Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504200039
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT I. ALOTTA
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In 1937, the National Housing Act, better known as the Wagner-Steagall Act, created the U.S. Housing Authority to rid American cities of slums and provide housing for the poor. The families need pay only 25 percent of their adjusted net income, an attraction to those with little money. The idea was simple: As family income increased, people would move out of public housing and into the private sector. It worked - but just for a short time.
World War II brought jobs to thousands of public-housing families. Those jobs enabled them to become self-sufficient, self-reliant and upwardly mobile. Their former homes were taken over by those who needed them more. Then, in 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson and his Great Society created the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and promised everyone who needed one a home - regardless of ability to pay. Again, it was a fine idea, an idea with strong social conscience, but one doomed to failure.
Many municipalities leaped for Johnson's carrot, and drew federal funds to build public housing. Because city land was too valuable to give away for public housing, planners economized and built high-rise apartments, filing-cabinet communities for the poor.
The high-rises produced "Pamper trees," trees planted to beautify the "project" where residents threw their soiled diapers from apartment windows; fire towers where residents urinated and defecated, and sometimes murdered each other; "blind pigs," places were illegal liquor was sold; "shooting galleries" for druggies; and prisons for law-abiding - but poor - residents.
Public housing was a failure, and it continues to be such. It is a mistake government has tried to correct not by addressing the problems, but by dumping millions of taxpayers' dollars into a quagmire.
Though politicians have called for corrective measures, little or nothing has improved. Giving the residents a say in the management of public housing created "resident advisory boards." Stressing the rights of tenants over their responsibilities, these boards were ineffective. They drew indictments, arrests and convictions of tenant leaders who accepted bribes from contractors and harassed housing managers for preferential treatment for themselves and their friends.
No politician, however, has had the guts to come up with hard solutions to the problems. The only ones who do are those who have retired from public life or are not going to run for re-election. In other words, the only ones who are willing to call for change are those who do not need the votes of the millions of public-housing tenants. Not being a candidate for office or otherwise interested in votes, I can recommend the following:
Put responsibility back into public housing, along with the basic rights of human beings. Don't let the "inmates run the institution." Residents of private housing, condominiums, luxury apartment complexes may have no better idea on how to run their developments than do the public-housing tenants, but they do have better education, better financial resources and better access to government leaders.
Reward positive behavior. When tenants destroy property, public-housing officials come in and repair, replace and restore the unit. Good tenants who maintain their property, on the other hand, don't get the same attention. When tenants are good, they should be rewarded. Why not move them out of the projects into scattered-site housing or, if they qualify, into Section 8 homes?
Throw out the bums. Instead of coddling the druggie, drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes and other members of the criminal elite, evict them. Get local legislation that will allow this.
Educate the tenants. People living in public housing are less educated than those in private housing. Educational programs, and not necessarily community college or university courses, should be available to public-housing tenants. Train them in how to work in plumbing, electricity, television and computer repair. Lord knows, they'll make more money than an entry-level college graduate. That is one way to get them out of public housing and free up space for others who need it.
Get the feds out of the picture. Stop the "dream of the month" club in Washington from telling local housing authorities how to run their operations. Washington bureaucrats know less about the management of public housing than the tenants. Let the feds give the money to the cities and counties, and let them run the programs.
Federal involvement since 1937 has created generations of public-housing families. The feds have stolen hope from the poor people of this nation. Instead of prodding them to improve their lot in life, the federal government has made it more comfortable to remain dependent on the government dole. Is it possible that in continuing the current public-housing policies, the federal government has created a 20th century version for 19th century slavery?
Robert I. Alotta of Harrisonburg, an author-historian, was director-public information of the Philadelphia Housing Authority from 1972 to 1981.
by CNB