city as one of nine finalists.
The city will now compete for an individual federal grant worth up to $30 million.
Winners are expected to be announced in September.
"Today’s announcement follows years of effort by Congressman Cohen, working with Mayor Wharton and
others in the city, to encourage the Obama administration to designate Memphis as a Choice Neighborhood,"
said in a press release from Congressman Cohen’s office.
[TN] Google Fiber to offer free Internet service in Nashville public housing (Nashville Tennessean, TN)
Nashville Tennessean
(7/15/2015 12:02 PM, Jamie McGee)
As part of President Obama’s new broadband initiative, Google Fiber will be offering free Internet access to
select public housing properties in Nashville.
The initiative, called ConnectHome, will be rolled out in 27 cities and is expected to reach nearly 275,000 lowincome households nationwide through public and private sector partners.
In Nashville, Google Fiber will partner with local community groups to provide computer labs and digital literacy
programs, with a focus on K-12 students. The company has already begun working with the Martha O’Bryan
Center and the Nashville Public Library to boost digital literacy and has designated two fellows to lead local
efforts.
ConnectHome is meant to address the nation’s digital divide that affects students’ and families’ educational
resources at home and builds on Obama’s ConnectED initiative, which seeks to connect K-12 students’
classrooms and libraries to high-speed broadband.
[FL] Tampa part of Obama plan to bring high-speed Internet to needy homes (Tampa Tribune, FL)
Tampa Tribune
32
(7/15/2015 12:21 PM, Staff)
President Barack Obama set a goal of bringing high-speed Internet to most schools by 2017, and now he’s
promoting a program to help close the digital divide further by bringing that faster Internet to more people.
During a visit Wednesday to Durant, Oklahoma, he planned to announce a pilot program that brings together
communities, the private sector and the federal government to make high-speed Internet available to more
families, the White House said.
ConnectHome will begin in Tampa and 26 other cities and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
The White House said Obama’s school-based ConnectEd is on track to make sure that 99 percent of K-12
students can use the Web in their classrooms and libraries by 2017. The new program aims to help less
privileged students access the Internet and continue learning when they get home from school.
[FL] Feds won’t bring discrimination charges against Lauderhill (Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, FL)
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentine
(7/15/2015 2:44 PM, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
Federal officials have dropped their investigation into allegations the city discriminated against people with
mental disabilities in its efforts to clean up the problem-plagued Cannon Point neighborhood.
Officials with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development last year said they found evidence the
city violated the Fair Housing Act and forwarded their information to the Justice Department for potential action
against the city.
In a letter from HUD this month, the city was notified that the Justice Department has closed its investigation
and not taking any legal action.
In 2006, the city said no new facilities could be placed in Cannon Point.
At least three facilities closed after the city increased their fire fees almost nineteenfold after 2010.
[TN] Free Internet initiative is big step for Nashville (Nashville Tennessean, TN)
Nashville Tennessean
(7/15/2015 10:47 PM, Jamie McGee)
On a Wednesday afternoon, 16-year-old Erik Dawson is checking his email account and looking for new music
at the Nashville Public Library’s North Branch on Monroe Street. His family lives in Nashville public housing near
Clarksville Highway, and he and his 9-year-old sister came to use the library’s Internet, no longer available at
home after monthly rates became too costly. He had just been to the nearby Kroger to apply for a job and was
told to file his application online.
Under President Barack Obama’s new ConnectHome broadband initiative, Dawson and his family could be
among Nashville residents eligible for free Google Fiber Internet access. The program, led and funded locally by
the private and nonprofit sector, is expected to connect more than 5,200 households and will include digital
literacy programs.
[TN] Memphis is one of several cities selected for high-speed Internet programs for low-income families
(WREG-TV Memphis Channel 3, TN)
WREG-TV Memphis Channel 3
(7/15/2015 6:42 PM, Siobhan Riley)
About 275,000 low-income households across the nation will soon have access to high-speed Internet, including
33
Memphis. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development selected the participating cities. Parents
and community leaders said this is long overdue, especially for children.
A lot of parents WREG spoke to said they can’t afford high-speed Internet in their homes, and the executive
director of the Frayser Community Development Corporation said it’s something his community desperately
needs. Memphis is one of 27 cities across the country chosen as part of the White House’s pilot program to
connect low-income families to the Internet. Internet service providers plan to offer broadband access, technical
training and digital literacy programs. Steve Lockwood with the Frayser Community Development Corporation
predicted this will help make more school-aged kids competitive when they enter the job market.
[TN] Chattanooga not among grant winners for new Obama high-speed Internet initiative (Chattanooga
Times Free Press, TN)
Chattanooga Times Free Press
(7/16/2015 12:48 AM, wire reports)
President Barack Obama set a goal of bringing high-speed Internet to most schools by 2017. Now he’s
promoting a new program to help close the digital divide even further by bringing that faster Internet to more
people, particularly students who live in public and assisted housing.
Obama on Wednesday announced a pilot program under which the public, private and nonprofit sectors will
work together to provide high-speed Internet and digital devices to more families at a lower cost. ConnectHome
will begin in 27 cities and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, where Obama made his announcement
Wednesday. Although Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta and Macon were among the selected cities, Chattanooga’s
application did not make the initial cut.
Nashville and Atlanta are Google Fiber markets where Google is offering no-cost residential service to residents
in select public housing projects.
The Choctaw nation, and the 27 selected cities in the pilot ConnectHome program, will intially reach more than
275,000 low-income households — and nearly 200,000 children — with the Internet assistance programs
funded by nonprofit groups and Internet Service Providers.
The White House said Obama’s school-based Internet program, ConnectEd, is on track to connect 99 percent
of K-12 students to high-speed Internet in their classrooms and libraries by 2017. The new program aims to help
less privileged students, as well as their families, access the Internet and continue learning at home.
Housing Secretary Julian Castro said Wednesday less than half of the poorest households have a home
Internet subscription, but that most college applications are now submitted online and more than 80 percent of
job openings at Fortune 500 companies are posted on the Web.
He said families cannot thrive without 21st century tools.
[TN] Google Fiber To Connect 2,700 Nashville Households For Free (Nashville Public Radio, TN)
Nashville Public Radio
(7/16/2015 5:09 AM, Emily Siner)
Google Fiber will be providing free home Internet service to some residents in Nashville’s public housing, as
part of a White House initiative to get low-income Americans connected to high-speed internet.
Here’s what we know so far:
How Many Households
34
More than 5,500 families live in 20 public housing properties in Nashville, according to the Metropolitan
Development and Housing Agency, but Google Fiber won’t necessarily be connecting all of them for free. The
program is focusing on K-12 students, so it will only offer free internet to families who have school-aged kids.
That’s about 2,700 households in Nashville, according to a spokesman with the U.S. Dept. of Housing and
Urban Development.
Who’s A Part Of This
A number of private companies and nonprofits, including the American Literacy Association and the College
Board, are working with Google to set this up in Nashville. Metro government will also be involved, says Jamie
Berry with MDHA.
Nashville is one of 27 pilot cities, along with the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma, that were chosen to be a part of
ConnectHome. Forty cities had applied, and Nashville was chosen in part because it showed commitment to
closing the "digital divide," a HUD spokesman says. (He could not immediately send WPLN the city’s
application.)
Google Fiber is also providing free Internet in Atlanta, Ga., and Durham, N.C., but it’s not just Google that’s part
of ConnectHome: Seven other Internet service providers are working with other cities.
[Editorial note: AUDIO at source].
[MO] Kansas City is selected for program to expand low-income residents’ access to high-speed
Internet (Kansas City Star, MO)
Kansas City Star
(7/16/2015 4:58 AM, Kansas City Star)
President Barack Obama set a goal of bringing high-speed Internet to most schools by 2017. Now he is
promoting a program to close the digital divide even further by bringing that faster Internet to more people,
particularly students who live in public and assisted housing.
The president on Wednesday announced a pilot program under which the public, private and nonprofit sectors
will work together to provide high-speed Internet and digital devices to more families at a lower cost, the White
House said.
ConnectHome will begin in 27 cities and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, where Obama made the
announcement. Kansas City is among the cities participating in the program.
“The president’s selection of Kansas City as a ConnectHome Initiative city will advance our ongoing digital
equity efforts for our entire city.” Mayor Sly James said in a statement. “Public housing residents are in dire
need of connectivity, and our participation in this initiative will give everyone the opportunity to succeed in
Kansas City’s technological economy.”
The White House said Obama’s school-based Internet program, ConnectEd, is on track to connect 99 percent
of K-12 students to high-speed Internet in their classrooms and libraries by 2017. The new program aims to help
less privileged students, as well as their families, access the Internet and continue learning at home.
Housing Secretary Julian Castro said Wednesday that less than half of the poorest households have a home
Internet subscription, but most college applications are now submitted online and more than 80 percent of job
openings at Fortune 500 companies are posted on the Web.
35
He said families cannot thrive without 21st century tools.
[LA] Baton Rouge, New Orleans among 27 U.S. pilot cities for new federal program aimed at closing
digital divide (Baton Rouge Business Report, LA)
Baton Rouge Business Report
(7/15/2015 5:25 PM, Baton Rouge Business Report)
Baton Rouge and New Orleans are among 27 pilot cities selected for a new program to help close the digital
divide by bringing faster Internet to low-income households, The Associated Press reports. President Barack
Obama, during a visit today to Durant, Oklahoma, announced a pilot program that brings together communities,
the private sector and the federal government to make high-speed Internet available to more families.
ConnectHome, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will begin in 27 cities
and one tribal nation, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Cox Communications says it will support the effort in Baton Rouge and New Orleans by offering its
Connect2Compete home Internet service offer for $9.95 a month to eligible K-12 families. The company was a
founding partner of Connect2Compete, which provides affordable Internet service and devices to K-12 students
and their families who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Since launching the program in 2012, Cox
says it has connected more than 100,000 low-income Americans to the Internet through the Connect2Compete.
The White House says Obama’s school-based Internet program is on track to make sure that 99% of K-12
students can use the web in their classrooms and libraries by 2017. The new program aims to help lessprivileged students access the Internet and continue learning when they get home from school.
[OH] Obama to expand broadband for low-income families (Northeast Ohio Media Group, OH)
Northeast Ohio Media Group
(7/15/2015 9:05 AM, Stephen Koff)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The digital future is here for most Americans, but not for some of the poorest, whose
children don’t have the home resources to perform online lessons or look up Web-based school and educational
materials.
So President Barack Obama today will announce a partnership with the federal government, broadband
providers and content companies to expand high-speed Internet to select low-income areas, including
Cleveland, the White House said. Participating households will be able to get broadband service for free -which will be the case for select Cleveland participants -- or at rates no higher than $10 monthly.
The Internet companies are absorbing the costs, according to White House officials.
Focused heavily on public housing homes with children, the broadband expansion will initially reach more than
275,000 low-income households nationwide, helping more than 200,000 children, the White House said.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said there are about 9,000 public housing
households in Cleveland, about a third of them with children. That third -- about 3,300 households -- will be
eligible for the program, HUD said.
There is a strong association between income and Internet use, the White House says.
Sprint, already working to provide free wireless broadband to low-income students in other cities, will handle the
connections in Cleveland, according to HUD and the White House. This will expand Sprint’s existing, free
ConnectED commitment.
36
The use of Internet services in large swaths of Cleveland reached up to 66 percent as of 2013, according to
White House maps, which means that one-third of homes lacked the services. This coincided directly with
income, the maps show. The White House Council of Economic Advisers says in a new report today that the
data show "a strong positive association between median income and Internet use."
Called "ConnectHome," the multi-city White House initiative coincides with Obama’s stated effort to connect 99
percent of classrooms and libraries with the Internet. The initiative also calls for HUD to develop rules for
supporting broadband connectivity when it funds new residential construction and substantial rehabilitation of
housing projects.
The only new federal costs will be $50,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a grant to help cover
portions of the Choctaw Tribal Nation’s participation, White House and HUD officials said.
"But no other new federal funds have been committed to ConnectHome," Cameron French of HUD said.
So today, Obama will fly to Durant, Oklahoma and, with HUD Secretary Julian Castro, announce the start of
ConnectHome. It is a pilot project with 27 cities and one tribal nation. Once Internet access is installed, people
in the communities will get technical training and digital literacy training.
[OH] Any update on Sandusky’s housing scandal? (Sandusky Register, OH)
Sandusky Register
(7/15/2015 1:23 PM, Dennis Murray, Jr.)
Is there any word yet on getting the contractors names that was involved in the Sandusky housing scandal?
John in Perkins Township
Sandusky ex officio mayor Dennis Murray Jr. provided this response on the housing scandal:
Although it is very hard to read the memo from HUD about the results of their investigation, because
most of the names have been blacked out, there is enough to piece together that both local contractors
and fly-by-night operators received performed work.
In many instances, it looks like another contractor was called in to fix the work that an earlier one
should have done. Based on the information available to us at this time, it would be both unfair and I
think mistaken to conclude that any real contractors were involved in any misconduct.
You can guess who some of the local contractors were in some instances, and it seems to me that they
were called in to actually fix the problem.
[OH] Expanded high speed Internet coming to Cleveland, CMHA (WKYC-TV NBC 3 Cleveland, OH)
WKYC-TV NBC 3 Cleveland
(7/15/2015 10:38 PM, WKYC Staff, WKYC-TV)
President Obama announced Wednesday a partnership with the federal government, broadband providers and
content companies to expand high speed Internet in certain low income areas, including Cleveland and the
Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority. The White House says there is a correlation between income and
Internet usage. The "ConnectHome" program coincides with President Obama’s initiative to connect 99 percent
of classrooms and libraries to the Internet.
In its initial phase expansion, broadband will reach more than 275,000 low-income households nationwide,
including more than 200,000 children. "Internet access is vital to success both inside and outside the classroom
37
for children in this modern age," said City of Cleveland Major Frank G. Jackson in a news release. "All children,
regardless of income, should have access to the same tools and wealth of knowledge necessary to further their
education and develop skill sets for a given career."
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are approximately 9,000 public
housing households in Cleveland. A third of those, or 3,300 households, have children. Those households will
be eligible for the program.
[IL] Grant to expand home Internet access for underprivileged kids (WREX-TV NBC 13 Rockford, IL)
WREX-TV NBC 13 Rockford
(7/15/2015 7:36 PM, Elizabeth Wadas)
Latisha Stokes lives in assisted housing with her son Angelo. He’s in kindergarten, and he uses the Internet at
school. But when he comes home, that luxury disappears. "Class he has to do for math, and it’s on the
computer. It’s difficult for me to try to teach him how to do those problems when we’re at home when we don’t
have Internet access," says Stokes.
Rockford Public School officials say it’s important for a child’s learning to have Internet outside of school.
"Students that have Internet access at home will definitely have a more enriching opportunity to learn and grow
and develop once they leave school," says Dr. Dan Woestman, RPS Chief Quality Officer.
Rockford hopes to expand that opportunity with the help of a grant. Federal officials announced today that
Rockford is one of only 27 communities nationwide to receive a ConnectHome grant. It brings free high-speed
Internet access right to students’ houses so they can continue learning when the school day is over. To qualify,
a family must have a student ages kindergarten through senior in high school living in HUD assisted housing.
[IL] HUD selects Rockford for low-income project ConnectHome (WREX-TV NBC 13 Rockford, IL)
WREX-TV NBC 13 Rockford
(7/15/2015 11:10 AM, Joseph Edwards)
ROCKFORD (WREX) - The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development has chosen
Rockford for ConnectHome, an initiative to bring broadband internet access to low-income Americans. The
program will provide broadband, technical assistance and digital literacy training to students living in public and
assisted housing across the U.S.
ConnectHome is part of the ConnectED initiative to connect 99 percent of students to high-speed Internet in
classrooms and libraries over the next five years. ConnectHome is planned to ensure students still have that
access at home.
Since 2008, private and public sectors have invested 260 billion dollars into broadband infrastructure, but less
than half of low-income families have a home internet subscription, according to the President’s Council of
Economic Advisers. The Council says the ConnectHome initiative will provide a more technology-enriched
education.
As part of the initiative, HUD will be implementing new rules for future planned projects to include broadband
connectivity support.
[IL] Ferndale halts $132K payout for jailed housing official (Detroit Free Press, IL)
Detroit Free Press
(7/16/2015 12:44 AM, Bill Laitner)
The drug-addicted life of Ferndale’s former HUD housing director crashed badly after under cops spied her
breaking into tenants’ units to steal narcotics. And now, she might lose $130K in severance.
38
Last fall, former board members of the housing commission approved the controversial payout of $132,000. But
this year, two board members resigned amid the mushrooming scandal involving Wilson, so Ferndale officials
appointed Heler and Ferndale City Councilman Dan Martin to the volunteer positions. The commission
suspended the monthly payments to Wilson after suspecting there were irregularities in how she claimed
expenses and vacation time, Heler said.
In June, proof arrived in the report by federal investigators from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development. The report showed that Wilson improperly claimed she was owed vacation and sick time,
overspent her expense account by at least $18,000 and misused official time — that is, failed to work a 40-hour
week — to the tune of more than $33,000 last year, according to a “Comprehensive Management Assessment”
issued by HUD’s district office in Detroit.
According to the report, the entire severance agreement “failed to meet federal requirements,” meaning that the
Ferndale Housing Commission must cut expenses so as to repay the money to HUD while seeking to recover it
from Wilson.
In addition, the report showed that Wilson ran the housing agency like her own private fiefdom, said Bob Day, a
senior attorney with the Legal Aid and Defender Association of Detroit. Day represented several tenants at no
charge in recent years as they tried to duck Wilson’s unjust efforts to evict them, he said.
[IA] White House announces plan to close ‘digital divide’ (Des Moines Register, IA)
Des Moines Register
(7/15/2015 3:47 PM, Matthew Patane)
The White House unveiled a series of partnerships Wednesday aimed at providing broadband Internet service
to low-income households at discounted or no cost.
White House officials said the initiative will initially connect 275,000 low-income households with high-speed
Internet service and technology, such as tablets.
President Barack Obama was scheduled to formally announce the ConnectHome initiative during a stop in
Durant, Okla. Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro said Wednesday that less than half of the
poorest American households have an Internet subscription. Meanwhile, he said, Internet access has become a
necessity not a luxury, citing a statistic that more than 80 percent of college applications are now submitted
online.
“The stakes are clear. Families living in the 21st Century need 21st Century tools to thrive,” Castro said.
A recent Connect Iowa report found that about 73 percent of Iowa households have access to Internet speeds
of 25 megabit per second downloads and 3 megabit per second uploads.
Still, rural areas of the state still have the greatest lack in Internet availability.
[OK] President to Announce New Program During Durant Address (KTUL-TV ABC 8, OK)
KTUL-TV ABC 8
(7/15/2015 10:55 AM, KTUL-TV ABC 8)
President Obama is continuing his push to bring the internet to everyone in the nation.
39
During his speech at Durant High School on Wednesday, he is expected to announce ConnectHome, a program
to expand high speed internet to families nationwide. The program is a partnership between communities, the
private sector and the federal government.
It will be launched in 27 communities, including the Choctaw Nation. During the initial launch, the program will
reach nearly 275,000 low-income homes across the country.
In a partnership between the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), EveryoneOn and US
Ignite, the communities selected will have broadband, technical assistance and digital literacy training for
students living in public and assisted housing.
In addition to the Choctaw Nation, the communities selected include: Albany, GA; Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD;
Baton Rouge, LA; Boston, MA; Camden, NJ; Cleveland, OH; Denver, CO; Durham, NC; Fresno, CA; Kansas
City, MO; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Macon, GA; Memphis, TN; Meriden, CT; Nashville, TN; New
Orleans, LA; New York, NY; Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Rockford, IL; San Antonio, TX; Seattle, WA;
Springfield, MA; Tampa, FL; and Washington, DC.
[OK] ConnectHome Will Bring More Kids Internet (U.S. News & World Report)
U.S. News & World Report
(7/15/2015 10:54 AM, Darlene Superville, Associated Press)
In Oklahoma, Obama to announce program to close digital divide, connect more homes to Internet.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama set a goal of bringing high-speed Internet to most schools by
2017, and now he’s promoting a new program to help close the digital divide even further by bringing that faster
Internet to more people.
During a visit Wednesday to Durant, Oklahoma, he planned to announce a pilot program that brings together
communities, the private sector and the federal government to make high-speed Internet available to more
families, the White House said.
ConnectHome will begin in 27 cities and one tribal nation, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which stretches
across much of southeastern Oklahoma and is headquartered in Durant.
It’s the second dose of special attention that Obama has given the Choctaw Nation, which has about 200,000
members and is the third-largest Native American tribe in the United States.
Last year, the president designated the Choctaw Nation as a federal "Promise Zone," making it eligible for tax
incentives and grants to help fight poverty.
The White House said Obama’s school-based Internet program is on track to make sure that 99 percent of K-12
students can use the Web in their classrooms and libraries by 2017. The new program aims to help less
privileged students access the Internet and continue learning when they get home from school.
The 27 cities the Department of Housing and Urban Development selected for ConnectHome are: Albany,
Georgia; Atlanta; Baltimore; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Boston; Camden, New Jersey; Cleveland; Denver;
Durham, North Carolina; Fresno, California; Kansas City, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Los Angeles; Macon,
Georgia; Memphis, Tennessee; Meriden, Connecticut; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans; New York; Newark,
New Jersey; Philadelphia; Rockford, Illinois; San Antonio; Seattle; Springfield, Massachusetts; Tampa, Florida;
and the District of Columbia.
40
[OK] President to announce new internet access program in Durant (NewsOK.com, OK)
NewsOK.com
(7/15/2015 9:45 AM, Chris Castell)
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to announce in Durant on Wednesday that the Choctaw
Nation has been chosen to participate in a pilot program aimed at linking more low-income people to high-speed
internet service.
The president, who will spend parts of the next two days in Oklahoma, is expected to unveil ConnectHome,
which will launch in 27 cities and the Choctaw Nation. The White House said the program will initially reach over
275,000 low-income households that include 200,000 children.
The program will help those in low-incoming housing and be supported by local communities, private Internet
Service Providers and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In the Choctaw Nation communities selected, Cherokee Communications, Pine Telephone, Suddenlink
Communications, and Vyve Broadband will work together to ensure that over 425 of Choctaw’s public housing
residents have access to low-cost, high-speed internet, the White House said Wednesday.
[OK] President Obama makes historic visit to Choctaw Nation (North Texas e-News, TX)
North Texas e-News
(7/16/2015 1:48 AM, Allen Rich)
Durant -- Regardless of whether local residents agree or disagree with his policies, the global political
conversation begins with the U.S. President and Wednesday that conversation shifted to Durant, Oklahoma
where President Barack Obama discussed economic development with leaders of the Choctaw Nation.
It was the first time a sitting U.S. president had set foot in the Choctaw Nation.
"We welcome you to this historic day in Durant," remarked Gary Batton, Chief of the Choctaw Nation, the third
largest Indian tribe in the U.S. "President Obama has been a great partner for the Choctaw Nation."
Before making his entrance, the President had set aside time in a very busy day to meet with youth from the
Choctaw Nation, Cherokee Nation, Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Chickasaw Nation to discuss issues important
to their families and communities as well as the President’s Generation Indigenous initiative. The goal of
Generation Indigenous is to enrich the lives of Native youth and to sew the seeds that will bloom into the next
generation of Native leaders.
[OK] Obama debuts Internet initiative during historic Durant stop (Herald Democrat, TX)
Herald Democrat
(7/16/2015 2:16 AM, Nate Strauch)
Not since Teddy Roosevelt has a president spoken in Durant — so long ago, in fact, the city was then part of
Indian Territory. Obama on Wednesday led off his remarks with a traditional Choctaw greeting before listing off
a host of accomplishments he said his administration has made on Native American issues.
“We can’t reverse centuries of history — broken treaties, broken promises — but I do believe that we can come
together as partners and forge a new path, based on trust and respect,” Obama said. “We’ve made a lot of
progress, not just in Indian country, but in America as a whole.”
Pivoting then to the divide in access to technology between high- and low-income households, Obama told the
crowd that his “ConnectHome” initiative will help to provide free or low-cost Internet to families in low-income
households.
41
In Durant and other parts of the Choctaw Nation, the Department of Agriculture will utilize a $50,000 grant to
subsidize those new online connections — an amount Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro
said earlier in the day was the only federal money being put toward the project. In the other 27 communities,
Castro said, the private sector and nonprofits would be funding the pilot program.
[OK] What you need to know about President Obama’s ConnectHome initiative (KFOR-TV NBC 4
Oklahoma City, OK)
KFOR-TV NBC 4 Oklahoma City
(7/15/2015 9:50 AM, Dallas Franklin & KFOR-TV)
DURANT, Okla. – President Obama will travel to Durant, Oklahoma, today to announce a new initiative to
expand high-speed broadband internet to more families across the country.
According to a press release from the White House, the ConnectHome pilot program is launching in 27
communities, including Choctaw Nation, and will initially reach nearly 275,000 low-income households across
the country – including nearly 200,000 children – with the support they need to access the internet at home.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD) selected these communities through a competitive
process that took into account local commitment to expanding broadband opportunities; presence of placebased programs; and other factors to ensure all are well-positioned to deliver on ConnectHome.
Eight nationwide internet service providers have announced they will help bridge the gap in digital access for
students living in assisted housing units.
Officials at the White House say in select communities of Choctaw Tribal Nation, the Cherokee
Communications, Pine Telephone, Suddenlink Communications, and Vyve Broadband will work together to
ensure that over 425 of Choctaw’s public housing residents have access to low-cost, high-speed internet.
[TX] Obama’s ConnectHome to Bring Broadband to San Antonio, 27 Other Communities (Rivard Report,
TX)
Rivard Report
(7/15/2015 10:42 AM, Iris Dimmick)
President Barack Obama revealed a new initiative Wednesday morning, ConncetHome, that will give local,
high-speed broadband networks a boost to reach more families in one tribal nation and 27 cities across the
country – and San Antonio is one of them.
The pilot program, operated through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – of which
former Mayor Julián Castro is secretary – plans to reach more than 275,000 low-income households at first,
about 200,000 children, “with the support they need to access the Internet at home,” according to a White
House fact sheet released this morning.
HUD will work with Internet Service Providers, nonprofits and the private sector across the U.S. to offer
broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs, and devices for students in public and assisted
housing units.
“Mayors from Boston to Durham, and from Washington, DC to Seattle, have committed to reallocate local funds,
leverage local programming, and use regulatory tools to support this initiative and the expansion of broadband
access in low-income communities,” according to the release.
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[TX] Robert E. Lee H.S.: To be or not to be...renamed (KENS5.com San Antonio, TX)
KENS5.com San Antonio
(7/15/2015 7:39 PM, KENS5.com San Antonio)
Efforts are underway to both keep and rename Robert E. Lee High school in San Antonio. Wednesday
afternoon, former Mayor and current Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Julian Castro, revisited
renaming the school, in a satellite interview from Washington D.C. This as others are collecting petitions to keep
the name.
Opponents of changing the school’s name have turned to selling bumper stickers and shirts with Robert E.
Lee’s picture they said will raise awareness. "A group of kids here came up with the #LetLeeBe," said Tim
Adams, who supports keeping the name. "So we incorporated that into a bumper sticker." Adams said he is an
alumnus and is hoping the stickers and bold red shirts with the general’s picture will help their efforts to keep the
name of the 57 year-old campus.
In late June, a Facebook post by former Mayor Julian Castro set off a renaming frenzy. Castro called for a
change because Lee was a Confederate General. Castro posted that there are more appropriate individuals to
honor and spotlight as role models. In a satellite interview Wednesday, Castro reiterated his point. "I believe the
NEISD should consider changing the name of the school. That’s my hope," said Castro. "Whether they went to
Robert E. Lee or not, to think about the meaning of the name of the school. Especially to the many African
American students who go there."
"I had Julian Castro as a Facebook friend," said Adams. "And I saw the post he put up. We feel like a fight has
been picked with us."
[TX] Federal Web Program to be Rolled Out in S.A. (KTSA-AM 550, TX)
KTSA-AM 550
(7/15/2015 5:34 PM, KTSA-AM 550)
Count San Antonio among 27 U.S. cities taking part in a new initiative to bring the internet to low-income
families. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and former San Antonio Mayor, Julian Castro says the
ConnectHome program will bring the Web to 2,700 local homes with children. Castro says the program will be
rolled out within the next few months. He also says the Alamo City is a good fit for it, given its commitment to
expanding digital access.
[KS] President Obama unveils ConnectHome to get low-income Kansas City households online (KSHBTV NBC 41 Kansas City, MO)
KSHB-TV NBC 41 Kansas City
(7/15/2015 6:36 PM, Terra Hall)
Wednesday, President Barack Obama traveled to Durant, Oklahoma, to announce ConnectHome , a new
initiative with communities, the private sector, and federal government to expand high speed broadband to more
families across the country. The pilot program is launching in twenty-seven cities and one tribal nation and will
initially reach over 275,000 low-income households – and nearly 200,000 children – with the support they need
to access the Internet at home.
Internet Service Providers, non-profits and the private sector will offer broadband access, technical training,
digital literacy programs, and devices for residents in assisted housing units. President Obama is announcing
ConnectHome to help close this gap and provide more Americans digital opportunity. Kansas Citizens can
expect the following:
-Google Fiber will offer free internet service to residents who currently live in public housing.
-They’ll also connect with local organizations on computer labs to bridge the digital divide for families
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with students in K through 12.
-HUD is also partnering with non-profits to offer new technical training for resident in assisted housing
units.
[CO] LGBT Elder Americans Act Introduced in Senate (The Advocate)
The Advocate
(7/15/2015 10:41 AM, Bil Browning)
As the number of LGBT elders swell, Colorado’s senior senator has introduced legislation to assist them with
their specific needs.
Senator Michael Bennett of Colorado has introduced a bill that would assist the ever-growing ranks of LGBT
elders.
The LGBT Elder Americans Act filed Tuesday was first introduced in 2012.
The bill follows Monday’s White House Conference on Aging, and announcement by Secretary of Housing &
Urban Development Julian Castro that LGBT seniors will be protected from discrimination in public housing.
The guidance issued by HUD states that administrators of all HUD-assisted housing cannot base decisions on
actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
"As baby boomers continue to age, it’s important that we understand the unique needs of this diverse
generation," Bennet said in an emailed statement to the Washington Blade. "For LGBT seniors, questions about
health care and financial issues can be particularly difficult without a trustworthy advocate to help guide them
through these challenging decisions. And now, with full marriage equality thankfully the law of the land, many
older LGBT couples have additional planning decisions to make. This bill will help aging service organizations
assist older LGBT adults and their caregivers. Above all, it will provide LGBT seniors and their families the
peace of mind that their best interests are being considered."
[CO] LGBT Elder Americans Act reintroduced (Washington Blade, DC)
Washington Blade
(7/16/2015 5:09 AM, Chris Johnson)
The senior U.S. senator from Colorado reintroduced on Tuesday legislation intended to aid LGBT elder
Americans, which continue to face difficulty in accessing resources afforded generally to the older population.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) introduced the omnibus bill, which is known as LGBT Elder Americans Act and
aims to make additional resources available to elder LGBT Americans. The bill, which would build upon the
Older Americans Act, would designate LGBT seniors as a vulnerable population and permanently establish a
National Resource Center on LGBT Aging.
Bennet said in a statement the legislation is important because as the number of Americans age 65 and older
surges over the next few decades, the number of LGBT older adults is expected to double to 3 million by 2030.
“As baby boomers continue to age, it’s important that we understand the unique needs of this diverse
generation,” Bennet said. “For LGBT seniors, questions about health care and financial issues can be
particularly difficult without a trustworthy advocate to help guide them through these challenging decisions. And
now, with full marriage equality thankfully the law of the land, many older LGBT couples have additional
planning decisions to make. This bill will help aging service organizations assist older LGBT adults and their
caregivers. Above all, it will provide LGBT seniors and their families the peace of mind that their best interests
are being considered.”
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The introduction of the bill comes one day after the White House Conference of Aging, an event that takes place
every decade to draw attention to issues facing older Americans throughout the country. On that day, the
Department of Housing & Urban Development issued guidance clarifying that discrimination against LGBT
people in government-assisted housing violates current regulations and could result in sanctions.
Michael Adams, executive director of Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders, or SAGE, praised the introduction
of the bill, but anticipated difficulty in passage going forward.
“On the heels of yesterday’s LGBT-inclusive White House Conference on Aging, it’s now time for Congress to
act to address the many ways that federal aging services and programs are not effectively addressing the needs
of LGBT older people,” Adams said. “That’s why SAGE is so grateful to Sen. Bennet for his leadership in reintroducing the LGBT Elder Americans Act. While it’s no secret that it’s difficult to move legislation through
Congress in this polarized environment, the proposed act should be common sense for anybody interested in
fairness for LGBT people.”
[AZ] HUD ends its Prescott discrimination investigation (The Daily Courier, Prescott, AZ)
The Daily Courier
(7/15/2015 9:00 AM, Cindy Barks)
One federal housing-discrimination investigation into Prescott’s recent group home ordinance is now complete,
while another is continuing.
Prescott City Attorney Jon Paladini announced at the Tuesday Prescott City Council meeting that the city had
received a letter on Monday, July 13, stating that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) had ended its investigation, which began with a December 2014 complaint.
“HUD has closed its file,” Paladini told the council at the start of the meeting. “The letter stated that no further
action would be taken by HUD.”
[CA] Fresno to connect low-income families with Internet access (Fresno Bee, CA)
Fresno Bee
(7/15/2015 6:41 PM, Bonhia Lee)
Fresno is one of 27 cities and a tribal nation participating in a new program to bring high-speed Internet access
to low-income families in public and assisted housing developments, the White House announced Wednesday.
ConnectHome is an initiative that brings communities together with Internet providers, nonprofits and the private
sector to offer low-cost service, technical training, digital literacy programs and devices for 275,000 households
nationwide. It’s an extension of President Barack Obama’s ConnectED program to wire America’s schools and
libraries so 99% of all students can connect to the Internet.
In Fresno, the program will be administered through the Fresno Housing Authority, which serves 17,000 families
and has 70 multifamily properties.
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
Key Lawmakers Object to FHA Loan Certification Proposal (National Mortgage News)
National Mortgage News
(7/15/2015 10:54 AM, Brian Collins)
Key Democratic lawmakers are raising concerns about a Federal Housing Administration proposal that could
make it easier for major banks that plead guilty to felony changes to continue originating FHA-insured loans.
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Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., are urging the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to withdraw the FHA loan certification proposal — that was
released for comment on May 15 — and reissue it with clearer descriptions of changes to the loan certification
form. The proposal "fails to even describe the changes to the certifications of illegal conduct — let alone offer a
rationale for them," the three lawmakers said in a July 14 letter to HUD secretary Julian Castro and Office of
Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan. (Donovan is a former HUD secretary.)
FHA lenders are currently required to sign a certification along with each loan application to demonstrate that
the loan officer, the mortgage firm or its principals have not been indicted or convicted for a variety of offenses.
The lawmakers claimed major FHA lenders could potentially evade the requirement for certain offenses. For
example, recent guilty pleas by JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup to charges for manipulating currencies should
disqualify them from being able to sign the existing loan-level certification form, the lawmakers said. But the
three Democrats noted that those offenses would not be included as part of the proposed certification form
because it deletes statutes dealing with antitrust violations.
"HUD’s proposed changes appear to effectively waive a contractual obligation for obtaining FHA insurance for a
mortgage and allow HUD to turn a blind eye to... criminal violations — putting home buyers and taxpayers at
additional risk," the three lawmakers wrote.
A department spokesman said, "HUD has received the letter and will respond accordingly."
"This administration has taken extraordinary steps to hold lenders accountable for their actions that helped lead
to the economic crisis," the spokesman said.
Rare Coalition Urges Limits on Mortgage-Related Bank Lawsuits (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal
(7/16/2015 5:09 AM, Joe Light)
Bankers, housing advocates team up in effort to ease mortgage access for borrowers with weaker credit
A rare coalition of mortgage lenders and left-leaning consumer advocates are calling on the Obama
administration to ease up on lawsuits they say are driving banks away from making loans to borrowers with
weak credit histories.
In three nearly identical proposals, the Mortgage Bankers Association, 15 left-leaning advocacy groups, and
researchers from the Urban Institute and Moody’s Analytics are asking the administration to restrict one of the
most powerful tools the U.S. government has used to punish banks for mortgage mistakes.
Some lenders say fears of being sued and slammed with financial penalties have caused them to adopt more
stringent mortgage rules than what the federal government requires, shutting out borrowers near the margins.
The Urban Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C., has estimated that as many as 1.2 million more mortgage
loans would be made annually were it not for tight credit restrictions put in place by lenders in the years since
the financial crisis as regulators and attorneys ramped up mortgage-related lawsuits and penalties.
But the new proposals, if they gain traction, could also limit the Justice Department’s discretion in pursuing
banks for mistakes.
At issue is the Federal Housing Administration, which is run by the Department of Housing and Urban
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Development and is responsible for backing more than one in 10 mortgage loans.
Lawmakers Raise Concerns About FHA Lending Proposal (MReport)
MReport
(7/16/2015 5:09 AM, Xhevrije West)
Prominent Democrats on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees recently brought
concerns about the a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lending proposal that could make it easier for
lenders with a criminal history to continue accessing taxpayer-backed mortgage insurance.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the Banking Committee’s senior Democrat, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California),
the senior Democrat on Financial Services, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) collectively wrote a
letter to the leaders of HUD and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), highlighting their concerns about
the FHA proposal.
"We are concerned that the proposed changes, the most significant of which were not described in the notice,
would make it easier for lenders who have engaged in illegal behavior to obtain FHA insurance-insurance that is
ultimately provided by American taxpayers," the lawmakers wrote. "These changes are significant and result in
a change of policy rather than a simplification of an outdated form."
The HUD proposal, released on May 15, 2015, would eliminate the requirement that FHA lenders certify on
each loan application that they are not, or have not recently been, subject to certain charges or penalties.
The lawmakers letter requested that HUD provide a thorough explanation for the proposal to lower the lending
standards and offer the public a chance to comment on whether or not they deem the changes appropriate.
"We are particularly troubled by the timing of this proposed change and the lack of transparency around it," the
lawmakers noted. "HUD’s proposed changes appear to effectively waive a contractual obligation for obtaining
FHA insurance for a mortgage and allow HUD to turn a blind eye to these and other criminal violations-putting
homebuyers and taxpayers at additional risk."
Obama Administration Finds New Way to Let Criminal Banks Avoid Consequences (First Look)
First Look
(7/16/2015 5:09 AM, David Dayen)
Three top Democrats are accusing the Department of Housing and Urban Development of quietly removing a
key clause in its requirements for taxpayer-guaranteed mortgage insurance in order to spare two banks recently
convicted of federal crimes from being frozen out of the lucrative market.
HUD’s action is the latest in a series of steps by federal agencies to eliminate real-world consequences for
serial financial felons, even as the Obama administration has touted its efforts to hold banks accountable.
In this sense, the guilty plea has become as meaningless to banks as their other ways of resolving criminal
charges: out-of-court settlements, or deferred prosecution agreements. “Too Big to Fail” has morphed into “Too
Big to Jail” — and then again, into “Bank Lives Matter.”
Sens. Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Maxine Waters fired off a letter to HUD on Tuesday,
saying they believe that the timing of the change was designed to clear the way for two banks recently convicted
of federal crimes — JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup — to continue to make Federal Housing Administrationinsured loans. Last year, JPMorgan Chase wrote $1.67 billion in FHA loans, and Citi wrote $342 million,
according to data from the Congressional Research Service.
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On May 20 of this year, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup both entered a guilty plea on one felony count of
conspiring to rig foreign currency exchange trades, the largest market on the globe.
Five days earlier, on May 15, HUD slipped a notice into the Federal Register, seeking to alter its standard loanlevel certification form, known as HUD-92900-A. This form must be filled out for lenders to receive FHA
insurance, which reimburses them if the homeowner falls into foreclosure.
On the current HUD-92900-A form, lenders must certify that their firm and its principals “have not, within a threeyear period … been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against them” for a variety of crimes,
including “commission of fraud … violation of Federal or State antitrust statutes or commission of
embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements or
receiving stolen property.”
JPMorgan and Citi’s guilty plea would fall under the antitrust statute, and according to Brown, Warren and
Waters’ reading of the certification, that would make them ineligible to obtain FHA insurance on their loans.
On the updated form, this language has been excised. The notice in the Federal Register did not even mention
the removal, making it impossible to discover without comparing the old form and the proposed form side by
side. The Wall Street Journal ran a story about the certification changes in May, but failed to notice that the new
language would let law-breaking banks off scot-free.
The day before HUD released the notice in the Federal Register, the New York Times reported that the Justice
Department sought to lessen the consequences of the guilty pleas in the foreign exchange rigging case,
ensuring that federal regulators would not use the pleas to bar banks from certain business lines.
The Securities and Exchange Commission then granted waivers from disqualification to JPMorgan Chase, Citi,
and the other guilty banks in the case, over the objections of one SEC Commissioner that the big banks had
effectively become “Too Big to Bar.”
The HUD changes would similarly take away an automatic penalty for bank misbehavior. Per Brown, Warren
and Waters, they “allow HUD to turn a blind eye to criminal violations — putting homebuyers and taxpayers at
additional risk.”
HUD spokesperson Cameron French said the agency was not providing comment on the Democratic letter. He
said HUD would review it and respond accordingly.
Chicago Tribune: Surviving Spouses Benefit Under New Reverse Mortgage Rules
(ReverseMortgageDaily)
ReverseMortgageDaily
(7/15/2015 7:16 PM, Cassandra Dowell)
Recent changes to the reverse mortgage program are providing better protections for the spouses of reverse
mortgage holders after the borrower dies, explains a recent article in the Chicago Tribune. Seeking advice, a
72-year-old woman and spouse of a 85-year-old reverse mortgage borrower writes to the publication asking
about what the changes might mean for her living situation after her spouse passes away.
“When my husband took out a reverse mortgage, I was too young to qualify so it is in his name only,” she writes.
“My earliest understanding is that once he died I would have to sell the home and leave. Due to health and
finances, I am no longer in a position to do that. Is it my responsibility to sell the house when he dies?”
A qualified non-borrowing spouse can now remain in the home without having to pay off the loan, says Odette
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Williamson, staff attorney for the National Consumer Law Center, in the article. However, the surviving spouse
must continue to pay property taxes and insurance and maintain the home with proper repairs, among meeting
other requirements to be eligible to remain in the home, she added.
Home Ownership
Mortgage Limits May Increase (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal
(7/15/2015 10:42 AM, Anya Martin)
With home prices still climbing, baseline jumbo-mortgage thresholds may be raised for the first time in a decade
Jumbo mortgages for single-family residences exceed $417,000 in most parts of the country and $625,500 in
high-price markets. But with home prices climbing back to prerecession peaks in some markets, baseline jumbo
thresholds may be raised for the first time in a decade.
The agency that sets these limits, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), in May requested public input
on its house price index. This index includes sale-price information on government-backed mortgages as well as
real-estate sales compiled by research firm CoreLogic from hundreds of U.S. counties. Distressed sales are
included but not appraisal values from refinances.
The deadline for input is July 27, and the FHFA will decide this fall whether to change the baseline limit starting
Jan. 1.
In the early 1970s, the baseline limit for conventional loans was just $33,000. That was the maximum amount a
homeowner could borrow to qualify for a “conforming” mortgage—one financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
The $33,000 limit rose steadily over the years to keep up with home prices. Hawaii, Alaska, Guam and the
Virgin Islands got higher loan limits because of the high cost of living.
How On-Demand Technology Helps Americans Age in Place (Reverse Mortgage Daily)
ReverseMortgageDaily
(7/15/2015 7:10 PM, Emily Study)
For older Americans, planning for retirement can be a unique challenge, especially as most older adults prefer
to age in place. And while a reverse mortgage can help retirees achieve this while living in their homes, ondemand technology can help them stay in their homes by providing the services they need to maintain their
independence.
That’s why tech giants like Google and Apple — as well as Uber and other burgeoning startups — are lining up
to cash in on a swelling senior population that’s increasingly living longer and requesting more services to help
them age in place. However, seniors’ tech demand often seems much different from that of younger
generations, which raises the question: How will companies effectively reach both demographics over time?
That’s exactly the question Jeff Zients, director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president
for economic policy, posed to a group of c-suite tech execs during Monday’s White House Conference on Aging,
a once-a-decade event that’s been credited for giving birth to such programs as Medicare and Medicaid. “There
is still a gap between older Americans’ use of technology and younger people’s [use]. What drives this gap and
what do we expect to happen across time?” he asked. “How should companies respond to these differences?
Do we need to plan for a future with two digital markets [or] will things converge over time?”
Will Tiny Homes Become the Next Retirement Trend? (Reverse Mortgage Daily)
ReverseMortgageDaily
49
(7/15/2015 7:21 PM, Jason Oliva)
A variety of TV networks have showcased the tiny house movement as a “less is more” alternative to traditional
housing, and this design is also catching on among older homeowners looking for minimal maintenance living.
Shows like HGTV’s Tiny House Builders and Tiny House Hunters, as well as Tiny House Nation on A&E’s FYI
Lifestyle Network, have brought the concept of small house living to the forefront of American popular culture.
Tiny homes typically provide around 200-square-feet of living with all of the necessities a homeowner needs,
including a kitchen area, bathroom, and bedroom. But despite the small square footage, the homes are
designed to provide anything but claustrophobia.
These new housing alternatives can be perfect for families that have aging loved ones by keeping them living
independently nearby, thereby delaying the need to move to somewhere like an assisted living community,
according to NextDoor Housing, a Minnesota-based company that specializes in tiny home design.
Millennials Who Are Thriving Financially Have One Thing in Common (The Atlantic)
The Atlantic
(7/16/2015 5:25 AM, Gillian B. White)
And yet, even with this help, the average student with loans at a four-year college graduates with about $26,000
in student-loan debt. Millennials who are lucky enough to have some, or all, of a college tuition’s burden
reduced by their parents have a leg up on peers who are saddled with student debt, and they’ll be able to more
quickly move out on their own, and maybe even buy their own house.
And that matters a lot in the long run: While many remain skeptical about the real-estate market,
homeownership is still the primary way that Americans build wealth. But first-time buyers—a group generally
made up of younger adults—have been scarce since the recession. And research indicates it’s not because
many of them want to remain renters, but because they just simply can’t save up enough for a down payment,
especially not the down payments needed in the expensive urban markets where so many Millennials prefer to
live. According to Svenja Gudell, the senior director of economic research at Zillow, “There’s a ton of people out
there who want to buy. In our most recent survey in the beginning of the year, we had 5.3 million renters
interested in buying over the next year.”
But, because of their student-debt loads, they cannot. “When it comes to taking out a mortgage, they aren’t able
to carry that mortgage payment because they have very chunky payments to make to the lenders of their
student loans. So that’s certainly holding Millennials back along the way,” Gudell says.
A recent study by the real-estate company Trulia laid it out this way: Imagine an individual who earns $50,000
and is shopping for a $200,000 home (the median U.S. income and house price). This person would like to put
20 percent down. If he or she follows the popular financial advice to save 10 percent of his or her annual pay,
it’ll take him or her about eight years to have that down payment ready to go. If that same person has $26,000
of student debt, which means monthly payments of $280 based on a 10-year repayment plan, it’ll take this
person closer to nine years.
[MA] Habitat housing project moves ahead in Truro (WickedLocal.com-Truro, MA)
WickedLocal.com-Truro
(7/15/2015 4:02 PM, WickedLocal.com-Truro)
TRURO – Habitat for Humanity this week got the go-ahead from selectmen to move forward with permitting for
a two-to-three-home building project on a Route 6 lot.
“We’ve got a great project,” said Leedara Zola of Habitat for Humanity, saying the group had begun the search
for property in Truro expecting it would take some time. Instead, Carl Brotman of the Housing Authority “found
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an incredible parcel at 143 Route 6.”
The property is 1.33 acres, but abuts conservation land to the south and land held by the Truro Conservation
Trust to the east. The open space could make it possible, Zola said, to work a third house into the project.
Zola said that Habitat needed approval from the board to file an application under the state’s Local Initiative
Program, which would be filed with the state Dept. of Housing and Community Development. The department
issues a site eligibility letter that allows Habitat to go to the zoning board of appeals for a comprehensive permit.
[NY] Home Ownership Doesn’t Equal Security for Millennials, Jeffrey Gundlach Says (Kingston Daily
Freeman, NY)
Kingston Daily Freeman
(7/15/2015 6:07 PM, Carleton English)
Millennials may eventually leave their parent’s basements and buy their own houses, but the move is unlikely to
bring the same comfort that it did to previous generations. "I don’t think millennials will ever see home ownership
as security," Jeffrey Gundlach, founder and CEO of bond-investment firm DoubleLine, said in a presentation at
the fifth annual Delivering Alpha conference in New York on Wednesday.
Gundlach isn’t negative on home-building, but he doesn’t expect it to return to pre-financial crisis levels, he said
at the event, which features prominent hedge-fund operators discussing both their investment ideas and the
broader economic outlook. Gundlach’s statements echoed comments he’s made over the past few years about
the changing demographics of the American homeowner. Last summer, his tone was decidedly harsher: He
actually suggested shorting the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF. "Single-family housing is over-believed and
overrated over the long-term," he said at an investment conference in May 2014.
Many analysts and academics have debated what the consumption patterns of millennials will be, since many
began their professional lives encumbered by debt during the financial crisis, which prompted them to delay
such traditional adult milestones as leaving their parents’ home, buying a house and starting a family.
[NY] Land banks offer hope for zombie homes (Newsday, NY)
Newsday
(7/16/2015 5:09 AM, Joyce Brown)
Here’s one way to kill a few zombies.
On Monday, Nassau County lawmakers approved County Executive Edward Mangano’s proposal to create a
land bank to help ease the problem of zombie homes abandoned by owners during foreclosure proceedings.
Newsday highlighted the plight of communities and neighbors left to deal with such properties which -- like gaps
created by knocked-out teeth -- are unsightly and expensive to fix.
As of May, and in Nassau alone, there were 1,956 such properties, according to RealtyTrac, a national real
estate tracking company. And across Long Island, according to a Newsday series on zombie homes,
municipalities last year spent at least $3.2 million for cleanup, board-up and demolition costs.
With Monday’s vote, Nassau -- pending approval by Empire State Development, the state’s chief economic
development arm -- gains another valuable weapon in the fight to make the properties viable again. Land banks,
which are nonprofit corporations, can buy and spend money to buy and maintain such sites to return them to
use.
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[PA] Flight 93 area homes eligible for repair funds (Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, PA)
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat
(7/15/2015 7:13 AM, Kecia Bal)
SHANKSVILLE – As many as 200 property owners near the Flight 93 National Memorial will be able to apply for
up to $20,000 in federal funds to repair their homes.
The Redevelopment Authority of Somerset County secured a $500,000 contract with the state’s Department of
Community and Economic Development to help income-eligible homeowners address code violations and other
maintenance needs through the federally funded HOME Investment Partnership program.
Commissioners approved the project Tuesday.
Homeowners should start receiving letters soon, authority Executive Director Steve Spochart said.
[ND] State Housing Agency Secures Counseling Grant (RoundUp Web, ND)
RoundUp Web
(7/15/2015 4:13 PM, RoundUp Web)
BISMARCK, ND - North Dakota Housing Finance Agency has secured a $133,068 U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development grant that will support housing counseling services statewide.
“The support these organizations provide helps individuals and families make informed housing decisions,” said
Jolene Kline, NDHFA executive director.
The grant recipients offer financial literacy training, provide assistance to renters and homeless persons, and
assist households of modest means in becoming and remaining homeowners.
HUD’s housing counseling grants are awarded annually through a competitive process. The organizations that
apply must be preapproved by the federal agency and are subject to biennial performance reviews to maintain
the approved status.
Affordable Housing
[CT] Milford housing plan moves ahead despite public outcry (New Haven Register, CT)
New Haven Register
(7/15/2015 11:34 PM, Pam McLoughlin)
After months of objection from residents, the hiring of a consultant and a site walk, the city’s Inland-Wetlands
Agency Wednesday night gave unanimous approval for a developer to work near wetlands and watercourses to
build a 180-unit rental complex that would include 54 affordable housing units scattered over seven buildings.
As a condition of approval, the developer is required to test the soil during excavation, grading and
preconstruction, resident Danielle Burns said after the meeting. They also restricted car washing anywhere on
the site, Burns said.
The project in the Wheeler’s Farms Road/East Rutland Road area has yet to be put to a vote of the Planning
and Zoning Board, although a continuing public hearing is underway. PZB approval is necessary before the
project becomes reality. The proposal was made under the state’s affordable housing statute, which just about
ensures approval if it meets requirements. Residents have made a strong showing at PZB and Inland-Wetlands
meetings, opposing the project on many fronts, including traffic, concern for wildlife, the safety of children,
property values and its perceived threat to the neighborhood’s rural character.
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[NY] Bed-Stuy is Focus of Concerns Over Fate of Community Gardens (City Limits, NY)
City Limits
(7/15/2015 8:03 AM, Brooklyn Deep)
Land scarce for de Blasio plan
While buildings with units for low-income tenants often need a certain percentage of market rate units to be
sustainable over time, the de Blasio administration hasn’t set any specific criteria about how to strike this
balance in NCP and NIHOP projects. Non-profit developers and community development corporations were
encouraged to apply for the programs, the idea being that they would strive to have the units be as affordable as
possible, but it can be hard to make the math work. The land is cheap, but the architects, lawyers, insurance,
financing, equipment, labor and materials will still cost the same as usual.
"A building costs just as much to build in East New York as in Chelsea,” says Erica Sims, deputy executive
director at Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY), which has been developing small buildings in
Brooklyn for nearly 30 years.
At the same time, federal affordable housing subsidies are pegged to income levels that bear little relation to
what families in Bedford-Stuyvesant and surrounding neighborhoods actually make. According to HPD’s term
sheets, rental units in NCP buildings will be available for people making up to 165 percent of Area Median
Income, or AMI. For NIHOP homeowner units, one-third are required to be affordable. In that case, "affordable”
is defined as a maximum of 80 percent AMI. If developers choose to take advantage of the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, the maximum will be 60 percent
of AMI.
New York’s AMI covers all five boroughs—plus Westchester, Putnam and Rockland Counties. The 2015 AMI for
HUD’s New York City region is $60,500 for an individual and $86,300 for a family of four. These numbers are far
higher than local incomes in Central Brooklyn. According to the 2013 American Community Survey—the most
recent data available—the median household income was $27,166 in Brownsville, $36,535 in BedfordStuyvesant and $41,144 in northern Crown Heights.
[NY] The Luxury Tower, The Tax Break And Some Expensive Affordable Housing (WNYC - New York
Public Radio, NY)
WNYC - New York Public Radio
(7/15/2015 7:02 AM, Janet Babin)
According to a new report, Mayor Bill de Blasio could create even more affordable housing, if he just handed
cash subsidies to real estate developers.
The study from the non-partisan Independent Budget Office analyzed the example of gleaming skyscraper
One57 on West 57th Street. The developer received a 95 percent tax break through the 421-a tax abatement
program which helps to build affordable housing. The building’s owner, Extell Development, purchased
certificates that provided the tax break, and in turn, helped fund the construction of 66 units of affordable
housing in the Bronx.
The IBO found that each of those apartments cost $905,000. But if the city had provided direct subsidies to the
Bronx developer, nearly 370 units could have been built at cost of $179,000 per unit.
The report also suggests that if the tax code were revised to more accurately reflect the value of co-ops and
condos, then the city could collect more real estate taxes. Currently, they are assessed as if they are rental
properties instead of their value being abased on comparable sales figures, as is done in other states.
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[Editorial note: AUDIO at source]
[NY] Extell’s big tax break on One57 revealed (Crain’s New York Business, NY)
Crain’s New York Business
(7/15/2015 12:32 PM, Amanda Fung)
The city’s Independent Budget Office found that the developer received a property-tax discount valued at close
to $66 million over 10 years.
Extell Development received a hefty tax break for its high-end condo One57. The developer got a property-tax
discount valued at close to $66 million over 10 years under the controversial 421-a tax-exemption program,
which was recently renewed after months of debate, according to The Wall Street Journal.
To qualify for the tax break, Extell paid $5.9 million to construct 66 affordable-housing units in the Bronx,
according to a new analysis by the city’s Independent Budget Office. The IBO said the deal was "less costeffective than alternatives." If the city provided Extell an equivalent cash grant of nearly $66 million, almost 370
units of affordable housing could have been built compared with a mere 66, according to the analysis.
The IBO studied One57 because opponents of 421-a argued that luxury condos were benefiting from the
program instead of affordable projects.
[NY] City Says Luxe Tower One57 is Exhibit A for Need to Reform 421-a Tax Breaks (DNAinfo New York,
NY)
DNAinfo New York
(7/15/2015 9:22 AM, Amy Zimmer)
MANHATTAN — As the future of the city’s 421-a tax abatement for developers still hangs in the balance, one
thing is clear: One57, the ultra luxury tower overlooking Central Park with a duplex penthouse that sold for a
record-breaking $100 million, got a huge tax break in exchange for relatively few affordable units, an analysis
from the Independent Budget Office found.
One57’s tax break — worth $65.6 million over 10 years — could have paid for nearly 370 affordable apartments
at a cost of $179,000 per unit — the amount to develop an affordable unit, the IBO said.
Instead, the deal with the fancy condo under the program yielded only 66 apartments, which means that the city
basically subsidized the apartments at a rate of $905,000 each, the report explained. One57 was grandfathered
in under old rules that made it legal to buy an exemption certificate to finance affordable housing off site in the
Bronx.
The glassy high rise on West 57th Street — now known as Billionaire’s Row — earned the ire of affordable
housing advocates who criticized the 421-a program for subsidizing such a fancy property for the world’s
wealthiest in exchange for relatively little affordable housing. The 421-a was created during the fiscal crisis of
the 1970s — in a very different real estate market than today — to spur developers to construct residential
buildings.
[NY] CB2 Committee approves Pier 6 Tower Plan on Brooklyn Bridge Park (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
(7/15/2015 1:33 PM, Dipti Kumar)
Members of the Community Board 2 Parks and Recreation Committee on Monday voted 6 to 1 to approve the
proposed modifications of the General Project Plan (GPP) that would allow affordable housing in/on the Pier 6
development.
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They also recommended that more low-income housing be included in the affordable housing plan.
The decision was made upon hearing the proposed changes to the GPP, as explained by David Lowin, vice
president for real estate at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation.
The bigger issue of the evening, however, was the nuanced details in the amended statement in the GPP that
had everyone debating whether to vote for or against the modified plan.
[NY] Community Board Says No to Staten Island Mental Health Facility (DNAinfo New York, NY)
DNAinfo New York
(7/15/2015 1:12 PM, Nicholas Rizzi)
PORT RICHMOND — A proposed mental health facility in Port Richmond drew backlash from residents who
pleaded with owners to move it elsewhere at a meeting Tuesday night.
Community Board 1’s Port Richmond/Mariners Harbor area committee voted not to support Saint Joseph’s
Medical Center’s plan to put supportive housing — which mixes affordable housing units with apartments for
people recovering from mental illnesses — at 108-110 Port Richmond Ave.
Neighbors who attended said they were against the plan because the area was already inundated with social
services.
"We have more than enough of this stuff," said Debra Grant, who’s lived in Port Richmond for 11 years. "We’re
over saturated."
[NY] Affordable rental housing complex opens in Newburgh (Middletown Times Herald-Record, NY)
Middletown Times Herald-Record
(7/15/2015 8:28 PM, Leonard Sparks)
All Deborah Danzy wanted was a place free of bedbugs. Three times during her five years of living at Lake
Street Apartments she had to be treated after the bite-happy insects invaded her unit. “I just prayed to God to
get me out of there,” she said.
Danzy got her wish, surviving a lottery involving more than 800 applicants seeking an apartment at
Independence Square, a new 74-unit affordable rental housing complex on Washington Terrace built by
developer Jonah Mandelbaum. Danzy and two other residents talked of their good fortune as city, county and
state officials gathered Wednesday under the pavilion at the roughly $17 million project, whose residents are a
melting pot of seniors, working families and people with disabilities.
[NY] Class-warriors misfire on tax break for builders (New York Post, NY)
New York Post
(7/15/2015 8:11 PM, Post Editorial Board)
With a bombshell report late Tuesday, the city’s Independent Budget Office further enflamed the debate over
the 421-a tax break. The break is under attack as a huge giveaway to the real-estate industry, as critics cite the
billions in tax revenue the city seems to lose because of it. Developers note the city’s not truly giving up as
much — because, without lower taxes under 421-a, there’d be almost no new rental construction, and so no
taxes to pay.
They have a point: The break was born back in 1971 precisely because new building starts had ground to a halt,
as high taxes made constructing even market-rate units a sucker’s bet. Yes, the break’s worth far more in
today’s prosperous city. That’s why tweaks to the law now force builders to put up a number of subsidized
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(“affordable”) units to qualify for 421-a — a tradeoff that Mr. Progressive, Mayor de Blasio, fully endorses.
[NY] HCR, State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, Join Officials at Dedication of
Independence Square; Providing 74 Units of Affordable Housing (New York Housing Finance, NY)
New York Housing Finance
(7/15/2015 4:47 PM, New York Housing Finance)
New York State Homes and Community Renewal officials today joined elected and community leaders to
dedicate Independence Square, a 74-unit development of workforce and supportive housing in the Orange
County city of Newburgh.
“Our mandate from Governor Cuomo is to provide and protect affordable housing and revitalize communities,”
said Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner/CEO James S. Rubin. “Independence Square is a fully
accessible, sustainably designed building that is near shopping, transportation, parks and health care. It
provides new and safe housing for working people and their families, including those who need support
services. We are proud to be part of this collaborative effort that is enhancing the quality of life of our fellow New
Yorkers.”
This project involves the new construction of affordable housing in a single three-story building that is equipped
with an elevator. In addition to workforce housing there are 14 units that supports those with special needs.
Independent Living, Inc. an affiliate of the project’s non-profit sponsor has been serving disabled Mid-Hudson
residents for more than a quarter of a century. With an array of programs for persons with disabilities, they
provide employment assistance, transportation, counseling and case management for disabled residents.
[NY] On the Market: One57’s Tax Breaks Are Myriad; Work Begins on JFK’s Animal Ark (New York
Observer, NY)
New York Observer
(7/15/2015 4:08 PM, Kim Velsey)
One57 benefited far more from the property tax system that favors co-ops and condos than 421-a, finds a new
IBO report covered by Capital New York. Almost two-thirds of the building’s tax relief came from the statecontrolled system rather than the 421-a abatement, which it garnered through the now discontinued certificate
purchase program. “The I.B.O. found that in the 2014 tax year, Extell received $25.4 million in tax breaks—$16
million from the assessment system and $9.4 million from 421-a.”
Could the Supreme Court ruling on the Fair Housing Act, which found that affordable housing plans could be
challenged on the basis of just having a discriminatory result, rather than being intentionally discriminatory,
stymie the de Blasio administration’s plans to build thousands of new affordable units in low-income, minorityheavy neighborhoods? Crain’s asks.
[NY] Residents show support of housing development involved in two lawsuits against town (Spotlight
Newspapers, NY)
Spotlight Newspapers
(7/15/2015 4:12 PM, Emily Drew)
Advocates for a project that would provide housing for seniors, low-income families and the disabled rallied at
last week’s town board meeting to show support.
Supporters of the potential Colonie Hills housing development appeared at the town board meeting Thursday,
July 9, to ask town board members to reconsider the revocation of a Planned Development District (PDD). The
vote took place at the Jan. 22 meeting and halted forward momentum on the housing project, resulting in two
lawsuits against the Town of Colonie. Area residents and supporters of the project carried signs that appealed
to Town Supervisor Paula Mahan, reading, “Supervisor Mahan, you’re breaking out hearts. Support Colonie
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Hills.”
“We’re here tonight to remind the town supervisor and the town board that we support Colonie Hills affordable
housing project for seniors, working families and people with disabilities,” said Rehabilitation Support Services
(RSS) Executive Director William DeVita.
[NY] Community Board Approves Redevelopment Plan for Brooklyn Public Library Branch (New York
Times, NY)
New York Times
(7/16/2015 1:11 AM, Ileana Najarro)
A controversial proposed redevelopment plan for the Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Heights branch, which
includes the construction of affordable housing, received a community board’s approval, with provisions, at a
heated meeting on Wednesday evening.
The board, which met at St. Francis College, voted 25 to 14 in favor, with four members abstaining.
The plan, which involves the sale of public land, next moves to the office of the borough president as it makes
its way toward the City Planning Commission.
The plan calls for a private developer, Hudson Companies Inc., to replace the library building at 280 Cadman
Plaza West, which requires more than $9 million in repairs, with a new building, Linda E. Johnson, the Brooklyn
Public Library president and chief executive, said.
[NJ] Wildwood’s affordable housing development to get facelift (Shore News Today)
Shore News Today
(7/15/2015 4:16 PM, Shore News Today)
WILDWOOD - Commissioners Court, an affordable housing development at 3700 New Jersey Ave., is
scheduled to undergo a $20 million building project that will replace each of the development’s current 70 units,
according to a July 14 release from the city.
At the completion of the project, residents will have housing units that meet Federal Emergency Management
Authority flood guidelines and Americans with Disability Act requirements, and the city will have an affordable
housing development that blends in with the standards of neighboring homes and businesses, according to a
press release from the city July 14.
According to Leone, as a private, for-profit developer, Conifer is able to take advantage of funding not available
to the Wildwood Housing Authority, which is federally funded through the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, and operates two housing developments in the city.
A HUD spokesman was not available for interview by presstime. According to Leone, the project will not be built
with HUD money, but in part with mortgages leveraged by the rents paid by the residents of Commissioners
Court, money the authority cannot use for reconstruction.
[AL] Did Hope VI help rebirth of downtown Birmingham? Housing is crucial, Habitat leader says
(Huntsville Times, AL)
Huntsville Times
(7/15/2015 5:10 PM, Greg Garrison)
Did the Hope VI housing renewal help launch the rebirth of downtown Birmingham? Good housing is essential
for livable cities, said Renee Glover, who was chief executive officer of the Atlanta Housing Authority from 19942013 and is now chair of Habitat for Humanity International. She said projects like turning Birmingham’s
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Metropolitan Gardens housing project downtown into a mixed-income development may have helped revitalize
the city.
"If we can break up pockets of concentrated poverty, it has a multiplier effect," said Glover, in an interview with
AL.com after she spoke today at the Rotary Club of Birmingham. "Housing is essential. It’s not in and of itself
sufficient." Federal grants under the HOPE VI program paid to tear down blighted housing in Metropolitan
Gardens, replacing it with new apartments. Of those units, 40 percent remained public housing, 40 percent were
rented to people who received tax credits and 20 percent were rented at market prices. The downtown
development now is called Park Place.
[TN] East Nashville project includes affordable housing (Nashville Tennessean, TN)
Nashville Tennessean
(7/15/2015 5:18 PM, Getahn Ward)
A Nashville-based real estate partnership is pursuing specific plan zoning to allow for a 17-unit cottage-style
development in south Inglewood where at least 20 percent of the project will be affordable housing units. Invent
Communities and Building Masters LLC are drawing up plans for the project on five lots totaling just less than an
acre of undeveloped land near the corner of Pennington and Litton avenues.
Adam Gleaves, vice president of operations and a partner in Invent Communities, expects construction to start
at year’s end pending approval of the rezoning. Plans call for nine single-family homes and eight for sale
multifamily condo units. “We will be providing affordable housing — we will essentially be doing inclusionary
zoning before it becomes law,” Gleaves said. “We are proud to be able to bring a product like this to East
Nashville.”
[CA] LGBT-friendly apartments for low-income seniors planned in Sacramento (Sacramento Bee, CA)
Sacramento Bee
(7/16/2015 5:03 AM, Ryan Lillis)
Plans are advancing for an LGBT-friendly senior affordable housing facility in midtown Sacramento, believed to
be the first of its kind in the Central Valley.
Mutual Housing California has finalized an agreement to purchase three parcels at the corner of 16th and F
streets to build a 50-unit apartment building. The nonprofit is working on its financing for the project and hopes
to begin construction in 2017.
“Sacramento has a large LGBT population and we all need a place of acceptance and community as we live out
our elder years,” said Rachel Iskow, CEO of Mutual Housing California.
Iskow said research has shown that many LGBT seniors feel discriminated against when they move into senior
care or assisted living facilities. The new facility, preliminarily called Lavender Courtyard, would “allow seniors to
be themselves.”
Fair Housing
Obama commends HUD’s new fair housing rules (Florida Realtors, FL)
FloridaRealtors
(7/15/2015 2:10 PM, FloridaRealtors)
Under the rule, HUD will give local governments data that they must use to analyze any historical patterns of
segregation. Municipalities must submit their analysis to HUD, set goals for ending historical segregation and
track the results. HUD will issue maps, charts and other data that show racially or ethnically concentrated areas
of poverty. The data will include the location of subsidized housing, along with areas where wealthier people
58
have access to greater community assets, such as top-notch schools and job opportunities.
While HUD has no power to force new practices on communities, it can withhold money from those metro areas
that choose to ignore discriminatory policies.
President Obama devoted his latest weekly address to the Fair Housing Act and battling discrimination in
housing. He said the Fair Housing Act and the latest rule would help ensure all Americans get an "equal shot in
life."
"The work of the Fair Housing Act remains unfinished," Obama said. "Just a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court
ruled that policies segregating minorities in poor neighborhoods, even unintentionally, are against the law. The
Court recognized what many people know to be true from their own lives: that too often, where people live
determines what opportunities they have in life.
Contention: If You Take the King’s Shilling… (Commentary)
Commentary
(7/13/2015 1:00 PM, John Steele Gordon)
Last week, I wrote about how the nation’s 6000+ colleges and universities are being inundated by rules,
regulations and “guidance letters” from the federal Department of Education, at the rate of about one every work
day. The administrative cost to colleges is staggering.
Also last week, Investor’s Business Daily wrote about a sweeping new mandate from the Obama administration
that will require cities and counties across the country to conform their zoning codes to what the Department of
Housing and Urban Development thinks is a good idea. That idea is a social engineering scheme of
monumental proportions.
Since the Constitution, in which the sovereign states gave the federal government certain, limited powers, is
utterly silent on the subject of both education and zoning (zoning codes date back only to 1916), what gives the
federal government the power to closely regulate both higher education and local zoning? The answer, of
course, is money: If you take the king’s shilling, you become the king’s man.
New rule is another government overreach (American Press, Lake Charles, LA)
American Press
(7/15/2015 1:17 PM, American Press)
It is getting hard to keep up with all the emerging federal government power grabs from the state and local
governments. One of the most recent to be announced is the euphemistically titled “Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing Rule.”
If the rather awkwardly titled rule isn’t confusing enough, the potential government overreach is downright
disturbing.
Julian Castro, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced the “final rule”
on July 8.
In HUD’s news release, it stated the “final rule,” is “to equip communities that receive HUD funding with the data
and tools that will help them to meet long-standing fair housing obligations in their use of HUD funds. HUD will
provide publicly open data for grantees to use to assess the state of fair housing within their communities and to
set locally-determined priorities and goals.”
How can these be “locally-determined priorities and goals” if HUD is making them jump through minutely
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detailed federal rules and regulations. That is nothing but bureaucratic “double-speak.”
The bottom line is, if you take HUD money, you will play by their “final rule.”
Parker: Liberals don’t want racial strife to end (Amarillo Globe-News, TX)
Amarillo Globe-News
(7/15/2015 11:11 PM, Star Parker)
So now the Confederate flag has been removed from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol in
Columbia. Gov. Nikki Haley got the ball rolling and the job was finished by Republican State Rep. Jenny Horne,
who stood before the South Carolina House of Representatives identifying herself as a descendant of
Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and made an impassioned plea to move the bill to remove the flag with
haste and not allow it to get hung up with amendments.
But this is not and will not be good enough for liberals. In 1963, newly elected Alabama governor George
Wallace took the oath of office in Montgomery, former capital of the Confederacy, and issued forth his famous
phrase, “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Might we think that, along with the flag,
removed was the last remnant of a culture that rejected the idea that all people in our land are equal both under
our constitution and in the eyes of God? Unfortunately, if you think that, you are very wrong. Because liberals
won’t let it happen.
[IL] Effingham Mobile Park Settles Discrimination Complaint (WJBD 1350-AM & 100.1-FM, IL)
WJBD 1350-AM & 100.1-FM
(7/15/2015 9:45 PM, WJBD 1350-AM & 100.1-FM)
The U.S. Justice Department has announced a mobile home park operator in Effingham has agreed to settle
allegations of race and familial status discrimination. Under the consent decree, the Four Seasons Estates
Mobile Home Park will pay $217,500 to the victims of the discrmination to account for theharm they suffered and
their attorneys’ fees. The Mobile Home Park will have to pay an additional $34,000 to the government as a civil
penalty.
The lawsuit alleged that the mobile home park’s manager, Barbara Crubaugh, refused to let an AfricanAmerican individual be added as a resident at the park when he moved in with his white girlfriend and her uncle.
The lawsuit also alleged that while the African-American individual was staying at the mobile home park, he was
subjected to harassment by the manager’s son, David Crubaugh.
The family moved out after the park threatened them with eviction if the African-American individual did not
move out. They contacted HOPE Fair Housing Center, an organization in Illinois that advocates for equal
opportunity in housing, who in turn contacted the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and
the Justice Department. HUD referred the complaints to the Justice Department for further investigation as a
potential pattern or practice of discrimination.
[IL] Lake in the Hills commission moves group home changes to full board (Northwest Herald, IL)
Northwest Herald
(7/15/2015 4:51 PM, Allison Goodrich)
A proposed ordinance amendment that would simplify the process of establishing group homes for the
developmentally disabled will be considered at two upcoming village meetings. Earlier this week, the Planning
and Zoning Commission sent the amendments to the full board for approval after a public hearing, Community
Development Director Dan Olson said. He added that the vote was 5-0, with members Bill Dustin and Brent
Borkgren absent.
As it’s currently written, Olson has said the ordinance appears to be out of line with the Federal Fair Housing Act
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because the village treats group homes differently than family dwellings. “We have to treat a number of
unrelated people with disabilities the same as a number of unrelated people without disabilities,” Olson said.
Now, if someone were to come to the village interested in establishing a group home for the disabled, the
person would need a conditional use permit. However, one is not required for a “family” dwelling with multiple
people without disabilities. The examination of the ordinance and proposed changes to allow group homes
without permits, rather than conditional use, are the result of an inquiry from the Pioneer Center for Human
Services, which plans to open a group home in the village.
[AZ] Fair housing law integrates Tucson communities (Tucson News Now, AZ)
Tucson News Now
(7/16/2015 12:16 AM, Bud Foster)
TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Despite the Fair Housing law being around for nearly 50 years, it has often
been neglected or not stringently enforced.
Just recently however, a city in the state of New York lost funding for not following the rules, sending a wake up
call to others.
The law, passed in 1968 as part of the War on Poverty, was designed to make sure communities were
integrated not just by race, but by economic standing as well.
"It’s about everyone having equal opportunity," said Jay Young, the executive director of the Southwest Fair
Housing Council. "That neighborhoods are free from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, based on whether
or not a family has children, persons with disabilities, things of that nature."
Cities and towns that receive federal money for housing are required to abide by the rules, which prohibit
segregation of all types.
If not, they could lose the federal funds.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that "disperate interests" were enforceable whether violations
were intentional or unintentional.
A violation occurs when a protected class is discriminated against.
President Barack Obama has also ordered new rules regarding the Fair Housing law for the Department of
Housing and Urban Development.
All are sharpening the focus on housing.
Tucson receives millions of dollars in money from HUD.
[Editorial note: VIDEO at source]
Section 8
Want to end homelessness? Provide more housing vouchers (The Hill)
The Hill
(7/15/2015 6:40 AM, Jill Khadduri and Marybeth Shinn)
For people who are lucky enough to live in a home, homelessness seems like an abstract idea, a form of
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suffering that afflicts the very poor. But for 150,000 families who experience homelessness each year and are
forced to seek emergency shelter or face life on the street, it’s not abstract. It’s harsh reality.
For years, researchers have debated the best way to end homelessness. One school of thought believed that
homelessness was predominately a consequence of mental illness, substance use, or domestic violence, and
inadequate services to deal with these afflictions.
But new research sheds light on what may seem obvious: especially for families with children, homelessness is
largely a question of housing affordability. If we want to end family homelessness, we should provide families
with permanent vouchers to live in homes.
The newly released Family Options Study, which gathered evidence about which types of housing and services
worked best for homeless families, showed that providing priority access to permanent housing subsidies has a
variety of positive benefits – from keeping families out of shelters and off the street to preventing hunger and
intimate partner violence and reducing school absences for children. When compared to families who were left
to find their own way out of emergency shelter with whatever help caseworkers gave them, families offered a
permanent housing subsidy also experienced significant reductions in child separations from parents; adult
psychological distress; substance abuse; domestic violence; and food insecurity. Subsidies reduced factors that
are often presumed to cause homelessness, as well as ending homelessness itself.
[PA] Housing authority instructs landlords on legalities of Section 8 rentals (Johnstown TribuneDemocrat, PA)
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat
(7/15/2015 7:13 AM, Dave Sutor)
Participating in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 program requires adhering
to many detailed legal requirements.
So, every year, the Johnstown Housing Authority, which operates the federally funded voucher system locally,
holds a workshop to teach landlords about the steps they need to follow.
On Tuesday, JHA’s Section 8 coordinator, Yvette Penrod, and inspection supervisor, Jim La­Mon­aca, spent
well over an hour providing information to about a half-dozen property owners at the organization’s
headquarters on Chestnut Street.
“The benefit, I see, of having this meeting is so the landlords are educated to what the housing authority does
for those renters and what our process is,” Penrod said.
[LA] Council approves Section 8 advertising (Baton Rouge Advocate, LA)
Baton Rouge Advocate
(7/15/2015 11:50 AM, Aaron E. Looney)
DONALDSONVILLE — The city’s Section 8 rental assistance program administrator told city councilmen
Tuesday there are no more applicants left on the waiting list for housing assistance, and requested permission
to advertise for up to 75 more applicants.
The council voted 4-0 to approve the measure, with Councilman Charles Brown Sr. absent from the meeting.
Roberto Macedo, of Roberto Macedo and Associates, which administers the program, said he is required to
publish a call for applicants in the city’s official journal, The Donaldsonville Chief.
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“We publish an 800 number and a date and time that people can begin calling to inquire,” he said.
Homelessness
Homeless veterans: Let’s give our vets the homes, dignity and respect they deserve (Fox News)
Fox News
(7/15/2015 2:27 PM, John F. Downing, Chief Executive Officer of Soldier On)
Five years after embarking on an ambitious program to end homelessness among America’s military veterans
by the end of 2015, officials backed off last month from that goal. Instead, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert
McDonald emphasized that it is more important and more effective to have in place a comprehensive system
that is “sustainable” so that when we get to the zero designation on the homeless veteran population, “we can
stay at zero.”
This is an ambitious yet essential goal. Sadly, though, only about 30% of veterans actually are being served by
the VA, the country’s largest system of assistance for veterans, including those who are homeless.
To be fair, through the efforts of the VA in partnership with Department of Housing and Urban Development and
other government entities and non-government organizations across the country, including Soldier On (where I
serve as CEO), veteran homelessness has decreased by 33% since 2010, according to HUD. And a number of
major cities, including Houston, New Orleans, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and New York have announced they
achieved or will achieve “functional zero” on their homeless veteran population by the new year.
Moreover, the VA-funded Supportive Services for Veteran Families initiative, which provides grants to
community-based organizations across the country like Soldier On in support of innovative homeless prevention
programs, has made a profound difference in ensuring that homeless and at-risk veterans and their families
have access to the resources they need to successfully transition to permanent housing.
[MA] Difficult times for overnight shelter program in Plymouth (Quincy Patriot Ledger, MA)
Quincy Patriot Ledger
(7/16/2015 1:11 AM, Frank Mand)
PLYMOUTH – As the town and its homeless problem have grown, so have the services provided by the
Plymouth Task Force for the Homeless.
But now that two more churches have dropped out of task force’s overnight shelter program – leaving just two
still committed to providing shelter during the coldest time of the year – the program is in jeopardy.
The so-called Overnights of Hospitality program has been operating in Plymouth since 2004, when concerned
citizens, including task force president Connie Melahoures, convinced local congregations to provide shelter for
the area’s homeless.
The shelter site is supposed to rotate weekly among the participating churches.
[NY] Ali Forney Center to Break Ground on New Residence Named for Bea Arthur (EDGE New York City,
NY)
EDGE New York City
(7/15/2015 11:04 AM, EDGE New York City)
Thank you for being a friend, Bea Arthur.
On July 20 there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Bea Arthur Residence, an 18-bed residence for
homeless LGBT youth operated by the Ali Forney Center. It is anticipated that the building will begin to provide
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housing by the end of 2016.
Bea Arthur gave one of her final public performances as a benefit for the Ali Forney Center in 2005. She was
very upset to learn that hundreds of thousands of LGBT teens were rejected by their families, and driven to
homelessness. She said that she would do anything in her power to help these teens.
"I’m very, very involved in charities involving youth. These kids at the Ali Forney Center are literally dumped by
their families because of the fact that they are lesbian, gay or transgender -- this organization really is saving
lives," Arthur said in an article published prior to her passing.
[NY] Mount Kisco Officials Seek To Remove Encampments Used By Homeless (Somers Daily Voice, NY)
Somers Daily Voice
(7/15/2015 8:11 AM, Tom Auchterlonie)
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. -- Mount Kisco officials are seeking to clear out two wooded encampment areas, including
one in the area of where Jose Sanchez died earlier this month.
The use of encampments by homeless people, along with the clearance plans, was discussed by Mount Kisco
Village Board members at a Monday work session.
Interim Village Manager Gennaro Faiella noted that the sites include a wooded area off of Lieto Drive Sanchez’s body was discovered in the vicinity, according to police - and another that is off of Lexington Avenue
and behind Hudson Valley Bank.
Faiella, who toured the camp near Lieto last week with village officials, described the camping evidence that
was found.
[NY] Bratton: Media attention worsening man’s schizophrenia (Capital New York, NY)
Capital New York
(7/15/2015 9:08 PM, Laura Nahmias)
The homeless man whose picture has appeared several times on the cover of the New York Post because of
his habit of urinating in public is a schizophrenic whose symptoms are being exacerbated by all the media
attention, police commissioner Bill Bratton said Wednesday.
In recent days, the Post’s coverage of the homeless man, identified as 49-year-old John Tucker, has sparked
widespread criticism on Twitter and elsewhere from other media outlets and reporters, who say the paper’s
coverage is excessive and gratuitously cruel. Bratton said the man is well known to police and that an officer
"has been working for months with him trying to deal with his issues."
“He’s an extremely emotionally disturbed individual—schizophrenic—and so all the attention is actually
exacerbating his condition," Bratton said during an appearance with Mayor Bill de Blasio. "Pursuing him for 30
or 40 blocks throughout the city is certainly doing nothing to calm him down. Rather, it’s agitating him.”
[NY] NYPD cracking down on vagrants in city parks (New York Post, NY)
New York Post
(7/15/2015 11:47 PM, Shawn Cohen, Matt Abrahams and Bruce Golding)
The NYPD is stepping up patrols of city parks to clear out vagrants in the wake of a series of Post reports on the
surge in homeless people on the streets. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has ordered cops to enforce the
curfews at all public green spaces to keep derelicts from camping out there, law-enforcement sources said
Wednesday.
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Bratton issued the directive during a Tuesday meeting with his chiefs that followed a surprise visit to Tompkins
Square Park — site of an infamous 1988 clash between cops and homeless squatters — on Monday afternoon,
sources said. One homeless man who saw Bratton there said the commish walked through the park from
Avenue B to Avenue A, surrounded by a security detail of beefy cops in black suits.
“He looked like he was pissed,” said the 59-year-old homeless man, who declined to give his name for fear of
retaliation. He said local beat cops had told the park’s denizens they faced a looming crackdown, saying: “They
warned us that there will be irregular cops that are going to harass us.”
[NY] Residents avoid eviction thanks to PIX11 story, but what’s next, housing advocates ask (WPIX-TV
PIX 11, NY)
WPIX-TV PIX 11
(7/15/2015 8:12 PM, James Ford)
A major effort to help bring to an end a city program that was designed to help the homeless but instead ended
up filling the deep pockets of landlords is now underway. It’s the result of a story first told by PIX11 News.
At the beginning of this month, PIX11 News took a close look at a practice called cluster site homeless housing.
Specifically, by looking at the plight of the 370 residents of 60 Clarkson Ave., a large, brick apartment building, a
clear problem was exposed. The resident families had been given less than 24 hours to leave their apartments,
even though some of them had moved in to them as long as five years ago as an alternative to being on the
street.
Their landlord, Barry Hers, was making millions off the city by housing the residents, but in this fast gentrifying
neighborhood, he apparently wanted to make even more money by attracting market rate tenants into his
building, and moving current residents elsewhere. Some of them were promised apartments in other buildings
owned by the landlord, but those apartments proved to be in even worse shape than the ones they were
threatened to be forced to leave.
[Editorial note: VIDEO at source]
[NY] Undercover reporter exposes intolerance for homeless people outside Gracie Mansion (New York
Post, NY)
New York Post
(7/15/2015 11:47 PM, Kevin Fasick, Dana Sauchelli and Bruce Golding)
There’s plenty of love for the homeless at City Hall — just not outside Gracie Mansion. A Post reporter who
went undercover as a vagrant quickly got rousted near Mayor de Blasio’s residence on Wednesday by a cop
who told him there was no way Hizzoner would stand for it.
“You see that big house up there? That’s the mayor’s house,” the cop said. “Here’s the thing: You try to
panhandle in front of the mayor’s house, he’s going to have you moved.” When asked if de Blasio would really
do that, the cop answered, “Yeah, you’re going to be moved.”
“You’re in front of the mayor’s house. Think about it. How does it look, somebody panhandles in front of the
mayor’s house? You see what I’m saying?” Before the officer could make good, more cops showed up with a
police wagon and three patrol cars — two with flashing lights.
[NJ] Strong housing market fuels upswing in Union County Clerk revenues and more help for homeless
(NJ.com, NJ)
NJ.com
(7/15/2015 2:10 PM, Suburban News)
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Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi is seeing a record increase in property transactions and revenues this year,
reflecting continued improvement in the Union County economy and the housing market.
The County Clerk’s Office is one of a handful of county offices that generates significant revenue, and the
county portion of the revenues generated is dedicated to offset the county tax rate. Additionally, thanks to a
change in state law several years ago, the increased revenue will also result in more funding for homeless
services in Union County.
"The financial crisis of 2008 decimated the housing market, with a consequent drop in our revenues from
transaction fees. Now that the crisis is behind us, the activity in our Recording Division reflects a much brighter
outlook for the Union County," said Rajoppi.
County Clerk and Recorder offices in all 21 New Jersey counties are mandated to record property transactions,
and to collect fees for each transaction. A 2009 state law permits a surcharge of $3 per transaction to be set
aside in a Homeless Trust Fund for each county.
[DC] Mental illness can push even the brightest people into homelessness (New Orleans TimesPicayune, LA)
New Orleans Times-Picayune
(7/15/2015 6:52 AM, Jarvis DeBerry)
Gwendolyn Brooks, the great Pulitzer-Prize-winning American poet, has a poem that was ringing loudly in my
head Tuesday morning as I read a Washington Post story about Alfred Postell. We learn in that Washington
Post story that Postell, a diagnosed schizophrenic who is living on the streets of Washington, graduated from
Harvard Law with John Roberts, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
During a recent court hearing in Washington, Postell, who had been accused of sleeping beside an office
building in the District, was brought before a Judge Thomas Motley. Judge Motley who was trying to determine if
Postell posed a flight risk. According to the Washington Post, Postell spoke up for himself: "I have to return. I
passed the Bar at Catholic University, was admitted to Constitution Hall. I swore the Oath of Office as an
attorney at Constitution Hall in 1979; graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979."
To which the judge reportedly responded: "Mr. Postell, so did I. I remember you."
The Brooks poem is called "To An Old Black Woman, Homeless and Indistinct," and it tells the story of a person
living atop cardboard after previously exhibiting such promise.
[VA] Va. Beach churches raise $180,000 for homeless center (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, VA)
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
(7/15/2015 5:23 PM, Matt McKinney)
The city’s fundraising efforts for a $39 million homeless resource center got a boost this month from two local
churches. Beach Fellowship Church and Wave Church raised a combined $180,000 to support operations at the
center once it opens, the city said. “Any time we can give people a hand up, that’s what we want to do,” said
Josh Kicker, general manager at Wave Church, which raised $50,000. He said his congregation was impressed
with the city’s plans and decided to help.
The 40-bed center at 104 N. Witchduck Road will provide resources including housing, classes and health
services. It also will host office space for city departments that work with the homeless. City officials say
construction will kick off next spring and wrap up in late 2017.
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[NC] Aetna breaks ties to man who sold policies to hundreds of homeless (Charlotte Observer, NC)
Charlotte Observer
(7/15/2015 6:13 PM, Ann Doss Helms)
Aetna is ending its relationship with a Charlotte insurance agent who used the Affordable Care Act to sell
premium-free policies to hundreds of homeless people while the N.C. Department of Insurance continues its
review of the arrangement. The state has scheduled a Sept. 3 “informal administrative conference” on the sales,
which sparked questions and criticism from Charlotte advocates for the homeless and national experts on the
health care act. That session will be closed to the public, spokeswoman Kerry Hall said this week.
Agent Will Kennedy told the Observer last month that he encouraged homeless people to estimate their 2015
income from barter, panhandling and illegal activity at $11,700, the level that gets the maximum federal ACA
subsidy. He sold hundreds of high-deductible plans in North and South Carolina, with the federal government
paying the entire premium. However, those plans left people who have no reliable income responsible for a
$5,000 deductible, and in some cases made them ineligible for free or low-cost medical care and prescriptions.
Kennedy insisted he had found a legal way to help people work around the Medicaid gap in North and South
Carolina. The ACA was designed to provide subsidized private health insurance to low- and moderate-income
people who don’t get workplace coverage, with Medicaid expanding to cover the most impoverished adults. But
the Carolinas are among about two dozen Republican-led states that refused the Medicaid expansion money,
leaving the poorest residents with no access to health insurance.
[TN] Minister Seeks to Build ‘Village’ of Micro-Homes for the Homeless (Ebony)
Ebony
(7/15/2015 9:11 AM, Daniel Kerry)
Nashville, Tennessee–For more than two weeks now, the Rev. Jeff Obafemi Carr has been living in a 60 square
foot micro-home in an innovative effort to raise $50,000 dollars to build an entire village of them for homeless
citizens seeking affordable housing. Modeled after the popular units seen on travel/lifestyle shows like Tiny
House Nation and Tiny House Builders, the entire home is built on a 6x10 trailer. The micro-homes will be
donated free of charge to those who need reliable shelter.
On any given night in Nashville, it is estimated that there are as many as 2,000 - 4,000 homeless individuals-people without a permanent residence living in shelters, streets, hotels, cars, with friends, and family members.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, In January 2014, there were 578,424 people
experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States. Of that number, 216,197 are people in
families, and 362,163 are individuals. About 15 percent of the homeless population – 84,291—are considered
chronically homeless individuals, and about 9 percent of homeless people—49,933—are veterans.
In an effort to raise awareness and funds, Carr set up a GoFundMe page and then moved into the model microhome, which is parked in the middle of Inner-City Nashville. The home was built by his college buddy, engineer
and construction company owner Dwayne A. Jones of Memphis, TN. Infinity members drop off food and water,
and he showers at a nearby gym when the baby-wipe baths don’t suffice.
[FL] The New Face Of Homelessness (Folio Weekly, FL)
Folio Weekly
(7/15/2015 4:02 PM, Dennis Ho and Keith Marks)
The Face of Homelessness is Changing : Social services leaders and homeless advocates on the front lines
say the battle to eradicate homelessness in Northeast Florida will require vision, collaboration, and leadership
Homelessness has a new face.
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Of the more than 100,000 students who attended Duval County Public Schools last year, 2,100 did not have a
home to return to after the school day ended. As of this writing, there are 57 families on the wait-list for a spot at
the Sulzbacher Center — the largest and most comprehensive homeless services provider in Northeast Florida
— in Downtown Jacksonville.
The changing face of this issue brings about new challenges for the community of social service agencies
dedicated to serving the homeless. Many First Coast agencies are comprehensive and organized. The best
ones today operate farms, street teams, culinary programs, healthcare facilities, computer labs, and jobreadiness courses. They also fortify strategic partnerships with a wide range of political and business leaders. It
is a modern, holistic approach.
[Editorial note: photo essay at source]
[TX] City Dismisses Joan Cheever’s Homeless Feeding Citation (Rivard Report, TX)
Rivard Report
(7/15/2015 6:17 AM, Joan Vinson)
The City of San Antonio dismissed Joan Cheever’s citation for feeding the homeless on Tuesday as it rethinks
its regulations.
“Because the City’s food and mobile vending regulations do not address feeding the homeless and in an effort
to move forward with the larger discussion … (the City is) dismissing the citation issued to Joan Cheever,”
stated a new release from the City.
The decision comes almost three months after she was cited for serving food from her personal vehicle that did
not carry the same food permit that her mobile food truck, The Chow Train, does. The citation sparked a local
and national debate about the morality and legality of feeding the homeless.
Although Cheever is “happily surprised” the City dropped the charges against her, she said she will not be
satisfied until the ordinance that prohibits individuals from feeding the homeless is repealed.
[AZ] Dignity (Tucson Weekly, AZ)
Tucson Weekly
(7/16/2015 4:46 AM, María Inés Taracena)
A center works to serve the homeless in Tucson when some have given up
A Roof Over Your Head
On paper it may seem that there are enough beds to go around, but that’s not the case. For instance, shelters
that are funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development require people to have an ID—a
rule that confuses the hell out of social service providers. They also screen for drug and alcohol. If you’re
intoxicated, you have to go. That leaves a whole lot of people without a bed for the night.
"I’m not sure why," says Tom Litwicki, chairman of the Tucson/Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness, and
CEO of Old Pueblo Community Services. "I am working to establish bridge housing for those refused shelter,"
he says in an email. "Bridge housing is like shelter but you don’t have to leave during the day. You can live there
while a navigator helps you get into permanent housing."
If you do get into a shelter like the Salvation Army, there is a seven-day limit, unless you’re enrolled in Pima
County’s Sullivan Jackson employment program. Getting into one of those involves another set of rules: addicts
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have to get clean beforehand and, as homeless activist Michele Ream puts it, it’s unrealistic to expect someone
with a serious mental illness or who’s been on the streets chronically, will be able to sit through a training. Ream
has also been a long-time critic of the way people are treated at shelters, which she says turn places that are
supposed to be safe havens into boot camp-like environments.
Old Pueblo is trying to move away from that "recover first and then we’ll help you" mentality.
[OR] New homeless camp awaits veterans at Eugene Mission (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)
Eugene Register-Guard
(7/16/2015 2:44 AM, Francesca Fontana)
Residents will be required to abide zero-tolerance policy on drug and alcohol use
Some homeless veterans will be moving from one camp to another over the weekend — with a twist.
The new camp, on the Eugene Mission’s First Avenue campus, is slated to open Friday. The old camp, at
Northwest Expressway and Chambers Street, will close up on Sunday.
All veterans leaving the old camp are guaranteed a spot at the new camp, said Erik de Buhr, executive director
of Community Supported Shelters, the nonprofit group that manages the camps.
Because the Eugene Mission has a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol and drug use, veterans must agree to forgo
any alcohol and drug use, even during those hours when they may be away from the mission’s premises.
[OR] Our Homeless Crisis: Portland Business Alliance urges City Hall to find more emergency beds
(Portland Oregonian, OR)
Portland Oregonian
(7/15/2015 8:01 PM, Anna Griffin)
The leaders of Portland’s largest business organization want Mayor Charlie Hales and the rest of the Portland
City Council to make more services for homeless men and women -- particularly emergency shelter beds -- a
priority. In a new campaign, which includes newspaper ads in The Oregonian/Oregonlive and the Portland
Tribune and an online petition, the Portland Business Alliance calls on city leaders to provide more indoors
places for homeless people to sleep and more access to the social services needed to get off the streets for
good.
"They can find money when they want to find money. We’ve seen that," said Sandra McDonough, president and
CEO of the city’s largest chamber of commerce. "I’m not accusing the Portland City Council of not thinking
about this issue. They know it’s an issue. They talk about it all the time. But we need to become very actionfocused."
[CA] Survey: SF homeless population getting sicker, older (Modesto Bee, CA)
Modesto Bee
(7/16/2015 2:14 AM, Associated Press)
SAN FRANCISCO -- A survey shows the number of homeless people on San Francisco’s streets has stubbornly
remained nearly the same over the past two years — and that population is now sicker and older.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports new city statistics show there are 6,686 people without a place to live.
That’s 3.8 percent more than the 6,436 tallied in 2013.
The city’s biennial homeless count, released Wednesday, shows 30 percent of the population is now aged 51
years or older — up from 17 percent in 2013.
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The report, which must be produced every two years to qualify for federal homeless funds, found the number of
youths on the street dropped 6.6 percent from 914 in 2013 to 853 this year.
[CA] The Numbers are Out and the Jury is In (North Coast Journal, CA)
North Coast Journal
(7/16/2015 5:10 AM, Linda Stansberry)
Hard facts on the scope of Humboldt’s homelessness problem and the obstacles to solving it
The average homeless person in Humboldt County is male. He is white, between 35 and 45 years of age. He
lives in Eureka and sleeps unsheltered, probably in a tent or car. It is likely he has a disabling condition such as
a physical injury. The odds are great that he has been homeless for at least two years. These statistics are all
drawn from the recent draft report of the Point in Time Count, a biannual effort by the Humboldt Housing and
Homeless Coalition. In January, volunteers from across the county visited homeless camps and shelters to
survey Humboldt County residents experiencing housing insecurity. The draft report, due for release July 16,
coincides with a recent Grand Jury report which found a "lack of coordination and collaboration" between the
county, the Eureka City Council and "dedicated homeless service providers." The report also concluded that
existing services and strategies are stymied by a "critical lack of affordable housing in Humboldt County."
The total number of homeless in Humboldt County appears to be large, growing and elusive. Volunteers polled
a total of 1,319 people in 2015, roughly 1 percent of the county’s total population. Numbers are up from the last
count, which estimated there were 1,054 homeless people living in Humboldt. (Committee members from the
Humboldt Housing and Homeless Coalition say the 2013 count was missing a great deal of data.) The figures,
which follow U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines, do not include people living in
clean and sober housing, staying with families or relatives, or any children experiencing housing insecurity.
At the July 9 meeting of the HHHC, when the draft report was released, Arcata House Executive Director Fox
Olson said there were some issues finding people who "wanted to take the lead" on the count. The Humboldt
Edge, a newsletter dedicated to "the creative expression of people living on the street," criticized the length of
time it took to release PIT count numbers. Olson said she and others took on PIT duties in addition to their
normal workloads, which was partially responsible for the delay. Committee members devoted much of their
efforts this year to streamlining the questionnaire, eliminating as many write-in answers as possible so that the
forms could be scanned.
[CA] S.F. homeless population getting sicker, older, survey says (San Francisco Chronicle, CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
(7/16/2015 5:05 AM, Kevin Fagan and Heather Knight)
The number of homeless people on San Francisco’s streets has stubbornly remained nearly the same over the
past two years — and that population is now sicker, older and being shoved into different neighborhoods by
gentrification, new city statistics show.
The city’s biennial homeless count, released Wednesday, shows there are 6,686 people without a place to live,
or 3.8 percent more than the 6,436 tallied in 2013. That nominal change is no comfort to anyone appalled by the
encampments that seem to never go away, or the never-ebbing tide of panhandlers in the center of town.
To many, it seems as if the population has actually ballooned, and officials and advocates for the homeless say
there appear to be several dynamics propelling that perception. One is that many panhandlers are actually
housed but living hand-to-mouth; another is that the number of street people has grown significantly in upscale
neighborhoods such as the Castro and Pacific Heights.
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But perhaps most tellingly, the percentage of older and severely troubled homeless people has grown, meaning
that those on the street are more difficult to help and, with the wear and tear of living outside, look more ragged.
[HI] Lawmakers Should Not Have ‘Our Heads in the Sand’ (Honolulu Civil Beat, HI)
Honolulu Civil Beat
(7/15/2015 6:46 AM, Editorial)
A lawmaker’s comments about how legislators reacted to the homeless problem this year speaks volumes
about why it’s so difficult to get help for Hawaii’s poor.
Rep. Sylvia Luke’s comments in Anita Hofschneider’s Monday report on why 175 public housing units remain
vacant even as Honolulu works to find accommodations for the homeless seem to have been either a
remarkable admission or a cringe-worthy example of political tone-deafness.
Discussing the city homeless “sweeps” that she described as “not working” and contributing to the growth of
homeless camps in Kakaako and along the Kapalama Canal, the House Finance Committee chair made a
startling declaration: “I think the unfortunate thing was that we’ve known what was going on and we just sort of
put our heads in the sand and hoped that somebody else would take care of it.”
Um, say what?
Luke and her colleagues had multiple opportunities in the recently concluded legislative session to at least make
a dent in Hawaii’s rapidly growing homeless problem and related challenges in affordable housing. But when the
Hawaii Housing Authority said it needed $180 million to begin addressing the serious and growing $820 million
backlog of public housing maintenance needs, legislators ponied up $4.1 million, instead.
Public and Indian Housing (PIH)
[NY] Stringer: NYCHA has made little progress in clearing repair backlog (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
(7/15/2015 3:23 PM, Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
Names Brooklyn Projects With Worst Records
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) makes tens of thousands of New Yorkers wait for weeks,
months and sometimes even years before fixing serious problems such as asbestos, missing carbon monoxide
detectors, broken elevators, leaky ceilings and faulty stoves, according to an audit released this week by New
York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer.
The audit also revealed that NYCHA drastically underreported data on its maintenance backlog; failed to
properly train staff to get rid of mold, mildew, and excessive moisture; and fell dramatically short when it came to
meeting its own deadlines for repairs.
“For the 400,000 New Yorkers who live in NYCHA housing, the authority’s handling of repairs is a case study in
mismanagement,” Stringer said. “There is a backlog of over 50,000 repairs — including thousands that have
been ignored for over a year.
“During our audit we learned of one tenant who had a leaky ceiling that was so bad that she had to cancel
Christmas, and another who had to deal with a leak for more than a decade,” he said.
[NY] Audit Slams the New York City Housing Authority for Misleading Data on Repairs to Public Housing
(ProPublica)
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ProPublica
(7/15/2015 12:21 PM, Marian Wang)
The New York City Housing Authority, the country’s largest public housing agency, has fallen far short of its
pledge to make fixes to residents’ apartments in a timely manner and eliminate a massive repair backlog, an
audit by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has found.
In fact, the housing authority was reporting repairs in such a way that “obscures the actual amount of time it
takes NYCHA to fully complete repairs,” the audit found.
The findings of the audit echo ProPublica’s story earlier this year describing the misleading ways that NYCHA
tracks and tallies repairs. The New York Daily News had also raised questions about how NYCHA was reducing
its repair backlog.
In one case that we observed in April, NYCHA effectively counted a repair as fixed after a worker simply put a
bucket under a leak. A spokeswoman for the agency called it “an oversight.”
The comptroller’s office found a pattern of inadequate responses from NYCHA.
[NY] Tenants Scrutinize NextGen NYCHA (Chelsea Now, NY)
Chelsea Now
(7/15/2015 4:21 PM, Zach Williams)
New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents said they expect better communication and transparency
in the months ahead from authority officials, as they continue to develop strategies to deal with the financial
problems of public housing citywide.
About 100 people attended a town hall meeting held at Baruch College (Lexington Ave. & E. 25th St.), where
NYCHA tenants asked questions of officials for about two hours on the night of July 14. A similar town hall was
held on July 8 at Hunter College in East Harlem. Both events followed the unveiling of “NextGeneration
NYCHA,” a plan to move the authority from the brink of fiscal catastrophe to a $230 million budgetary surplus
over the next decade. Vital to the plan’s success, officials said, was the participation of residents in the process
moving forward, including upcoming focus groups.
The stakes are high considering the importance of public housing for children and seniors as well as the
additional tenant protections afforded NYCHA residents who never pay more than 30 percent of their household
income, according to Michael Kelly, general manager for the authority. In response to a question, NYCHA
officials said that they use gross (rather than net) income to determine housing eligibility per federal
requirements.
[NJ] In ‘backward’ move, Trenton Housing Authority appoints ex-director to top post (Trenton Times,
NJ)
Trenton Times
(7/15/2015 7:35 PM, Cristina Rojas)
The Trenton Housing Authority has named W. Oliver "Bucky" Leggett as its next executive director, a decision
two commissioners criticized as a step backward for the authority and city. Leggett, 72, previously served as
director from 1993 to August 2000, but came under fire by the federal Department of Housing and Urban
Development for holding both the director and city councilman positions. HUD said there was a conflict of
interest because council appointed commissioners who oversaw the director’s job performance and set his
salary.
In July 2000, HUD gave him an ultimatum to choose one or the other. He chose to resign from his $115,000-a72
year job as executive director to stay on as city councilman, where he was paid $17,000 a year for the part-time
position. On Wednesday, Leggett’s appointment was approved in a 4-2 vote. His one-year term begins Aug. 1
and his annual salary will be $150,000.
[NJ] ‘Shame! Shame!’ shouted as ‘Bucky’ Leggett selected to lead Trenton Housing Authority
(Trentonian, NJ)
Trentonian
(7/16/2015 5:09 AM, David Foster)
TRENTON - City resident Donald Davis attended Wednesday’s Trenton Housing Authority (THA) meeting for
“amusement.”
The special meeting was scheduled to appoint a new executive director to lead the agency.
“You all know it’s a done deal,” Davis spouted off as the board of commissioners met behind closed doors to
discuss the pick. “It’s all about connections. It happens all the time in Trenton.”
When the board reconvened with the majority selecting Leggett for the lead role, Davis started screaming
“Shame! Shame!”
The appointment of Leggett, who served in the same position from 1993 until 2000, was also lambasted by two
board members.
Commissioner Kim Taylor, who is Gov. Chris Christie’s appointment to the THA board, said she reviewed all 10
applicants “without prejudice and/or influence.”
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) generally takes a “hands-off”
approach for local housing authorities to decide who will lead their agencies, a spokesman recently told The
Trentonian.
HUD will only step in if an elected official seeks the top spot or the individual is disbarred from managing HUDfunded properties, agency spokesman Charles McNally said.
“The local agencies have pretty broad leeway to hire who they feel is the appropriate candidate,” McNally said.
“There’s been no concern expressed over the selection of Mr. Leggett. This is not a situation where HUD is
involved in the search and selection process at all.”
Taylor feels HUD should reconsider its stance.
“I think HUD overall should revamp how the hiring and the qualifications of the executive director is evaluated,”
she said. “Maybe it is something that should not be completely left in the hands of its commissioners.
[PA] PHA to consider banning smoking in some units (Philly.com, PA)
Philly.com
(7/15/2015 8:01 PM, Madeline R. Conway)
The Philadelphia Housing Authority on Thursday will consider banning smoking in some of its properties, a
move that officials say would make it the largest public housing agency "in the nation to implement such a
policy." If approved by the Board of Commissioners, the measure would ban smoking in at least some of its
units, which house about 80,000 low-income residents, a spokesman said Wednesday. The PHA would not say
how comprehensive the ban would be.
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According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than 500 housing agencies,
including those in Detroit, Boston, and San Antonio, have smoking bans in place. PHA’s measure follows
mounting federal pressure on public housing agencies to curb smoking on their properties. In 2009, HUD issued
a notice "strongly" encouraging housing authorities to prohibit smoking in all or some of their units, citing health
risks associated with tobacco use and secondhand smoke.
[PA] Philadelphia Housing Authority considers smoking ban (WJAC 6, PA)
WJAC 6
(7/16/2015 4:42 AM, Associated Press)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Philadelphia Housing Authority is considering a smoking ban in some of its
properties, a move that would make it the country’s largest public housing agency to implement such a policy.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the PHA’s Board of Commissioners will vote on the issue on Thursday. A PHA
spokesman says the measure would ban smoking in an unspecified amount of the organization’s units, which
houses approximately 80,000 low-income residents.
More than 500 housing agencies have smoking bans in place according to the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
HUD issued a 2009 notice that encouraged housing authorities to prohibit smoking in all or some of their
properties, citing health risks associated with tobacco use.
[VA] Development Firms Announce Plan to Rehab Historic Danville Building, Create Apartments (WSETTV ABC 13, VA)
WSET-TV ABC 13
(7/15/2015 10:53 AM, WSET-TV ABC 13)
Danville, VA - New life will be coming to an old building in Danville starting this fall.
Today, Winson-Salem based development firm, Rehab Development Inc., and Washington, D.C. based firm
Level 2 Development, announced plans to aquire 549 High Street for redevelopment.
The project is scheduled to be complete in the fall of 2016, and 21 market rate apartments are expected to be
created.
Last year, due to the buildings being unstable, the Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (DRHA)
aquired the property. Shortly afterwards - one of the two buildings collapsed - leaving the street unsafe for both
vehicles and pedestrians.
[MS] JRA won’t disclose new convention center hotel proposals (Mississippi Business Journal, MS)
Mississippi Business Journal
(7/15/2015 1:49 PM, Ted Carter)
Long known for its preference to keep its business out of the public eye, the Jackson Redevelopment Authority
is refusing to release proposals it received for a convention center hotel by a June 30 deadline. Nor will the city
agency say how many responses to the RFP it has received.
Convention center hotel proposals in previous years have called for Jackson taxpayers to back-stop tens of
millions of dollars in development and operational costs. The new round of invitations for proposals promise
attractive incentives on the part of City Hall and the JRA.
A developer interested in purchasing, leasing or redeveloping a convention hotel property is eligible for an 80
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percent sales tax rebate to cover up to 30 percent of capital costs over a 15-year life for the rebate, the
Redevelopment Authority’s RFP stated.
The RFP noted the JRA is willing to explore additional ways to cover any funding gap.
[IL] Housing authority saves thousands with Siemens energy program (Water Technology)
Water Technology
(7/15/2015 11:55 AM, Water Technology)
BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. — Siemens has entered Phase 2 of a project that will save the Youngstown Metropolitan
Housing Authority (YMHA) approximately $500,000 per year, according to a press release.
Phase 1 of the project began in 2008, noted the release, saving YMHA several million dollars. Phase 2 involves
updates to more than 500 units in five developments.
The project is part of a larger effort to modernize half of YMHA’s housing units, stated the release. The second
phase’s upgrades include lighting retrofits, updated temperature controls, energy-efficient refrigerators, furnace
replacements and energy-efficient domestic hot water heater replacements.
“The energy performance contract with Siemens assists YMHA to address the challenge of providing more
energy proficiency to our older housing stock,” said Carmelita Douglas, executive director of YMHA, in the
release. “Based on the success of the first phase, it only made good financial sense to extend our contract.”
Public authorities can receive incentives through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to
make energy and water savings improvements to housing units, shared the release.
[IL] Mayor Larry Morrissey statement on New Towne Drive housing (Rockford Register Star, IL)
Rockford Register Star
(7/15/2015 6:34 AM, Rockford Register Star)
Mayor Larry Morrissey makes a statement to members of the media on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, after Gorman
withdrew its proposal to build affordable housing on New Towne Drive in Rockford.
[Editorial note: VIDEO at source]
[IL] Day after plan pulled, Rockford Housing CEO talks to community about New Towne Drive
development (WREX-TV NBC 13 Rockford, IL)
WREX-TV NBC 13 Rockford
(7/15/2015 7:36 PM, Rebecca Klopf)
One day after plans are withdrawn to bring new, controversial affordable housing to Rockford, a crowd of people
lines up for answers about what’s next. Rockford Housing Authority’s CEO Ron Clewer says he’s going to be
out and about more than he was before on this project. In a way, he is hitting the trail, campaigning for what he
calls a better way of living.
"We have clearly not elevated ourselves so we are top of mind for most people, so if we are not then what is?
Fear. You hear, ‘Oh my god, the housing authority is coming to my neighborhood.’ People fear that," Clewer
says. It’s created some heated dialogue in past. That’s why Gorman and Associates said Tuesday it was taking
a step back. The developers withdrew their proposal from Rockford’s Zoning Board of Appeals to build 65 unit
on South New Towne Drive. People came to Clewer at this miracle mile meeting looking for clarification.
[Editorial note: VIDEO at source]
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[OH] CMHA officer charged with stalking ex-girlfriend (Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer
(7/15/2015 7:39 PM, Jane Morice)
A Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) police officer has been arrested and charged with stalking
his ex-girlfriend and breaking into her home while on duty. The officer, Demetrius Jackson, 34, was charged
Tuesday with aggravated burglary, kidnapping and menacing by stalking in Cleveland Municipal Court. He is
scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning.
Jackson tracked down his ex-girlfriend at her home on McElhattan Avenue on Cleveland’s East Side on July 3,
and again at a bar on Cleveland’s West Side the following night, according to the arrest warrant. The warrant
also says that on July 12 and July 14, Jackson attempted to get in contact with his ex-girlfriend while on duty as
a CMHA officer and armed with his service weapon. On one occasion, Jackson tracked down the woman,
blocked her car in and physically took her from her vehicle after she refused to speak to him on the phone, the
warrant says. Jackson is accused of breaking into the victim’s home about 1 a.m. on July 14 by removing an air
conditioning window unit and crawling into the woman’s bedroom, the arrest warrant says.
[NV] Housing authority board members question calculus (Review-Journal, Las Vegas, NV)
Review-Journal
(7/15/2015 11:38 AM, John L. Smith)
They help some of Southern Nevada’€™s most needy, but now it appears employees at the Southern Nevada
Regional Housing Authority might soon need some help of their own.
The agency’s confidential “Path to Agency Sustainability”€report warns of a $1.8 million projected shortfall in
fiscal year 2016 and makes the case for the elimination of at least 45 positions and the privatization of
management at four housing authority developments with a total of 421 units. The report is surfacing at a time
housing authority officials are in contract negotiations with the Service Employees International Union, which
represents many of the agency’s 236 workers.
The affected developments include Rose Gardens, Simmons Manor, Espinoza Terrace and Sherman
Gardens/Villa Capri. The complexes are projected to lose approximately $790,000 in the coming year,
according to the report. Sherman Gardens is set to lose the most, $236,500. Most of the employees whose jobs
are in jeopardy work on site and help keep the aging units functioning for residents who are among the poorest
in Clark County.
With annual salaries in the $30,000 range, the workers don™t exactly peg the pay meter. And they continue to
endure forced furloughs that other government-funded entities quit months ago. The report dutifully notes their
salaries and benefits and projected red ink.
[NV] Housing Authority board votes to table job cuts discussion (KLAS-TV Channel 8 Las Vegas, NV)
KLAS-TV Channel 8 Las Vegas
(7/15/2015 11:17 PM, Patrick Walker)
Nearly 50 workers for the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority can finally breathe a sigh of relief. After
learning Wednesday through a leaked document that their jobs were on the line, the authority’s board voted to
try to find another way to cut costs.
The cuts would have represented roughly 20 percent of the housing authority’s workforce. The executive
director of the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority proposed the cuts as part of a cost-cutting
measure put in place because of a projected $1.5 billion 2016 budget shortfall.
However, some employees feel the proposed cuts was a case of union-busting. "They’re at home, secure in
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their beds, while we, the 18 percent they’re going to cut, are doing the jobs," said one worker who wanted to
remain anonymous. "I am the sole breadwinner for my home, we need this job to be able to sustain our family,"
said Rev. Dr. Shaun Green, Housing Authority Worker. A sustainability plan from the housing authority’s director
John Hill will cut 45 positions. That’s nearly 20 percent of the agency’s staff. "My job is a very difficult decision,"
said Hill.
[NV] Housing Authority board votes to save jobs (KLAS-TV Channel 8 Las Vegas, NV)
KLAS-TV Channel 8 Las Vegas
(7/15/2015 10:39 PM, KLAS-TV Channel 8 Las Vegas)
Fighting for their jobs: SNRHA predicts $1.5 million shortfall next year.
[Editorial note: VIDEO at source]
[NV] Housing authority delays budget decision, layoffs (Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV)
Las Vegas Review-Journal
(7/15/2015 7:39 PM, Yesenia Amaro)
The Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority Board of Commissioners on Wednesday voted to table the
agency’s 2016 budget, postponing proposed layoffs and the outsourcing of three programs. The affected
programs employ 236 workers. The 45 proposed layoffs represent a 19 percent reduction in force among those
programs. "We are not looking at 45 jobs, we are looking at 45 families," said Commissioner Theresa Davis.
The agency, with an annual budget of close to $150 million, faces a projected budget deficit of between $1.6
million and $1.8 million for fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1. The outsourcing and layoff proposals are an attempt
to balance the budget. The agency needs to submit its budget to federal officials by September.
Sustainability
[FL] Greening Our Community – Moving Forward with Sustainable Tallahassee (Tallahassee Democrat,
FL)
Tallahassee Democrat
(7/15/2015 11:55 PM, Tallahassee Democrat)
Since becoming the Executive Director of Sustainable Tallahassee last year, I’ve had many conversations in
which the first question to me is, “So, what is Sustainable Tallahassee?” In answering, it occurs to me that every
day I learn something new that impresses me about the large scope of this organization, its committed members
and its accomplishments.
“What is Sustainable Tallahassee?” is a question with a big answer. We strive to make our community more
sustainable now and in the future – by providing education, collaboration, and advocacy to conserve and protect
our natural resources, and to support and encourage businesses that promote or operate in a “green”
sustainable manner, in order for future generations to enjoy quality of life in our community.
In concrete terms, our focus is to reduce our carbon footprint, promote renewable energy, reduce waste,
increase alternative transportation, support green businesses, protect our waters and aquifer from pollution and
overuse, and promote local food production and consumption.
Community Planning and Development (CPD)
[MA] 65 Massachusetts communities to receive $26 million for housing and other services (Springfield
Union-News & Sunday Republican, MA)
Springfield Union-News & Sunday Republican
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(7/15/2015 5:46 PM, Gintautas Dumcius)
Sixty-five communities across Massachusetts are receiving $26 million in funds for housing, infrastructure
improvements and other social services. The town of Adams, which has 8,500 residents, is one of the 65.
Adams is set to receive $580,000 for assessing and rehabilitating housing owned or occupied by low-income
people. Tony Mazzucco, the town administrator for Adams, said 10 to 15 units of housing should benefit from
the funds. "It keeps quality housing in the community," he said.
Gov. Charlie Baker joined local lawmakers and municipal officials like Mazzucco at the State House to dole out
the competitive funds, known as Community Development Block Grants, which come through the federal
government. North Adams will funnel its funds towards a community center, while the communities of Russell,
Chester and Huntington plan to use the money for a domestic violence prevention task force. Baker said the
funds are geared towards creating "safe havens" for domestic violence victims and improving sidewalks.
[MA] Holyoke’s poorer neighborhoods getting extra police patrols, other help (Springfield Union-News &
Sunday Republican, MA)
Springfield Union-News & Sunday Republican
(7/15/2015 5:57 PM, Mike Plaisance)
Dozens of additional police patrols will be deployed to the Downtown, Churchill, Flats and South Holyoke
neighborhoods beginning Aug. 1 thanks to $19,500 in federal grants, officials said. The "2015 Qualify of Life
Program" is a joint effort of the Police Department and Olde Holyoke Development Corp., a private nonprofit
housing provider. "These patrols and outreach can truly impact the quality of life in our neighborhoods," Police
Chief James M. Neiswanger said in an email Tuesday (July 14).
"Our mission is to create dignified homes and safe, attractive neighborhoods for every resident of the city of
Holyoke," said Michael J. Moriarty, Olde Holyoke Development president. "This assistance allows us to work
with residents and public safety officials in a positive way that we hope makes a difference." Last year, a similar
effort added more than 300 hours of police coverage to the four neighborhoods to target 10 "hot spots," police
terminology for buildings, streets or intersections with a lot of crime. The effort included cleaning alleys, graffiti
and parks, officials said. The money funding the effort is federal Community Development Block Grants, officials
said.
[MA] Visualizing the rapid development of East Boston (Boston Globe, MA)
Boston Globe
(7/15/2015 5:08 PM, Justine Hoffherr)
To outsiders, East Boston has long been known as a working-class neighborhood with a high concentration of
foreign-born residents, as well as the home of Logan International Airport. But for residents, Eastie is also a
hidden gem, with triple-decker waterfront properties that offer some of the best views of the Boston skyline. It’s
where locals can find ethnic cuisine for cheap, from Italian (Santarpio’s!) and Mexican (Angela’s Café!), to
Peruvian, Brazilian, and even Vietnamese.
There’s nary a Starbucks in sight – although there are some multilingual Dunkin’ Donuts. But as a recent article
by WBUR pointed out, much of this is in jeopardy. Rapid development has caused East Boston home values to
quadruple over the past two decades, and many residents are struggling to keep up with the expense.
[CT] Baker awards $26M to local communities (Connecticut Post, CT)
Connecticut Post
(7/15/2015 8:54 PM, Associated Press)
Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration is handing out $26 million in federally-funded grants to fund housing,
transportation and other initiatives in dozens of smaller cities and towns. The Community Development Block
Grants are awarded to municipalities on a competitive basis to supplement local aid in the state budget.
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On Thursday, Baker on Thursday handed out 33 block grants covering 65 cities and towns. He said they’ll help
communities "solve local problems with local solutions." The administration said some of the grants will help
rehabilitate hundreds of units of housing across the state, while another will fund a domestic violence initiative in
several western Massachusetts towns.
[NY] Renewal Projects, Down to the Sidewalks, Highlight Social Divides (New York Times)
New York Times
(7/15/2015 1:12 PM, Michael Kimmelman)
Like so many New York neighborhoods, Tompkinsville on Staten Island can almost seem like an island of its
own. A half-mile walk from the St. George Ferry Terminal, the neighborhood has a park, which is hardly more
than a traffic triangle with a few trees and a small fountain. Mothers with baby strollers and small children linger
just outside it. There’s a Dominican restaurant on a corner and a taxi company up the block, next to a beauty
supply shop with a box outside it containing plastic flowers, a makeshift memorial.
Eric Garner died after being put in a chokehold by the police on the sidewalk outside the shop a year ago this
Friday.
The battle over his death wasn’t only about policing, but about public space. The civil rights movement of the
1960s was played out largely as a struggle for equality at schools, bus stops, swimming pools, churches,
sidewalks and luncheonette counters. Some things haven’t changed.
“The presumption is that blacks are suspect just simply by being in public places,” is how Mario Gooden, a
principal at Huff + Gooden Architects, an African-American-run firm based in New York, sees it. Mr. Gooden
cited the case of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy playing with a toy gun in a park in Cleveland, shot dead by a
police officer less than two seconds after they arrived at the scene.
Urban renewal conspired to promote white flight, encouraged gated developments, like the one in Sanford, Fla.,
where Trayvon Martin was killed, and destroyed traditional African-American neighborhoods, replacing them
with public housing complexes that were left to rot. Last fall, Akai Gurley was shot dead by a policeman in the
unlighted stairwell of a dilapidated project in East New York.
Reinhold Martin, an architecture professor at Columbia, puts it differently. “You can blame urban renewal,
suburbs, the breakdown of inner cities,” he told me. “But in the end we’re really talking about real estate, which
is about borders.”
“It’s primal,” he added. “Real estate involves thresholds, creating lines that should not be crossed, places that
are off limits to certain people. African-Americans are supposed to be invisible in public spaces. The challenge
for African-Americans is to gain access to these places, to infrastructure and amenities, so they can be seen
and heard.”
[NY] Town of Woodstock updates hiring policy to conform with rules for receiving NY state storm-relief
aid (Kingston Daily Freeman, NY)
Kingston Daily Freeman
(7/15/2015 6:46 PM, William J. Kemble)
State and federal requirements regarding funding to repair storm damage have led the Town Board to adopt an
affirmative action hiring policy. The policy was approved during a meeting Tuesday at which town Supervisor
Jeremy Wilber said omissions from it were found during a review being done in accordance with the NY Rising
storm relief program. “We’re getting $3 million from the state of New York for improvements, and there are all
these hoops that we have to go through, and you just watched us jump through another one,” Wilber said.
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Under the policy, the town cannot use age, race, color, religion, gender, creed, national origin, physical or
mental disability, marital status, veteran status, disabled veteran status or status as a member of any other
protected group when hiring, promoting or training employees. The town also will be required to “prevent
harassment or intimidation of all employees, particularly those encompassed” by protected group status.
Wilber said the town had a similar policy but was required to update the language to comply with state law.
“What we had wasn’t good enough for them,” he said. “We have an equal employment opportunity law, which is
not nearly as extensive as the affirmative action language.” The town policy cites federal regulations regarding
how to address complaints from people who feel there has been hiring discrimination.
[NJ] Sea Bright amends 2015 budget due to delay in grant funding (The Hub, NJ)
The Hub
(7/16/2015 5:10 AM, Kenny Walter)
SEA BRIGHT — After a delay in the receipt of a $406,000 grant to repair and improve the borough’s riverside
bulkhead, the Borough Council has been forced to amend the budget.
Finance Director Michael Bascom said last week the grant, funded by the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP), is still expected to be awarded this year but has not yet been received, forcing
the budget amendment.
The borough will receive $732,000 from the Essential Services Grant after originally allocating for $752,000.
The program, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is designed to fund a
variety of services, including police and public works salaries, and solid waste disposal for disaster impacted
communities.
[PA] Collaborations Unify City of Sharon’s Development Goals (Youngstown Business Journal, PA)
Youngstown Business Journal
(7/15/2015 7:30 AM, George Nelson)
SHARON, Pa. – Scott Andrejchak, city manager just under four years, muses on the many changes he has
seen in his city. People now look at Sharon “as a destination in a way that maybe they didn’t [before],” he
begins.
Primary Health Network, which he describes as having “a huge footprint across the northern tier of
Pennsylvania” and “growing by leaps and bounds,” is building a new headquarters downtown, the first new
commercial office building there since 1969. Sharon Regional Health System, the largest employer in the city
and Mercer County, is “on the verge of a large building project here as well,” he says.
Sharon has successfully worked with Penn-Northwest Development Corp. and other partners to attract
manufacturing concerns to shore up its economic base, the initiative to bring in Noise Solutions being one
example, Andrejchak says.
“We are working as best we can with the community development department and the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development to combat blight in neighborhoods because a big component of having a
vibrant community is having people that want to live in the community,” he continues.
[PA] Up to 200 residents near Flight 93 National Memorial in are eligible for home repair funds
(Greenfield Daily Reporter, IN)
Greenfield Daily Reporter
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(7/16/2015 2:16 AM, Associated Press)
SHANKSVILLE, Pennsylvania — As many as 200 property owners near the Flight 93 National Memorial in
western Pennsylvania will be able to apply for federal funds to repair their homes.
The (Johnstown) Tribune-Democrat reports the Redevelopment Authority of Somerset County secured a
$500,000 contract with the state Department of Community and Economic Affairs to help income-eligible
homeowners address code violations and other maintenance needs through the federally funded HOME
investment partnership.
Officials say the repairs normally deal with facade work such as roofs, heating systems, windows and decks.
Eligible residents must meet lower income guidelines outlined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
[VA] Ambitious plan to redevelop aging Fairfax suburb clears another hurdle (Washington Post)
Washington Post
(7/15/2015 11:44 AM, Antonio Olivo)
The Fairfax County planning commission Wednesday night recommended approval of plans to overhaul the
Seven Corners area of the county with a grid of streets meant to reduce traffic congestion and add several
thousand new homes — albeit fewer than the nearly 6,000 homes that were originally proposed.
The 12-member board’s unanimously approved plan, which now goes to the county board of supervisors for a
vote later this month, reflected some concerns about density voiced by local residents in what has been months
of controversy over the effort.
But it also kept key components that business leaders and urban planners argue are needed to make the plan
successful, namely a way to create a new community of residents and businesses that would support new
restaurants and stores county officials hope to attract to the area.
“This is a solid plan for spurring redevelopment of Seven Corners with smart growth,” planning commissioner
Julie Strandlie, who represents the area, said before the vote.
[GA] Troubling Echoes of Urban Renewal in an Atlanta Suburb (The Atlantic CityLab)
CityLab
(7/15/2015 1:05 PM, Eric Jaffe)
Marietta is razing a number of housing complexes with low-income residents to make way for commercial
development.
In November 2013, the residents of Marietta, Georgia, narrowly approved a $68 million bond to redevelop the
Atlanta suburb’s Franklin Road corridor. The basic plan called for demolishing several struggling housing
complexes and replacing them with new commercial development. Local reports suggest that plan is on pace: a
second complex came down last month, a third will be razed next week, and the fourth is in the process of being
purchased.
Local officials are pitching the project as a necessary overhaul of a crime-ridden, downtrodden area. But in
highlighting the Franklin Road redevelopment at City Observatory, Joe Cortright convincingly argues that it
echoes many elements of 1960s urban renewal—serving as a current lesson in gentrification worthy of wider
attention. His full piece deserves a read.
For starters, the population being displaced consists largely of low-income minorities. Cortright’s analysis of
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Census tract data for Marietta shows that the poverty rate near Franklin Road has climbed from just 5 percent in
1980 to a troubling 29 percent in 2010. Meanwhile the share of white residents has dipped from 94 percent to
14 percent over that same period. One activist opposing the project has characterized most residents as
immigrants.
[GA] Why aren’t we talking about Marietta, Georgia? (City Observatory, GA)
City Observatory
(7/14/2015, Joe Cortright)
Imagine this: A city government takes $65 million in public money and buys up more 1,300 units of aging but
affordable housing, which is home mainly to low income and minority residents. It demolishes the housing, and
plans to sell the land to private developers for office and retail development.
A pretty cut-and-dried case of gentrification and displacement, wouldn’t you say?
Or maybe it’s a tale from the bad old days of “urban renewal” when cities fought poverty by bull-dozing
“blighted” neighborhoods?
Actually this story is unfolding now, in one of the nation’s largest metro areas.
But while it seems that every move in the gentrification battles in Brooklyn and San Francisco is broadcast
nationally, this egregious case of direct government displacement is being ignored. Maybe if it happens in the
suburbs and doesn’t involve hipsters, it isn’t worthy of media attention.
Here are the details: Last month Mayor Steve Tumlin of Marietta, Georgia sat at the controls of an excavator
and took the first swipe at knocking down the Woodlands Park Apartments. The city of Marietta, just outside
Atlanta, has acquired – and demolished, or plans to demolish – four apartment complexes on Franklin Road
containing more than 1,300 apartments. The demolition is funded by a bond issue approved by city voters in
November 2013 by a 2,740 to 2,307 margin. The city has additional bond money and is in the process of
acquiring more apartments, with plans to demolish them as well.
[TN] Metro Council to consider Bordeaux land sale to developer (Nashville Tennessean, TN)
Nashville Tennessean
(7/15/2015 8:12 PM, Getahn Ward)
Metro is moving forward with efforts to sell 45.5 acres to a developer for $600,000 overall in the first step toward
redevelopment of city-owned property in the Bordeaux community in Northwest Nashville. Under the plan that
goes before Metro Council on Tuesday, Vision Real Estate Investment Corp. would buy the two tracts on the
former Bordeaux Long-Term Care campus in phases. Within a year of its purchase of the first tract of 34 acres,
Vision Real Estate is required to have built at least 32 affordable, senior housing units on that location.
The movement comes as the Metro Development and Housing Agency separately is pursuing creation of the
Bordeaux Redevelopment District for a part of that area. That designation should provide guidance and taxincrement financing to help spur new developments, including attracting new residential and commercial
projects while also preserving open space.
[LA] BioFund loans $3 million to New Orleans startups (New Orleans Times-Picayune, LA)
New Orleans Times-Picayune
(7/16/2015 4:58 AM, Jennifer Larino)
The New Orleans BioFund, a low-interest loan program targeting biotech startups, has run through an initial
round of federal grant funding, reaching $3 million in loans to more than a dozen local startups. The fund will
transition to a venture capital model as it pursues additional investments in the region.
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The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development provided the first round of funding in late 2012 for
the loan program. Loans ranged from $50,000 to $250,000 and went to small businesses in the 12-parish area
affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The BioFund, based in the New Orleans BioInnovation Center downtown, said its investments in 15 startups
have helped create 185 full-time equivalent jobs in south Louisiana.
BioFund Managing Director Kris Khalil said in a statement the fund helps "overcome a critical funding gap" for
startups considered too risky for traditional financing.
The BioFund said the initial pot of HUD funding is fully loaned out and is now being revolved for continued
investments. The fund intends to transition to a micro venture capital model moving forward.
[MN] St. Paul: Developers’ contributions to parks debated (St. Paul Pioneer Press, MN)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
(7/15/2015 10:58 PM, Frederick Melo)
When developers build new housing and commercial sites in urban areas, they often are required to make a
contribution toward new parklands. In St. Paul, the formula on how much money or green space they’re
expected to provide is about to change, and parks enthusiasts and business advocates remain at loggerheads
over whether the city’s proposed approach goes too far or not far enough.
A crowd of activists appeared before the city council on Wednesday, some pleading for more leniency and
others for stricter requirements. If approved by the council, the upper limit for parkland dedication payments will
nearly double for residential developments, going from 2.3 percent to 4.5 percent of a land parcel’s estimated
market value. The upper limit for commercial and industrial projects will decline by a third, going from 0.7
percent to 0.5 percent.
[WA] Mo’ money downtown (Bremerton Patriot Reporter, WA)
Bremerton Patriot Reporter
(7/16/2015 5:08 AM, Peter O’Cain)
BREMERTON—Two Bremerton city councilmen infamous for their demonstrative clashes with each other found
some common ground at a recent council study session.
Dino Davis and Roy Runyon sided with each other in regard to the city’s spending of 2016-2020 grant money
from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Both were upset that their districts weren’t going to see much of the $390,000 Community Development Block
Grant.
Most of that money will instead be spent in areas Evergreen Rotary Park and Harborside Fountain Park and the
boardwalk and Chester Avenue.
[HI] Nearly $9M Granted to Hawaiian Home Lands (Big Island Now, HI)
Big Island Now
(7/15/2015 3:35 PM, Staff)
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $8.7 million through a Native
Hawaiian Housing Block Grant to the Hawai’i State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
Hawai’i’s congressional delegation made the announcement Tuesday.
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Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard commented on the funding, noting that the grant will provide assistance to over
1,400 low-income Native Hawaiian families.
“Increased affordable homeownership has positive effects in our community on many levels. Since NAHASDA
was enacted 18 years ago, preschool enrollment and proficiency rates in reading and mathematics have
increased among Native Hawaiian children,” Congresswoman Gabbard said. “Additionally, crime rates in the
Native Hawaiian community have decreased, and health care disparities such as diabetes and heart diseases
have been reduced. This grant will continue to build strong communities in Hawai’i for generations to come.”
National News
Bank of America’s Earnings Surge in Quarter (New York Times)
New York Times
(7/15/2015 8:17 AM, Michael Corkery)
Bank of America, seeking to move on from its legal and mortgage troubles and get on with the business of
banking, said on Wednesday that its second-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, easily
surpassing analysts’ expectations.
The bank earned $5.3 billion in the quarter, up from $2.3 billion in the quarter a year ago. On an earnings-pershare basis, the bank earned 45 cents a share in the second quarter, up from 19 cents a share from a year ago.
Those results far exceeded analysts expectations of 36 cents at a time when many critics had begun
questioning the bank’s stagnant share price and recent history of lackluster performance.
Its revenue also increased 2 percent, to $22.3 billion from a year ago. Analysts had been expecting revenue of
$21.3 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
Plagued for years by soaring litigation costs related to its mortgage problems, the bank reported a broad decline
in expenses. Excluding litigation costs in the second quarter, Bank of America said its expenses declined 6
percent from a year ago, while the costs of servicing its troubled mortgage portfolio dropped 37 percent.
Investors have been clamoring to see the bank make more progress in cutting expenses in recent quarters to
offset the impact of low interest rates.
Bank of America’s Earnings — Recap (Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal
(7/15/2015 7:47 AM, Wall Street Journal)
Bank of America Corp. wrapped up the second day of second-quarter bank earnings season with a big win.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank reported earnings and revenue that widely beat analyst expectations. Investors
rewarded Bank of America’s stock, sending it up more than 2% Wednesday.
Bank of America followed J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., which both reported Tuesday. J.P.
Morgan fared better in the quarter with profits jumping, and the bank beat expectations. Wells, by contrast, saw
its profit edged slightly lower and merely met expectations.
Up next: Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. report on Thursday morning. Morgan Stanley, the last
big bank to release results, will report Monday morning. Stay with MoneyBeat through then as we provide live
analysis for the banks’ results.
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Bank of America 2Q net income soars to $5.3 billion (HousingWire)
HousingWire
(7/15/2015 7:38 AM, Brena Swanson)
Lower legal expenses, higher mortgage originations drive growth
Bank of America (BAC) recorded a second-quarter net income of $5.3 billion, or $0.45 per diluted share,
compared to $2.3 billion, or $0.19 per share, a year ago.
Revenue, net of interest expense, on an FTE basis, rose $385 million, or 2%, from the second quarter of 2014
to $22.3 billion.
Bank of America beat the EPS Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.36 and the revenue Capital IQ Consensus
Estimate of $21.72 billion, according to briefing.com.
“Solid core loan growth, higher mortgage originations and the lowest expenses since 2008 contributed to our
strongest earnings in several years, as we continued to build broader and deeper relationships with our
customers and clients,” said CEO Brian Moynihan. “We also benefited from the improvement in the U.S.
economy, where we are particularly well positioned.”
Bank of America profit up as consumer credit improves (USA Today)
USA Today
(7/15/2015 7:59 AM, Nathan Bomey)
New mortgages and home equity loans rose 40% for the quarter, and deposits were up 6%.
Bank of America posted net income of $4.9 billion for the second quarter, a 145% increase, as consumer
deposits and mortgage originations jumped.
Bolstered by improving credit among U.S. consumers, Bank of America’s total revenue rose 2% to $22.12
billion, outpacing analyst expectations of $21.39 billion.
The company also beat expectations of 36 earnings per share, posting 45 cents per share for the quarter.
"Solid core loan growth, higher mortgage originations and the lowest expenses since 2008 contributed to our
strongest earnings in several years, as we continued to build broader and deeper relationships with our
customers and clients," Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement. "We also benefited from the
improvement in the U.S. economy, where we are particularly well positioned.
[Editorial note: VIDEO at source]
Bank Of America Beats Wall Street Forecasts As Expenses Fall To 2008 Levels (Forbes)
Forbes
(7/15/2015 8:12 AM, Antoine Gara)
With no major new legal settlements or fines to report, Bank of America BAC +3.21% CEO Brian Moynihan is
beginning to show that he can guide the bank to a leaner and more profitable future.
On Wednesday morning, Bank of America reported better-than-forecast $22.3 billion in second quarter revenue
and 45-cents in earnings per share, exceeding consensus forecasts of $21.4 billion in revenue and 36-cents in
EPS. Bank of America benefited from $700 million, or 4-cents a share, in favorable accounting items, but the
firm’s overall $5.3 billion quarterly profit reflected both Moynihan’s ability to keep a lid on expenses and the lack
of a profit-destroying legal charge.
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Noninterest expense at America’s second largest bank by assets fell 6% on a year-over-year basis to $13.8
billion, highlighted by the firm’s continued runoff of crisis era assets and Moynihan’s new cost reduction
initiatives. When including the $4 billion in legal charges the bank took last year expenses fell 25% to a post
crisis-low.
Bank of America profit more than doubles (MarketWatch)
MarketWatch
(7/15/2015 8:15 AM, Peter Rudegeair)
Bank of America Corp.’s quarterly profit more than doubled as the second-largest U.S. bank by assets put most
of its legal woes behind it.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank reported a profit of $5.32 billion, or 45 cents a share, beating analyst
expectations and sending shares up about 3.7% in premarket trading.
The profit compared with a figure of $2.29 billion, or 19 cents a share, in the same period of 2014. Analysts
polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 36 cents a share. Revenue edged up 1.8% to $22.35
billion from $21.96 billion a year ago. Analysts had expected revenue to fall to $21.32 billion.
Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan has spent much of his five-and-a-half-year tenure
cleaning up legal and regulatory issues from the financial crisis that have hamstrung the bank’s profits for years
but now are largely over. Legal expenses declined about 95% from the $4 billion in the second quarter of 2014.
Bank of America profits jump as legal costs drop (Houston Chronicle, TX)
Houston Chronicle
(7/15/2015 8:45 AM, Ken Sweet, Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America’s profits more than doubled in the second quarter thanks to lower legal
costs and progress in resolving problems stemming from the financial crisis.
The consumer banking giant earned $4.99 billion after payments to preferred shareholders, the bank said
Wednesday, up from $2.04 billion a year earlier. The bank earned 45 cents per share, compared with 19 cents
per share a year earlier.
BofA’s consumer banking division, its largest business by revenue and profit, earned $1.7 billion, up modestly
from $1.63 billion a year earlier. The bank said an increase in deposits, lower expenses and an improving
balance sheet helped offset a decline in revenue.
Financial analysts surveyed by FactSet expected the bank to earn 36 cents per share, a figure which typically
excludes one-time items. Revenue rose to $22.1 billion from $21.75 billion.
The biggest drop in BofA’s expenses came in its legal costs, which plummeted from $4 billion to $175 million
and were a big reason why the bank’s profits jumped from last year. The bank reached a $13 billion legal
settlement last year with state and federal regulators regarding its role in the leadup to the 2008 financial crisis,
which weighed heavily on its 2014 results.
Bank of America says it’s No. 2 for mortgage customer satisfaction. So does Chase. (MarketWatch)
MarketWatch
(7/15/2015 11:03 AM, Ruth Mantell)
In the competitive U.S. mortgage market, bank giants are battling to be runner-up in customer satisfaction for
home loans.
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On Wednesday, Bank of America BAC, +3.21% boasted of earning the No. 2 spot in J.D. Power’s customersatisfaction study for mortgage originations. On Tuesday J.P.Morgan Chase JPM, +0.22% proclaimed it was
No. 2 in J.D. Power’s customer-satisfaction study for mortgage servicing.
Both claims are true, with a caveat: USAA out-scored Bank of America in the origination study, but it wasn’t
included in the ranking because its mortgages are only available to those who have been or are in the military,
plus their families.
So, who is No. 1 for mortgage-customer satisfaction? That’s Quicken Loans, an online lender based in Detroit.
Quicken nabbed top spots last year in customer satisfaction for both originations and servicing.
See which mortgage companies got the most consumer complaints (San Francisco Chronicle, CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
(7/15/2015 7:10 AM, Kathleen Pender)
Mortgages are the most complained-about product in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s complaint
database, and Bank of America was the most-complained-about mortgage servicer, according to an analysis
released Tuesday by U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
But when you adjust for size, Georgia’s Ocwen got the most complaints — almost 1 for every 1,000 loans
serviced — followed by Nationstar Mortgage and BofA. Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest servicer during the
period studied, had the second-most complaints overall, but ranked ninth when adjusted by market share.
The bureau has received 138,086 complaints about mortgages — mostly about modifications, foreclosures and
servicing issues — since it started accepting them in December 2011. That represented 38 percent of all
published complaints in the database. The bureau began taking complaints about 11 financial products at
different times, ranging from credit cards in July 2011 to prepaid cards in July 2014.
Debt collectors got the second-most complaints, 57,283, even though the bureau did not start gathering gripes
about them until July 2013. In early 2015, debt collection overtook mortgages as the most-complained about
product on a monthly basis.
MBA: Mortgage applications drop 1.9% (HousingWire)
HousingWire
(7/15/2015 7:38 AM, Brena Swanson)
Refinance share of mortgage activity inches higher
Mortgage applications dropped 1.9% after a slight rise last week, according to the latest data from the Mortgage
Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 10, 2015.
The refinance index increased 4% from the previous week, while the seasonally adjusted purchase index
decreased 8% from one week earlier.
Overall, the refinance share of mortgage activity ticked up to 50.8% of total applications, up from 48% the
previous week.
The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity jumped to 7.4% of total applications.
Moderate Growth for Subservicers in New Ranking, Nonbanks Continue to Dominate (Inside Mortgage
Finance)
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Inside Mortgage Finance
(7/15/2015 12:39 PM, Paul Muolo)
The nation’s subservicers increased their contracts to a record high $1.350 trillion at March 31 as tougher
regulations continued to play a key role in the shifting of processing chores away from depositories to nonbanks.
On a sequential basis, contracts increased by 7.1 percent in the first quarter and 14.4 percent compared to
March 31, 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking. Only four banks – Flagstar, Cenlar, Wells
Fargo and Bank of America – were among the top 20 subservicers.
Overall, at March 31, subservicers were under contract to handle the paperwork on 13.7 percent of all
outstanding mortgages in the U.S.
According to IMF’s exclusive ranking, Cenlar ranked first among all subservicers at the end of the first quarter
with an estimated $252 billion of contracts and a market share of 18.7 percent. Dovenmuehle, PHH Mortgage,
Loan Care and Green Tree rounded out the top five.
Senate Banking puts CFPB and Cordray in the crosshairs (HousingWire)
HousingWire
(7/15/2015 1:12 PM, Trey Garrison)
Call for reform, oversight and restructuring for unfettered regulator
The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on
Wednesday for his twice-a-year legislative grilling, where lawmakers raised ongoing concerns about the
bureau’s massive data collection, its management, its lack of oversight and its overspending.
Director Richard Cordray provided a summary of the CFPB’s actions during the reporting period, but senators
focused on criticism of the bureau, though they admitted that currently their power to rein in the CFPB is limited.
“To date, the bureau’s enforcement activity has resulted in more than $10.1 billion in relief for over 17 million
consumers. Our supervisory actions have resulted in financial institutions providing more than $178 million in
redress to over 1.6 million consumers,” Cordray said. “And we have now handled more than 650,000 complaints
from consumers addressing all manner of financial products and services.
“During the timeframe covered by the report, we have helped secure orders through enforcement actions for
more than $19 million in relief to consumers who fell victim to various violations of consumer financial protection
laws, along with over $32 million in civil money penalties,” Cordray said.
Garage or Backyard? Here’s What First-Time House Buyers Want (MSN Money)
MSN Money
(7/15/2015 2:59 PM, Beth Braverman, Fiscal Times)
More than two-thirds of potential first-time homebuyers want a house in move-in condition, and 43 percent are
looking for a place in the burbs.
Beyond that, first-time buyers are most interested in a home with a backyard or pool, striking design, and smart
or energy efficient technology, according to the TD Bank First-Time Home Buyer Pulse.
“It’s encouraging to see interest from the first-time homebuyers who have been cautious for much of the housing
recovery,” TD Bank Head of Pricing and Secondary Markets Scott Haymore said in a statement. “Consumers
are gaining confidence in the economy and many are looking to enter the housing market within the next two
years.”
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Last year, first-time homebuyers comprised 38 percent of the market, according to the National Association of
Realtors.
Dodd-Frank Turns Five (Huffington Post)
Huffington Post
(7/15/2015 11:33 AM, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum)
The financial crisis of 2007-08 emanated from a complex set of domestic and global forces. But at its heart was
the threatened and actual collapse of large financial institutions -- Bear Stearns, Lehmann Brothers, AIG, etc. -and, especially, the large domestic banks. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s
(Dodd-Frank) legislative response to the crisis created new agencies and bureaus, changed capital
requirements, revamped securitization rules, changed the oversight of derivatives, imposed the Volcker Rule,
and had provisions for corporate governance. Dodd-Frank turns five years old next week and the occasion
merits a review of its success.
And there has been some success. In part due to Dodd-Frank (and in part due to the lessons of experience in
the crisis) the large U.S. banks -- denoted Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) -- look very different.
They now have roughly three times the liquidity and five times the loss-absorbing capacity than at the time of
the crisis. Indeed, the stress tests reveal that after the worst scenario the G-SIBs would have more capital than
they actually had at the time of the crisis. Put differently, if the crisis hit today, there would be no need for a
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to "bail out" the big banks. (Some of the regional and smaller banks
would likely still need TARP-like assistance.)
But it is not all good news. Dodd-Frank was incredibly poorly targeted. With the sole exception of AIG’s credit
default swaps, derivatives had nothing to do with the crisis. Despite this, Dodd-Frank created a vast new
regulatory apparatus surrounding derivatives that harmed the ability of end-users to hedge their exposure to
financial risks. Similarly, even though there is no evidence that proprietary trading by banks contributed to the
crisis, Dodd-Frank contained the complicated and costly Volcker rule that has inadvertently served to reduce
market-making and liquidity. It even wandered into the territory of conflict minerals with devastating unintended
consequences in Africa.
4 numbers that explain Bofa’s higher profit (Charlotte Observer, NC)
Charlotte Observer
(7/15/2015 8:02 PM, Deon Roberts)
Bank of America reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter on Wednesday, thanks in large
part to a familiar theme at the Charlotte-based bank: cost-cutting. The second-largest U.S. bank by assets
posted a profit of $5.3 billion in the quarter, up from $2.3billion in profit a year ago. Its earnings per share of 45
cents exceeded analysts’ expectations for 36 cents a share and surpassed the 19 cents a share a year ago.
25% -- That’s how much the bank reduced its noninterest expenses, a category that includes salaries, legal
costs and other operating expenses. A big driver in that decline was a substantial drop in legal costs. In the
second quarter of last year, the bank reported $4 billion in legal costs as it beefed up its litigation reserves
ahead of a $16.65 billion mortgage settlement it reached in August with the U.S. Department of Justice. In the
second quarter of this year, its legal costs dropped to $175 million.
Fed: Economy grew in all 12 districts in May and June (USA Today)
USA Today
(7/15/2015 3:57 PM, Paul Davidson)
The U.S. economy gained momentum in May and June on a pickup in consumer spending and the housing
market, but the strong dollar and pullback in oil drilling continued to hamper manufacturing, the Federal Reserve
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said Wednesday.
The Fed’s "beige book," named for the color of its cover, generally painted a more upbeat picture of the
economy than its previous report. Seven Fed regional bank districts -- Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis,
Minneapolis, Dallas and San Francisco – posted moderate economic growth, up from just four in the last
summary. The economy expanded modestly in other areas, including New York, Philadelphia and Kansas City.
Still, all 12 districts reported expansion and several key regions voiced optimism about future growth.
The report, an anecdotal snapshot of business conditions around the country, is consistent with economists’
projections that the economy rebounded solidly in the second quarter after shrinking early in the year. Many
analysts expect the economy to grow a solid 3% or so at an annual pace in the second half of 2015. The
housing market continued to improve after the harsh winter curtailed home sales and construction. Home sales
rose in most districts, including Boston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago and Minneapolis. But sales were mixed in
Philadelphia and Dallas and fell in some New York markets. Low inventory discouraged buyers in several areas.
Meanwhile, single-family housing starts picked up in Cleveland, Atlanta and Kansas City and were mixed in
Richmond, St. Louis and Minneapolis. Multifamily building continued to largely support the market, with
construction strong in New York, Richmond, Atlanta, Dallas and San Francisco. Commercial real estate is also
bouncing back from the mid-2000’s crash. Vacancy rates declined in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and
Dallas.
Fitch: Fannie, Freddie risk-sharing deals will become more common (HousingWire)
HousingWire
(7/15/2015 4:50 PM, Ben Lane)
With investor response to the credit risk-sharing deals from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continuing to be
positive, look for GSE risk-sharing deals to become more common in the future, Fitch Ratings said in a new
report. According to Fitch’s report, the response to Freddie Mac’s two actual loss Structured Agency Credit Risk
deals shows that investors are willing to buy more risk.
“The significance of the actual loss deals is that they increase the amount of risk that the GSEs are able to
offload,” said Fitch Director Sean Nelson. “We expect actual-loss transactions to become more common in the
future as they provide this type of risk-offload for the GSEs and are likely more sustainable over the long-run.” In
addition to increased activity from Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae is expected to issue their first actual loss risksharing transaction later this year, Fitch said.
The Debt Americans Gripe About Even More Than Credit Cards (The Leader, NY)
The Leader
(7/16/2015 2:59 AM, Valerie Young, The Street)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TheStreet) -- Wells Fargo is fond of pointing out that buying a home is the biggest
investment most Americans will make in their lifetimes.
That may be one of the reasons that home mortgages are among Americans’ biggest gripes, a fact highlighted
in a report released this week by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. In an analysis of four
years worth of complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government watchdog agency
created after the financial crisis, researchers found that mortgage complaints accounted for almost 40% of the
roughly 363,000 claims, or about 138,000.
The remainder, about 60% of the total complaints, was dispersed between student loans, credit cards,
consumer loans, debt collection, and other financial products. The bureau, authorized by the Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and the Consumer Protection Act in response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, has secured over
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$2.9 billion in refunds and relief by taking enforcement actions against more than 40 companies, according to
the Public Interest group’s research.
The cities where Americans are most likely to spend more than half of their paycheck on rent
(Washington Post)
Washington Post
(7/15/2015 12:01 PM, Jonnelle Marte)
More people than ever are renting instead of buying homes, but being a renter isn’t getting any easier.
For many households, the monthly rent check is so big that it eats up the majority of their paycheck — and the
burden is growing. Some 20.7 million rental households — or about half of all renters– spent more than 30
percent of their income on housing in 2013, according to a report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing
Studies. About 11 million of those households spent more than half of their paycheck on rent and utilities, up 37
percent from 2003, the study found. (Financial advisers typically recommend that people spend less than a third
of their pay on housing costs.)
As the map below shows, renters in cities that people expect to be expensive, like New York City, San
Francisco and Washington, D.C. aren’t the only ones struggling to pay the bills. “The rental housing crisis is
everywhere,” says Angela Boyd, vice president of advocacy at Enterprise Community Partners, an organization
that advocates for affordable housing.
Take Miami, where close to 36 percent of renters spent more than half of their pay on rent and utilities in 2013,
the highest of the 100 metro areas studied in the report. Someone earning the median household income of
$32,000 and paying the median monthly rent bill of $1,100 would spend 39 percent of their pay on housing.
[Editorial note: MAP at source]
The Exact Moment Big Cities Got Too Expensive for Millennials (Bloomberg Business)
Bloomberg
(7/15/2015 12:20 PM, Patrick Clark)
It wasn’t so long ago that cheap rentals in big cities weren’t a fantasy
The rent has been "too damn high" in New York for so long that today’s young professionals might assume it
was always that way. Yet it wasn’t until the second quarter of 2004 that the median rent exceeded 30 percent of
the median household income for young workers, the threshold at which housing experts say rent is no longer
affordable, according to an analysis conducted by Zillow.
Rents are stretching millennial budgets throughout the U.S. Nationally, the typical worker from 22 to 34 years
old paid 30 percent of income for rent in the first quarter of 2015, up from 23 percent in 1979, when the analysis
begins.1 In those places, rental unaffordability is a distinct obstacle for people trying to carve out lives and
careers, particularly in the nine major cities shown in the chart below, where more than half of households rent.
The median rent in Los Angeles has been out of the reach of young people since at least the Carter
administration. Chicago, by contrast, was affordable for the typical young worker until 2012, the year Kanye
West first appeared on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Most millennials could responsibly budget for rent in
Boston as recently as 2004, when the Red Sox broke the team’s long World Series drought. San Francisco
dipped in and out of unaffordable territory for years, until—after roughly a decade of affordability—rents shot
ahead of millennial incomes in 2003; they have continued to outpace salaries ever since.
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[Editorial note: CHART at source]
[MA] Local Real Estate Market Is Seen As Healthy (WAMC Northeast Radio)
WAMC Northeast Radio
(7/15/2015 5:13 PM, Paul Tuthill)
The housing market continues to stabilize nationwide and in the most populous county in western
Massachusetts real estate sales showed modest gains over the last 12 months, according to a report released
today. The total amount of money spent on real estate in Hampden County in the last 12 months was more than
$1.32 billion as average home sale prices rose in the cities of Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke and Westfield,
according to the fiscal year 2015 report from Register of Deeds Donald Ashe.
"One you get to $1 billion that is a pretty good healthy market," said Ashe. The average price paid for a single
family home in Hampden County in the last 12 months was $175,079, an increase of 1 percent over the period
that included the last six months of 2013 and the first six months of 2014. "We are not going to see the real
estate business booming along like it did before it busted," he said. "If properties appreciate 3 percent every
year that is a good real estate market."
[Editorial note: AUDIO at source]
[TX] Shifting office market benefits tenants (Houston Chronicle, TX)
Houston Chronicle
(7/15/2015 8:12 AM, Nancy Sarnoff)
It’s now a tenant’s market for office leasing, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm Cresa,
which represents companies looking for space.
That means lower rental rates, longer periods of free rent and parking and more allowances for tenants to
improve their offices.
Office absorption — the rate at which companies occupy space — turned negative in many key submarkets
during the second quarter, the report said.
As the price of oil remains low, job cuts, reduced spending and mergers and acquisitions are cutting into the
local office market.
Headlines
The Washington Post
(7/16/2015 7:00 AM)
From a first arrest to a life sentence
Obama says nuclear deal staves off war
The path to a deal: Long days and short tempers
Sex offender is charged in 1975 Lyon sisters case
The man who put the mettle in the petal
The New York Times
(7/16/2015 7:00 AM)
Clearing Hurdles to Iran Nuclear Deal With Standoffs, Shouts and Compromise
Pluto’s Portrait From New Horizons: Ice Mountains and No Craters
As Jade Helm 15 Military Exercise Begins, Texans Keep Watch ‘Just in Case’
Greece, Its Back to the Wall, Adopts Austerity Steps
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Hillary Clinton Lags in Engaging Grass-Roots Donors
What Campaign Filings Won’t Show: Super PACs’ Growing Sway
The Wall Street Journal
(7/16/2015 7:00 AM)
Obama Girds for Battle on Iran Deal
Greeks Pass Austerity Measures
Cost of Police-Misconduct Cases Soars
Samsung Pulls Out All Stops for Key Vote
ABC News
(7/15/2015 8:00 PM)
George H. W. Bush Hospitalized After Fall
Mexico Searches Nationwide for Escaped Drug Lord
Greek Lawmakers Pass Austerity Bill Despite Dissent
NBC News
(7/15/2015 8:00 PM)
Search Is On For Toddler Who Vanished From Campsite
George H.W. Bush, 91, Breaks Neck Bone in Fall
Greece Passes Austerity Plan Ahead of Bailout Talks
CBS News
(7/15/2015 8:00 PM)
Ex-President George H.W. Bush breaks bone in neck
Mountains on Pluto, chasms on Charon thrill scientists
Congressional investigation launched into abortion practices
Washington Schedule
President
(7/16/2015 7:00 AM)
The White House
See source link. Schedule not yet available.
Vice President
(7/16/2015 7:00 AM)
The White House
See source link. Schedule not yet available.
Senate
(7/16/2015 7:00 AM)
Senate
10:00 AM
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Hearings to examine pending Forest Service and forestry related bills, including S. 61, to provide for the
conveyance of certain National Forest System land in the State of Louisiana, S. 755, to designate as wilderness
certain public land in the Cherokee National Forest in the State of Tennessee, S. 1100, to require State and
local government approval of prescribed burns on Federal land during conditions of drought or fire danger, S.
1110, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to publish in the Federal Register a strategy to significantly increase
the role of volunteers and partners in National Forest System trail maintenance, S. 1671, to reauthorize the
National Forest Foundation Act, S. 1712, to amend the Small Tract Act of 1983 to expand the authority of the
93
Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange small parcels of National Forest System land to enhance the
management of the National Forest System, resolve minor encroachments, S. 1733, to require the Secretary of
Agriculture to establish a forest incentives program to keep forests intact and sequester carbon on private forest
land of the United States, and S. 1744, to authorize the sale of certain National Forest System land in the State
of Georgia.
Location: Russell Senate Office Building, Room 328A
10:00 AM
Senate Committee on Finance
Hearings to examine HealthCare.gov controls.
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 215
10:00 AM
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Hearings to examine human rights around the world, focusing on corruption, Global Magnitsky, and modern
slavery.
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 419
10:00 AM
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Business meeting to consider S. 1169, to reauthorize and improve the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act of 1974, and S. 1599, to provide anti-retaliation protections for antitrust whistleblowers.
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226
10:30 AM
Senate Committee on Appropriations
Business meeting to markup an original bill entitled, "Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug
Administration, and Related Agencies
Senate Committee on Appropriations
Act, 2016".
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 106
2:00 PM
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy
Hearings to examine wildlife poaching.
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 419
2:00 PM
Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and
Federal Management
Hearings to examine the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ role in the regulatory process.
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 342
2:30 PM
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Hearings to examine the semiannual monetary policy report to Congress.
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 538
2:30 PM
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
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Closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters.
Location: Hart Senate Office Building, Room 219
2:45 PM
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining
Hearings to examine S. 132, to improve timber management on Oregon and California Railroad and Coos Bay
Wagon Road grant land, S. 326, to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide cancellation
ceilings for stewardship end result contracting projects, and S. 1691, to expedite and prioritize forest
management activities to achieve ecosystem restoration objectives.
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 366
House of Representatives
(7/16/2015 7:00 AM)
House of Representatives
9:00 am
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific meets regarding Joint Subcommittee Hearing: Reviewing the U.S.-China
Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement
Location: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172
10:00 am
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations meets regarding
The Goldman Act to Return Abducted American Children: Ensuring Accurate Numbers and Administration
Action
Location: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2200
10:00 am
House Committee on Homeland Security
Subcommittee on Transportation Security meets regarding Examining the Federal Air Marshal Service and Its
Readiness to Meet the Evolving Threat.
Location: Canon House Office Building, Room 311
{End of Report}
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