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Oakland Housing Authority ducks question of public housing privatization

by Lynda Carson (tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com)
A Senior Communications Manager for the Oakland Housing Authority becomes quarrelsome when questioned about the scheme to dispose of around 1,600 conventional public housing units in Oakland!


Oakland Housing Authority ducks question of public housing privatization

By Lynda Carson -- May 5, 2010

Oakland -- After more than 30 years with the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA), Executive Director Jon Gresley declined to renew his contract with the OHA after it expired on April 30, 2010, but will remain on the job until he is replaced, sometime soon.

Under the direction of OHA's Executive Director Jon Gresley, the agency is currently in the process of privatizing and disposing of around 1,615 public housing units, out of a total of 3,308 conventional public housing units.

The public housing units being disposed of include 197 two bedroom units, 1,336 three bedroom units, and 82 units with four or more bedrooms in them, in around 255 scattered sites throughout Oakland.

Around 1,554 public housing units were occupied at the time the OHA's draft "disposition plan" became available for public viewing, on July 1, 2008.

The draft "disposition plan" became available for public viewing barely less than 7 months after OHA's Executive Director Gresley signed an agreement to settle a lawsuit that was filed against the OHA by the City of Oakland during February of 2007, over poor conditions at around 256 scattered sites, involving around 1,600 public housing units.

With around 3,885 individuals, including children being affected by the OHA's public housing disposal scheme, the estimated relocation costs, moving expenses, plus counseling and advisory services for the many families facing displacement from their public housing units are around $2,072,000, as was mentioned in the July 2008, draft disposition plan. Oakland's plan to dispose of over 1,600 public housing units, is expected to occur over a period of several years, after it was approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

As recent as March 19, 2010, the OHA trotted out a press release listing Marcus Walton as the media contact person regarding the announcement that Gresley is retiring after 32 years of employment with the OHA, and is expected to leave the agency sometime this summer.

The March 19, press release failed to mention that Gresley and the OHA are in the process of disposing of around 1,600 public housing units, and to the contrary it was mentioned, "During his tenure as executive director, Gresley has led a surge of new OHA-affiliated public and affordable rental homes. By the time he steps away, OHA or its affiliates will have built more than 1,100 additional affordable units, even during difficult economic times."

Since the press release completely omitted the fact that the OHA is in the process of privatizing and disposing of around half of it's 3,308 conventional public housing units, with Marcus Walton being listed as the one to contact regarding any questions about the release, I contacted him to seek further clarification about the dubious announcement.

On the afternoon of Tuesday May 4, 2010, during a heated 5 to 10 minute interview of Marcus Walton, Senior Communications Manager for the OHA, Walton ducked and dodged my questions about his press release and declined to talk about the OHA's scheme to dispose of around 1,600 public housing units.

When it became apparent that Walton would not discuss the loss of so many public housing units occurring in Oakland, I directly asked him why his press release failed to mention how many of Oakland's public housing units were being disposed of and privatized, even though his press release mentioned the 1,100 OHA-affiliated public and affordable rental homes being built.

"I want to talk about the various Hope V Projects such as Lion Creek Crossings that have been built in partnership with the OHA's affiliates," said Walton, "and I will not go on record talking about the plan to dispose of Oakland's public housing units."

I then pointed out that his press release lacked clarity because he omitted the fact that around 1,600 public housing units were being disposed of under Gresley's leadership, and mentioned that his release invited questions from the media regarding his announcement.

At that point, Walton did everything possible to belittle me and tried to pretend that I was wasting his time with my questions about the March 19, press release and scheme to privatize around 1,600 of Oakland's public housing units.

As Walton scrambled and did everything possible at that point to duck and dodge any more direct questions about his press release, and Gresley's scheme to privatize around half of Oakland's conventional public housing units, he suddenly stated that he just received a call from a real reporter, and hung up on me.

As recent as April 23, 2010, OHA's Executive Director Gresley made an appearance at a Special Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) Commission meeting, along with some high priced consultants from ICF International, EJP Consulting Group, Praxis Consulting Group, and Overland, Pacific and Cutler, in the push against Berkeley's public housing residents that are opposed to the scheme to privatize their 75 mostly occupied public housing units.

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

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