Public housing residents are not reassured by BHA notice

Public housing residents are not reassured by BHA notice

By Lynda Carson -- January 31, 2010

Berkeley -- Berkeley's public housing tenants are not reassured by a recent January 22 statement released by Tia Ingram, director of the Berkeley Housing Authority.

In the January 22 press, Tia Ingram states that the BHA wants to ensure the low-income residents that once Berkeley's public housing properties are sold to a nonprofit housing developer, there will not be any minimum income requirements at any of the 18 scattered public housing sites being privatized and disposed of by the housing authority.

Ms. Ingram and the BHA board members have been on the defensive in recent weeks and are doing whatever is possible to counter and silence the public housing residents opposing the plan to dispose of Berkeley's 75 public housing units. The latest notice is another example of the efforts taking place to convince these low-income renters into accepting the deal meant to privatize Berkeley's public housing.

The Jan. 22, notice with Tia Ingram's name on it comes across like the deal to dispose of Berkeley's public housing units has already been made, and that the tenants have no say in opposing the sweetheart deal that will enrich the developer that gets it's hands on the 18 scattered sites throughout Berkeley.

"No matter what we say regarding our concerns and opposition to the plans to sell our housing to a nonprofit housing developer, Tia Ingram and the BHA board members ignore our concerns and try to keep us from having any input into the discussions," said public housing tenant Rose Flippin.

Keith Carlisle stated, "I read the Jan. 22, notice and since HUD has not yet given approval to dispose of Berkeley's public housing, it is not a done deal. At this point we cannot believe anything being said by Tia Ingram to us. It's all just talk, to convince us it's a done deal, and meant to keep us from speaking out against the proposals to privatize Berkeley's public housing that are taking place."

Once the public housing sites are sold to a nonprofit housing developer the BHA no longer has control over how someone may manage the public housing sites. With no rules to abide by or any oversight of the properties, the new owner may fill the apartments with their own employees if they want, or set the minimum income requirements way beyond what poor people can ever afford to move in.

Local nonprofit housing developers such as Affordable Housing Associates (AHA), Resources for Community Development (RCD), Bridge Housing, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), and others listed in the directory known as the East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO), all demand minimum income requirements that discriminate against the poor at their so-called affordable housing projects.

The low-income public housing residents are concerned that if a so-called nonprofit housing developer gets its hands on Berkeley's 75 public housing units, families and low-income households will become homeless because nonprofit housing developers have minimum income requirements that discriminate against the poor.

In addition, the public housing residents are concerned that the BHA may be negotiating with Affordable Housing Associates (AHA) or Resources for Community Development (RCD), as contenders trying to get their hands on Berkeley's public housing sites, once they are privatized and sold in the near future.

In recent years AHA was involved in managing the public housing sites in Berkeley and some believe that AHA was involved in the mismanagement of the properties, while the BHA was listed as a "troubled" housing authority by Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

As for RCD, according to attorneys from some local law firms, this nonprofit housing developer is well known in the courts for evicting the poor from their many so-called affordable housing sites in the Bay Area for being late on their rent payments and other minor infractions, and say that RCD uses the John Stewart Company to rule and manage their many properties with an iron fist.

During 2008, the John Stewart Company was involved in a major lawsuit filed by the residents of the California Hotel in Oakland, after the John Stewart Company and Oakland Community Housing, Inc. (OCHI), threatened to unlawfully cut off their water and utilities in an attempt to unlawfully evict the poor from the historic hotel, and force them from their housing. A judge had to grant a restraining order to stop these two nonprofit housing organizations from unlawfully dumping the poor onto the cold streets of Oakland.

"It's so harsh what the BHA is doing," said Penelope McKinney. "I was a client of the BHA for 20 years and I think I was used by Tia Ingram as an example to frighten others. I've been forced to fight to save my housing, and keep my handicapped child from becoming homeless. I don't trust the BHA, and no one can trust them to protect our housing. Tia Ingram, as the director of the BHA, she has no compassion."

It was during the year 2000 that Tia Ingram, then the executive director of the Richmond Housing Authority was sued for discriminating against the disabled, and mismanaged the housing agency to such extremes that around a half a million dollars was misappropriated. Ms. Ingram resigned from her position at the housing agency one month after HUD designated the Richmond Housing Authority as a "troubled" agency.

Bridge Housing Corporation, is one of California's largest so-called nonprofit housing developers. At their housing development called Ironhorse Central Station, Bridge Housing demands that a single tenant must have a minimum income stretching between $15,326 - $18,750 annually, and in another instance in Tier 5 of the same project, Bridge Housing is demanding that an individual must have a minimum income of $26,091 - $31,250.

Most of the low-income public housing tenants of Berkeley do not have enough of an income coming in if Bridge Housing got it's hands on their housing, and the minimum income requirements demanded by this nonprofit housing developer were imposed on them.

On an application form for their housing project called Los Medanos Village in Pittsburg, nonprofit housing developer Resources for Community Development mentions that there is a minimum income requirement to reside there, but that it does not apply to tenants being subsidized by the federal government with Section 8 vouchers.

"When the BHA says that it wants to ensure us that there will be no minimum income requirements on Berkeley's public housing once it is sold to a nonprofit housing developer, all I can say is that I do not trust the BHA or anything they say," said public housing tenant Zsanna Secreas. "Not anything! They never did all the repairs to my housing that they promised. When they do repairs, it's usually shoddy work and needs to be repaired again. They waste a lot of money, and the company they hired to do repairs is called "K & S". Things are bad, and "K & S" makes us public housing tenants wait for any repair work that needs to be done until they are caught up with repairs at their other locations, that are not public housing properties. Sometimes we get stuck paying the water and sewage bills owed by the BHA, because they do not pay their bills on time, and we do not want our water and sewage cut off. I have not met anyone at the BHA that I can trust, and live on property donated to the BHA by the school district for 99 years which was meant only for public housing. Now the BHA wants to sell the property and break their 99 year promise to keep it as public housing."

The East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), is another local nonprofit housing developer with minimum income requirements demanding that the low-income renters must earn at least twice the monthly rent being charged to move in, unless they have a Section 8 voucher or the equivalent. Rents have been raised to as much as $1,000 per month in one bedroom units at one of their east Oakland locations called Effie's House in recent months, meaning that the poor have to earn a minimum of $2,000 per month to rent a one bedroom unit in that location, unless they are subsidized by the federal government with a Section 8 voucher.

The web archives reveal that nonprofit Affordable Housing Associates (AHA), also has minimum income requirements at their properties. In recent years AHA has been demanding that the poor must earn as much as $8,400 - $14,895 annually to reside in their so-called affordable housing units, however current figures may be much higher at this point in time, and are not available on their website any longer.

Public housing provides housing to poor people on Social Security, General Assistance, SSI, the Cal-Works program and others with no income at all. However, tenants are concerned that if their public housing is privatized and sold to Affordable Housing Associates or another local nonprofit housing developer, they may be victimized and face discrimination because nonprofit housing developers have minimum income requirements that disqualify many poor people from residing in their subsidized housing projects.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com